Run an IRC server with ngIRCd

IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is perhaps one of the oldest surviving means of group chat on the Internet today. IRC networks thrive, as can be seen by the open-source-friendly FreeNode IRC network where you can discuss Linux distributions, programs, and hundreds of other topics with individuals around the world.

IRC works wonderfully in a collaborative environment as well. Many people can get together to discuss a topic without having to install some special software in order to do so; IRC clients exist for every operating system available, so no matter what OS you use, you can connect to IRC.

Public IRC is great to discuss things with your peers, but in a company or a situation where some level of privacy may be required, using a public IRC network for discussion can be a poor solution, and many fall back to other chat mediums that require specific software to be installed. However, running your own IRC network couldn't be easier.

A solid and easy-to-setup IRC server is ngIRCd, available at http://ngircd.barton.de/. Simply download the latest version and do the traditional configure-make-make install:

<code>

# cd /usr/local/src

# tar xvzf ~/ngircd-0.9.2.tar.gz

# cd ngircd-0.9.2

# ./configure —prefix=/usr/local

# make

# make install

</code>

Once this is done, edit /usr/local/etc/ngircd.conf to suit your requirements. The file is heavily commented and extremely straightforward. You can set up ngIRCd to be a stand-alone server or to peer with other IRC servers to form a network. If preventing others from snooping on your discussions is important, you can wrap the connection with SSL using stunnel, or you can set up encryption and authentication by using SSH as a wrapper. (Detailed information on how to do this can be found at http://linsec.ca/encryption/secureirc.php).

To start ngIRCd on your system automatically, simply add the following to a startup file such as /etc/rc.d/rc.local:

<code>

/usr/local/sbin/ngircd -p

</code>

Only use the -p command if you are running a stand-alone IRC server as this disables automatic connections to other servers.

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