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+# Building the Captain
+
+Levitating's captain is the central server to command and control the players.
+Building is relatively simple since it only relies on a few packages on Linux,
+though it should work on any UNIX-y system with a modern Fortran compiler.
+
+## Requirements
+
+The captain only has three dependencies:
+
+ * SQLite3 development libraries
+ * SSL development libraries
+ * uuidgen
+    
+The first two are necessary for building, while the third is a runtime
+dependency.  These can be installed on Debian with the following command:
+
+```
+apt-get install libssl-dev libsqlite3-dev uuid-runtime
+```
+
+## Building
+
+Levitating can be built either using [Simply Fortran](https://simplyfortran.com/)
+or using the included *makefile.gnu* makefile:
+
+```
+make -f makefile.gnu all
+```
+
+You should end up with a nice, little executable
+
+## Installing
+
+### Basic File Locations
+
+The produced executable is both a CGI executable and an inetd client, so it
+should be installed somewhere sensible.  The conventional location would be in
+the */var/www/cgi-bin* directory.  If you're going with the conventional route,
+the */var/www/data/captain* directory would be a nice place to install the 
+configuration files.
+
+The *example* directory contains some necessary configuration files that
+should be subsequently placed in the */var/www/data/captain* directory.  You'll
+need to edit *levitating.conf* to reflect all the directories, and you'll need
+to create the directories mentioned in said file as well:
+
+ * uploads
+ * results
+ * instructions
+ * releases
+
+One might also notice that the captain configuration file mentions some static
+files.  These should be copied from the *example* directory to the
+configured static directory.
+
+The *sql* directory can contain scripts that the server may have to run.  This
+directory should also be copied to the data folder.
+
+Finally, be sure to copy the *templates* directory to the subsequent data
+directory as well.
+
+### Initialize the Database
+
+Wherever you've decided to store the database, probably in 
+*/var/www/data/captain/store.db* if you're following the suggestions, you need
+manually initialize it with the following command:
+
+```
+sqlite3 /var/www/data/captain/store.db < create.sql
+```
+
+### Configuring Gemini and Titan Passthrough
+
+Regardless of your thoughts on the [Gemini protocol](https://geminiprotocol.net/), 
+Levitating relies on it for all file transfers to/from players.  The server
+hosting the captain must therefore be configured in a proper inetd server to 
+accept and handle requests on port 1965.  
+
+Gemini, however, isn't a standard protocol.  You might need to let Linux know 
+what the hell it is in */etc/services* if you're using an old inetd superserver.
+
+If you're starting from scratch, though, we'd recommned using xinetd.  On
+Debian, it's a quick command away:
+
+```
+apt-get install xinetd
+```
+
+Next, you can copy the example service configuration file *example/levitating.xinetd*
+to */etc/xinetd.d/levitating* and edit it appropriately.
+
+### Generate Certificates for Gemini and Titan
+
+Gemini (and Titan) are encrypted protocols that require self-signed certificates
+to operate.  While you could use a legitimate, third-party certificate, there's
+really no need in this case.  The command is:
+
+```
+openssl req -newkey rsa:4096 -x509 -sha512 -days 2048 -nodes -out pub.crt -keyout priv.key
+```
+
+Note that the "days" argument is pretty long.  We don't really want to have to
+do this again.
+
+### Create an Admin
+
+Our last basic installation step is to create a single user:
+
+```
+/var/www/cgi-bin/levitating-captain -c /var/www/data/captain/levitating.conf --new-admin margaux password
+```
+
+### Optional: Web Interface
+
+You'll probably want to configure the web interface to Levitating if you're not
+planning on doing everything via Gemini.  This involves configuring a web server
+to execute a CGI executable properly.  The process depends heavily on the server
+software the user has available, but one will probably want to use Apache or
+Lighttpd.  Nginx does not support CGI at all.
+