Installing Mystic

This section of the Wiki details the first basic steps you need to undertake to get Mystic BBS running on your system of choice.

Mystic is available on just about every popular platform available today, and requires a very small amount of system resources to run. This section outlines any known minimum requirements for running different versions of Mystic BBS.

It's highly likely your hardware will run Mystic :)

• 32-bit or 64-bit version of Windows XP or later. Please note that Windows XP support may be removed sometime in the future as the operating system continues to show its age. It is recommended to use Windows 7 32-bit or Windows 10 32-bit if you can.

• No known minimum requirements, but estimated kernel version of 2.6 or later.

• ARMHF V6 processor or compatible (Raspberry Pi Model 1)

• macOS v10.6 or later using Intel 64-bit CPU. Older PowerPC processors are not supported and neither are new M1 processors because the developer has no hardware available to develop for and support these platforms.

Head to mysticbbs.com to download a copy of the latest Mystic BBS software for your preferred operating system. If you are running an earlier version of Mystic BBS and wish to upgrade to the latest release this is usually possible. Refer to the UPGRADE.TXT file contained in the Mystic BBS file archive for the steps you will need to take.

If you learn better by watching someone explain HOW-TO then be sure to check out a growing series of training videos available on the Mystic Guy YouTube channel. While these videos are still helpful, some of them have become outdated with recent versions of Mystic greatly simplifying things like setting up echomail networks.

Before getting started review all of the information on this page. Check out the Mystic Installer Options section for command line options you may prefer to use to run a fresh install and/or update your current Mystic files.

• Decompress the file containing the Mystic installation software for the operating system of your choice. There is a useful walk-through on howtogeek.com that uses 7-zip as an extraction tool.

• Run the install file contained within the archive to start up the full Mystic BBS Installation Utility.

• If interested take a look at the Read Whats New option from the Installation Utility menu or find WHATSNEW.TXT in the installation archive you decompressed. Note that the latest additions to this file are at the end of it.

• Select Install Mystic BBS from the Mystic BBS Installation Utility menu.

• Update the paths (if you want to) for the Mystic system, data, text etc. files to reside in. Do this if you need to otherwise we suggest run with the stock install options. Hint: If you change the system directory all sub directory paths will be updated also.

• Press F2 to begin the install sequence.

• When installation is complete press the ESC key to close the installer.

• Now jump down to the Creating Sysop Account section later in this page.

** Backup your current Mystic BBS system before you get started! **

• Decompress the file containing the Mystic installation software for the operating system of your choice. There is a useful walk-through on howtogeek.com that uses 7-zip as an extraction tool.

• Review the Upgrade Information from the Installation Utility menu or look for UPGRADE.TXT in the installation archive you decompressed. This file will tell you which files need to be copied to your current Mystic installation. There are options to extract or replace older files with newer ones.

The installer that ships with Mystic can be run in several modes. Typing Install ? reveals the following help screen:

    Syntax:
    
      install                         Begin full installation
      install auto <root> [options]   Automated install to <root>
      install replace <dir>           Replace system files in <dir> with latest
      install extract <mask> <dir>    Extract file or mask into <dir>
  
    Examples:
  
      install replace c:\mystic
      install extract userchat* c:\mystic\text
      install auto c:\mystic
      install auto c:\mystic overwrite
      install auto c:\mystic theme=c:\mysticthemes data=c:\mysticdata
      install auto c:\mystic msgs=c:\mysticmsgs overwrite

Let's review what all those options are:

Run the full interactive installation menu and select from the available options

      install

Run an automated command line install to a directory of your choice

      install auto c:\mystic
      
      Mystic automated installation
      
      Base directory: c:\mystic\
      
      Extracting: Root files
      Extracting: Data files
      Extracting: Display files
      Extracting: Menu files
      Extracting: Script files
      Extracting: Documentation
      
      Updating data files...
      
      Installation complete
  

If you run this process on a directory where Mystic files already reside the installer will fail.

      Mystic automated installation
      
      Install directory already exists: c:\mystic
      

The way to override this is to use the overwrite switch. Be warned this will overwrite the files you have in your target directory. Perhaps take a backup first!

      install auto c:\mystic overwrite

During automated install you can also assign specific directories for data, theme, and msgs directories. An example of combining all of those things at once looks like this (less the overwrite keyword):

install auto c:\mystic theme=c:\mysticthemes data=c:\mysticdata msgs=c:\mysticmsgs

Copy new versions of binary files to a nominated directory and overwrite old files. This is good when you are doing some upgrade work. Always follow the guidelines in UPGRADE.TXT

            
      install replace c:\mystic
      
      Searching "c:\mystic\" for binaries to replace...
      
      Replacing: c:\mystic\data\prompts.dat                                    OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\mide.exe                                            OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\mis.exe                                             OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\mplc.exe                                            OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\mutil.exe                                           OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\mystic.exe                                          OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\nodespy.exe                                         OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\qwkpoll.exe                                         OK
      Replacing: c:\mystic\upgrade.exe                                         OK
      
      Operations complete

Extract file or file mask to a nominated directory

      install extract userchat* c:\mystic\text
      
      Extracting Mask: "userchat* to "c:\mystic\text\"
      
      Extracting: c:\mystic\text\userchat.ans                                  OK
      Extracting: c:\mystic\text\userchat.ini                                  OK
      
      Operations complete
      

If you're setting up a new Mystic BBS system the next step is to create a user account for yourself and grant it system operator (sysop) privileges.

In this section you will create a user account for yourself and then elevate it to have SysOp privileges. The steps to do this are:

• Switch to the Mystic BBS directory you created (e.g. c:\mystic\) and then type mystic -l to run Mystic BBS in local mode

• Follow the login prompts. Create an account using an alias followed by your real name and other details that the new user sign up process asks you.

• Once at the main menu logout of the BBS by using the G or /G default menu commands to return to the command prompt

• Type mystic -cfg to enter the Mystic BBS Configuration System

• Head to the Editors menu and select User Editor

• Press enter on the user name you just created

• Press CTRL-U to invoke the Upgrade pop up dialogue

• Select level 255 - System Operator and press enter

• Press the escape key a couple of time and save the changes to the user before you return to the command prompt

• Type mystic -l to login as a local user again and this time when you use your alias/name and password the system will prompt you with 'Invisible Login - Yes/No'. This means you enjoy elevated default SysOp privileges.

• When you arrive at the BBS main menu you will also see additional menu options only available to a SysOp.

Note: If you are using a Linux / Raspberry Pi based system the command lines to invoke the above will look like ./mystic -l and ./mystic -cfg