Maximus BBS

Documentation for Maximus BBS — Next Generation

View on GitHub

Quick Start

Get Maximus BBS up and running quickly

This page gets you from zero to a running BBS in four steps. No compiling required — just grab a release package.

If you want to build from source instead, see Building Maximus.

1. Download and Extract

Download the latest release for your platform from GitHub Releases:

tar -xzvf maximus-<version>-<platform>.tar.gz
cd maximus-<version>-<platform>

The archive contains a complete BBS installation tree:

Directory Contents
bin/ Executables (max, maxtel, maxcfg, mecca, mex, squish)
lib/ Shared libraries
config/ TOML configuration files
config/lang/ Language strings (english.toml) and delta overlay
display/ Compiled display files (help screens, menus)
scripts/ Compiled MEX scripts and includes
data/ User database, message bases, file areas

See Directory Structure for the full layout.

2. Run the Install Script

The interactive install script configures your BBS name, sysop name, and updates all paths in the TOML configuration:

bin/install.sh

Follow the prompts. The script writes your settings into config/maximus.toml and updates path references across the configuration tree.

3. Create Your Sysop Account

Log in locally to create your sysop account and initialize the user database:

bin/runbbs.sh -c

Enter your sysop name (matching what you set during install), create a password, and exit with G (Goodbye). Remote connections will fail until this step is complete.

See First Login & Sysop Account for details on privilege setup and what happens during first login.

4. Launch with MAXTEL

MAXTEL is the telnet supervisor that manages multi-node access:

bin/maxtel -p 2323 -n 4

Your BBS is now accepting callers on port 2323 with up to 4 simultaneous nodes. Connect with any telnet client:

telnet localhost 2323

See MaxTel for headless mode, daemon mode, and the full ncurses dashboard.

What’s Next

See Also