Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

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deliot
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Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by deliot »

Hello,

I'm trying to upgrade my PRIVATE list server to work with the newer BZFS 2.4.x. I know one of the changes for new servers is the -publickey setting if the server wishes to be listed on the PUBLIC BZFlag server list.

My Questions:
(1) Do I need to use -publickey if I am using my own PRIVATE List Server with BZFS 2.4.x.

(2) Were there any changes to the way the PHPBB3 setup worked that I might need to encorporate? Did the databases change in any ways for the new update?

Thanks in advance.
Dan


PS: Please don't ask WHY I need to have my own PRIVATE Bzflag List server, etc.
see here:
http://my.bzflag.org/bb/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=16653
and here:
http://wiki.bzflag.org/Private_List_Server
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JeffM
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by JeffM »

you can modify the list server to not require the key if you want to.

in fact the old authentication method should work as well.

I don't think you even need to change your list server for 2.4, it should run fine.

Only stats sites that actually connected to games and listed game info had to change for 2.4.

Have you tried listing a 2.4 server with your current setup?
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blast
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by blast »

Easiest would be to just make bzfls.php treat the 2.4 like the 2.0 so it doesn't need a valid key. You can just force the logic to be false in all cases. Look for 0026 in the code for bzfls.php and that should take you to the code to determine if the publickey is necessary.

Also, even if you do that, you'll probably still need to throw a garbage key into the server configuration. It can be anything, so even '-publickey 1' would work.
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deliot
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by deliot »

Thanks for the help guys.

I just couldn't get it to work. Something has changed somewhere, and I don't have the time to fix it. The private server deals with tokens fine, and everything seems OK when I do the testing, but new users from the private phpbb board don't show up in users.txt. Also, users can't authenticate and join the game. So for now, I'm reverting to the previous server version.

This isn't much of a big deal anyway, since the server is private and protected behind a firewall.
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by JeffM »

I'm not sure what you mean by "users.txt", are you passing a user file bzfs using userdb and having people do /identify in game?

If so then yes that did change, that is not global authentication that is local authentication and it was removed (it sent passwords in plaintext). Global auth does not require anything on the server (other then setting the URL for the list server) or any "user files" at all.

All you should have to do is run the bzfls php file, link it to your phpbb3 database and set all your servers and clients to go to the URL for the bzfls php page. That is all we do here.
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by blast »

Assuming users.txt is your userdb, the userdb exists yet in 2.4. The passdb was what was removed. The userdb maps usernames to local group memberships. The passdb was what stored local users.
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by JeffM »

yes you can use UserDB for per user permisions, the users don't magically "show up" in the file, you have to add them manually if you want to give them specific permissions. It sounds like what you want is groups on the phpbb side then have a groupDB with the permissions. Then you can use phpbb to group the users and grant them the permissions tied to each group. You can also define default permissions for users not in any group.
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by deliot »

The way it worked for me with 2.0.16 was this. I set up my own private list server using phpbb3 (based on instructions I wrote here: http://wiki.bzflag.org/Private_List_Server). When people would create an account with phpbb3, they would also end up in users.txt locally on the server. So somehow bzfls.php and the bzfs "hook up" and this user.txt file would get populated when accounts are created.

I followed Blast's suggestion and tweaked the IF statement that controls the valid key, but that didn't seem to do it. Tried keeping the key on, turning it off, setting the key to 1, etc, etc... The real problem is, I'm not sure what the problem is.

I already have a valid Groups file and the phpbb3 database has a groups table. My *GUESS* is that all of this not working has to do with the key authentication, but that's just a guess.

So after 6 hours (no exaggeration) I gave up on getting my private phpbb3 server to work with 2.4. The real problem is, I don't know exactly what change from 2.0.16 to 2.4.x that affects the registration server.
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by deliot »

Just so we're clear, I'm talking about this file (below) which used to get populated by the private phpbb3 server as users joined. Also, even if the user existed in the file, I was getting "this user is already registered" login errors.

Code: Select all

# userdb stores user to group mappings.
#Spacing is VERY important in this file!!
#be careful editing it manually!!
-userdb /home/xxxxxxx/bzflag/bzflag_files/users.txt
Which looks like this in Gedit:

Code: Select all

FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
EVERYONE VERIFIED LOCAL.GLOBAL 



FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
EVERYONE VERIFIED LOCAL.GLOBAL 



FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
EVERYONE VERIFIED LOCAL.GLOBAL 



FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
EVERYONE VERIFIED LOCAL.GLOBAL 



FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
EVERYONE VERIFIED LOCAL.GLOBAL 


FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
EVERYONE VERIFIED LOCAL.GLOBAL 



FIRSTNAME_LASTNAME
EVERYONE VERIFIED LOCAL.GLOBAL 
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JeffM
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by JeffM »

No.. no they don't "Hook up", I should know I wrote the UserDB part :). If you are using groups on the phpbb side you don't even need a userDB file so you can remove that line in your config.

If key authentication was failing then your server would not list on your list server. Does your list server show your server when you do a LIST action? if not then that is your main problem, not your user file.

My guess is that you were using some sort of hodgepodge of local user perms/authentication and global authentication. Much of the local authentication has been removed from 2.4. A pure global system should work fine for you, all you need is a groups file with permissions. Everyone who authenticates will get the "verified" and global groups.
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Re: Private List Server with BZFS 2.4.x

Post by JeffM »

In looking further, it looks like when 2.0.x stored the global users in the userDB that was a bug that was fixed. That file is not doing ANYTHING for authentication for you, it is just a group store ( and a huge security bug ).

You really don't need that file, even in 2.0.x and it has nothing to do with your issues.
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