- Setup

Obtaining a client

What to do here depends on the operating system you're running. I recommend irssi as an IRC client, but there are also X-Chat and mIRC if you're allergic to the command-line. (GAIM/Pidgin can also be configured as an IRC client.)


The server runs on the de facto standard port 6667. Most clients will not require special configuration to connect.

#general is a pretty good channel to join once you're connected.


In addition to unencrypted communications, SSL connections are possible on de facto standard port 6697 and non-standard port 6666. If you want secure communications, you must specially configure your client to use SSL and one of the SSL ports. You will also have to configure your client to accept invalid or self-signed certificates. (We have a valid certificate that we could use, except that X-Chat won't accept it, and too many of our users like X-Chat for some reason.) Some channels may forbid you from joining unless your client is using SSL.

Nickname Registration

If your nickname is not registered, you are not able to create channels. In addition, some channels may disallow you from joining unless you register. To make matters worse, it is possible for someone to impersonate any unregistered nick! To rectify this, there is a nickname registration system.

Initial registration works like on most other IRC servers. There is a special virtual user named "NickServ" who handles that. (Nicknames ending in "Serv" are forbidden to normal users.) NickServ has extensive built-in help, so /msg NickServ HELP to take a look at it.

Once you're registered, you can take advantage of an Astarte-specific feature. If you set your IRC client to send a "server password" or "connection password," you can IDENTIFY automatically before you even finish connecting! This is much more convenient than using NickServ.

Once you've registered your nickname, the server will heavily restrict any connections that try to use that nickname without IDENTIFYing. This will prevent people from impersonating you, but might cause problems if you forget to IDENTIFY or lose your password. The server administrator (SolraBizna) can help you if you lose your password.

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