YaBB 1 Gold Manual - Installation

Installation Instructions

YaBB will run on most Unix/Linux servers and will run on NT running Apache Web Server. There are known issues with NT and IIS. Perl 5 is also required. The purpose of the following 4 steps are to get your YaBB running. Please follow them as carefully as possible and consult the troubleshooting section in the event of problems, then the yabb.org faq if you encounter further problems or have questions. Furthermore, these instructions have assumed that you have unzipped the .zip file downloaded from yabb.org into a folder on your hard drive.

We suggest that you visit yabb.org and browse the support forums there. Feel free to post and ask questions. Mainly, just get the feel of how YaBB works. Understanding usage will help you set it up.

Step 1 - Configure Settings

First open 'YaBB.pl', 'Reminder.pl', and 'PrintPage.pl'. Each of those files contains a path to your server's Perl location. Generally, this setting is correct, but Perl is installed in different locations. For example on a Windows or WinNT machine, your Perl path should probably be set to #!C:/Perl/Bin. Check your server for the proper path and change accordingly.

Next open 'Settings.pl' and set the variables inside as follows:

Required Settings-->

$mbname	The name of your YaBB forum
$boardurl	URL of your board's folder (without trailing '/') - where YaBB.pl is located
$cookieusername	Name of the username cookie (no change necessary)
$cookiepassword	Name of the password cookie (no change necessary)
$mailprog	Location of your sendmail program (generally "/usr/sbin/sendmail" or similar)
$webmaster_email	Your e-mail address (must have the slash in it as shown "webmaster\@mysite.com")

$boarddir	Absolute path to the board's folder (usually can be left as '.')
$datadir	Directory with messages (can be left alone unless you wish to move elsewhere)
$memberdir	Directory with member files (can be left alone unless you wish to move elsewhere)
$boardsdir	Directory with board data files (can be left alone unless you wish to move elsewhere)
$sourcedir	Directory with YaBB source files (can be left alone unless you wish to move elsewhere)
$vardir	Directory with variable files (can be left alone unless you wish to move elsewhere)
$facesurl	URL to your avatars folder (without trailing '/')
$facesdir	Absolute Path to your avatars directory (this MUST be correct for profile page to display)
$imagesdir	URL to your images folder (without trailing '/')
$helpfile	URL to your help index file (http://www.mysite.com/yabbhelp/index.html)

The remaining settings in Settings.pl are not required, but are only feature and layout variables. It is recommended that you do not change them until you get YaBB working! After that, have fun....

Open 'template.html' and modify the layout as you wish (to make it look like your site). Note: the tags beginning with "<yabb " MUST REMAIN in the template.html file. You may move them around as you wish as long as you keep those tags on lines BY THEMSELVES. The tag "<yabbnews>" has been removed in this version, in favor of the NewsFader script. You may insert this tag if you would like the old text news format back on your YaBB. (But be sure to set $ShowNewsFader to '0' before you put that tag back in, or you'll have the news twice on the Board Index.) It is recommended that you do not change template.html either until you get YaBB working!

Although we think it is great that people like to "hack YaBB" and make mods, NEVER install mods before installing a new yabb board. Always get the board to work first, then install mods and reupload your files. YaBB does not support any mods - you are own your own if you install them.

Step 2 - Create Directories

In your CGI-BIN create a directory called "yabb" (or whatever name you wish to use). If you do not have a cgi-bin, then first create a directory called 'cgi-bin' and then inside that create the 'yabb' directory.

Create the following folders inside your 'yabb' folder (or according to Settings.pl):

   cgi-bin/yabb/
   cgi-bin/yabb/Boards
   cgi-bin/yabb/Members
   cgi-bin/yabb/Messages
   cgi-bin/yabb/Sources
   cgi-bin/yabb/Variables

Then, in a section of your webspace (outside the cgi-bin, generally in a 'public_html' folder), create another directory called 'yabbimages' or something similar:

   /yabbimages/

And create another directory called 'yabbhelp' or something similar in a section of your webspace:

   /yabbhelp/

Step 3 - Upload Files

Place the files from the downloaded zip into the directories as shown below and be sure to "chmod" them as shown below. Be sure to upload ALL .pl files in ASCII mode. Chmod is not supported on Windows servers, so there is no need to do that step after uploading (or extracting) the files.

------- NON cgi-bin section ---------

   /ubbc.js                                     (Upload in Ascii)
   /fader.js                                    (Upload in Ascii)
   /yabbhelp/			*.*             (Upload in Ascii)
   /yabbhelp/images		*.*             (Upload in Binary!)
   /yabbimages/			*.gif all files (Upload in Binary!)
   /yabbimages/avatars		*.* all files   (Upload in Binary!)

------- CGI-BIN section (all files in ASCII) ---------

   /yabb/                             drwxrwxrwx (chmod 777 or 755 on some servers)
   /yabb/YaBB.pl                      -rwxr-xr-x (chmod 755)
   /yabb/Printpage.pl                 -rwxr-xr-x (chmod 755)
   /yabb/Reminder.pl                  -rwxr-xr-x (chmod 755)
   /yabb/Settings.pl                  drwxrwxrwx (chmod 777)
   /yabb/template.html                drwxrwxrwx (chmod 777)
   /yabb/english.lng                  -rw-r--r-- (leave as is) # or another language file

   /yabb/Boards                       drwxrwxrwx (chmod 766 or 777)
   /yabb/Boards/.htaccess             -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Boards/general.cat           -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Boards/general.dat           -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Boards/general.txt           -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING

   /yabb/Members                      drwxrwxrwx (chmod 766 or 777)
   /yabb/Members/.htaccess            -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Members/admin.dat            -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Members/memberlist.txt       -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING

   /yabb/Messages                     drwxrwxrwx (chmod 766 or 777)
   /yabb/Messages/.htaccess           -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)

   /yabb/Sources                      drwxrwxrwx (chmod 766 or 777)
   /yabb/Sources/Admin.pl             -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/BoardIndex.pl        -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Display.pl           -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/ICQPager.pl          -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/InstantMessage.pl    -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Load.pl              -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/LockThread.pl        -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/LogInOut.pl          -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Maintenance.pl       -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/ManageBoards.pl      -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/ManageCats.pl        -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Memberlist.pl        -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/MessageIndex.pl      -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/ModifyMessage.pl     -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/MoveThread.pl        -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Notify.pl            -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Post.pl              -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Profile.pl           -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Recent.pl            -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Register.pl          -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/RemoveOldThreads.pl  -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/RemoveThread.pl      -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Search.pl            -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Security.pl          -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/SendTopic.pl         -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Sources/Subs.pl              -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)

   /yabb/Variables                    drwxr-xr-x (chmod 777 or 755 on some systems)
   /yabb/Variables/.htaccess          -rw-r--r-- (leave as is) !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Variables/agreement.txt      -rw-r--r-- (leave as is)
   /yabb/Variables/cat.txt            -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Variables/censor.txt         -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Variables/membergroups.txt   -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Variables/news.txt           -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Variables/oldestmes.txt      -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Variables/reserve.txt        -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING
   /yabb/Variables/reservecfg.txt     -rw-rw-rw- (chmod 666)   !!DO NOT UPLOAD IF UPGRADING

There is a ksh (UN*X) script available to set the permissions as needed, get it here.
(note: this script is not endorsed by YaBB.)

Step 4 - Run, Log In and Test

Try to execute your YaBB board now! In your web browser, go to the url that you specified in $boardurl of Settings.pl with /YaBB.pl (or /YaBB.cgi for the cgi version) on the end (such as http://www.mysite.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl). Remember most servers are case-sensitive.

If you can't run the board, please re-do the above 3 steps and consulting the troubleshooting section of this manual. After you have successfully run your YaBB board from the web, you need to try logging in. The default username is "admin" and default password is "admin". They will always be so when you install a new YaBB board. Login with that information and you should see an "Admin" icon in the menu of the YaBB board. Clicking it will take you to the "Admin Center" where you can see all sorts of nifty things to do.

Test everything (that you know exists), such as posting, registering a new member, modifying message.. etc. Then after that, go to the admin center to create some new boards.