Setting up the Vanilla Server for INL Games

1. Download the Vanilla Server source code from ftp://ftp.netrek.org/pub/netrek/servers/vanilla/
2. Unpack the server with a command like "gunzip -c Vanilla-2.9pl7.tar.gz | tar -xf -": this will create a directory called something like "Vanilla-2.9pl7", containing the source code for the server.

3. Configure the server for your platform with "cd Vanilla-2.9pl7 ; ./configure". If you wish to specify the installation directory (where the server will be install after it is built), use "./configure --prefix=<installdir>". Note that if you do specify a prefix, it must be the full Unix pathname; ~ will not be expanded to your home directory. You probably should use the --prefix option, because the default installation location is /usr/local/games, which you will not have permission to write to unless you run the install as root. I use "./configure --prefix=/ls/home/tom/bin/Vanilla".

   If your system is set up reasonably, the above should work fine; if you get errors, you may need a different version of gcc or one of the other build tools.

4. After the configure is completed, simply run "make". The first time you run it, you make get makedepend warnings about not being able to find files; these can be ignored. Compiling the server and the various utilities takes less than 2 minutes on a unloaded Sun Ultra 1.

5. After the make is done, run "make install". This will install the server and the INL Robot (among other things) to the install directory you specified with "configure".

6. Change to the directory where the server now has been installed (e.g., "cd /ls/home/tom/bin/Vanilla".

7. Edit the .sysdef file. Look for a section like this:

   #       Enable INL server mode.
   #       INL server installers should set this to 1.
   #       WARNING: This hoses pickup stats database in this implementation.
   INL=0
   

   Change "INL=0" to "INL=1" and save the file.
   You may also want to set "RECORD=1" to generate game recordings. This requires at least 10MB space and quota available in the mail spool directory.

8. Run the server with "./newstartd &". You should see output like this:

   $Id: newstartd.c,v 1.7 1999/02/15 10:24:08 cameron Exp $
   using /ls/home/tom/bin/Vanilla/.ports
   listening on 2592, connection to start ./ntserv "ntserv"    
   listening on 2591, connection to start ./tools/players "players" m   
   listening on 2593, connection to start ./ntserv "ntservobs" -q 6  
   listening on 4566, connection to start ./ntserv "home" -q 2  
   listening on 4577, connection to start ./ntserv "away" -q 3  
   listening on 4000, connection to start ./ntserv "homeobs" -q 4  
   listening on 5000, connection to start ./ntserv "awayobs" -q 5  
   

   At this point, if you've done everything correctly, you should be able to connect to ports 4566, 4577, 4000 and 5000, and use INL commands. Test this and you're done.

9. If you have any problems, send the full text of any errors you're getting to Tom Holub (doosh@inl.org).