Start your first SPITFIRE NG board

SPITFIRE NG is a modern reimplementation of the classic BBS. You run the board, choose its rules and welcome callers through a terminal client. Current source is a Development Preview, with D1–D3 accepted: login and new users, safe simultaneous sessions, menus, conferences, reading, posting and replies, plus update/backup/recovery foundations.

Choose your starting point

The accepted source checkpoint is f5dcee3b2ae1377fb73b64c31b28d827da717f1c at schema 37. A schema is the version of the stored board data layout. Real Apple Silicon Telnet acceptance exists; Intel macOS compilation passes. Windows, BSD and Linux are not claimed as broadly accepted runtime platforms.

For the latest accepted features, build this source. The older 0.1.0 Apple Silicon download is a separate historical preview and does not contain all D1–D3 work. There is no finished installer or service manager yet.

Build the accepted source

Install Git, a current stable Rust toolchain with Cargo, and your platform's compiler tools. On macOS, use a real Terminal window. SQLite is embedded; no database server is needed.

git clone https://github.com/cdaters/spitfire-ng.git
cd spitfire-ng
git checkout f5dcee3b2ae1377fb73b64c31b28d827da717f1c
cargo build --release --locked -p sf-bbs
./target/release/spitfire --version

The program version still prints 0.1.0. Use the source checkpoint, not that number alone, to distinguish this build from the old download.

Create a local board

Create parent directories, then let setup create a new board directory:

mkdir -p "$HOME/Spitfire/boards" "$HOME/Spitfire/backups"
./target/release/spitfire setup "$HOME/Spitfire/boards/my-board"

Choose a board name, Sysop account and unique password. For a first test, use a public board with two caller nodes, enable Telnet only on 127.0.0.1 port 2323, and leave other listeners disabled. Keep unnecessary profile collection disabled. Confirm the displayed limits and timezone. The password is entered privately in the terminal.

A caller node here is a connection slot. It is separate from a CircuitNET network Node ID. The initial board includes starter conferences and presentation resources; it does not include proprietary original SPITFIRE artwork.

Check and start

./target/release/spitfire status "$HOME/Spitfire/boards/my-board/spitfire.toml"
./target/release/spitfire run "$HOME/Spitfire/boards/my-board/spitfire.toml"

Confirm the board is offline before starting, its presentation is ready, and its only listener is the local address you chose. Leave the running terminal open. This starts the BBS in the foreground.

Connect callers

Use a BBS terminal client, connect to 127.0.0.1:2323, and select ANSI-BBS/ANSI, CP437, 80×25, with local echo off. Telnet is unencrypted: keep this first test on your own computer. Current source also supports SSH caller access for encrypted caller connections.

Log in as the setup-created Sysop. Then register a separate ordinary test caller. Use the Login for authentication and the Handle as the public name. Try simultaneous calls with different accounts; the same account cannot occupy two active sessions. Caller access and time limits explains the behavior.

Try messages

  1. Choose Main M for Messages, then C to select an allowed conference.
  2. Choose E, press Enter for All Callers, and enter a subject and a short welcome message.
  3. A blank line opens the editor commands. Choose S and confirm Y to save.
  4. Browse with B, read with R, and try next/previous and Reply using the displayed commands.
  5. Try Read → N for new messages, log off with G, and reconnect to check the saved read position.

Only confirmed posts are published. Read positions belong to each caller. Linked replies follow the actual parent message, even when the subject changes. Messages gives the complete current controls and permission rules.

Protect the first board

Log off callers, stop the board cleanly, and quit offline tools. Make a cold backup with a new destination:

./target/release/spitfire backup \
  "$HOME/Spitfire/boards/my-board/spitfire.toml" \
  "$HOME/Spitfire/backups/my-board-001"

Rehearse restoration before relying on the backup. Managed D1 installations add authenticated updates and compatible runtime rollback after one-time adoption. Understand update versus rollback versus restore; they protect different things.

Explore when you are ready

Configure your board, operate it, and plan storage. CircuitNET NG shares conferences between boards; learn its setup sequence, but applications remain closed.

Full Files caller UX/transfers, broader Sysop operations, further multi-node hardening, Doors, packaging/services, classic migration and final public-preview acceptance remain in development. Existing file/transfer foundations do not mean D4 is complete.

Advanced reference: public first-board procedure, configuration, and D3 accepted source evidence. This is an editorial current-source guide; it is not a new claim that these commands were runtime-tested during the website refresh.