Vent Server 3.0.2 on Mac OSX 10.5.4 / 10.4.11
 

I finally have my private server up and running, but it took quite a few trips to these and other forums to establish where each issue was occurring. I want to post all of the steps I took, and hopefully Mac users can get a sticky up top like those fancy Windows users ;)

Issue #1: I run Ventrilo_srv and I get an error message in terminal!
Solution: You must change directories before running the application. Depending on where you installed the server to, you need to type in two commands. The first one looks like this:

Where /applications/ventsrv can be replaced by whatever folder(s) your server files are in. Note, ventsrv is a *folder name* not the *file name*

Once you have changed to the correct directory, you need to run this command:

This tells terminal to run the actual ventrilo_srv application.

Alternatively, Gargamel has posted an Applescript that will do this for you. Check out his post [URL="http://www.ventrilo.com/forums/showpost.php?p=82619&postcount=14"]Here.[/URL] You will again need to edit the "cd /....." command for your particular installation location.

Issue #2: No one can connect to my server!
If you are hosting your own server, you may need to set up a router and/or firewall to let people connect.

Solution: Enable port forwarding if you are using a router on your network, and configure the Mac OS firewall to allow incoming connections to Ventrilo.

Port Forwarding: Vent requires port 3784 to be open for both TCP and UDP. If you are using a router, you need to manually forward this port to the computer running the server. You will need to know the LAN IP of the computer running the server. You can find this by going to Network Preferences, selecting the appropriate connection (Ethernet, Airport, etc) and write down the IP address listed.

Next, go into your router's setup. You need to find the port forwarding section. Most routers will let you enter a description for the forward (VentTCP and VentUDP for example), will ask which IP you want the port forwarded to, and will ask if you want TCP, UDP, or Both. Some users have had problems with Both, so I recommend setting up two separate port forwards, one for port 3784 TCP and one for port 3784 UDP. That should take care of the router setup.

At this point, run the server and go to [URL="http://www.ventrilo.com/status.php"]http://www.ventrilo.com/status.php[/URL] and enter your external IP (If you don't know it, there is a menu option "My IP" on Ventrilo's website that will tell you) and port 3784. If the website can connect to your server, you're all set. If it is not working, you will need to configure your Mac OS firewall.

Mac OS Firewall: Open System Preferences > Security and click the Firewall tab. In order to run a server you will need to select either "allow all incoming connections" or "set access for specific services and applications."

I recommend "set access for specific services and applications" as allowing all connections could open your computer to attacks. Click the + button below the field and add ventrilo_srv to the list.

Finally, if your router has a built-in firewall, that may need to be disabled as well.

Vent Server 3.0.3 on Mac OSX 10.4.11
 

This is in reference to MacVent's locked and sticky post, dated 07-24-2008, 01:59 AM, with the title "Vent Server 3.0.2 on Mac OSX 10.5.4"

MacVent had written:If the Mac OS firewall is down (off), nothing is required, but if it is up (on), it needs to be configured or you can end up with a frustrating run-around (see below).

MacVent had written:You may not be "all set" yet: in my case the status page told me that my server was ready, but nobody could connect to it, and as it turned out, the Mac's firewall was turned on (I did not know that) and, since it had not been configured for Ventrilo, prevented connections even though the status page told me the server was ready.

In other words, check your Mac's firewall status in any case, and if it is active, modify the settings to open the ports used by Ventrilo.

MacVent had written:On my iBook (OS 10.4.11), the procedure was different:
Open System Preferences > Sharing and click the Firewall tab. Click New, then select Port Name: "Other". In the input window enter the following:
Click OK to save the settings.

Ventrilo Server on OSX - Start on Boot / Run as Daemon
 

I wanted to post how to run the Ventrilo server as a Daemon at boot, on Mac OSX Server. I spent several hours researching and figuring this out, so, thought I'd post it for others that may be newer to running a Mac OSX Server.

I am using the launchctl process to start Ventrilo on boot. The actual command is:

"/Applications/VentSrv/ventrilo_srv -f/Applications/VentSrv/ventrilo_srv -d"

This assumes that both the Ventrilo server executable, and the ini file, are in the "/Applications/VentSrv/" folder.

You can manually create the file below and place it in the "/Library/LaunchDaemons" folder. An even easier way is to use Lingon ([url]http://sourceforge.net/projects/lingon/files/[/url]), a GUI application that will create this file and place it in the correct folder.

Filename: com.ventrilo.ventrilo_srv.plist
File Contents:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/PropertyList-1.0.dtd">
<plist version="1.0">
<dict>
<key>KeepAlive</key>
<true/>
<key>Label</key>
<string>com.ventrilo.ventrilo_srv</string>
<key>ProgramArguments</key>
<array>
<string>/Applications/VentSrv/ventrilo_srv</string>
<string>-f/Applications/VentSrv/ventrilo_srv</string>
<string>-d</string>
</array>
<key>RunAtLoad</key>
<true/>
</dict>
</plist>

Mac OS X Ventrilo 3.0.2 Setup
 

I was recently reading through the [URL="http://www.ventrilo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30056"]Vent Server 3.0.2 on Mac OSX 10.5.4[/URL] thread, and I thought I'd contribute by posting one of my own to help those of you who might still be confused.

Step 1: Even though you probably already done this, go to [URL="http://www.ventrilo.com/download.php"]http://www.ventrilo.com/download.php[/URL] and download the Mac OSX version under Server programs.

Step 2: Once the file has been downloaded unarchive it. That's just a matter of double clicking it and letting the Archiving Utility do its work. You will then have a file labeled ventsrv. Take this file and drag it into your applications folder.

Step 3: Now return to the ventsrv folder and open it. Right click on the file ventrilo_srv.ini and select open with Text Editor. I caution you now that this file controls the parameters upon which your server will run so by editing these options incorrectly, you may drastically affect the operation of your server. You can obtain more information about the .ini file by opening the ventrilo_srv.htm file, and I highly recommend doing so before you edit your .ini file.

Step 4: You should now see something like this.We'll take care of the easy stuff first.

• Replace 'Server 1' in 'Name=' and 'Phonetic=' to the name you want your server to be called.
• If you would like your server open to the world, leave 'Auth=0'. If you would like to have a password required to access your server, set 'Auth=1'.
• Set Duplicates to 1, 'Duplicates=1'.
• Choose your administrative password you would like to use and stick it in, 'AdminPassword=XXXXX'.
• If you set 'Auth=1' you will now have to stick a password into the next value, 'Password=YYYYY'. I would suggest making this different than your admin password.
• Skip down to 'VoiceCodec=' and set it to 3, 'VoiceCodec=3'
• Set 'VoiceFormat=' to any number from 0-32. The higher the number the better the sound quality, but the better the quality the more bandwidth usage. So in turn, this setting determines the amount of internet usage in order to operate the VOIP service. By setting this value to high you may actually hurt the quality of your server. You can test this under Setup in the Ventrilo Client once the server is up and running in order to determine maximum efficiency.

Below is the list of codecs, their assigned values, and their estimated bandwidth usage. The first column of numbers being the 'Codec' and the second number being the 'Format'. Keep in mind that the Speex codec is the only codec compatible with Mac.Congratulations! You are now done with the .ini file. You should now have something that looks like this.Do not include GREEN text in .ini file.

Step 5: Now we'll create our own application to start the server.

• Open Script Editor.
• Copy and paste this code into Script Editor.
  Code:

  ---

  set login to "./ventrilo_srv" as text
tell application "Terminal" to do script "cd /Applications/ventsrv" in window 1
tell application "Terminal" to do script login in window 1

tell application "System Events"
        set visible of process "Terminal" to false
end tell

  ---

• Click Compile in the toolbar.
• Go to File->Save As.
• Name the file 'Ventrilo Server'.
• Save it to your applications folder.
• Export it as and Application.
• Click Save.

Step 6: Now we've got to let connections come into your computer.

• Go to System Preferences.
• Click Security.
• Select the Firewall tab.
• Now select 'Allow all incoming connections' if it isn't already selected. Otherwise, add 'ventrilo_srv' to your 'Safe List' by clicking the plus sign and selecting the 'ventrilo_srv' executable from the 'ventsvr' folder.

Caution: By doing this you may be allowing unwanted persons access to your computer. Do this at your own risk. I am not responsible for anything that may happen to you or your computer due to the enabling of this option.

Step 7: You'll now need to port forward your router if you have one. If not skip to step 8. Every router is different when it comes to port forwarding. If you don't know how, use [URL="http://portforward.com/"]this website[/URL] to guide you through the port forwarding process of your specific router in conjunction with the information given in this quoted text.Caution: By doing this you may be allowing unwanted persons access to your computer. Do this at your own risk. I am not responsible for anything that may happen to you or your computer due to the enabling of this option.

Step 8: Find out what your external (WAN) ip address is by clicking [URL="http://www.ventrilo.com/myip.php"]here[/URL]. This will be the hostname to your server.

Step 9: Execute the 'Ventrilo Server' application we created earlier. Terminal should open and then immediately go into 'Hide' mode.

Step 10: Go to [URL="http://www.ventrilo.com/status.php"][URL="http://www.ventrilo.com/status.php"]http://www.ventrilo.com/status.php[/URL][/URL] and enter your WAN ip address and port 3784. If your server information comes up, CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have successfully set up your own private Ventrilo server. Use it wisely and for the good of man kind... or don't. I don't really care. :P haha