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config_echomail_nodes

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Configuring EchoMail Nodes

Echomail nodes are the the external systems your Mystic BBS communicates with in order to send and/or receive echomail, netmail and other files.

This section of the Mystic BBS Configuration System allows you to add/remove Echomail nodes and configure how they are set up.

EchoMail Node Settings

From the opening screen you can see EchoMail Node that have already been created.

▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ EchoMail Nodes ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀
 ID   Act  Description               SysOp                           Network
 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 1    Yes  fsxNet HUB (NET 1)        Paul Hayton                    21:1/100
 2    Yes  Agency HUB (FidoNet)      Paul Hayton                     3:770/1









 ───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
                          Press / for command list

The / key reveals a command list menu.

                             I Insert
                             C Copy
                             D Delete
                             E EchoMail Exports
                             F FileBone Exports
                             1 Send AreaFix
                             2 Send FileFix
                             3 Netmail SysOp
                            

This menu allows you to add or remove EchoMail Nodes from the system.

You can copy an existing EchoMail Node and paste (or move) the copied nodes to elsewhere on the list.

The 'Echomail Exports' option allows you to define which Echomail message bases you want to link to the EchoMail Node.

The 'Filebone Exports' option allows you to define which file bases you want to link to the EchoMail Node.

Pressing the Enter key on an existing EchoMail Node (or a new EchoMail node) reveals the following screen. In this example an EchoMail Node has been set up for the fsxNet HUB (21:1/100) to send/receive Echomail and Netmail to/from.

Page 1 of 6 - General

 Active         │ Yes                                       1:GENERAL
 Description    │ fsxNet HUB                                2:Security
 Zone           │ 21                                        3:Groups
 Net            │ 1                                         4:BinkP
 Node           │ 100                                       5:FTP
 Point          │ 0                                         6:Dir Toss
 Domain         │ fsxnet
 Session Type   │ BinkP
 Archive Type   │ ZIP
 Export Type    │ Crash
 Route Info     │ 21:*
 Max PKT Size   │ 512
 Max ARC Size   │ 2048
 Use Filebox    │ No
 Filebox Dir    │                                          Page 1 of 6

There are a number options you can set on page 1.

Active

A simple yes/now setting - unless you set this to 'Yes' it will be ignored by Mystic, Fidopoll and MUTIL when various processes are run.

Description

Define the name of the system you are connecting with.

Zone

Set the Network Zone of this EchoMail Node.

Net

Set the Network Net of this EchoMail Node

Node

Set the Network Node of this EchoMail Node

Point

Set the Network Point of this EchoMail Node (often not used)

Domain

Set the Domain Name of Network e.g. fsxnet

Session Type

There are three options to choose from:

  • Binkp - Fidpoll will send/receive bundles with this EchoMail Node using the BinkP protocol.
  • FTP - Fidopoll will send/receive bundles with this EchoMail Node using the FTP protocol.
  • Directory - Fidopoll will send bundles to/from locally configured inbound and outbound directories instead of using BINKP or FTP.

Depending on the option you choose here, pages 4, 5, or 6 of the configuration settings will need to be configured also.

Archive Type

Leave this blank if you wish to send raw uncompressed message packets (.PKT) files. Otherwise define the compression archive type you would like Mystic to use when creating bundles of message packets in your outbound directory. The common archive type to use is ZIP but you can define others here if you wish.

Export Type

There are several options you can set here. These determine how Mystic will treat the messages it is creating to send to this EchoMail Node. Should it send them as soon as it can, wait for the EchoMail Node to poll your system to collect Echomail and/or Netmail etc.

The options are:

  • Crash - High priority. Send messages to echonode ASAP next outbound / inbound connection occurs
  • Direct - Messages can only be sent direct to this echonode and not routed elsewhere
  • Hold - Hold all messages for echonode to collect when they next poll your Mystic BBS
  • Normal - Regular priority traffic

Route Info

Routing info is defined in the format of addresses separated by spaces and uses an asterisk (*) as a wildcard. In addition to an address, a “NOT” can be applied to each address by appending a ! and another address mask to it which will then be excluded.

For example if you have are a FidoNet node in zone 1 and you want to route all netmail posted to zones 1 through 5 to a specific downlink, you'd configure the following Routing Info for that echomail node:

Routing Info | 1:* 2:* 3:* 4:* 5:*

For most cases that will do. For networks that only have one zone you'd simply route just that zone. e.g. fsxNet Zone 21 would just have

Routing Info | 21:*

and you are done. But…

If for example, you had two FidoNet uplinks one at (1:123/1) and you wanted to route all Netmail to your first uplink EXCEPT for Netmail specifically addressed to your second uplink's NET you'd do this for your primary uplink:

Routing Info | 1:*!1:123/* 2:* 3:* 4:* 5:*

This will cause ALL zone 1-5 netmail to be routed to that uplink EXCEPT for netmail with a destination to 1:123/*. And then you'd configure your second uplink to route ONLY net 123:

Routing Info | 1:123/*

As usual with routing it can be confusing when you have very specific routing needs but if you have only single uplinks then it can be pretty straight forward.

Netmail messages do not export from MUTIL if their destination address is one of your configured AKA addresses.

NetMail message bases do not need to be linked to any Echomail nodes in order for Mystic to attempt exporting.

Mystic, when routing Netmail, will first compare the destination address against all configured echomail nodes. If there is a direct match Mystic will route the Netmail automatically to that node without reviewing the Route Info.

If there is no direct match, Mystic will then look at the Route Info for each Echomail node (starting at the first entry) until it finds a match and redirect netmail through that system.

Max PKT Size

Define the maximum file size (KB) of each packet Mystic creates. Set this to 0 is you do not want to set any limit.

Max ARC Size

Define the maximum bundle/arcmail file size being created for this EchoMail Node. Set this to 0 if you do not want to set any limit.

Use Filebox

A Filebox is a directory you can place any file in to that will be sent to your EchoMail Node when you next poll it using Fidopoll or it polls your Mystic BBS.

There are three options for this setting

  • No - Don't enable this feature
  • Yes- Send files to EchoMail Node if you Fidopoll it or if it polls your Mystic BBS
  • Hold - Only send files to the EchoMail Node if it polls your Mystic BBS

Note: When you first select Yes as an option Mystic will prompt you if you wish to generate a default filebox. Do not do this until after entering your Zone, Net, Node, Point and Domain details first.

If you say YES to this question Mystic pops up with a dialogue box similar to this:

              █▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀ Info ▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▄
              █                                                    █
              █ Create: c:\mystic\filebox\fsxnet_z21n1n100\?       █
              █                                                    █
              █                      YES  NO                       █
              ▀▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄█
        

You can override this suggestion by answering NO and filling out our preferred file path in the next input field below. Or answer YES to have Mystic auto create the directory for you.

Be sure to check the Filebox status is set to what you want it to be once doing this.

Filebox Dir

Defines the drive and directory pathway that is associated with the Filebox to be used with this EchoMail Node. If the directory does not exist then Mystic will offer to create it.

Page 2 of 6 - Security

 PKT Password   │                                           1:General
 FIX Password   │ *******                                   2:SECURITY
 TIC Password   │ *******                                   3:Groups
 Security Level │ 0                                         4:BinkP
 Access Flags   │ --------------------------                5:FTP
                │                                           6:Dir Toss
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │                                          Page 2 of 6

PKT Password

This is an optional password you can set so that messages sent to/from this EchoMail Node contain an additional layer of security when transferring them between your Mystic system and this EchoMail Node.

If set, MUTIL will not toss (import) messages in to your Mystic BBS that do not have a matching password contained in the message packets it has received from this system. Likewise any messages you send to this EchoMail Node will also be sent with this password added to every message packet.

Set if you need to, but otherwise leave blank. It's usually enough to just set a session password in your 'Session Options' section of the EchoMail Node configuration.

FIX Password

This is the password you would set if the EchoMail Node system you are setting up, was to send your Mystic BBS a Allfix or Filefix netmail. Mystic would check the password sent in the netmail addressed to it from this system matched the password set here before acting on the inbound netmail request.

TIC Password

This is the password that your Mystic BBS will use to check against .TIC files that are sent to it from this EchoMail Node.

.TIC files usually accompany files sent to your Mystic BBS by another system. They contain instructions for your Mystic BBS to import the file accompanying the .TIC in to your file areas.

Without this password set your Mystic BBS will ignore the files it receives and/or move them in to the BAD directory defined in the [FileToss] stanza of your MUTIL .ini file

Security Level

Placeholder text - this feature under development 1.12 A38

Access Flags

Placeholder text - this feature under development 1.12 A38

Page 3 of 6 - Groups

 Echo Group 01  │ None                                      1:General
 Echo Group 02  │ None                                      2:Security
 Echo Group 03  │ None                                      3:GROUPS
 Echo Group 04  │ None                                      4:BinkP
 Echo Group 05  │ None                                      5:FTP
 Echo Group 06  │ None                                      6:Dir Toss
 Echo Group 07  │ None
 Echo Group 08  │ None
 Echo Group 09  │ None
 Echo Group 10  │ None
 Echo Group 11  │ None
 Echo Group 12  │ None
 Echo Group 13  │ None
 Echo Group 14  │ None
 Echo Group 15  │ None                                     Page 3 of 6

Placeholder text - this feature under development 1.12 A38

Page 4 of 6 - BinkP

 BINKP Hostname │ agency.bbs.nz:24556                       1:General
 IP Type        │ IPV4                                      2:Security
 Password       │ *******                                   3:Groups
 Time Out       │ 30                                        4:BINKP
 Block Size     │ 16384                                     5:FTP
 CRAM-MD5       │ Yes                                       6:Dir Toss
 Hide AKAs      │ Yes
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │                                          Page 4 of 6
   

A Binkp session has the following options you should set:

BINKP Hostname

Set the DNS hostname (and port if required) for the EchoMail Node you will poll using Fidopoll.

IP Type

Do you wish to use IPV4 or IPV6 when using Fidopoll to connect to this system?

Password

Set the session password your Mystic BBS will send to this EchoMail Node when you poll it using Fidopoll or it connects to your Mystic BinkP server and attempts to send your system Echomail, Netmail and/or other files.

This password is case sensitive. Be warned some non-Mystic systems have issues with this. Best advice keep everything UPPERCASE to avoid hassles.

Timeout

Inactivity timeout time in seconds before a BinkP session is halted. Leave as default unless you know what you are doing.

BlockSize

Data blocksize in bytes. Leave as default unless you know what you are doing.

CRAM-MD5

Use MD5 hashing when connecting as a client? This hides session passwords so they are not sent in plain text. It's a good idea to use this.

Hide AKAs

Hide alternative network addresses during a BinkP handshake. When your system polls this EchoMail Node will it only show the network address you have set up for the same Zone this EchoMail Node has in common with or it will show all your defined EchoMail addresses?

Page 5 of 6 - FTP

 FTP Hostname   │                                           1:General
 Login          │                                           2:Security
 Password       │                                           3:Groups
 Passive        │ Yes                                       4:BinkP
 Out Directory  │                                           5:FTP
 In Directory   │                                           6:Dir Toss
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │                                          Page 5 of 6
 

A FTP session has the following options you should set:

FTP Hostname

Set the DNS hostname (and port if required) for the EchoMail Node you will poll using Fidopoll.

Login

Set the username to pass to the FTP server when connecting to it.

Password

Set the password to pass to the FTP server when connecting to it

Passive

Is this to be an active or passive FTP session?

Out Directory

Set the directory you wish Mystic to send message packets / files from.

In Directory

Set the directory you wish Mystic to look for incoming message packets / files it receives.

Page 6 of 6 - Dir Toss

 Outbound Dir   │                                           1:General
 Inbound Dir    │                                           2:Security
                │                                           3:Groups
                │                                           4:BinkP
                │                                           5:FTP
                │                                           6:DIR TOSS
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │
                │                                          Page 6 of 6

A Directory session has the following options you should set:

Outbound Dir

Set the directory you wish Mystic to place message packets / files in to that will be in turn processed by another system that is receiving them.

Inbound Dir

Set the directory you wish Mystic to look for inbound message packets / files from another system that has sent them to your BBS.

config_echomail_nodes.1552772455.txt.gz · Last modified: 2019/03/16 16:40 by avon

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