TNT/docs/EASY_SETUP.md

TNT Quick Setup

This guide gets a TNT server running and explains the first user session. For the full reference, see README.md, tnt(1), and Deployment.

Install

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/m1ngsama/TNT/main/install.sh | sh

Or build from source:

git clone https://github.com/m1ngsama/TNT.git
cd TNT
make
sudo make install

Start A Server

tnt

By default TNT listens on port 2222, stores host_key and messages.log in the current directory, and allows anonymous SSH login.

Use explicit state and port settings for a long-running server:

tnt -p 2222 -d /var/lib/tnt

Connect

ssh -p 2222 chat.example.com

Default access rules:

• Any SSH username is accepted.
• Empty or arbitrary passwords are accepted.
• SSH keys are not required.
• TNT asks for a display name after the SSH session starts.

Set TNT_ACCESS_TOKEN when you want a shared password:

TNT_ACCESS_TOKEN="change-this-password" tnt -p 2222 -d /var/lib/tnt

First Session

TNT opens in INSERT mode. Type a message and press Enter.

Common keys:

Esc         enter NORMAL mode
i           return to INSERT mode
:           enter COMMAND mode
?           open the full key reference
G or End    jump to latest messages
Ctrl+C      disconnect from NORMAL mode

Common commands:

:help                 concise manual
:users                online users
:nick <name>          change nickname
:msg <user> <message> send private message
:inbox                show private messages
:last [N]             recent messages
:search <keyword>     search message history
:lang en|zh           switch UI language
:q                    disconnect

NORMAL mode opens at the latest messages and follows new messages until the user scrolls up. Use G or End to return to the live tail.

Configure

# Listening address and port
TNT_BIND_ADDR=0.0.0.0 PORT=2222 tnt

# State directory
TNT_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/tnt tnt

# Shared SSH password
TNT_ACCESS_TOKEN="change-this-password" tnt

# Default UI language; unset means locale detection, then English fallback
TNT_LANG=en tnt
TNT_LANG=zh tnt

# Connection limits
TNT_MAX_CONNECTIONS=200 tnt
TNT_MAX_CONN_PER_IP=30 tnt
TNT_MAX_CONN_RATE_PER_IP=60 tnt

# Idle timeout in seconds; 0 disables it
TNT_IDLE_TIMEOUT=3600 tnt

Run Under systemd

sudo useradd -r -s /bin/false tnt
sudo mkdir -p /var/lib/tnt
sudo chown tnt:tnt /var/lib/tnt
sudo cp tnt.service /etc/systemd/system/
sudo systemctl daemon-reload
sudo systemctl enable --now tnt
sudo systemctl status tnt

Put runtime overrides in /etc/default/tnt:

PORT=2222
TNT_BIND_ADDR=0.0.0.0
TNT_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/tnt
TNT_MAX_CONNECTIONS=200
TNT_MAX_CONN_PER_IP=30
TNT_MAX_CONN_RATE_PER_IP=60
TNT_RATE_LIMIT=1
TNT_SSH_LOG_LEVEL=1
TNT_PUBLIC_HOST=chat.example.com

Open the listening port in your firewall:

sudo ufw allow 2222/tcp

Troubleshooting

Port Already In Use

tnt -p 3333

Cannot Connect

Check the server process:

systemctl status tnt
sudo journalctl -u tnt -n 50 --no-pager

Check the listening port:

ss -ltnp | grep 2222

Check the firewall:

sudo ufw status

Connection Closes Immediately

The most common causes are per-IP connection limits, connection-rate limits, an auth-failure ban, a full room, or a closed firewall port. The server logs the rejection reason to stderr or the systemd journal.

Chinese Quick Notes

安装

curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/m1ngsama/TNT/main/install.sh | sh

启动

tnt

默认监听 2222 端口，并允许匿名 SSH 登录。

连接

ssh -p 2222 chat.example.com

默认情况下，任意 SSH 用户名和空密码都可以连接。进入后 TNT 会询问显示名称。

常用操作

Enter        发送消息
Esc          进入 NORMAL 模式
i            回到 INSERT 模式
:            输入命令
?            查看完整按键参考
G 或 End      回到最新消息
:help        查看简明手册
:lang en|zh  切换界面语言
:q           断开连接

常用配置

TNT_ACCESS_TOKEN="change-this-password" tnt
TNT_STATE_DIR=/var/lib/tnt tnt
TNT_LANG=zh tnt