Steps for successfully installing Synchro.NET BBS on Linux Ubuntu 14.04 (Digital Ocean)

synchronet-install

I made these steps using the tools provided by DigitalOcean, but these steps should work verbatim on any Ubuntu Server.
Download Terminfo: http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/install/terminfo
Download Termcap: http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/install/termcap

I. Pre-Requisites:
apt-get update
apt-get install make g++ linux-libc-dev libncurses5-dev libnspr4-dev cvs libcap2-dev gdb zip unzip lrzsz gkermit
apt-get install dosemu

II. BBS Install:
mkdir /sbbs
cd /sbbs
wget 'http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/install/GNUmakefile'
make install SYMLINK=1 DOSEMU=1

(Depending on the system this takes 3-5m)

III. After Install
cd /sbbs/ctrl/
copy terminfo.txt to /sbbs
copy termcap.txt to /sbbs
tic terminfo
cat termcap >> /etc/termcap

nano sbbs.ini 
scroll to the [BBS] tag 
on TCP port for Secure Shell, change it to 2222
on LastNode=4 and change it to howmuchever nodes you  want
on UnixOnly and remove the ; from ExternalTermANSI=ansi-bbs 
on the line below the above command, uncomment DOSemuPath and point it to /usr/bin/dosemu.bin

scroll to the [Mail] tag
Autostart=false
scroll to the [FTP] tag
Autostart=false
scroll to the [Web] tag
Autostart=false

CTRL-X and save sbbs.ini

IV. Daemon Mode and Final configuration settings
cd /etc/init.d
wget http://cvs.synchro.net/cgi-bin/viewcvs.cgi/*checkout*/install/init.d/sbbs.debian
mv sbbs.debian sbbs
chmod +x sbbs

NOTE: EVERY TIME YOU DO A CHANGE ON SBBS.INI or SCFG you need to /etc/init.d/sbbs stop and /etc/init.d/sbbs start.  DO NOT DO /etc/init.d/sbbs recycle, as it doesn’t work as it should for some reason.

Monitoring Node Status
text based: watch /sbbs/exec/node list
graphical: ./sbbs/exec/umonitor

IV. Configuring Synchro.Net:
export SBBSCTRL=/sbbs/ctrl
Launch SCFG: ./sbbs/exec/scfg
Modify as you see fit, match the number of nodes with the number you set up on ebbs.ini
When you are done proceed to boot the board: /etc/init.d/sbbs start

Very nice write-up.

Just adding:

To have sbbs start on boot run:
sudo update-rc.d sbbs defaults

I was getting "out of virtual memory" errors on my (little) Digital Ocean server when I tried to run make, but I was able to get past this step by adding a swap file (following these instructions: https://digitizor.com/create-swap-file-ubuntu-linux/)

$ cd /
$ sudo dd if=/dev/zero of=swapfile bs=1M count=3000
$ sudo mkswap swapfile
$ sudo swapon swapfile

I only needed the swap file to compile (and searching around seemed to suggest that 2.5 GB was enough) so I didn't bother setting up the swapfile to mount on boot (I just deleted it when I was done).

is there a step missing in III? because i do not find terminfo.txt or termcap.txt in /sbbs/ctrl as apparently indicated by the cd command and the cp commands...

according to the official Wiki, in order to compile with dosemu support you need to use "make install SYMLINK=1 USE_DOSEMU=1" (not "DOSEMU=1" as written). Thanks!

Maybe i'm lost, but I don't know why it's compiling without scfg. It seems it has linker problem?

/usr/bin/ld: cannot find -lhash