Hello all,

First of I just want to say "hello." Like many of you I'm an old Sysop from the before times. Bored during the Pandemic I've started to mess around with BBS' again and discovered Synchronet and setup a board on my home computer.

I'm intrigued by the idea of hosting my own email server using Synchronet, but wondering what the experience of other Sysops is. Most of this would only apply to you hosting from home.

When hosting the Synchronet/SMTP from a home internet connection, do you find your outgoing mail gets flagged as spam from recipients?

How are you tying a real domain name to your home dynamic IP? Are you paying for Static IP from your ISP? (I'm currently using the synchro.net dyndns)

Regardless, getting this setup and running has been a fun hacking experience. Appreciate any feedback or thoughts.

Bob Roberts

... If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

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þ Synchronet þ Halls of Valhalla - San Francisco, CA
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

First of I just want to say "hello." Like many of you I'm an old Sysop from the before times. Bored during the Pandemic I've started to mess around

with

BBS' again and discovered Synchronet and setup a board on my home computer.

Welcome back!

I'm intrigued by the idea of hosting my own email server using Synchronet, but wondering what the experience of other Sysops is. Most of this would only apply to you hosting from home.

When hosting the Synchronet/SMTP from a home internet connection, do you

find

your outgoing mail gets flagged as spam from recipients?

Yes, most recipient sbbs smtp servers get flagged as Spam servers, using vert.synchro.net as a relay server mitigates that.

How are you tying a real domain name to your home dynamic IP? Are you

paying

for Static IP from your ISP? (I'm currently using the synchro.net dyndns)

Bob Roberts

I have both dyn.com as well as dyndns.js setup as a timed event for alleycat.synchro.net dns

There is a lot of info on the wiki. Follow the 'See Also' links http://wiki.synchro.net/server:mail

~Mortifis

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þ Synchronet þ AlleyCat! BBS Lake Echo, NS Canada
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

When hosting the Synchronet/SMTP from a home internet connection, do you

ind

your outgoing mail gets flagged as spam from recipients?

Yes, most recipient sbbs smtp servers get flagged as Spam servers,
using vert.synchro.net as a relay server mitigates that.

This was one of the deciding factors in why my BBS runs on a hosted VPS
rather than punching into either my or my co-sysop's home network.

Hatton


... Direct from the Ministry of Silly Walks
--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
þ Synchronet þ Three Corners and Beyond! http://3corners.us
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Bob wrote:

Hello all,

First of I just want to say "hello." Like many of you I'm an old Sysop from

the before times. Bored during the Pandemic I've started to mess around with BBS' again and discovered Synchronet and setup a board on my home computer.

I'm intrigued by the idea of hosting my own email server using Synchronet,

but wondering what the experience of other Sysops is. Most of this would only apply to you hosting from home.

When hosting the Synchronet/SMTP from a home internet connection, do you

find your outgoing mail gets flagged as spam from recipients?

How are you tying a real domain name to your home dynamic IP? Are you

paying for Static IP from your ISP? (I'm currently using the synchro.net dyndns)

Regardless, getting this setup and running has been a fun hacking

experience. Appreciate any feedback or thoughts.

Bob Roberts

... If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

---
??? Synchronet ??? Halls of Valhalla - San Francisco, CA

Most ISPs will block outgoing connection on port 25 and force you to relay through their mail relay. Mail sent from known dynamic host blocks are often flagged if not blocked. If you're trying to run a BBS from home, I would suggest relaying through your ISP.

You'll have to check you can receive incoming smtp too, of course. Another block is that often your MX, hostname, and IP need to match to avoid being blocked also if trying to send directly. There's a lot of roadblocks.

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þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: SMTP hosting from home
By: Nelgin to Bob Roberts on Fri Oct 09 2020 11:48 am

You'll have to check you can receive incoming smtp too, of course.

Another

block is that often your MX, hostname, and IP need to match to avoid

being

blocked also if trying to send directly. There's a lot of roadblocks.

Yeah. I've got the BBS virtualized on a box at home which is great for fiddling around. I fired up an EC2 instance on AWS and started to install Synchronet, but then dispaired as I started down that path at having to "redo" everything I've already done. (I guess I could just copy my /ctrl/ and /mod/ directories onto the EC2 after it compiles, and see how that goes.... another project).

I'm also considering the no-ip.com store-and-forward mail relay. I can point my MX to that and then have them forward to my local SMTP on a high port that my ISP doesn't block incoming on. (As they do with 25). Then I can have a FQDN, and setup the various anti-spam DNS entries....

The fun thing about all this is there is an endless supply of things to do. A sysop is always busy I guess. :-)

|08~|07Bob|06Rob|08~


... Xerox your life. If you lose it, you'll still have a copy.

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þ Synchronet þ Halls of Valhalla - San Francisco, CA
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: SMTP hosting from home
By: Bob Roberts to Nelgin on Sat Oct 10 2020 17:18:08

Yeah. I've got the BBS virtualized on a box at home which is great for fiddling around. I fired up an EC2 instance on AWS and started to install Synchronet, but then dispaired as I started down that path at having to "redo" everything I've already done. (I guess I could just copy my /ctrl/ and /mod/ directories onto the EC2 after it compiles, and see how that goes.... another project).

Just get yourself a $30 per year VPS and be done with it. Run Ubuntu 20.04 and everything will work, even DOSEMU with minor twiddling. I'm not sure why you'd have to "redo" everything, howwver. As long as your EC2 instance runs the same OS and has the same packages, the only thing you may have to do is change a couple of ip addresses.

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þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: SMTP hosting from home
By: Nelgin to Bob Roberts on Sun Oct 11 2020 01:35 am

Just get yourself a $30 per year VPS and be done with it. Run Ubuntu

20.04

Where are you finding a VPS for $30/year?
---
Underminer - The Undermine BBS
þ Synchronet þ The Undermine - bbs.undermine.ca:423
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: SMTP hosting from home
By: Nelgin to Bob Roberts on Sun Oct 11 2020 01:35 am

Just get yourself a $30 per year VPS and be done with it. Run Ubuntu

20.04

and everything will work, even DOSEMU with minor twiddling.

This is the approach we took for our board, though the VPS we set up runs $60/yr it provides more machine than Sync will ever need (1 vCPU core, 1 Gb RAM, 20 Gb storage and a dedicated IP). I don't try to run a GUI on it and there are no other services being hosted.

I haven't started on DOSEMU doors but I know it's there and working at this point.

Hatton

... The brain is as strong as its weakest think.

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þ Synchronet þ Three Corners and Beyond! http://3corners.us
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: SMTP hosting from home
By: Underminer to Nelgin on Sun Oct 11 2020 04:26 am

Just get yourself a $30 per year VPS and be done with it. Run Ubuntu > >

20.04 > Where are you finding a VPS for $30/year? > --- Good question? I'd like to know that too.HusTler
|13 Havens BBS
|12 (havens.synchro.net:23)

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þ Synchronet þ Havens BBS havens.synchro.net
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

HusTler wrote to Nelgin <=-

Where are you finding a VPS for $30/year?
---

Good question? I'd like to know that too.

https://chicagovps.net

I bought a 512mb VPS for $12.00/year, am currently running a 5gb VPS
for $50. Check out lowendvps.com for specials and jump when you see
one.



... Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.
--- MultiMail/XT v0.52
þ Synchronet þ realitycheckBBS -- http://realitycheckBBS.org
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: SMTP hosting from home
By: Underminer to Nelgin on Sun Oct 11 2020 04:26:52

Where are you finding a VPS for $30/year?

lowendbox.com

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þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)

Re: Re: SMTP hosting from home
By: Hatton to Nelgin on Sun Oct 11 2020 12:10:57

Just get yourself a $30 per year VPS and be done with it. Run Ubuntu 20.04 and everything will work, even DOSEMU with minor twiddling.

This is the approach we took for our board, though the VPS we set up runs $60/yr it provides more machine than Sync will ever need (1 vCPU core, 1 Gb RAM, 20 Gb storage and a dedicated IP). I don't try to run a GUI on it and there are no other services being hosted.

I pay something like that, but I use need KVM rather than OpenVZ. I have a VFAT filesystem on disk (created with fallocate then format the file a vfat) which I mount and store some files on. This gets around the issue with LFN>SFN conversion since vfat will handle it automatically, something that can't be done in Linux.

I haven't started on DOSEMU doors but I know it's there and working at this point.

Every DOS door that I've tried to get working with DOSEMU has worked without an issue, eventually, once I configure each statup file correctly.

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þ Synchronet þ End Of The Line BBS - endofthelinebbs.com
* Origin: Vertrauen - [vert/cvs/bbs].synchro.net (1:103/705)