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  • Synchron00b

    From steviant@911:1503/0 to All on Thu Feb 5 19:13:23 2026
    `I'm a Synchronet baby, though I do have a few years admin experience with various Unix like systems under my ever-expanding belt, and have some experience with Maximus from yesteryear. I am trying to create a little project that would be pretty easy if I can use bits of Synchronet.

    Can anyone direct me where I can RTFM about running a native executable on Linux interactively from Synchronet? I've found plenty of documentation but it all seems to relate to running DOS binaries.

    Cheers.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (911:1503/0)
  • From Codefenix@911:1330/0 to steviant on Fri Feb 6 10:57:04 2026
    Re: Synchron00b
    By: steviant to All on Thu Feb 05 2026 07:13 pm

    Can anyone direct me where I can RTFM about running a native executable on Linux interactively from Synchronet? I've found plenty of documentation but it all seems to relate to running DOS binaries.

    It depends what you mean by "interactively from Synchronet," but if you just want to install and launch a Linux door, there's this page on the wiki which includes both the DOS and Linux versions of Usurper as examples:

    https://wiki.synchro.net/howto:door:usurper

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  • From steviant@911:1503/0 to Codefenix on Fri Feb 6 19:18:15 2026
    It depends what you mean by "interactively from Synchronet," but if you just want to install and launch a Linux door, there's this page on the wiki which includes both the DOS and Linux versions of Usurper as examples:

    Firstly, thanks for taking the time to reply, much appreciated. Trying to figure this out on my own is fun, but I'm starting to run into walls.

    Okay, I was meaning for example being able to run a run of the mill command line executable like a shell script for example, in such a way that a BBS user could interact with it like if they logged in remotely.

    It's not clear to me whether Usurper in that example is basically a normal Linux program that uses stdio just like any other application but happens to work like a door, or if it's like a DOS door and expects to be talking to what is effectively a serial port.

    Also, the fields in the example don't match up exactly to what I see in scfg. I'm not sure what "Socket" and "Standard" mean in the context of "I/O Method" in Synchronet parlance. I can guess, but it's a bit ambiguous for my liking.

    I guess what I really need to do is to turn what I'm trying to do into a native door, so maybe there's more documentation out there somewhere describing how Linux native doors are supposed to work.

    --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
    * Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (911:1503/0)
  • From Accession@911:1262/700 to steviant on Sat Feb 7 07:03:35 2026
    Hey Steviant!

    On Fri, Feb 06 2026 21:18:15 -0600, you wrote:

    I guess what I really need to do is to turn what I'm trying to do
    into a native door, so maybe there's more documentation out there
    somewhere describing how Linux native doors are supposed to work.

    Here's how I run a bash script from Synchronet's event editor. You may be able to use the specific settings in the "Online Programs (Doors)" section also:

    Internal Code: <something unique>
    Start-up Directory: /path/to/sbbs/mods
    Command Line: dove-ad.sh
    Enabled: Yes
    ...
    Native Executable: Yes
    Use Shell or New Context: Yes
    Background Execution: No
    Always Run After (re)Init: No

    So, in the door setup, I think the key setting here would be "Native Executable: Yes", and I'd guess "I/O Method: Standard, No Echo". Everything below that I have set to "No". Then, if you modify user records or anything like that, you would probably need to mess with some other settings, but if it's just to run something from outside the BBS itself, hopefully this is enough.. although you might want to look into some restrictions so nobody can somehow shell out of or CTRL-C or something, and get access to your command line.

    Unfortunately, I can't get much more specific, as I only seem to have one linux executable ran from my doors directory, but it still requires a drop file (DOOR32.SYS). You could probably just try to set that option to "None", though.

    If none of that works, you could try creating a .js script that runs whatever you're trying to run. Otherwise, the dev(s) are very helpful and available on Dovenet - which if your current board doesn't have access to, you can get there at the address below. ;)

    Regards,
    Nick

    ... Sarcasm, because beating people up is illegal.
    --- SBBSecho 3.36-Linux
    * Origin: _thePharcyde telnet://bbs.pharcyde.org (Wisconsin) (911:1262/700)