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BSO Import / Export

The scanner/tosser module ftn_bso provides Binkley Style Outbound (BSO) import/toss and scan/export of messages EchoMail and NetMail messages. Configuration is supplied in config.hjson under scannerTossers.ftn_bso.

ENiGMA½’s ftn_bso module handles message scanning and tossing only — packet transport is handled separately. You can use the built-in native BinkP mailer (no external software required) or an external mailer such as Binkd.

Configuration

Let’s look at some of the basic configuration:

Config Item	Required	Description
`schedule`		Sets `import` and `export` schedules. Later style text parsing supported. `import` also can utilize a `@watch:<path/to/file>` syntax while `export` additionally supports `@immediate`.
`packetMsgEncoding`		Override default `utf8` encoding.
`defaultNetwork`		Explicitly set default network (by tag found within `messageNetworks.ftn.networks`). If not set, the first found is used.
`nodes`		Per-node settings. Entries (keys) here support wildcards for a portion of the FTN-style address (e.g.: `21:1/`). See Nodes* below.
`paths`		An optional configuration block that can set a additional paths or override defaults. See Paths below.
`packetTargetByteSize`		Overrides the system target packet (.pkt) size of 512000 bytes (512k)
`bundleTargetByteSize`		Overrides the system target ArcMail bundle size of 2048000 bytes (2M)

Nodes

The nodes section defines how to export messages for one or more uplinks.

A node entry starts with a FTN address (up to 5D) as a key in config.hjson. This key may contain wildcard(s) for net/zone/node/point/domain.

Config Item	Required	Description
`packetType`		`2`, `2.2`, or `2+`. Defaults to `2+` for modern mailer compatibility.
`packetPassword`		Optional password for the packet
`encoding`		Encoding to use for message bodies; Defaults to `utf-8`.
`archiveType`		Specifies the archive type (by extension or MIME type) for ArcMail bundles. This should be `zip` (or `application/zip`) for most setups. Other valid examples include `arc`, `arj`, `lhz`, `pak`, `sqz`, or `zoo`. See Archivers for more information.

Example:

{
  scannerTossers: {
    ftn_bso: {
      nodes: {
        "21:*": { // wildcard address
          packetType: 2+
          packetPassword: D@TP4SS  // see tip below for keeping this out of plain text
          encoding: cp437
          archiveType: zip
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Avoid storing packetPassword in plain text. Use @file: or @environment: instead:
packetPassword: "@file:/run/secrets/ftn_packet_pass"
See Configuration Files — Secret Files for details.

Paths

Paths for packet files work out of the box and are relative to your install directory. If you want to configure reject or retain to keep rejected/imported packet files respectively, set those values. You may override defaults as well.

Key	Description	Default
`outbound`	Base path to write outbound (exported) packet files and bundles.	`enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_out/`
`inbound`	Base path to write inbound (ie: those written by an external mailer) packet files an bundles.	`enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_in/`
`secInbound`	Base path to write secure inbound packet files and bundles.	`enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_secin/`
`reject`	Path in which to write rejected packet files.	No default
`retain`	Path in which to write imported packet files. Useful for debugging or if you wish to archive the raw .pkt files.	No default

Scheduling

Schedules can be defined for importing and exporting via import and export under schedule. Each entry is allowed a “free form” text and/or special indicators for immediate export or watch file triggers.

@immediate: A message will be immediately exported if this trigger is defined in a schedule. Only used for export.
@watch:/path/to/file: This trigger watches the path specified for changes and will trigger an import or export when such events occur. Only used for import.
Free form Later style text — can be things like at 5:00 pm or every 2 hours.

See Later text parsing documentation for more information.

Example Schedule Configuration

{
  scannerTossers: {
    ftn_bso: {
      schedule: {
        import: every 1 hours or @watch:/path/to/watchfile.ext
        export: every 1 hours or @immediate
      }
    }
  }
}

A More Complete Example

Below is a more complete example showing the sections described above.

scannerTossers: {
  ftn_bso: {
    schedule: {
      //  Check every 30m, or whenever the "toss!.now" file is touched (ie: by Binkd)
      import: every 30 minutes or @watch:/enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_in/toss!.now

      //  Export immediately, but also check every 15m to be sure
      export: every 15 minutes or @immediate
    }

    // optional
    paths: {
      reject: /path/to/store/bad/packets/
      retain: /path/to/store/good/packets/
    }

    //  Override default FTN/BSO packet encoding. Defaults to 'utf8'
    packetMsgEncoding: utf8

    defaultNetwork: fsxnet

    nodes: {
      "21:1/100" : {            //  May also contain wildcards, ie: "21:1/*"
        archiveType: ZIP        //  By-ext archive type: ZIP, ARJ, ..., optional.
        encoding: utf8          //  Encoding for exported messages
        packetPassword: MUHPA55 //  FTN .PKT password, optional

        tic: {
          //  See TIC docs
        }
      }
    }

    netMail: {
      //  See NetMail docs
    }

    ticAreas: {
      //  See TIC docs
    }
  }
}

Binkd

Since Binkd is a very common mailer, a few tips on integrating it with ENiGMA½.

Example Binkd Configuration

Below is an example Binkd configuration file that may help serve as a reference.

# Number @ end is the root zone
# Note that fsxNet is our *default* FTN so we use "outbound" here!
domain fsxnet /home/enigma/enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_out/outbound 21
domain araknet /home/enigma/enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_out/araknet 10

# Our assigned addresses
address 21:1/1234@fsxnet
address 10:101/1234@araknet

# Info about our board/op
sysname "My BBS"
location "Somewhere Out There"
sysop "SysOp"

nodeinfo 115200,TCP,BINKP
try 10
hold 600
send-if-pwd

log /var/log/binkd/binkd.log
loglevel 4
conlog 4

percents
printq
backresolv

inbound /home/enigma/enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_in
temp-inbound /home/enigma/enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_in_temp

minfree 2048
minfree-nonsecure 2048

kill-dup-partial-files
kill-old-partial-files 86400

prescan

# fsxNet - Agency HUB
node 21:1/100@fsxnet -md fsxnet.nz:24556 SOMEPASS c

# ArakNet
node 10:101/0@araknet -md whq.araknet.xyz:24556 SOMEPASS c

# our listening port (default=24554)
iport 54554

pid-file /var/run/binkd/binkd.pid

# touch a watch file when files are received to kick of toss
# ENiGMA can monitor this (see @watch information above)
flag /home/enigma/enigma-bbs/mail/ftn_in/toss!.now *.su? *.mo? *.tu? *.we? *.th? *.fr? *.sa? *.pkt *.tic

# nuke old .bsy/.csy files after 24 hours
kill-old-bsy 43200

Scheduling Polls

Binkd does not have it’s own scheduler. Instead, you’ll need to set up an Event Scheduler entry or perhaps a cron job:

First, create a script that runs through all of your uplinks. For example:

#!/bin/bash
UPLINKS=("21:1/100@fsxnet" "80:774/1@retronet" "10:101/0@araknet")
for uplink in "${UPLINKS[@]}"
do
	/usr/local/sbin/binkd -p -P $uplink /home/enigma/xibalba/misc/binkd_xibalba.conf
done

Now, create an Event Scheduler entry in your config.hjson. As an example:

eventScheduler: {
  events: {
    pollWithBink: {
      //  execute the script above very 1 hours
      schedule: every 1 hours
      action: @execute:/path/to/poll_bink.sh
    }
  }
}

Additional Resources

Blog entry on setting up ENiGMA + Binkd on CentOS7. Note that this references an older version, so be wary of the config.hjson references!
Setting up FTN-style message networks with ENiGMA½ BBS by Alpha.

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