Windows platform:
1) Download and execute the latest Ventrilo Windows Server. This will create an entry in your Start menu called "VentSrv".
2) From the "VentSrv" menu click the "Ventrilo Server" menu option. This will open a console window application that the server will run in.
This will start the server using default settings which should be more then sufficient for the normal user.
The ventrilo server does not have a GUI interface. All output will occur in the console window.
To change the configuration of the server simply click Start -> VentSrv -> Edit INI file. This will open the server INI configuration file using the Notepad program. Make the necessary changes, save the file and restart the server. The INI file is documented in the "Setup Documentation" menu option.
The server can be started in the background on the NT / 2000 / XP platforms via a service program. First make sure you have the server configured properly and in a usable state as shown above because once you start it as a service you will not see any visual feedback. You need only click on the VentSrv -> Service -> Install menu option once after installing the program. The next time you reboot your computer the server will be automatically started in the background as a Service application.
UNIX platform:
1) Upload the file to the machine that you plan on running the server on. This is only important if the host computer is not the same as the computer you are currently using.
2) Open a terminal window (telnet or OpenSSH) to the host computer that will be running the server.
3) Set your working directory to where ever you want to create the ventrilo directory.
4) Type "mkdir ventrilo"
5) Type "cd ventrilo"
6) Copy the tar.gz file into this new directory.
7) Type "gunzip " followed by the name of the tar.gz file.
8) Type "tar xf " followed by the name of the tar file. (gunzip removed the gz extension).
9) Note: Some platforms allow for combining steps 7 and 8 into a single command by typing "tar zxf " followed by the name of the tar.gz file.
10) Type: "./ventrilo_srv".
This will start the server using default settings which should be more then sufficient for the normal user.
The ventrilo server does not have a GUI interface. All output will occur in the console window. The server can be configured to start automatically when the computer is rebooted. However, this will require root access in order to implement. Please read the "ventrilo_srv.htm" file with a web browser for details.
If you want to change any of the settings then you can issue the following command: "vi ventrilo_srv.ini". This will start the vi editor program and allow you to edit the INI file which defines how the server should operate.
Please read the "ventrilo_srv.htm" file with a web browser for more details about how to configure and tweak the server configuration.