WhackerLink V4 Installation and Setup Guide

Quick Start Guide

1. Install Dependencies:
   • .NET 8.0 Runtime
   • ASP.NET Core Framework
2. Download the Server:
   • Obtain the latest WhackerLinkServer from the Releases tab.
   • Save it to a convenient location (e.g., Downloads or Desktop).
3. Prepare to Run the Server:
   • Open Command Prompt:
     • Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter.
   • Navigate to the server directory by running one of these commands:
     • For Downloads replace %USERPROFILE% with Your PC's User Profile:

       cd %USERPROFILE%\Downloads\WhackerLinkServer

     • For Desktop replace %USERPROFILE% with Your PC's User Profile:

       cd %USERPROFILE%\Desktop\WhackerLinkServer

     • For other locations, replace path\to\WhackerLinkServer with the correct path:

       cd path\to\WhackerLinkServer

4. Run the Server:
   • Execute the server with the default configuration by running this command:

   WhackerLinkServer.exe -c config.example.yml

If you encounter issues, seek assistance in the Discord community or refer to the manual compilation steps below.

Installing Git

1. Download Git from this link.
2. Run the downloaded installer. Follow the prompts, leaving all options at their default settings.

Installing Build Tools

1. Download Visual Studio Build Tools from here.
2. Execute vs_BuildTools.exe to start the setup.
3. In the Workloads section, select:
   • .NET desktop build tools
   • Desktop development with C++
4. Move to the Individual components tab and ensure the following are selected:
   • .NET 8.0 (May already be selected)
   • .NET 6.0 WebAssembly Build Tools
   • .NET 6.0 Runtime
   • .NET 3.1 Runtime
   • C++/CLI support for v143 build tools (14.32-17.2)
5. Select Install while downloading option and click Install.
6. Wait for the installation process to complete.

Building WhackerLink

1. Open the Developer Command Prompt for Visual Studio 2022. You can find it in the recently added apps after installation.
2. Navigate to a directory where you want to clone the repository:

   cd ../../../../Users/Public

3. Clone the WhackerLink repository:

   git clone https://github.com/WhackerLink/whackerlink_v4 --recurse-submodules
   cd whackerlink_v4

4. Build the solution:

   dotnet restore
   msbuild

5. Navigate to the debug output directory:

   cd x64/Debug

6. Copy the example configuration file and rename it:

   copy ..\..\whackerlinkserver\configs\config.example.yml .\config.yml

7. Run the server with the new configuration:

   whackerlinkserver.exe -c config.yml

8. You should see the server starting up, ending with a message indicating it is listening on port 3000.

If the server does not start as expected, please join the WhackerLink Discord server and ask for assistance, providing screenshots of your issue.

Configuration

Modify config.yml as needed for your environment. For specific questions or more detailed setup options, refer to discussions in the WhackerLink Discord server.

Desktop App Setup

1. For the desktop application, copy codeplug.yml from WhackerLinkMobileRadio/codeplugs to the output directory at WhackerLinkMobileRadio/bin/Debug.

About

WhackerLink V1 was a static HTML and NodeJS backend application using WebRTC and Socket.IO. WhackerLink V2 was never released or used in producion and should never have existed. WhackerLink V3 was a NodeJS backend with a EJS templated front end using WebAudioAPI with Socket.IO WhackerLink V4 is a C# .NET based application which utlizes a CommonLib for code reusability and a WPF front end.