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This setup only contains binaries for the Raspberry Pi platform.
If you wish to have x86 32bit binaries, edit the update-xxxxx scripts and remove 'pi' from the filename Then run the update scripts, this should download the lastest build from G8BPQ's website.
Don't move any of the config files! Some files (namely .dat/.SYS) are autogenerated by the system, many of these are binary format and are not human-readable. Do not attempt to edit these files with a text editor.
Some required libraries- note for 64bit skip ahead to ARM/x64:
sudo apt install libpcap0.8-dev
sudo apt install libasound2-dev
sudo apt install libz3-4
sudo apt-get install zlib1g
sudo apt install libminiupnpc17
64bit is not officially supported by BPQ, there can be issues running 64bit
setups, sometimes producing anomalous results. We are still finding these
issues.
If you are trying to run on a freshly installed 64bit system, you will need
to install the 32bit versions of these libraries as by default it will only
install the 64bit vesions which BPQ is not built against. To do this, append
":armhf" to the end of each library to install. These instructions are not
well tested so if these do not work please report an issue via the BPQ32
groups.io : https://groups.io/g/bpq32
ARM:
sudo apt install libpcap0.8-dev:armhf
sudo apt install libasound2-dev:armhf
sudo apt install libz3-4:armhf
sudo apt install zlib1g:armhf
sudo apt install libminiupnpc17:armhf
x64:
sudo apt install libpcap0.8-dev:i386
sudo apt install libasound2-dev:i386
sudo apt install libz3-4:i386
sudo apt install zlib1g:i386
sudo apt install libminiupnpc17:i386
Make a note of the current working directory and put it into the top of the runbpq script.
cd linbpq_rtg
echo $PWD
Open runbpq in your favourite editor:
nano runbpq
Example contents of runbpq:
cd /home/pi/linbpq_rtg
If this already matches your directory structure, you're good.
Note: you can rename your linbpq_rtg installation to anything, just ensure the path is set accordingly in runbpq
Open the bpq32.cfg in whichever text editor you prefer (mousepad, vim or nano for example) and begin filling in the parts marked out by the comments such as all of the places where YOURCALL is mentioned.
The web HTTP and telnet login for the sysop is located down in the TELNET port section of the bpq32.cfg file.
Configure as necessary, modifying the example provided within the bpq32.cfg file.
At this point is should be possible to launch the ./runbpq script and then interact with the node via the web interface.
Open a terminal and run ./runbpq, it should start the node and sit showing debug information, meanwhile open a browser to http://IP-of-your-pi:8080/
If you have a web browser running on your Pi, open http://127.0.0.1:8080
You should be prompted with a webpage with a selection of links including one to a sysop sign-in.
If not, these docs are broken and you need to report this to pe1rrr@amsat.org!
Setting up auto-start and headless running is covered under the systemd setup below in the appendix
It is also covered in my packet articles section along with a host of other useful information for BPQ node operation.
Visit http://eindhoven.space/radio-experiments/packet-radio
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runbpq- A script which launches BPQ, this needs to be edited to reflect the precise location of your BPQ installation directory. In the future, a systemd auto-start script can use this script to monitor and start/restart the linbpq process. -
bpq32.cfg- main node configuration You will need to edit YOURCALL! Most of the configuration is documented with comments. -
chatconfig.cfg- bpqchat server configuration.
Do note that for chat servers to link they MUST both be appearing in the node table.
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info.txt- When someone types 'i' on your BBS (not node), this is sent to them. -
badwords.sys- Any incoming mail which matches any words or phrases on this list will be set HOLD status. -
linmail.cfg- This is the BBS configuration file, best not to edit by hand. Saved by the web interface. You will need to edit YOURCALL! -
WP.CFG- white pages configuration, a database of users to help mail routing. Saved by the web interface. -
BPQAPRS- Directory. This directory is auto-generated by the APRS server and serves the web interface and caches map tile files downloaded from OpenStreeMap. -
HTML- Directory. Cached web interface files unpacked by bpq32. -
Files- Directory. This is where files can be put which you want to provide via your BBS. Subdirectories are NOT supported! -
Logs- Directory. Logs are stored here for many of the services. Every day BBS house keeping rotates and deletes older logs. The length of time you wish to keep logs is defined under the BBS house keeping tab within the web interface. Every day, symbolic links to the latest log files are generated in the BPQ directory. e.g logLatest_BBS.txt will always point to the current live log. -
bpqbin- Directory This directory is where the binaries are put by the update scripts (by PE1RRR). Every time a new updates is pulled from the Beta site download, the previous version is kept. Symbolic links are used to keep 'linbpq' always pointing to the latest version. If there is a need to roll back to a previous version this is easily accomplished by first unlinking the new version and re-linking the previous version. Each version is stored with the date as part of the filename.
unlinking: cd /dir/to/bpq
unlink linbpq
relinking: cd /dir/to/bpq
ln -s bpqbin/pilinbpq.<version> linbpq
Good to know: Updates via the web interface will create .bak backup copies of files.
The provided configuration is preset to open a UDP wormhole to both of PE1RRR's nodes,PE1RRR-5 node is set up to allow automatic connections while setup to prevent rogue nodes poisoning the network. The limitation is that your nodes won't propagate thought this node, but you will be able to access the network and all destinations provided by PE1RRR-7 as this is daisy-chained to PE1RRR-5 and PE1RRR-5 broadcasts those to you.
Due to the fact people cannot behave and stick to the amateur radio licensing rules, the automapping has been/will be completely turned off and you will have to manually ask for a link which requires you sending me (PE1RRR) your DNS/Host/IP mapping and full amateur radio callsign as a complete map line for my node. e.g.
<call> <dns/static ip> udp <udp port> B
Unlicensed stations are NOT permitted to link to this system and the underlaying network, to do so is unauthorized and introduces risk to our own licenses.
Should you wish to have your fully licensed amateur radio node propagate through the network, please get in touch so that we can arrange a full direct connection to PE1RRR-7, my main network node, if resources permit!
Once linked into the amateur radio network, you should be able to reach the chat nodes such as RRRCHT. If you wish to link your own chat-server to the network (if you absolutely must run one) there still needs to be some manual configuration done on them to allow your chat-server to join the network, we also have a structured setup as the nodes in the chat are vast and will easily saturate a RF link, so please read this document first:
https://eindhoven.space/radio-experiments/packet-radio/bpq-technicals/bpq-chat/chat-hub-linking/
If you are unlicensed but still want to play with packet radio nodes you can use the CB Network instead.
My network provides an open CB Network node via mapping:
MAP NL5POP cbnet.ehvairport.com udp 27235 B
As for accessing the amateur radio network without a license, we cannot permit that. Carrying your traffic via our own licenses carries extreme risks to us without any to you so you must understand- get licensed or be prepared to meet hostility the entire time you are discovered pirating on our (amateur radio) network.
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qtsm- QtSoundmodem - Advanced Soundcard modem, extended from UZ7HO's SoundModem -
qtsm_rpi3- wrapper script for Raspberry Pi 3. Due to a glitch in ALSA, you will need to use 'aoss', an sound system bridge, this should be installed with:
sudo apt install alsa-oss
This installs a tool called aoss which bridges ALSA, a workaround for the PTT-delay bug in the OS, QtSoundModem.ini will need to be provided with /dev/dsp0 style paths.
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qtterm- QtTermTCP - Multi-terminal tab/windowed interface for BPQ32/linbpq -
debug-tools/**gdbwait**- GDB debugging script which will automatically attach to the running linbpq process. See 'How to be helpful' below for more about this.
Depending upon where you launch the binaries from will determine where their configuration file will appear. It is best to launch the tools from within the bpq directory, but it isn't mandatory.
qtsmwill createQtSoundModem.ini(one is provided in the linbpq dir)qttermwill createQtTermTCP.ini
Both of the above require QT libraries to be installed:
sudo apt-get install qt5-default
Web interface: http://127.0.0.1:8080
Telnet TCP port: 2323 Use a regular Telnet client.
QtTerm TCP port: 2424 (for use with qtterm) this port is also known as the FBBPORT. When setting up a connection to linbpq or BPQ32 from QtTermTCP, use this port along with the telnet username and password configured in bpq32.cfg - look under Port 10.
The reason these ports are not set on standard service ports is due to the the rule that ports under 1024 are restricted by the OS for the root user. As BPQ runs as a non-root users, these standard ports are not accessible to BPQ. It is generally ill-advised to run BPQ, or any user service as root for the sake of security.
Credentials for logging into the web interface, telnet and QtTerm port are configured within the 'Telnet' Port in bpq32.cfg
For reference, in this unofficial configuration distribution, the following BPQ-Ports are preconfigured:
- BPQ-Port 1: QtSoundModem connected via AGWPE Mode (UZ7HO driver).
It is possible to run two ports on SSB with different audio tones. These two ports are set up to demonstrate that. It may be useful if you want to keep your BBS forwarding traffic away from the general user port (usually Net105, which is 14.105 LSB 1700hz center frequency).
Of course it is possible to set up qtsm as a VHF radio port on FM, in which case, simply disable the second port below.
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BPQ-Port 2: QtSoundModem connected via AGWPE Mode (UZ7HO driver) As above but with a different audio center frequency. Cool eh?
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BPQ-Port 10: Telnet
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BPQ-Port 11: AXIP/AXUDP
If you wish to add radio ports to BPQ, the numbers 1-9 are available. QtSoundModem is defined as a usable example for those without a hardware TNC (its very good on HF!). QtSoundModem can also be configured to work as a KISS TNC which may be desirable for VHF usage (multiuser), and KISS mode is mandatory to use if you wish to utilise NETROM functionality.
73 and good luck!
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All of the tools have an unofficial update-XXXX script that will download the latest Beta release from G8BPQ's website.
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https://www.cantab.net/users/john.wiseman/Documents/QtSoundModem.html
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https://www.cantab.net/users/john.wiseman/Documents/QtTermTCP.html
Due to the fact I run multiple instances of bpq on my machine it is important to declare a different subdirectory name per install, in this case I use my callsign as a directory for linbpq instal.
This is necessary for the program to identify its own segment of shared memory, the way linbpq accomplishes this is by using the last part of the binary's path as a 'unique' idenitifer. This prevents the systems from corrupting each other. This works in tandem with the undocumented MULTIPLE declaration in the APRSDIGI configuration section of bpq32.cfg. Not many people will need this, but it does make it tidier when running multiple nodes (with totally different callsigns, obviously!). This distribution has MULTIPLE defined by default. You can see this in action by looking in the /dev/shm/ directory.
Look inside the doc/ directory for an example systemd service file as well as the instructions for how to implement the scripts necessary to auto-start linbpq and qtsm at boot up.
Due to this being Beta software, it is advisable to join the BPQ Groups.io community to keep track of news, if you want to always be cutting edge (moreso than the groups.io) then join the BPQChat after linking your node into the network. John is usually there and announces updates as and when bugs are discovered and fixed.
If you discover a crash, install the GDB debugger with sudo apt install gdb
The debug-tools/gdbwait script is provided so that you can monitor the process while it is running. If it crashes you can generate what is known as a 'stack trace', this is super-useful for tracking down the bug.
If you encounter a crash, while running gdb via this script, the debugger will prompt you for action before it will allow the process to die. At this prompt, type 'bt' or 'backtrace' and GDB will spew a bunch of text to the screen. Copy and paste this into any bug report you might make together with a description of the steps you made which lead to the issue (if possible).