VOCP System - Configuration - Boxes

Vgetty and VOCP must be properly installed (see the Vgetty, VOCP installation pages) and configured (see the Vgetty, VOCP configuration pages) before box configuration will yield positive results... please see the above pages if you haven't already done so.

The boxconf.pl graphical interface is used to configure VOCP system boxes. Many different box types are available - see the box type documentation for details.

 

Using VOCP boxconf should be rather straight forward. Launch the program as root:

# /usr/local/vocp/bin/boxconf.pl

When launched, VOCP boxconf will read in the current configuration from /etc/vocp/boxes.conf and display a list of boxes, showing their number, type, owner, associated message and branch if available.

None of your modifications are saved until you explicitly use the "Save" button or the File->Save menu item. To save, select a filename - boxconf will produce 2 files:

/path/to/examplename.conf
/path/to/examplename.conf.shadow

The .shadow file contains the actual passwords - this file must be set to mode 0640 and owned by user root and group vocp. If you leave this file with an world readable mode, everyone on the system will be able to see the box passwords - this is especially bad if you enter the passwords unencrypted!


New Box
To create a new box, use the "New Box..." button or select Edit->New Box from the menu. A window will appear offering a selection of box types. Select the type of box you wish to create and click OK.

The window that appears will vary depending on the type of box selected. It is possible that some of the configurable items that appear are irrelevant or not required for this type of box but all the required setting will be present. For instance, selecting a 'none' type box presents a window in which you may enter:

  • box number
  • message
  • branch
  • autojump
  • restricted

The only required items are either:

  • number and autojump OR
  • number and message
  • number only (in the case of terminal boxes, like mail, pager and faxondemand boxes)

However, you may set additional options, such as a branch or a restricted password or number+message+autojump.

Which fields are present and which are required is box type dependent - the only field that is universally required is the box number. If you've forgotten to read the box types page and want to know which fields are required, enter a number and click OK - the error message will indicate which fields are required.

Note: Box numbers should have 3 or more digits and must be unique.

 


Edit Box
Double clicking on a box entry or selecting it and clicking the "Edit Box" button will open a window like that used to create the box originally. You may edit the fields and click OK to modify the box configuration.


Delete Box
Selecting a box and clicking the "Delete Box..." button or using the Edit->Delete Box menu item does just that - it will delete the box from the configuration. Don't forget that your modifications are not saved until you explicitly request boxconf Save the new configuration.


Command Shells
Command shells are somewhat different than other box types, since they are in effect "multi-leveled" - entering a command shell gives you a list of possible actions all within the command shell environment.

To configure a command shell, create a command type box using "New Box..." as described above. You will notice a new entry in the "Command boxes" list at the bottom of the VOCP boxconf interface. Double-clicking the box number will open a new window that allows you to configure you command shell menu (the valid selections, which commands they shall run and how to convey command output to the caller).

From this window, you may create, edit and delete valid commands for this shell. Using command shells can give you lots of power and control over the host system, so please make sure you read the command shells page before proceeding.


Saving your configuration

When you are satisfied with your configuration, I suggest you save it somewhere other than directly overwritting the /etc/vocp/boxes.conf file and compare the new and old configs. If it looks like everything was saved all right, mv the resulting boxes.conf and boxes.conf.shadow to /etc/vocp.

Do not forget:
xVOCP and many other programs will be using the pwcheck setgid wrapper to test the validity of passwords, so you must ensure that the boxes.conf.shadow file is:

  • owned by user root and group vocp or whichever name you set for the VOCP group (chown root:vocp /etc/vocp/boxes.conf.shadow)
  • mode 0640, -rw-r----- (chmod 0640 /etc/vocp/boxes.conf.shadow)
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