• Trouble with Web Server configuration

    From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Wed Jul 28 03:36:51 2021
    I'm unable to find any tutorials or information in regards to configuring the web server portion in the Synchronet Control Panel. I've opened ports 80 & 443 through my router and firewall. I don't have a domain name but trying to just use my external IP address to access the website. I can see the Web Server recognizes a connection has been made to it but I get nothing reporting back in the web browser.

    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 HTTP connection accepted from: {My External IP Address} port 59840
    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 Request: GET / HTTP/1.1
    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 Guest account unavailable
    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 Sending file: F:\sbbs\temp\SBBS_SSJS.3252.2564.html (0 bytes)

    Not sure if I misconfigured something, I'm missing a step, or whatever other possibility there could be?

    Thanks for any and all help / guidance.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Wed Jul 28 05:03:36 2021
    Forgot to mention I am running Windows 10 64bit Home Edition.
    Services and Web Server is running.
    I've configured the Interfaces (IPs) as my local machine. [Not certain of this setting].
    None of the Windows 10 Web Services are running, thought if they were it would be conflict.
    [General Tab] = Listening Port: = 80; Hostname Lookup = Unchecked; Max Client = 150; Max Inactivity = 120; Auth Types = Basic,Digest,TLS-PSK
    [TLS Tab] = Enabled = True; HSTS Support = False; Interfaces = My Machines Network IP address; Listening Port = 443
    [HTTP Tab] = Default Settings. Virtual Hosts = False (unchecked).
    [CGI Tab] = Enabled = True; and everything is is default settings.

    I greatly appreciate any help!

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Digital Man@VERT to Leviathan on Wed Jul 28 13:52:02 2021
    Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    By: Leviathan to Digital Man on Wed Jul 28 2021 03:36 am

    I'm unable to find any tutorials or information in regards to configuring the web server portion in the Synchronet Control Panel. I've opened ports 80 & 443 through my router and firewall. I don't have a domain name but trying to just use my external IP address to access the website. I can see the Web Server recognizes a connection has been made to it but I get nothing reporting back in the web browser.

    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 HTTP connection accepted from: {My External IP Address} port 59840
    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 Request: GET / HTTP/1.1
    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 Guest account unavailable
    7/28 06:32:47a 2564 Sending file: F:\sbbs\temp\SBBS_SSJS.3252.2564.html (0 bytes)

    Not sure if I misconfigured something, I'm missing a step, or whatever other possibility there could be?

    Thanks for any and all help / guidance.

    If your gateway/router doesn't support hair-pinning, you might need to use your *internal* IP address to access it.

    This would be true for the other servers (e.g. terminal server accessed via telnet, ssh, rlogin, and the FTP server) too. Are you able to login to the *other* servers using your *external* IP address?
    --
    digital man

    Synchronet "Real Fact" #30:
    The COM I/O routines for Synchronet for DOS were written in ASM by Steve Deppe. Norco, CA WX: 90.5øF, 34.0% humidity, 12 mph NE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Wed Jul 28 20:19:55 2021
    Thank you for your quick response!

    I host an FTPES site using FileZilla on same router using the external IP address and it works. I love the Synchronet BBS! I was able to get it working. I missed the good ole days of being a BBS Sysop. I've just never hosted a website before so this is a learning experience for me.

    Note: I installed only the new version of the Synchronet Control Panel 3.18b. I had initially installed it on my drive C: per default. Then I decided I might need more room so I uninstalled the software and then re-installed it on another drive with more space.

    Are there any additional ports I need to open on the router and/or Firewall other than port 80 and 443?

    WS listens on port 1123 and WSS listens on port 11235. I'm also trying to be careful as to how many ports I allow access through.

    I greatly appreciate the help!

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Thu Jul 29 06:52:05 2021
    Here's a bit more detail which may help. (Hopefully).
    From the same computer that I am hosting the website. I open a browser and as the URL I enter: http://{MY EXT IP ADDRESS} and press Enter.
    I can see the control panel Web Server is receiving my connection and the connection does appear in the Client [TAB]. So this confirms I can connect through my router to the webserver. What's not happening is that I'm not seeing anything come back to my browser. I disabled my Windows Defender firewall to make sure it was not causing a problem.

    I can do the same with http://{MY INT IP ADDRESS} and same results.

    Services Configuration: Services [TAB]: Only listing enabled Protocols
    NNTP
    MSP
    ActiveUser
    ActiveUser-UDP
    Finger
    Gopher
    IRC
    WS
    WSS

    Seems as though the server is somehow blocked and/or unable to send information out to the browser.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Digital Man@VERT to Leviathan on Thu Jul 29 11:18:04 2021
    Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    By: Leviathan to Digital Man on Wed Jul 28 2021 08:19 pm

    Thank you for your quick response!

    I host an FTPES site using FileZilla on same router using the external IP address and it works. I love the Synchronet BBS! I was able to get it working. I missed the good ole days of being a BBS Sysop. I've just never hosted a website before so this is a learning experience for me.

    Cool.

    Are there any additional ports I need to open on the router and/or Firewall other than port 80 and 443?

    WS listens on port 1123 and WSS listens on port 11235. I'm also trying to be careful as to how many ports I allow access through.

    I greatly appreciate the help!

    I think this FAQ will help you:
    https://wiki.synchro.net/faq:tcpip#ports
    --
    digital man

    Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #69:
    SEXYZ = Synchronet External X/Y/ZMODEM file transfer protocol driver
    Norco, CA WX: 85.5øF, 35.0% humidity, 4 mph ENE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Digital Man@VERT to Leviathan on Thu Jul 29 11:34:47 2021
    Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    By: Leviathan to Digital Man on Thu Jul 29 2021 06:52 am


    Here's a bit more detail which may help. (Hopefully).
    From the same computer that I am hosting the website. I open a browser and as the URL I enter: http://{MY EXT IP ADDRESS} and press Enter.
    I can see the control panel Web Server is receiving my connection and the connection does appear in the Client [TAB]. So this confirms I can connect through my router to the webserver. What's not happening is that I'm not seeing anything come back to my browser. I disabled my Windows Defender firewall to make sure it was not causing a problem.

    I can do the same with http://{MY INT IP ADDRESS} and same results.

    Okay, that's good information. Maybe try access a static file (e.g. index.html) by just copying it to your web/root directory (or webv4/root directory if applicable) and then add that filename to the URL you're trying to retrieve (e.g. http://<address>/index.html) - rather than dynamically generated HTML file (e.g. .ssjs or .xjs) - just to elminate a lot of variables and complexity.

    Services Configuration: Services [TAB]: Only listing enabled Protocols
    NNTP
    MSP
    ActiveUser
    ActiveUser-UDP
    Finger
    Gopher
    IRC
    WS
    WSS

    None of those services are required for the basic operation of the web server.

    Seems as though the server is somehow blocked and/or unable to send information out to the browser.

    Or the dynamically-generated HTML is just blank for some reason. Try a static file.
    --
    digital man

    Breaking Bad quote #8:
    I want Shania Twain to give me a tuggy. Guess what? That ain't happening either Norco, CA WX: 86.4øF, 35.0% humidity, 3 mph NNW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Thu Jul 29 17:41:27 2021
    Progress!!! That worked! "HTTP://{EXTIPADDR}/Index.html" Awesome!

    Not I need to get the default website up and running. I'll need help with that as well.

    Thank you!

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Thu Jul 29 17:43:20 2021
    Sorry, typo I meant Now not Not.
    Now I need to get the default website up and running. I'll need help with that as well.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Digital Man@VERT to Leviathan on Thu Jul 29 22:03:00 2021
    Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    By: Leviathan to Digital Man on Thu Jul 29 2021 05:43 pm

    Sorry, typo I meant Now not Not.
    Now I need to get the default website up and running. I'll need help with that as well.

    Well there's 2 "default websites" now, the legacy/Runemaster web UI (in the "web" directory) and echicken's web UI (in the "webv4" directory). You switch your configuration between them easily and see which one is working better for you. Normally, they *both* work.
    http://wiki.synchro.net/config:webv4
    --
    digital man

    Breaking Bad quote #14:
    First name of Emlio - that's at least half a beaner, let you off for $10 - Hank Norco, CA WX: 75.5øF, 51.0% humidity, 3 mph NE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Mon Aug 2 09:47:06 2021
    Update on resolution: I found that my ISP blocks port 80. So the work around is to port forward on the router.
    Basically point external port 8080 to your Server's IP Address Internal IP Address 80.
    So when you give our your IP Address to your server it will look like the following:
    Sample External IP Address = 59.75.125.242 (not my External IP address BTW). So to connect to this web server you'd enter: http://59.75.125.242:8080
    It works great!

    Of course I could get a static IP address for about $20/month but I am cheap skate and the alternative fix works very well for my needs.

    Appreciate all the help and advice.

    Thank you!

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Mon Aug 2 09:49:38 2021
    Sorry I meant:
    Point (External Port) 8080 to the server's IP Address and forward it to (Internal Port) 80.

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Leviathan@VERT to Digital Man on Tue Aug 3 10:26:11 2021
    My ISP is relentless, they blocked port 8080 on me making it impossible to run a web server without a static IP address.

    I was able to check out both websites though. Really cool man! Very impressive!

    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@VERT/REALITY to Leviathan on Wed Aug 4 07:24:00 2021
    Leviathan wrote to Digital Man <=-

    My ISP is relentless, they blocked port 8080 on me making it impossible
    to run a web server without a static IP address.

    I've read some interesting things about using Cloudflare or a VPS to act as
    a front end to a firewalled home system. Seems like a lot of work, but could be done.

    Sounds like it's time for a new ISP, though.

    I have a ton of bandwidth, but some ports blocked. I'm nostalgic for an old DSL ISP I used back in the 2000s who treated everyone on his network like their own sysadmin.


    ... The tape is now the music
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.
  • From Digital Man@VERT to poindexter FORTRAN on Thu Aug 5 17:33:11 2021
    Re: Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Leviathan on Wed Aug 04 2021 07:24 am

    Subject: Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    @MSGID: <610C0595.61318.dove.sync@realitycheckbbs.org>
    @REPLY: <61097C33.44014.sync@vert.synchro.net>
    @TZ: c1e0

    Your messages are including QWK kludges again in the message body. You change something?
    --
    digital man

    Synchronet/BBS Terminology Definition #68:
    SEXPOTS = Synchronet External Plain Old Telephone System (POTS) service
    Norco, CA WX: 87.6øF, 43.0% humidity, 14 mph NNW wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From poindexter FORTRAN@VERT/REALITY to Digital Man on Fri Aug 6 08:57:00 2021
    Digital Man wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    Your messages are including QWK kludges again in the message body. You change something? --

    Not since changing settings a couple of weeks ago to show my origin line.


    ... Abandon desire
    --- MultiMail/DOS v0.52
    þ Synchronet þ .: realitycheckbbs.org :: scientia potentia est :.
  • From Digital Man@VERT to poindexter FORTRAN on Sun Aug 8 11:26:04 2021
    Re: Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    By: poindexter FORTRAN to Digital Man on Fri Aug 06 2021 08:57 am

    Subject: Re: Trouble with Web Server configuration
    @MSGID: <610FEE68.61343.dove.sync@realitycheckbbs.org>
    @REPLY: <610C8347.44025.sync@vert.synchro.net>
    @TZ: c1e0
    Digital Man wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

    Your messages are including QWK kludges again in the message body. You change something? --

    Not since changing settings a couple of weeks ago to show my origin line.

    Do you mind going to SCFG->Networks->QWK->Hubs->VERT and make sure you have it set the way shown on this page:
    https://wiki.synchro.net/howto:dove-net ?
    --
    digital man

    Synchronet "Real Fact" #3:
    Synchronet version 2 was written in C and 8086 assembly programming languages. Norco, CA WX: 76.1øF, 63.0% humidity, 8 mph NE wind, 0.00 inches rain/24hrs
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Vertrauen þ Home of Synchronet þ [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net
  • From Tracker1@VERT/TRN to Leviathan on Sun Sep 5 11:54:45 2021
    On 8/3/2021 10:26 AM, Leviathan wrote:
    My ISP is relentless, they blocked port 8080 on me making it impossible to run
    a web server without a static IP address.

    I was able to check out both websites though. Really cool man! Very impressive!

    I know this is old... but may be worth investing in a ~$10/month VPS
    like Linode or DigitalOcean. There's also a free tier with AWS EC2, but
    would suggest a server with at least 2 vCPU and 2GB ram. There are
    other options out there as well. For email, I would suggest an outbound
    relay like

    I've been running via Docker myself, which has worked well, but can
    install directly very easily

    Also worth mentioning is that you can use the Remote-SSH extension in VS
    Code, and edit on the remote server pretty transparently. It would be
    Linux, which means a slightly harder path to local dos doors, but likely
    still worth it.

    My first steps on the VPS (or any linux server) are:

    - move native SSH port (reboot)
    - upload my public key login (automatic if you add one via DigitalOcean)
    - disable password login
    - setup UFW (firewall), enable new SSH port and enable firewall

    With this working, will then start to setup Services etc.
    --
    Michael J. Ryan - tracker1@roughneckbbs.com
    ---
    þ Synchronet þ Roughneck BBS - roughneckbbs.com