Open Sim Adventures
Bettina has asked me to create a small step by step which will allow our members
to get started with OpenSim. These steps should allow you to create a sim
on your desktop and begin exploring the OpenSim possibilities. We've
built Second Life, now on to our Metaverse.
See you there - thomTrance Otoole
These steps will get OpenSim up and running on a PC running Windows XP. *
It is HIGHLY recommended that you read through all
the steps once, before performing them.
Step Zero
Create a folder called
opensim on your PC.
Step ONE -
Getting some binary
Most of the readers here will not want to compile source, and fortunately the OpenSim
project provides a nightly build! First thing to do is download the nightly
build to your PC.
These are compiled packages created daily from the svn repository. The EXE's can
be run natively under Windows, but requires Mono to run under Mac OS X and Linux.
The binary can be downloaded from:
(Binaries) http://ruth.petitbe.be/build/
The page will have a section that looks like like this.
Just click on the download link (on the ruth.petitbe.be site) and save the file
to your open sim folder. OR
(you can get the build(11/20/2007) I used for this exercise here-->
OpenSim Binary of 11/20/2007 - 17372kb
)
Great, so you have the file opensim-bin.tgz sitting in your opensim directory.
Unzip it with winzip (it will report that it found a tar file yada yada, just say yes).
Winzip should display the list of files. EXTRACT them to your opensim directory.
Once extracted, you will see a directory called bin. Select the bin directory.
If you sort the directory in Windows explorer by Type (click
on the Type column) you should see a list of files like this ( the file list
is truncated in this image - the bin directory in my binary download contained 83
objects)
Congratulations! You now have the opensim server code on your machine.
Step TWO - Fire it up and Configure this thang .....
OpenSim has a few different modes it can run in depending on whether or not you
are on a grid, want to be a grid, etc. This exercise assumes you are
just wanting to get started and therefore will be running in StandAlone mode, which
means that the server will be running on your PC and you won't have to deal with
grids or other nasties. For our purpose, we only need to be concerned with
one file: OpenSim.exe
So, double click the file OpenSim.exe in the bin directory!
Go ahead. This will open up the Console window and you will be asked a few
simple questions.
The answer to all of these questions is:
hit the Enter Key.
This will accept the default values for the few settings required, Grid location,
Ip Address etc...
(Although at the first question - REGION NAME , you can
type in your own sim name i.e. Bettina Woods, Bettina DanceBazaar etc...
or just hit the enter key and go with the ever popular and exciting default of OpenSimTest.)
You can also enter the Master Avatars name at the appropriate prompt, or just accept
the default of Test.
Configuration at it's simplest. Just hit the Enter key and accept the
defaults.
The Last question in the series is for the password of the Master Avatar. Once
you type in the password and hit enter, the program will perform a few operations
, the screen will scroll, and then stop scrolling:
Notice the blue text : Startup complete, serving 1 region(s).
Once you see that and the text Region # :
...well, congratulations, you are in business, the sim server is up and running !
Minimize your Console window and prepare to connect to your sim ! ( DON"T CLOSE
THE CONSOLE WINDOW, minimize it !! Closing the console will shut down your server, oh my.)
STEP THREE - Home Sweet Home
Your sim server is now running on your PC. You will use the SecondLife client
to connect to your sim. But you need your Second Life client to connect to
Second Life ...hmmm what to do ......
Locate the SecondLife.exe on your PC. It should be located under ProgramFiles\SecondLife
Create another desktop shortcut for SecondLife.exe. (right mouse click on the file name
to get the menu)
Once the shortcut is on your desktop, rename it to OpenSim (or whatever strikes
your fancy)
We need to make one small change to the startup command for the Second Life client
to connect to our open sim. Right Mouse click on the desktop shortcut you
just created and select PROPERTIES from the menu. This will open the Property
dialog:
Notice the TARGET text box. Replace the text that is there with this text:
(Actually the text that is there will just be pointing to SecondLife.exe, there
will be no loginuri value, the picture above is from AFTER I made the changes.)
"C:\Program Files\SecondLife\SecondLife.exe" -loginuri http://127.0.0.1:9000/
(if your SecondLife program has a different location, only add the loginuri
parameter to what is there). On my system, the Second Life client
is located at "C:\Program Files\SecondLife\SecondLife.exe". I add the
loginuri text to that to get the final target text for the shortcut:
"C:\Program Files\SecondLife\SecondLife.exe" -loginuri http://127.0.0.1:9000/
The loginuri switch tells the client which server to connect to. By adding
-loginuri http://127.0.0.1:9000/
we are telling the program to startup and connect to our
server running on our local PC, rather than connect to SecondLife. You can
look at your properties for your SecondLife shortcut and see the difference. The
SecondLife Target will have no loginuri value, just the path to SecondLife.exe.
So, the Target text field should now have the correct loginuri value. Click
okay to save.
Double click on your OpenSim desktop shortcut. The Second Life client will
fire up, and appear as normal, displaying the usual SecondLife picture and info windows.
Not to worry. Log in as your Master Avatar.
You should now see a slightly different screen ;)
The wee alert will pop up saying your home location is not available .....
hehe click okay.
Welcome Home Ruth!
You are now on your own sim, running on your desktop. Explore the small island,
explore the tools. Explore the av, and enjoy. Keep in mind, this is
a standalone sim. You are not connected to Second Life at all, so no teleporting
to your favorite sim , no Friends list, no IMS. Your peaceful space.
STEP FOUR [OPTIONALS]
- Terrain Config
I replaced the default terrain with my own terrain file after a few days.
I downloaded the .raw terrain file from my sim, and saved it in my BIN directory
as terrain.raw. I created a startup file called startup_commands.txt
(it must be this name) and placed the following line in that file. The startup_commands.txt
file must also live in the BIN directory.
terrain load RAW terrain.raw
I restarted my server and when I logged in again - voila - there was the new terrain.
- Users
Users are created in your console window which is running the server software.
Just go to the console and type in the following, replacing <first> with a
name, and <last> with a name , and <password> with your password
text.... :P
create user <first> <last> <password> <x_loc> <y_loc>
e.g. create user thomtrance Otoole happy 1000 1000
or, you can just type in create user and the server will prompt
for the rest.
(<x_loc> and <y_loc> should be 1000 for each as that was the default
value in the original config.)
CAVEATS - Alpha Alpha Alpha 0.4
This is an amazing piece of ware, but remember it is still ALPHA. That means
that "if it breaks, you get to keep both
parts" as they say on the site. This isn't SecondLife, so don't be troubled
if some of your usual SL tricks don't work. The client is expecting to be
talking to a Second Life server, and your Open Sim server may not be able to perform
all the tasks. (In fact, you can maximize your console and watch the messages
pass back and forth. Oftentimes, the server will complain it can't understand
the command.)
FURTHER EXPLORATION
For further info relating to more advanced options for Opensim please rely on the
Opensim wiki.
OpenSim Wiki
If you are a programmer, and familiar with C#, you can download the source code
and compile it yourself. Or better yet, you can help out on the project!
As Richard Stallman said when asked about when some software would be finished:
"It will get done faster, if you help."
Peace, see you in our metaverse.
* Mac or Linux users will require Mono installed to be able to run OpenSim. Get
Mono from the Mono Project here
Mono Project