Every setting: CONFIG

Every setting on a µnleashed board can be changed from the board itself, while you are logged in as the sysop, the host, with one command: CONFIG. Nothing needs a laptop, a text editor or a reflash.

How CONFIG works

Type CONFIG on its own and the board lists its settings pages: seven of its own, one for the sats, then one for each plugin, which is a feature the board can switch on or off.

Type CONFIG and a page's name, such as CONFIG board, and that page opens as a form.

The same page on a 40 column screen, with the labels shortened to fit:

Tab or the arrow keys move between fields, as the bottom line says.
F1 saves. Only the fields you changed are written, and the rest of the board's settings file is left exactly as it was, comments included.
ESC leaves without saving.
Saved means live. The board reloads the settings at once. The exceptions are the network page (called wifi before firmware 1.1.0), the hostname and the NTP server, which are used from the next restart.
A value outside what a field accepts is refused before anything is written, so a typo cannot take a page down.
One sysop at a time. CONFIG is the sysop's alone: co-sysops do not get it, because it can change the staff passwords.

These screens are captured from the board's own software running on a test machine, at 80 columns unless they say otherwise, and the firmware version is under each one. A terminal of 80 columns or more gets longer form labels than 40 columns do.

board

The board's name and clock, and where callers land.

Board name, Board at 40 columns (board_name): The board's name. The welcome screen tells callers who they are connecting to, and the directory lists the board under it. Empty means the software's own name. Takes up to 40 characters; as shipped, My Board.
Hostname (hostname): The board's name on your network, for the router's list of devices and for name.local on computers that look those up. Used from the next restart. Takes a to z, 0 to 9 and -, up to 31 characters; as shipped, unleashed.
Timezone: The local time, picked from a list of named zones: Space steps through them.
POSIX TZ string, TZ string at 40 columns (tz): The zone behind that name, as a POSIX time zone string, for a zone the list does not have. The number is hours west of UTC, so US zones are positive. UTC0 is UTC; EST5EDT,M3.2.0,M11.1.0 is US Eastern; GMT0BST,M3.5.0/1,M10.5.0 is the UK; CET-1CEST,M3.5.0,M10.5.0/3 is central Europe. Takes up to 40 characters; as shipped, UTC0.
NTP server, NTP at 40 columns (ntp_server): Where the board gets the time from. Used from the next restart. Takes up to 40 characters; as shipped, pool.ntp.org.
Idle minutes, Idle min at 40 columns (idle_minutes): How long a caller can sit at the prompt doing nothing before the board hangs up. It warns a minute before. Takes 1 to 240 minutes; as shipped, 20.
Onboard LED GPIO, Board LED at 40 columns (activity_led_gpio): The pin of an LED that blinks with network traffic. 2 is the blue LED on the common DOIT-style dev boards. Takes 0 to 39; as shipped, 2.
Land on after login, Land on at 40 columns (landing): Where a caller goes after logging in, unless their own account says otherwise. Takes main, chat or forums; as shipped, main.
Sysop's account, Sysop at 40 columns (sysop_id): The one account a missed page to the sysop goes to as mail. Empty means the last account to become the sysop.
Silent: lights off, Silent at 40 columns: Every light the board controls off, the drive light, the strip and the S3's screen included. Each light's own settings are kept for when silent is off again. As shipped, no.
Silent hours from and until, Silent at and Silent to at 40 columns: A quiet time every day, by the board's own clock. Empty means none.
Stop taking calls, Closed at 40 columns (closed): Callers get the busy message, apart from the sysop. A new board starts closed until its sysop opens it.

limits

How long callers can stay.

Per call (call_minutes): The longest one call can last. Takes 1 to 1440 minutes; as shipped, 60.
Per day (day_minutes): The most minutes one account can spend on the board in a day, over all its calls. Takes 1 to 1440 minutes; as shipped, 480.
WHO min (who_refresh_min): The fastest a caller can make the WHO and DASH screens refresh themselves, in seconds. Takes 1 to 60; as shipped, 1.
WHO max (who_refresh_max): The slowest, in seconds. Takes 1 to 60; as shipped, 30.
Accounts (max_users): The most accounts the board will hold. When it is full, nobody new can sign up. Takes 1 to 250; as shipped, 100.

Staff can be spared the limits: the NOLIMITS permission, which every staff level has as shipped, means no idle hang-up and no call or daily limit.

accounts

Who can get in.

Sign-ups (self_register): Whether somebody with a handle the board has not seen is offered [R]egister. With no, only staff can create accounts, from the USERS manager. Takes yes or no; as shipped, yes.
Guests (guest): Whether that somebody is also offered [G]uest: a call with no account, where nothing is saved and the handle is marked * in every list. Takes yes or no; as shipped, yes.
Guest mn (guest_minutes): How long a guest call can last. Guests have no daily limit. Takes 1 to 240 minutes; as shipped, 15.

backup

The backup window's page, and how to use it, are on backups.

staff

The three staff passwords. A caller becomes staff by typing BYE and one of these at the prompt.

Sysop (sysop_password): Moves you to the sysop node, with every permission, CONFIG included. Takes up to 32 characters, case-sensitive; as shipped, unleashed until you change it.
Co-sysop 1 (cosysop1_password): Grants co-sysop 1 on the line you are already on, with the permissions described below. Takes up to 32 characters; empty as shipped.
Co-sysop 2 (cosysop2_password): The same for co-sysop 2, with fewer permissions. Takes up to 32 characters; empty as shipped.

Passwords on this page:

A password already set shows as ********, and is only written when you type a new one.
An empty password switches that level off.
Use passwords you use nowhere else. Calls over telnet are not encrypted, which the privacy page explains in plain terms; on an ESP32-S3 board, calls over SSH are.

What a co-sysop may do is a table in the board's settings file, not a CONFIG page. As shipped, both co-sysop levels may list who is on with their addresses, broadcast, add or take away a caller's time, see the ban list, see the dashboard, and skip the time limits. Co-sysop 1 may also kick and watch callers, hide from the lists and manage accounts; only the sysop may lift a ban. To change that table, edit the settings file inside a backup and send it back through the backup window.

network

The network the board joins, and the port callers dial. CONFIG network opens it, and so does CONFIG wifi, its name before firmware 1.1.0.

Network (wifi_ssid): The name of the Wi-Fi network. Takes up to 32 characters; set to what you chose when installing.
Password (wifi_password): Its password. Takes 8 to 64 characters, or empty for an open network.
Port (port): The port callers dial. Used from the next restart. It cannot be the backup window's port. Takes 1 to 65535; as shipped, 6400. If callers reach the board from the internet, the forward on your router has to point at the new number too. When you would change it is under one board per port.

With the board asking your router switched on, it asks for the new number by itself, after the restart that moves it. It never asks for a port the board is not yet answering on.

CGNAT/Tailscale LAN (cgnat_local), CGNAT at 40 columns: Whether addresses in 100.64.0.0/10, the carrier-grade NAT range Tailscale also uses, count as the board's own network. From firmware 1.1.1. It trusts everybody behind the same carrier NAT, not only your own devices, which is why it is off as shipped.

Have router forward (port_map), Port map at 40 columns: Whether the board asks your router to forward its ports to it, so you never open a router menu. From firmware 1.2.2, and no on a new board. It asks in three protocols, PCP, NAT-PMP and then UPnP, which is the one most home routers have. Where it works you get the same forward you would have made by hand. Saving acts at once, and the board asks the router there and then. Read the whole of what it does, and what it can leave behind in your router, before switching it on.
What the router did, Mapped at 40 columns: Read only. The outside address and port the router gave, how long the lease has left, and when it answered, or the reason there is nothing. PORTMAP on the board says the same thing at length and PORTMAP NOW asks the router again.

SSH port (SyncTERM) (ssh_port), ESP32-S3 boards only: on the SSH page.

A change here is used from the next restart, never straight away, because changing the network under your own call would drop you, and a typo would leave nobody on the board to put it right. A network the board cannot join within a minute of the restart is given up for the last one that worked. If the board still cannot reach its network, the fix is the cable: the install page changes the Wi-Fi from your browser.

The plugin pages

Every plugin's page starts with the same four fields:

Field	What it does
Enabled	yes or no. A plugin that is off costs nothing: no commands, no memory.
Read	Who may use it to look.
Write	Who may use it to change something.
Admin	Who may configure it.

The levels, from widest to narrowest: all (anybody, guests too), users (anybody with an account), staff (any staff level), co2, co1 and sysop. Each one lets in that level and every level after it.

Each plugin's own settings are on its guide: chat and mail, forums, information pages, files and the SD card, the directory listing and lights.

Other plugins

serial and example

Both are off as shipped. The serial bridge shares a device wired to the board's second serial port, where one person types and anybody else may watch, and its page sets the pins, the speed and the format. The example plugin does nothing useful; it is the template for somebody writing a plugin of their own.

Back to Set up your BBS.