Chapter 1

There are many things to take into account before starting a Hotline server; we'll go over a few of them before getting to the actual setup process.

Since you're reading this I will assume you know why you want to run a Hotline server, so I will go over some of the cons to running one first, and go into more detail on each point later.

- You will need adequate bandwidth to run one at an efficient speed.

- Your ISP might prevent you from running a server.

- Your ISP might have data transfer limitations, sometimes even extra charges for going past the monthly limit.

- When people are downloading your download speed becomes very slow, and this applies for everyone else using your Internet connection.

- It does require a fair amount of work to keep your server organized, and running well.

Now let's go a little deeper into each one...

You will need adequate bandwidth to run one at an efficient speed:
Although you can run a Hotline server on any TCP/IP connection you will want one with a good upload speed. A Cable or xDSL connection or better is strongly recommended if you're going to be running a server that's open to the public. When people are downloading from your server your server sends (uploads) data to them - so the faster your upload speed, the faster everyone can download from you. An upload speed of around 15 KB/sec is a good minimum, however, 50 KB+ is a good speed.

Your ISP might prevent you from running a server:

Some ISPs block you from running a server, there are a few methods they use, but chances are you will not get past the block and will either have to give up, or switch ISPs.

Your ISP might have data transfer limitations:

The main ADSL provider in my city (Bell Canada) had a 10 GB data transfer limit per month, and if you went past that amount they'd charge for you additional transfer. Most ISPs don't have these limits, and if they do they will usually warn you when you're getting close to your limit.
A Hotline server can go through 10 GB very quickly (depending on the speed of your connection and the number of downloads you get per month).
Just like if your ISP is blocking you from running a server you will either have to switch ISPs, or forget about running a server. (Or pay the extra money.)

When people are downloading your download speed becomes very slow:

Depending on your connection, and the connections of the people downloading from your server the connection can become very slow while in use. You must take this into consideration because this will affect everyone on your Internet connection. For example, let's say you have a computer of your own running a server, but you also have a roommate with his/her own computer. When your server has people downloading your roommate's speed will drop significantly. There are software programs that can limit the speed each user gets, however, I can't really recommend any of the ones I have used.

It requires a fair amount of work to keep your server organized and running well:

I think I will go into this more, later in the setup process.


Chapter 2

If you have a router you must setup port forwarding to run a server on the internet. Port forwarding is sometimes called "Virtual Servers" or "Server List". Read the manual for your router to find out how to enable and configure it.

If your computer has an IP address in this range, you are getting a local IP that cannot be reached from outside your network:

10.0.0.0 to 10.255.255.255

172.16.0.0 to 172.31.255.255

192.168.0.0 to 192.168.255.255

(some ISPs give you one of these even without a router, if that is the case you cannot run a server)

When you find out how to enable port forwarding on your router, simply set ports 5500, 5501, 5502, 5503, 5504, and 5505 to redirect to your server's internal IP address (such as 10.0.0.3.)

First thing you must do is download and install the Hotline Server application. As of this writing 1.9.1 (Mac/PC) is the newest one; you should always have the newest version. Older versions have some security problems. Check HotSprings' website once every month or two.

Once you download the program and decompress it, you will have a folder with some files and folders in it, here are the ones of interest:

Agreement.txt:

This is the agreement people will see when connecting. Do not forget to change this file, as it comes set as something silly like "please edit this file!"

Account, Download, Connect, Error, and Upload logs:

If you have logging turned on, these files will, well, log stuff.

Files:
Anything in this folder will show up in the files section of Hotline.

Hotline Server 1.9.1 (or something similar):

This is the server application. Whenever this program is running people can connect to your server.

MessageBoard.txt:
T
his is the message board system that acts like the older 1.2.3 news system. When you want to make changes to things that were posted in the message board, simply edit this file.

News:

This folder contains everything posted in the threaded news system. Generally you don't need to do anything in this folder.

Users:
This folder holds the data files for any accounts you make on your server. It is a good idea to have a backup of this folder.

Getting Started

First launch the Hotline Server application and click on the options button.

I will give you some information, and suggestions for each option.

General Options Tap

Server port number:

Changing this overrides the default port of 5500. Unless you are running more than one server leave this at 5500.

Maximum simultaneous downloads:

This setting really depends on how fast the upload speed on your connection is. You want to aim for at least 10 KB/sec per download slot. So if you have a max of around 40 KB/sec upload you'll want around 4 slots.

Maximum simultaneous downloads/client:

This sets the maximum number of downloads any single users can have going at one time. I strongly recommend you set this to one (1).

Maximum simultaneous connections/IP:

This controls how many times a person can login from one computer. Leave this at one because it prevents someone from connecting 3 or 4 times and downloading with each client, thus taking up all of the download slots.

Setting this to zero allows unlimited connections.

Log Account Changes/Connects/Downloads/Uploads to file:

Turn all of these on. Having them on will let you confirm all the stuff someone said they uploaded when you were not around.

Play Sounds:

This gets really irritating, really fast.

Confirm Quit:

Leave this on.


Info Tab


Name:

This is the name of the server that will show in search sites, and Hotline Trackers. Pick something neat. Please, don't use something stupid like "CABLE SERVER!"

Description:

Stick a brief description of what's on your server in here.

Again, don't do something stupid like "LOTS OF PORN! 9000 GB! T3 CONNECTION!"


Banner Tab

This lets you pick a banner that will be shown in the ad window of Hotline Client. This is optional, if you don't have one leave everything blank.

Currently Hotline Client 1.9.x doesn't show custom banners, however, older 1.8 clients will see this.

Local:

If you're storing the banner image on your hard drive, put the file into the Hotline Server folder, and enter the name of the file here. GIF, JPEG, SWF (Flash) files work, and I think BMP files work also.

Link:

This is the web page that will open when someone clicks on your banner. Pick something useful, like my web site.

Remote:

If your image is stored on a web server, enter the address of the image file here.

Ban tab

When someone is permanently banned, they will be added to this list. Also you can manually add IP addresses to this list.

Trackers Tab

You will need to turn "List with Hotline Trackers" on if you want people to see your server on search pages. Then you will need to enter addresses of one or more Hotline trackers.

To use my tracker enter the address as "hotline.kicks-ass.net" (without the quotes), and leave the password box blank. Other tracker addresses can be found on tracker-tracker.com

Admin Tab

This panel will let you pick an account that has full admin privileges. The default is simply Admin. For security reasons, you should change this to something else.

Reset Admin Account... Tab

The description in the program is quite straightforward.

IP Tab

This lets you manually override the IP address the server uses. Leave it as all zeros unless you know what you're doing.


Chapter 3

Common mistakes

There are a few things to watch for when running a server.

Lying in the server info:

Please do not stick stupid things like "20 250 GB hard drives" or "ultra fast T3 connection!" Trust me, if you could afford a T3 in your home you would not be running a Hotline server. I'm not sure why, but a lot of servers do that - it just seems silly to me. It's not like it fools anyone, especially when they connect and download at 5 KB/sec.

Having a very stupid account policy:

Very simple - if you have 10 crappy files and want $50 a month for an account you will never, ever get any account requests. Enough said.

Not watching your server:

You should keep an eye on your server as much as you can to watch for non-queuers, leechers, etc.

Giving the guest account too much power:

I don't recommend giving the guest account any of these abilities:

Can make folders
Can download folders
Can upload folders
Can upload anywhere
Can create news categories
Can create news articles
Can rename files
Etc...

Note: Having upload folders will allow any user to make upload folders with any name. Do you really want to logon and find 10 new upload folders requesting something you don't want?

Dumping everything into one folder:

Keep everything organized - no one wants to list a folder of 2,000 items on dial-up.

Not listing on a Hotline tracker:

You will not get anyone on your server if you are not listed on a tracker that itself not listed on Tracker-Tracker.com.

I suggest using my Hotline tracker, for more info go to this page.

Not using the news system:

The Hotline news lets you find out speed problems, comments, and is a great place to list your requests. (However, it is a good idea to have a folder called "Requests are in the news" as people can be quite stupid.)

A good starting point is to have a few basic news sections:

Server Info - list what your computer model is, the speed, and your connection speed.

Post Speeds - You can use this to gauge the speed of your connection by looking at the average speeds people are getting.

Requests - List what you need here. And keep the list current.

Account Info - Tell the people what they can do to get an account on your server.