Category : BBS Programs+Doors
Archive   : TG25.ZIP
Filename : INIT.DOC

------------------------------------------------------------------
---/ Telegard Bulletin Board System -- Version 2.5 Standard \---
---( Copyright 1988,89,90 by Eric Oman, Martin Pollard, )---
---\ and Todd Bolitho - All Rights Reserved /---
------------------------------------------------------------------

**> New System Setup Instructions <**


Telegard is distributed with a standard configuration that we have found
to work best for most situations. It is EXTREMELY easy to get Telegard
up and running, but a lot of work must be put into ANY bulletin board
system to make it unique.


***** IMPORTANT *****

The following lines MUST be added to your CONFIG.SYS file (usually found
in the root directory of your C: drive). If CONFIG.SYS does not exist,
create a new one.

DEVICE=ANSI.SYS
FILES=30
BUFFERS=40

Descriptions of each line:

DEVICE=ANSI.SYS

Loads the ANSI video display driver. If ANSI.SYS does not
reside in your root directory, either place a copy there,
or add the pathname where ANSI.SYS resides to the DEVICE=
line. (You may also use one of the "alternate" ANSI
drivers, such as NANSI.SYS or ZANSI.SYS; we recommend
ZANSI.SYS as an alternative, since it is much faster than
DOS' ANSI.SYS, and it doesn't allow "ANSI viruses" [i.e.,
remapping of the keyboard to do nasty things].)

FILES=30

Specifies the maximum number of files that can be open at
any one time. Since Telegard works with a lot of files,
30 will usually do the job quite nicely. (If a FILES=
statement already exists, make sure that it is defined to
AT LEAST 30.) More files may be required, depending on
your system configuration, so experiment.

BUFFERS=40

Specifies the number of I/O buffers to be used by DOS when
reading from and writing to disk. Again, since Telegard
performs a lot of disk I/O, 40 buffers will do the job.
(If a BUFFERS= statement already exists, make sure that it
is defined to AT LEAST 40.) More buffers may be required,
depending on your system configuration, so experiment.

NOTE: If you are using disk caching software, such as "PC
Tools PC-Cache", then you should *NOT* include a BUFFERS=
line in CONFIG.SYS, as it will degrade the performance of
the caching program.



________________

REQUIRED FILES
________________

You will need the following files if you are setting up a new Telegard
system from scratch:

BBS25.ZIP Telegard main executable BBS files.

INIT25.ZIP Start-up files and documentation (the archive
this file was contained in).

You should also obtain the latest version of DSZ. DSZ is a file
transfer protocol program that supports the Xmodem, Ymodem, and Zmodem
protocols. Telegard comes configured for these three protocols, and if
you wish to allow users to upload and download files, you will need DSZ.
(DSZ is widely distributed, and will usually be available on many BBSes
near you.)


_______________________

INITIALIZING TELEGARD
_______________________

First of all, make a directory called "BBS" from the root directory of
your hard drive. For simplicity, "C:\BBS" is assumed throughout the
following examples.

MD BBS
CD BBS

You must now unpack the INIT25.ZIP archive into the BBS directory.
PKUNZIP is assumed throughout the following examples, as PKZIP is used
to create the original distribution archives. If your files have been
re-packed using a different archiver, use the "extract files" command
suitable for your archiver.

PKUNZIP INIT25.ZIP

One of the files included in the INIT25.ZIP archive is an archive called
FILE25.ZIP. This file contains the various files required by the
initialization utility, and must be unpacked into the BBS directory.

PKUNZIP FILE25.ZIP

You are now ready to run the initialization utility. Enter the
following to execute it:

INIT

You will be prompted for several directory names, created off of the BBS
directory you have just created. Defaults will be displayed at each
prompt, and will automatically be used if you just hit . They
may also be changed if you want the directories to be set up
differently.



The default directory setup is displayed in "tree" form, below. Note
that this may differ depending on how you answered the directory name
questions described above.

BBS --. Main BBS directory
:
:-- AFILES Main text files
:
:-- DLS ---:-- SYSOP SysOp files directory
: :-- MISC Miscellaneous files
: `-- etc...
:
:-- GFILES Main data files
:
:-- MSGS Message files (public and private)
:
:-- MENUS Menu files
:
:-- TFILES Text-file section files
:
:-- TRAP User audits, SysOp logs, chat captures
:
`-- TEMP --:-- 1 Archive conversion directory
:-- 2 Batch upload receive directory
`-- 3 User archive work directory

The initialization utility will create all the required Telegard data
files, in addition to the files included in FILE25.ZIP. Then it will
move all the files into their appropriate directory paths (AFILES,
GFILES, MSGS, and MENUS).

After the initialization utility has successfully completed the
initialization of the Telegard files, you must unpack the main
executable Telegard BBS files (BBS25.ZIP) into the BBS directory:

PKUNZIP BBS25.ZIP

Finally, you must add the following line to your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. If
you are not using an AUTOEXEC.BAT file, then you must create one. This
command is required for proper operation of Telegard and the DSZ program
(described above); if you do not plan on using DSZ, then you may skip
this step.

SET DSZLOG=C:\BBS\DSZTEMP.LOG


________________________

STARTING UP THE SYSTEM
________________________

Make sure your system time and date are set correctly; they are ALWAYS
used by Telegard during EVERY logon. (It is suggested that you obtain a
hardware clock/calendar if your system does not already have one; IBM
ATs, PS/2s, and compatibles usually have one built-in.)

To start the system, first reset your computer (either by using the
[Ctrl-Alt-Del] sequence or by pressing the RESET switch, if your
computer has one), then go into the BBS directory (C:\BBS) and enter:



BBS

After loading in data files and performing several boot steps, the
system will attempt to initialize the modem. If after a couple seconds
the system is still trying to initialize the modem, press the space bar
to abort the initialization process.

______________________

SYSTEM CONFIGURATION
______________________

To configure the system to your particular wants and needs, use the
System Configuration command ("P" at the WFC ["Wait For Caller"] menu).
Once inside the system configuration, look over each section carefully
and modify whatever you feel necessary. The main documentation contains
detailed information about each function. After you are finished, press
"Q" to exit back to the WFC menu.


_____________________

MODEM CONFIGURATION
_____________________

If you are using communications port 1 (COM1) for your system, and your
modem has a maximum baud rate of 1200 baud, you may skip the next
paragraph.

Setting the system for COM2, COM3, etc., and the maximum baud rate for
your modem, requires you to enter the Modem Configuration section ("A"
from the System Configuration menu). Once there, modify the baud rate
and COM port options according to how your system is configured.


____________

LOGGING ON
____________

1. From the WFC menu, press the space bar to locally logon.

2. Enter "Y" at the verification prompt.

3. After the title screen is displayed you will be asked to enter your
user name or ID number. The Telegard initialization utility
has automatically created the SysOp account. Enter "SYSOP".

4. At the Password prompt, enter "SYSOP". At the phone number prompt,
complete the phone number with "0000".

Using the documentation and the provided sample files, the customization
of your system should be fairly easy to figure out.



_________________________

ADDITIONAL THINGS TO DO
_________________________

The cardinal rule is: Experiment!!! It's a big system, don't expect to
learn it all in one sitting.

Things to do to a new system:

Find the SysOp menu. All the SysOp commands are located there.
While logged on, this menu is entered by pressing "*" from
almost any other menu. The commands in the SysOp menu mirror
the WFC menu commands almost exactly, and offer a few commands
not available from the WFC menu.

Modify the system configuration for your system.

Modify the SysOp account (user number 1) to your liking using
the user editor ("U" from the SysOp and WFC menus).

Check over the menus and command access levels in the menu

editor ("#" from the SysOp and WFC menus).

Add/modify the message bases with the message base editor ("B"
from the SysOp and WFC menus).

Add/modify the file bases with the file base editor ("F" from
the SysOp and WFC menus).

Modify the default text files for your system. There are many
files that do not appear in the default setup. These optional
files are listed in the main documentation.

Add *.ANS versions of various text files for ANSI users.
You'll need an ANSI editor to do this (look for "TheDraw"; it
is by far the best, in our opinion). See the main
documentation for information on which files have the *.ANS
option.

Create a voting board using the voting editor ("I" from the
SysOp and WFC menus).

Post mail in each message section describing what it is.

Set up any games or other online programs you wish. RBBS,
WWIV, Wildcat!, DOOR.SYS, and Spitfire doors are supported.
See the section on menu commands in the main documentation.

Use the protocol editor ("X" from the SysOp and WFC menus) to
add new protocols to your BBS, or to delete the ones in the
default setup. Also, make sure the programs that implement the
protocols (example: DSZ.COM) are somewhere on your DOS PATH!
(The TGPROTx.ZIP protocol package is excellent for setting up
almost every popular protocol in your system.)



____________

CONCLUSION
____________

If you do put up a Telegard system, please let us know. We keep an
updated list of Telegard boards, and frankly, we are also interested in
what people have done with our system.

Suggestions? By all means, contact us; we are ALWAYS interested in new
ideas! You may contact us at any of the Telegard systems below.

"We want to hear from ya!"

System Name Number Hours FidoNet Main SysOp
---------------------- ------------ ------ --------- --------------
Grosse Pointe Centrale 313-885-1779 24 hrs 1:120/188 Eric Oman
Warp Speed 313-544-0405 8p-8a 1:120/186 Todd Bolitho
The I/O Bus * 313-755-7786 10p-9a 1:120/187 Martin Pollard

* = Temporary phone number! It WILL be changing!

All systems support 1200 baud and 2400 baud only.


Thanks for trying Telegard!