The hub must run as the same user as Synchronet, because it makes users with Synchronet's jsexec. These steps assume that user is sbbs and Synchronet is in /sbbs. First prepare the door BBS.

Unzip doorhub-0.1.0-linux-x64.zip (or -linux-arm64) and:

sudo mkdir /opt/doorhub
sudo cp doorhub /opt/doorhub/
sudo chown -R sbbs: /opt/doorhub
sudo chmod 700 /opt/doorhub
sudo ln -s /opt/doorhub/doorhub /usr/local/bin/doorhub
sudo -u sbbs doorhub init

init makes /opt/doorhub/hub.json and the host key, and prints the key's fingerprint:

Created /opt/doorhub/hub.json
Host key: SHA256:dJxkWMLh0S5bYYye72Yp0GsnfuJ0PZWjTMkXCcb9YGg
Next: doorhub set public_host <name>, add doors and BBSes, then doorhub serve

Give that fingerprint to member sysops so they can check it the first time their connector connects.

If Synchronet isn't in /sbbs:

sudo -u sbbs doorhub set jsexec /path/to/sbbs/exec/jsexec
sudo -u sbbs doorhub set sbbs_ctrl /path/to/sbbs/ctrl

Name the hub and set the address members will use:

sudo -u sbbs doorhub set hub_name "Example Door Hub"
sudo -u sbbs doorhub set public_host hub.example.com

Add games (Games) and members (Member BBSes). All settings are on the Settings page.

Try it in the foreground (Ctrl+C stops it):

sudo -u sbbs doorhub serve

2026/11/09 11:30:36 Example Door Hub 0.1.0 listening on :2022 (key SHA256:dJxkWMLh0S5b...)

The package has doorhub.service. Edit User and Group (and the paths, if you used another folder):

[Unit]
Description=Door Hub (shared door games server)
After=network.target sbbs.service
 
[Service]
Type=simple
User=sbbs
Group=sbbs
Environment=DOORHUB_DIR=/opt/doorhub
WorkingDirectory=/opt/doorhub
ExecStart=/opt/doorhub/doorhub serve
Restart=always
RestartSec=10
 
[Install]
WantedBy=multi-user.target

sudo cp doorhub.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now doorhub
systemctl status doorhub
journalctl -u doorhub -f        # the log

To keep a log file as well, add these two lines under [Service]:

StandardOutput=append:/opt/doorhub/doorhub.log
StandardError=append:/opt/doorhub/doorhub.log

The admin commands work while the hub is running, and changes apply at once (except listen). Run them as the hub's user so files keep the right owner:

sudo -u sbbs doorhub bbs list
sudo -u sbbs doorhub door list

The folder is /opt/doorhub unless you add -d folder or set the DOORHUB_DIR environment variable.

sudo cp doorhub /opt/doorhub/doorhub.new
sudo mv /opt/doorhub/doorhub.new /opt/doorhub/doorhub
sudo systemctl restart doorhub

A restart ends games in progress, so pick a quiet time. Connectors reconnect by themselves.

If the machine runs a firewall, allow the hub's port. For ufw: sudo ufw allow 2022/tcp. See Internet and security for the router side.