create a chatroom

-- How to create a chatroom --

Here's now a chapter for those who have the manager spirit and who want to create their own chatroom.

For that, you must install a chat server on your PC. The people who will come to chat in your room will connect directly to your PC. If you stop the chat server or if you turn off your PC, your room will disappear.

A. Responsabilities

Because the manager operates a chat server on his/her PC without any possibility of verification or control from us, we shall not take any responsability for the use of this server software nor for the corresponding client software.
By downloading the chat server, the manager accepts to take full responsability of the use of this software.

We advise the manager to keep an eye on the following responsabilities :

The manager will check the age of the chatters in the "adult" rooms.
The manager will take care that no act against the law be committed by the chatters.
The manager will not leave a crowded room without surveillance, especially if it's a room that, given the title of the room, attracts an adult public. It is advisable to be surrounded by a team of assistant-managers that can take turns.
The manager will not use, for the title of his/her room, any vulgar words nor insults against other chatters.

We advise the manager not to take these responsabilities lightly if he/she wants to avoid a visit to the police consequent to a charge filed by a chatter !
The manager can use the server's logfile to verify what's happening in his/her room.

B. Installation

To install the chat server, please follow steps 1 to 8 below :

Step 1

Download the chat server by clicking on this link then on 'Run'.
(if it's not working, click here)

Step 2

Start it by clicking on the icon "CREATE_ROOM" on your desktop.

Step 3

Enter your room's name ("Chez Samuro"),
then select a language and a country ("Français/Belgique"),
and finally select a category (Ados, General, Adult 18+ or Erotica 21+) :

Categorie	Description
Ados	0 to 20 years
General	for all public
Conversation 18+	conversations between adults
Erotica 21+	pink rooms

Step 4

Observe the indicator "#rooms" on the chat server (see picture on the right). This indicator counts the total number of chatrooms existing in the system. At the beginning, when you start the chat server, this indicator indicates 1. After a few minutes, it should indicate a value larger than 1 (for example 67 on the picture). This means that your room was correctly added in the room list. Continue then at step 7 below.

If you see a TEST button colored in GREEN, it means everything is all right, the indicator "#rooms" will change in a few minutes, you only need to wait.

On the other hand, if you see a TEST button colored in RED, it means that your PC isn't correctly configured to run a server. Continue then at step 5 hereafter.

Step 5 : Router

click on the button "Start" in the left bottom corner of your Windows screen.

click on "Run" or "Execute"

type cmd then click OK, a black box should then appear.
(note: on windows 95/98, type dosprmpt instead of cmd)

type ipconfig and hit on the Enter key (in the right bottom corner of the keyboard)

search for the two red lines on the picture hereabove. The first one is called "IP Address", and the second below is called "Default Gateway".

If these IP addresses start with 192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x or 172.x.x.x then you have a router that we will have to configurate (if they start with something else, you don't have a router and you can jump immediately to step 6 : Firewall)

write down carefully both IPs on a sheet of paper :
- the first one is the local IP of your PC (don't confuse it with your internet IP)
- the second one is the IP of your router.

start internet explorer, and type http://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx where you replace xxx by the IP of your router.

in the router's user guide, find the userid and the password for the login screen (it must often be left blank, or you must type admin).

find the menu to add a server, it's often called "NAT" or "Virtual Server" or "Applications & Gaming"

Add a line in the router's configuration :

application	user-defined, non-standard or type chat
protocol TCP or UDP	TCP
number of incoming port	12000 (ou 12000 à 12000) - from chat server
number of outgoing port	12000 (ou 12000 à 12000) - from chat server
IP Address	local IP of your PC that you wrote down on a sheet of paper
Enable	X

save the configuration.

example: the router wireless LinkSysBEFW11S4

If you don't find the menu NAT, you an also enter your PC's local IP in the router menu "Default Server" or "DMZ".

When your router is well configured, continue at step 6 because there's more to do.

Step 6 : Firewall

You need to autorize the port TCP 12000 in the Windows XP firewall :
- for windows XP click here
- for windows XP with Service Pack 2 click here
You need to autorize the port TCP 12000 in all security software you have installed (norton, f-secure, ..)
To configurate your installed firewalls, please read the user's guide provided with your product. Some free products (for example Zone Alarm Standard Edition) do not allow port configuration. You need then to purchase the professionnal version of the product, or remove it entirely (the firewall within Windows XP offers sufficient security to avoid all hacking).

To check that all your firewall software that you've installed on the PC is configured correctly, you can download here the tiny tool testport. Start the chat server, then type in testport the local IP of your PC (see point 5 hereabove) and port 12000 and click OK : the tool will tell you if the port is open on all your firewalls, thus if you have correctly executed step 6.

When all your routers and firewalls are well-configured, then the button TEST on the chat server should become GREEN when you click on it, which indicates that the port is open; if it remains RED then you must go back to step 4 above because you surely made a mistake !

When the indicator "#rooms" on the chat server displays a value larger than 1, continue at step 7 because it's not finished.

Step 7 : several PCs

If you have a router and you chat from another PC than the one where you installed the server, you'll see a line of dots where your room name normally appears and you won't be able to enter your room, although other chatters can enter without problem. It's because one of your PCs can't find the IP of the other.

To solve this problem, you have two solutions :

1) the automatic method :

open the port UDP 12000 (or 12001, ..) on the firewall of the server PC,
open the port UDP 31977 on the firewall of the PC where you chat,
try to enter your room.

2) the manuel method :

go on the PC where you chat,
configurate windows explorer by clicking on this link
open all CHAT.INI files on your harddisk (those of your pseudos and of your bots); for exemple, the picture on the right show how to open the CHAT.INI file for the pseudo SAMU () : type c:\chat.samu in the area (1), then click on (2), (3) et (4)
In each file CHAT.INI, you have to add the IP (192.168.x.x, 10.x.x.x or 172.x.x.x) and the PORT of the PC where the chat server runs. Be careful: do NOT add the IP displayed on the chat server, it's the wrong one.

Here's a simple example :
Be careful to copy this example in a clean way without changing anything but the IP address and PORT number !

# chat.ini

[room1]
IP   = 192.168.0.52      # IP local address of the PC
PORT = 12000            # port of chat serveur

[icons]
test01 = test.bmp
frog01 = grenouille.gif

[settings]

If you have installed 2 servers (port 12000 and 12001), you need to indicate both ports, like this :

# chat.ini

[room1]
IP   = 192.168.0.52     # IP local address of the PC for server 1
PORT = 12000            # port of chat serveur

[room2]
IP   = 192.168.0.52     # IP local address of the PC for server 2
PORT = 12001            # port of chat serveur

[icons]
test01 = test.bmp
frog01 = grenouille.gif

[settings]

Start now the chat. If you correctly executed this step you should see now a line with the name of your room.

Don't forget, if you create a new pseudo or you download a bot, to repeat this operation for the new chat.ini !

Step 8 : several chat servers

If you install several chat servers on the same router, then you must use different port numbers (12000, 12001, ..) by modifying the file chatserv.ini of each server.

Moreover, if you install several chat servers on different PCs connected to the same router, then it is necessary to open, on the firewalls of these PCs, the UDP ports of same number than the already open TCP ports. If you forget to do it, then some of your rooms will regularly appear and disappear from the room list. (note: the router need not be changed).

Example:

on firewall of PC 1 : open port TCP 12000 and UDP 12000;
on firewall of PC 2 : open port TCP 12001 and UDP 12001;
etc ...

C. The Chat Server

indicates your PC's IP, 12000 being the TCP port used by the chat server.

#rooms

indicates the total number of chatrooms currently open.

#users

indicates the number of chatters in your room.

#conn

indicates the number of active connections between the chat server and internet. Count 1 connection for the room list, 2 connections per chatter in room (1 text connection + 1 cam&micro connection), 4 connections per whispering couple.

Room Name

allows you to indicate the name of your room. It's not necessary to restart the server after changing it.

Langue/Pays

indicates your language/country choice in the room list. It's not necessary to restart the server after changing it.

Categorie

indicates the category of your room :

Category	Description
Ados	0 to 20 years
General	open to all public
Conversation 18+	conversations between adults
Erotica 21+	pink rooms

It's not necessary to restart the server after changing the category.

max upload

allow you to set the maximum upload speed that you allow for the chat server.
The upper value is the maximum limit that you authorize; the lower value changes automatically and indicated the actually used speed.
(see also the chapter "connection speed" further in this documentation)

Button 'R'

resets the "max upload" speed to the default value 120

Reload

reload the file chatserv.ini - to be used after you changed a server parameter in this file.

Gold

displays the list of gold tocs (see chapter below "How to give a toc").

Brown

same for brown tocs.

Banned

displays the list of permanently banned people.

Log-1

displays yesterday's room log.

Log

displays today's room log.

D. Chat Server's Log File

The chat server produces a daily logfile containing all the room's conversation, for example "2003-10-12.chatserv.txt". Whispers are not recorded for privacy protection reasons.

However, note that your internet provider can easily have access to all dialogues on the chat, on Messenger or simply e-mail exchange, for a police inquiry. We advise you to not do anything illegal on the internet, it always leaves traces.

E. How to give a toc or bann a chatter (Here)

F. Private Rooms

A "private" room is only accessible to people who are invited by the room owner. To create a private room, you need to create a file "INVITE.TXT" in the directory "C:\chatserv". This file must contain the list of all signatures that are allowed to enter the room (see chapter above). When this file is created, the prefix #PRIV# appears in front of the room title, which allows the chatters to recognize a private room.
If it doesn't work, try to rename your file into "INVITE" instead of "INVITE.TXT" (notepad adds the hidden extension .TXT automatically, for more details click here)
To retransform a private room in normal room, delete the file.

G. Rooms with password

A room can be protected by a password. Only the chatters who know the correct password can enter.

It is possible to combine private room (see previous chapter) and room with password : only the people invited or knowing the password may then enter.

G.1. Password controlled by the room owner

To protect a room with a password, the room owner must create a file named "PASSWORD.TXT" in the directory "C:\chatserv". This file must contain only the password (to do this, start windows explorer in C:\CHATSERV, click on the menu "Files", click on "New", then on "Text Document", then type the filename PASSWORD, click on it to open notepad, finally type your password and close all).

When this file is created, the prefix #PASS# appears in front of the room name, which allows the chatters to recognize a room with password.

If it's not working, try to rename your file as "PASSWORD.TXT" instead of "PASSWORD" (notepad often adds automatically the hidden extension .TXT, for more details click here)

To remove the password protection, delete the file.

The chatters having a Toc (GOLD or BROWN) can enter the room without giving the password.

G.2. Password controlled by GOLD Tocs

The room owner can allow the GOLD Tocs to control the password, thanks to the command /pass.

Warning: a GOLD toc can, using this command, invite people in a private room (see previous chapter) that were not invited by the room owner.

To authorize the use of the command /pass, the room owner must add, in chatserv.ini :

[security]
command-pass = enable

After having clicked on the button "Reload" from the chat server, the following commands are available for GOLD tocs :

To protect the room with the password "borderline", type the command :

/pass borderline

To see the current password, type :

/pass

To remove the password, type :

/pass off

H. How to create several rooms

Several rooms can be created on the same PC. For this, you must specify, at server installation, the number of rooms you want. The installation will then create several directories and several icons on the desktop to start each room.

Each room will use a different tcp/ip port. The default port of the first room is 12000. To select another port, the installation will create automatically, in the server's directory, a file CHATSERV.INI with the following text :

# chatserv.ini file

[listener]
port = 12001

All you need to do is to configurate your firewall and possibly your router for these additional ports.

I. Connection Speed

Each chatter is linked to the chat server by 2 connections :

- the first connection is used for text.
- the second connection is used for icons, webcam images, microphone sound and profiles.

A setting on the chat server allows to set a limit on the speed used for the second connection.

Connection	Download	Upload	max upload setting
modem 56K	32 Kbits/s	32 Kbits/s	8 à 16 Kbits/s
ADSL	256 Kbits/s	128 Kbits/s	48 à 120 Kbits/s
ADSL	512 Kbits/s	128 Kbits/s	48 à 120 Kbits/s
ADSL	1024 Kbits/s	128 Kbits/s	48 à 120 Kbits/s
ADSL	4096 Kbits/s	128 Kbits/s	48 à 120 Kbits/s
SDSL	1024 Kbits/s	1024 Kbits/s	792 Kbits/s

By default, the setting is set on 120 Kbits/sec for an ADSL connection of 512/128 Kbits/sec.

An ADSL connection download=512 Kbits/sec and upload=128 Kbits/sec allows to send to the other chatters 128 Kbits per seconde; a setting of 120 Kbits/sec leaves a small margin to send text and avoid traffic jams.

If you are lucky and own a professionnel SDSL (symmétric digital subscriber line) connection, you can set without problem to 792 Kbits/sec.

Remark: the speed of an ADSL connection is asymetric, which means that the receiving speed (1024 Kbits/sec) and sending speed (128 Kbits/sec) are different. Unfortunately, a chat server mainly need a fast sending speed to send text and images to all chatters at the same time. So it's no use to increase the reception speed (1024 ou 4096 Kbits/sec) if the sending speed is limited to 128 Kbits/sec.
Usually servers are hosted on SDSL connections (symmétric) where the reception and sending speeds are equal. Such a connection is however too costly for a hobby chatter.