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#### <- Back to HOWTO's # Using GameSrv and NetFoss With A BBS ### Introduction This guide will whisk you past all the documentation and show you how to get GameSrv, a freeware telnet server, to work with the freeware fossil driver NetFoss and your BBS. This is a great way to get your BBS up on the Internet for free. GameSrv is used to listen for incomming TCP connections and to accept them. It then executes a batch file which initializes NetFoss and calls up your BBS. On this webpage I'll be setting up Maximus BBS but the same configuration can be used for any DOS based BBS software that can use a fossil driver. Your BBS must support fossil communication. There is no modem or virtual modem involved here. If you plan on using door games, they also must work using a fossil driver. Another really important thing to know is that NetFoss DOES NOT SUPPORT BINARY TRANSFERS. This means your users cannot upload or download files from your BBS. If they try, it will cause NetFoss to crash. I've read that the original developers were working on getting this fixed in December 2002 and had planned on having it released by the end of that month. This never happened and the software changed hands to PC Micro. I've talked to PC Micro over email and they told me that they no longer develop or support NetFoss and avoided all questions about it. NetFoss is a great program and has worked flawlessly with my BBS and all of it's doors. It would be so nice for it to support binary transfers and I think people should get together and try to pursuade PC Micro to release the source code for the open source community to finish. ### Step 1 : Downloading the software
GameSrv | http://www.randm.ca/products/gamesrv/index.php
NetFoss | http://www.pcmicro.com/netfoss/ GameSrv comes with a version of NetFoss, but the latest version can be found here.
### Step 2 : Installing the software Installing GameSrv Simply extract GameSrv to a folder somewhere. For example, d:\gamesrv\ All you need is the executable. If you want you can delete everything else. Installing NetFoss The NetFoss archive comes with lots of files. You only need 3 of them. (Netfoss.dll, Netfoss.com and Netcom.exe) Extract Netfoss.dll to your WINNT\SYSTEM32\ folder for NT4/2000/XP or your WINDOWS\SYSTEM\ folder for Win 9x/ME. Extract Netfoss.com and Netcom.exe to the same folder you put GameSrv ### Step 3 : Configuring GameSrv There isn't very much to configure. Go to the Config tab:
Telnet | The TCP port GameSrv should listen to for incoming telnet connections
RLogin | The TCP port GameSrv should listen to for incoming rlogin connections. RLogin only allows connections from a "secure" host. By default this host is 127.0.0.1, if you want to change it there is currently no way through the GameSrv GUI. You will have to manually edit SETUP.INI and add an entry to the [config] section that looks like rloginhost=127.0.0.1 where 127.0.0.1 is the address to accept connections from
Nodes | The maximum number of nodes GameSrv will handle concurrently
Mode | Internal uses the internal game server External uses a 3rd party BBS
Visibility | Hidden does not show the external programs at all Minimized shows the external programs in the taskbar Normal shows the external programs on top of others
LBY | Acronym for Loops Before Yield (* Only used by mSyncFos) A higher value gives better game performance at the cost of higher CPU usage A lower value uses less CPU but slows game output
Settings Telnet - 23 RLogin - 0 (to disable, unless you want to use it) Nodes - Set to maximum number of nodes you want to run. Mode - External. Selecting this option will make extra options visible. Visibility - Minized. This will cause your BBS to load minimized. You'll be able to watch your BBS users while online. The window will dissapear after the user logs off. LBY - 50. Just leave it at the default setting, I don't think it's used because we're using NetFoss. Command line - "D:\GAMESRV\NF.BAT *N *H" Change D:\GAMESRV\ to the correct path to your GameSrv installation. Also, do not put quotation marks around it. We'll make the NF.BAT in a later step. *N passes in the node number to the batch file as a parameter. The *H passes in the socket handle in as a parameter. Fossil - None. Why not select the NetFoss option? For some odd reason it just does not work when the NetFoss option is selected. Instead we deal with the fossil on our own from NF.BAT ### Step 4 - Creating NF.BAT and EXEBBS.BAT NF.BAT Create a file called NF.BAT and put it in the same folder GameSrv is installed. NF.BAT will load the NetFoss fossil driver for the correct node, load your BBS, and when the BBS returns it will unload the fossil driver. Change D:\GAMESRV\ to the correct path to your GameSrv installation.
D:\gamesrv\NETFOSS.COM /n%1 IF ERRORLEVEL 1 GOTO END D:\gamesrv\NETCOM.EXE /n%1 /h%2 D:\GAMESRV\EXEBBS.BAT %1 D:\gamesrv\NETFOSS.COM /U :END
EXEBBS.BAT Create a file called EXEBBS.BAT and put it in the same folder GameSrv is installed. EXEBBS.BAT will load your BBS and run any programs after the user disconnected. The following batch file is written for Maximus BBS. Yours will most likely look different. The %1 parameter contains the node number.
d: cd\max max -n%1 -b38400 -ld:\max\node%1\max.log rem if errorlevel 12 goto EchoMail rem if errorlevel 11 goto NetMail goto Aftercall : EchoMail cd\squish squish out squash GOTO Aftercall : NetMail cd\squish squish squash :Aftercall cd\max\node%1 call maxall.bat
### Step 4 - You're done! Hopefully everything works well and your BBS is now accessible using telnet. That wasn't too bad right? #### <- Back to HOWTO's Last updated September 20 2003

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