WWIVnet refers to a WWIV BBS based Net that uses WWIV’s message and network packet system to share email and sub messages. There are and have been other WWIVnet based networks, similiar to how there are more than one FidoNet Technology based net. All of these nets are covered on the FTN Nets page.
For the purpose of this page, WWIVnet refers to the specific instance of a WWIVnet that is the primary network for WWIV BBSes called WWIVnet.
On November 2, 2015, WWIVnet switched to BINKP as the underlying protocol for transferring net email and sub messages. The design of the network currently is a hub and spoke model with one node “@1” at the center point for all traffic flow.
Thanks for your interest in WWIVnet, all you need to join is a WWIV bbs heres the application below.
WWIVnet is a mail network for WWIV, and compatible bulletin board
systems. If you would like to join, please fill out this application.
When you’ve completed it, you must rename it to
The best way to have your application processed is to get on a WWIVnet BBS and mail this completed application to either the WWIVnet Network Coordinator, Weatherman 1@1 WWIVnet or email [email protected]
=============================================================================
WWIV Network Application for Membership
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
SYSTEM OPERATOR INFORMATION:
Real Full Name :
Your Handle/Alias :
Home Phone Number :
Best Hours to Call:
Street/Mailing Address:
City:
State: Zip Code:
BBS INFORMATION:
Bulletin Board Name:
Bulletin Board Phone or Telnet Address:
Hours of operation:
Months the BBS has been up:
WWIV Software Version:
Reg Number (if you have one):
Other networks you carry:
Signature/Name: Date:
Setting up WWIVnet on Windows and Linux is essentially the same. All the examples here will use the Windows version of pathing, just remember in linux the path separator is the forward slash, not the back slash.
Anywhere you see a command to run (wwivconfig, network3, etc), remember this assumes you are in your WWIV installation directory.
net\wwivnet directory in your WWIV directory.\wwiv\net\wwivnetwwivconfig and select N. Network Configuration┌───────────────────────────────────────── Network Configuration ┐
│ Net Type : WWIVnet │
│ Net Name : WWIVnet │
│ Node # : YOURNODE │
│ Directory : nets\wwivnet\ │
└────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
@1 && /60 "password"
replacing password with the one provided by 1@1. NOTE The double quotes
are necessary in the file.network3 y which will verify your configuration and files and
send an email to your local #1 mailbox. If no network number is given, .0
is assumed, so network3 y is the same as network3 y .0bbs.exe -M to pickup and deliver the mail.The simplest way is to have wwivd take care of it for you. In wwivconfig,
under wwivd configuration are these settings:
Net Callouts: No
Net Callout Cmd: ./networkb --send --net=@T --node=@N
Toggle “No” to “Yes” by hitting the spacebar, then exiting wwivconfig. Restart
the wwivd daemon.
If you’d rather do it manually, network mail processing must be done from ${WWIV_DIR}. The basic command to invoke message transport is:
network --net=(name or position of your network) --node=(number of target)
So to continue with the example above, it could be:
network --net=wwivnet --node=1
OR
network --net=0 --node=1
OR
network --net=.0
OR EVEN
network -n1 (as the node is presumed with WWIVnet)
You should call this at a regular but decently spread out interval. (Every quarter hour is more than sufficient.) You can use cron, systemd, or another process to call this command from ${WWIV_DIR}.
Now that we’ve gotten through all of the setup and tested with some netmail, it’s time to actually add some subs. The first thing you need to do is look at your ${WWIV_DIR}/nets/wwivnet/subs.lst to see all the available WWIVnet subs. For example, a few of the core subs are:
1 1 R WWIVnet Sysop Area
GENCHAT 1 R WWIVnet General Chat
WWIVDEV 1 R WWIV Development
WWIVNET 1 R WWIV Networking
The important bit is the first and second field. This is the “Subtype” and host that you will enter in //BE. Typically, you will just use the Subtype as the Filename, too (it just makes it easier to keep track). In order to add a WWIVnet sub, you will use option “J” in the edit section to set up the Net parameters for the sub. Here’s an example:
A) Name : WWIVnet General Chat
B) Filename : genchat
C) Key : None.
D) Read SL : 10
E) Post SL : 20
F) Anony : No
G) Min. Age : 0
H) Max Msgs : 1000
I) AR : None.
J) Net info : Not networked.
K) Storage typ: 2
L) Val network: No
M) Req ANSI : No
N) Disable tag: No
O) Description: None.
(Q=Quit) Which (A-O,[=Prev,]=Next) : J
What sub type? GENCHAT
Will you be hosting the sub? No
Which system (number) is the host? 1
Attempt automated add request? Yes
Automated add request sent to @1
Note: that in the example, the sub type is “GENCHAT” and the Host is “1”
NOTE: When putting in a filename (option B), use all lowercase. There is a potential issue with filename case that can be avoided by using lowercase for the names.
After you finish adding a new sub and the automated request is generated, it will take some time for the request to make it to the host node and for it to auto-subscribe your node. Assuming your net tossing is working, the BBS will attempt to run network1 when you log out. Once it has generated the necessary files, it will be sent as part of the callout process listed above. If you have already gotten it working for normal user netmail, this should “just work.”
When you are are ready to host your own WWIVnet sub, here are the steps:
If you are running other BINKP protocol networks (like Fidonet), you might
need to specify a custom port for WWIVnet.
To do this, the custom port needs to be specified in binkp.net by adding
:port# to your entry like so: @206 wwiv.cloudcitybbs.com:24555
This is managed by @1, the Network Coordinator. So you first contact them about this as you joing WWIVnet or if you need to make a change later. You will then also need to specify this custom port in wwivd config in wwivconfig.
Again, be sure to coordinate changes with 1@1 or you will be dropped off the net.
Even though we are no longer using the old DOS version of NETXX, the documentation for net37 has a lot of technical information if you’d like to read it that is still relevant to how the data packets are processed.