TC²-BBS Meshtastic Version

This is the TC²-BBS system integrated with Meshtastic devices. The system allows for message handling,bulletin boards, mail systems, and a channel directory.

Docker available

If you're a Docker user, TC²-BBS Meshtastic is available on Docker Hub!

Docker Automatic Script Deployment

With this single command, TC²-BBS Meshtastic can be easily installed on Debian and all Debian-based Linux distributions, including Raspbian OS.

curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/TheCommsChannel/TC2-BBS-mesh/main/docker/auto_docker_install_debian.sh | bash

Docker configuration:

After executing the Automatic Script Deployment command, TC²-BBS Meshtastic still needs to be configured. First, navigate to the installation directory where the Docker Compose definition is stored:

cd ./TC2-BBS-mesh-docker

This step is optional: if the mestastic node is connected to the system via USB, we need to pass it through to the newly created Docker container so that it can control the USB device:

nano docker-compose.yaml

# devices:                      <- uncomment if one of the two is needed
# - /dev/ttyUSB0:/dev/ttyUSB0   <- uncomment if needed
# - /dev/ttyACM0:/dev/ttyACM0   <- uncomment if needed

To customize the config file of the TC²-BBS server software itself:

nano ./config/config.ini

After that, the TC²-BBS Meshtastic can simply be started as a service in the background:

docker compose up -d     

    #for debugging use:
    docker compose up
		
	#for stopping use:
	docker compose down

Setup manually

Requirements

• Python 3.x
• Meshtastic
• pypubsub

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   cd ~
   git clone https://github.com/TheCommsChannel/TC2-BBS-mesh.git
   cd TC2-BBS-mesh
   

2. Set up a Python virtual environment:

   python -m venv venv
   

3. Activate the virtual environment:

   • On Windows:

   venv\Scripts\activate  
   

   • On macOS and Linux:

   source venv/bin/activate
   

4. Install the required packages:

   pip install -r requirements.txt
   

Configure config.ini

Set up the configuration in config.ini:

[interface]
If using type = serial and you have multiple devices connected, you will need to uncomment the port = line and enter the port of your device.

Linux Example:
port = /dev/ttyUSB0

Windows Example:
port = COM3

If using type = tcp you will need to uncomment the hostname = 192.168.x.x line and put in the IP address of your Meshtastic device.

[sync]
Enter a list of other BBS nodes you would like to sync messages and bulletins with. Separate each by comma and no spaces as shown in the example below.
You can find the nodeID in the menu under Radio Configuration > User for each node, or use this script for getting nodedb data from a device:

Meshtastic-Python-Examples/print-nodedb.py at main · pdxlocations/Meshtastic-Python-Examples (github.com)

Example Config:

[interface]  
type = serial  
# port = /dev/ttyUSB0  
# hostname = 192.168.x.x  

[sync]  
bbs_nodes = !f53f4abc,!f3abc123  

Running the Server manually

Run the server with:

python server.py```  

Be sure you've followed the Python virtual environment steps above and activated it before running.

Automatically run at boot

If you would like to have the script automatically run at boot, follow the steps below:

1. Edit the service file

   First, edit the mesh-bbs.service file using your preferred text editor. The 3 following lines in that file are what we need to edit:

   User=pi
   WorkingDirectory=/home/pi/TC2-BBS-mesh
   ExecStart=/home/pi/TC2-BBS-mesh/venv/bin/python3 /home/pi/TC2-BBS-mesh/server.py
   

   The file is currently setup for a user named 'pi' and assumes that the TC2-BBS-mesh directory is located in the home directory (which it should be if the earlier directions were followed)

   We just need to replace the 4 parts that have "pi" in those 3 lines with your username.

2. Configuring systemd

   From the TC2-BBS-mesh directory, run the following commands:

   sudo cp mesh-bbs.service /etc/systemd/system/
   

   sudo systemctl enable mesh-bbs.service
   

   sudo systemctl start mesh-bbs.service
   

   The service should be started now and should start anytime your device is powered on or rebooted. You can check the status ofk the service by running the following command:

   sudo systemctl status mesh-bbs.service
   

   If you need to stop the service, you can run the following:

   sudo systemctl stop mesh-bbs.service
   

   If you make changes to the watchlist.txt file, you will need to restart the service with the following command:

   sudo systemctl restart mesh-bbs.service
   

Features

• Mail System: Send and receive mail messages.
• Bulletin Boards: Post and view bulletins on various boards.
• Channel Directory: Add and view channels in the directory.
• Statistics: View statistics about nodes, hardware, and roles.
• Wall of Shame: View devices with low battery levels.
• Fortune Teller: Get a random fortune. Pulls from the fortunes.txt file. Feel free to edit this file remove or add more if you like.

Usage

You interact with the BBS by sending direct messages to the node that's connected to the system running the Python script. Sending any message to it will get a response with the main menu.
Make selections by sending messages based on the letter or number in brackets - Send M for [M]ail Menu for example.

A video of it in use is available on our YouTube channel:

Thanks

Big thanks to Meshtastic and pdxlocations for the great Python examples:

python/examples at master · meshtastic/python (github.com)

pdxlocations/Meshtastic-Python-Examples (github.com)

License

GNU General Public License v3.0