phpbb2rss

README

Overview

This application converts a PHPBB2 topic list page to a RSS feed. Ideally the "View posts from last 24 hours" page.

Installation

Prerequisites

• Go (if building from source)

Optional

• Apache or Nginx (for serving RSS files)

Build and Install

Install only (System level)

Grab the latest binary here: https://github.com/arran4/phpbb2-rss/releases/

Install and build as user (User)

Install go 1.23+

Run go install:

go install github.com/arran4/phpbb2-rss/cmd/phpbb2rss@latest

This installs to $HOME/go/bin (typically; check with go env).

Usage

CLI Mode

Generate RSS Feed:

phpbb2rss -output /var/www/localhost/htdocs/rss/phpbb2rss.xml  -url 'https://forums.$HOST.org/search.php?search_id=last'

Deployment

rc.d (Cron Job system level)

Add a cron job to run the script periodically:

1. Edit the root crontab:

   sudo crontab -e
   

2. Add the following line:

   */15 * * * * /usr/local/bin/phpbb2rss -output /var/www/localhost/htdocs/rss/phpbb2rss.xml  -url 'https://forums.$HOST.org/search.php?search_id=last'
   

rc.d (Cron Job user level)

Add a cron job to run the script periodically:

1. Edit the user's crontab:

   crontab -e
   

2. Add the following line:

   */15 * * * * ~/go/bin/phpbb2rss -output ~/public_html/rss/phpbb2rss.xml -url 'https://forums.$HOST.org/search.php?search_id=last'
   

systemd (as root)

1. Create a systemd service file at /etc/systemd/system/phpbb2rss.service:

[Unit]
Description=phpbb2 to RSS Feed Creator

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=/usr/bin/phpbb2rss -output /var/www/localhost/htdocs/rss/phpbb2rss.xml
User=apache
Group=apache

1. Create a systemd timer file at /etc/systemd/system/everyhour@.timer:

[Unit]
Description=Monthly Timer for %i service

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* *:00:00
AccuracySec=1h
RandomizedDelaySec=1h
Persistent=true
Unit=%i.service

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

1. Reload systemd and start the service:

   sudo systemctl daemon-reload
   sudo systemctl enable --now everyhour@phpbb2rss.timer
   

systemd (as user)

1. Create a systemd service file at $HOME/.config/systemd/user/phpbb2rss.service:

[Unit]
Description=phpbb2 to RSS Feed Creator

[Service]
Type=oneshot
ExecStart=%h/go/bin/phpbb2rss -output %h/public_html/rss/phpbb2rss.xml -url 'https://forums.$HOST.org/search.php?search_id=last'

1. Create a systemd timer file at $HOME/.config/systemd/user/everyhour@.timer:

[Unit]
Description=Monthly Timer for %i service

[Timer]
OnCalendar=*-*-* *:00:00
AccuracySec=1h
RandomizedDelaySec=1h
Persistent=true
Unit=%i.service

[Install]
WantedBy=default.target

1. Reload systemd and start the service:

   systemctl --user daemon-reload && systemctl --user enable --now everyhour@phpbb2rss.timer
   

Apache VirtualHost Configuration

Refer to documentation for setting up public_html directories

http://localhost/~$USERNAME/rss/phpbb2rss.xml

Add the following configuration to your Apache setup (e.g., /etc/httpd/conf.d/rss.conf):

<VirtualHost *:80>
    ServerName example.com
    DocumentRoot /var/www/localhost/htdocs/rss
    <Directory "/var/www/localhost/htdocs/rss">
        Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
        AllowOverride None
        Require all granted
    </Directory>
</VirtualHost>

Nginx Configuration

Refer to documentation for setting up public_html directories

Add this to your Nginx server block:

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name example.com;

    location /rss/ {
        root /var/www/localhost/htdocs;
        autoindex on;
    }
}