VChat conference server win32 installation notes: ================================================= This file was last revised on: $Id: INSTALL.win32,v 1.2 2006/08/07 13:35:16 mickey Exp $ I. Compatibility: -------------------- The VChat conference server 'vserver' should run on any Windows32 platform that incorporates the Service Control Manager and is able to run Services (i.e. Windows NT 4, Windows 2000, Windows XP). II. Installing the executable program file: --------------------------------------------- 1. Create a program directory of your choice. The recommended directory is 'C:\Program Files\vserver'. 2. Copy the contents of the unpacked distribution archive into this directory. III. Understanding the concept of a Windows Service: ----------------------------------------------------- The VChat conference server 'vserver' is designed as a Windows Service. Windows services run under the control of the Service Control Manager that maintains a database of currently installed services, their individual startup-type, running-state and other service specific properties. At system startup the Service Control Manager starts up all services whose startup-type is set to 'Automatic'. All handling of installed services like starting, stopping, restarting or changing the startup type of a particular service is done through the 'Services' snapin of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) which is usually found in: START->Programs->Administrative Tools->Services Alternatively you may open the Services MMC snapin by choosing the 'Run' item from the START menu and entering 'services.msc /s' into the open dialogue. IV. Installing a VChat service to the Service Control Manager database: ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Open a command shell prompt by choosing the 'Run' item from the START menu and entering 'CMD' into the open dialogue. 2. Change to the directory where you have installed the vserver.exe executable file into. 3. Type 'vserver /help' to see a list of supported commandline qualifiers. There are several commandline qualifiers that alter the defaults when installing the service. The following should be of particular interest: /CONFIG= This qualifier provides a service configuration name which is used to distinguish multiple VChat services running on the same machine and also provides the name of the service base directory where service specific information will be stored. You may use the internet domain name as the service configuration name for example. /ADDRESS= By default the VChat conference server will use INADDR_ANY to bind the server socket to, thus accepting connections on any internet address configured for the machine. By using this qualifier you may provide a specific IPv4 address to bind to. If the machine is configured to use multiple IPv4 addresses, then you may use this qualifier to install multiple seperate VChat services, each using a different address. /PORT= By default the VChat conference server will use TCP port 1168 to listen for incoming connection requests. Although it is not recommended to use some other TCP port number, since VChat clients also use 1168 by default, there are situations where it may be useful to do so. For example when configuration port forwarding on your firewall/router. It is also possible to run multiple VChat conference servers on the same machine, with each using a different TCP port number. /HOSTNAME= This qualifier provides a fixed hostname that the VChat conference server will use to annouce to it's users. By default the VChat conference server will use the DNS name that corresponds to the interface address to which each user has connected. There are setups in which you may want to use this qualifier, for example if you have configured multiple DNS names for the same internet address and want to announce a particular name to your users. /LOGFILE This qualifier enables logging to a logfile. 4. Install the service to the service control manager database by typing 'vserver /INSTALL' adding any additional commandline switches you may need to use. This will install the service, create a service base directory as a subdirectory of the path where the vserver executable resides and will let you create the initial user database file for that service. If you want to run multiple VChat conference servers on the same machine, repeat this step for each separate service that you need. Examples: vserver /CONFIG=example.com /HOSTNAME=vchat.example.com /INSTALL vserver /CONFIG=example1.com /ADDRESS=10.1.1.1 /INSTALL vserver /CONFIG=example2.com /ADDRESS=10.1.1.2 /INSTALL vserver /CONFIG=example1.com /INSTALL vserver /CONFIG=example2.com /PORT=1169 /INSTALL 5. Open the Services MMC snapin. You should see a 'VChat' entry appearing within the list of services. If you installed multiple VChat services then there should be an entry for each, with the configuration name appended, i.e. 'VChat:example1.com'. You may now start the service by right clicking on it and choosing 'Start' from the context-menu. The VChat service is by default configured to auto-start at system start time. So after the next reboot the VChat service(s) is/are started up automatically. V. Uninstalling a VChat service from the Service Control Manager database: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. If the VChat service you want to delete is currently running, stop it from the Services MMC snapin. 2. Open a command shell prompt by choosing the 'Run' item from the START menu and entering 'CMD' into the open dialogue. 3. Change to the directory where you have installed the vserver.exe executable file into. 4. Uninstall the desired VChat service from the Service Control Manager database by typing: vserver /UNINSTALL If there are multiple VChat services installed on your machine, or you have given a service configuration name to the VChat service, then you also have to specify the configuration name, i.e.: vserver /CONFIG= /UNINSTALL If the service has been run prior to uninstalling it, it is now marked for deletion and will disappear from the Services MMC snapin the next time you reboot your machine. If the service you deleted has not been run, then it should disappear from the list immediately. VI. Submitting bug reports: ------------------------------ Should you encounter any problems during the build, installation or use of this software or it's documentation, you are encouraged to submit a bug report about this problem. This will help to improve the quality of this software, and likewise raise the chances that your specific problem is being fixed in the next software release, or that you will be sent a patch for the problem even prior to the next release. Please understand, that in order to reproduce, analyze and finally fix your specific problem, concise information about your operating system, build environment and any other possibly associated circumstances is needed. Therefore it is best to take some time to submit a bug report, and to fill in all information regarding the problem you are having with the software and/or it's documentation. To submit a bug report, please visit the following URL: http://www.enforcer.cc/vchat/sendpr