.\" @(#)ircd.8 7b10 25 Oct 2001
.\" $Id: ircd.8 9858 2021-01-01 04:43:42Z michael $
.TH IRCD 8 "2021-01-01" "ircd-hybrid"
.SH NAME
ircd \- ircd-hybrid: an advanced, lightweight Internet Relay Chat Daemon
.SH SYNOPSIS
.hy 0
.IP \fBircd\fP
[-configfile filename] [-klinefile filename] [-dlinefile filename]
[-xlinefile filename] [-resvfile filename] [-logfile filename] [-pidfile filename]
[-foreground] [-version] [-help]
.SH DESCRIPTION
.LP
\fIircd\fP is the server (daemon) program for the Internet Relay Chat
Program. The \fIircd\fP is a server in that its function is to "serve"
the client program \fIirc(1)\fP and other compatible programs with
messages and commands. All commands and user messages are passed
directly to the \fIircd\fP for processing and relaying to other IRC
servers.

This is \fIircd-hybrid\fP, the highly modified (and hopefully improved)
variant of the original \fIircd\fP program by Jarkko Oikarinen.
.SH OPTIONS
.TP
.B \-configfile filename
Specifies the ircd.conf file to be used for this \fIircd\fP. The option
is used to override the default ircd.conf given at compile time. By default,
this is "etc/ircd.conf" within the prefix you installed the \fIircd\fP in.
.TP
.B \-klinefile filename
.TP
.B \-dlinefile filename
.TP
.B \-xlinefile filename
.TP
.B \-resvfile filename
Specifies the database files to be used for D-lines (host bans), K-lines (hostmask bans),
X-lines (gecos bans) and RESVs (jupes) which by default are within the var/lib/
directory of your installation prefix as dline.db, kline.db, xline.db and resv.db.
.TP
.B \-logfile filename
Specifies an alternative logfile to be used than that specified in include/defaults.h
.TP
.B \-pidfile filename
Specifies the file used by the \fIircd\fP to store its process ID. The option is
used to override the default ircd.pid given at compile time.
.TP
.B \-foreground
Makes \fIircd\fP run in the foreground.
.TP
.B \-version
Makes \fIircd\fP print its version and exit.
.TP
.B \-help
Makes \fIircd\fP print available options and exit.
.SH USAGE
If you plan to connect your IRC server to an existing IRC network,
you will need to alter your local IRC configuration file (typically named
"ircd.conf") so that it will accept and make connections to other IRC servers.
This file contains the hostnames, IP addresses and sometimes passwords
for connections to other \fIircds\fP around the world.

The example reference.conf in the etc/ directory documents itself. Read it
carefully or you may expose a risk on your network simply by having your
\fIircd\fP running!
.LP
.SH BOOTING THE SERVER
It is sufficient to type \fIircd\fP at the command line to start
\fIircd-hybrid\fP into the background. If you wish to run \fIircd\fP in the
foreground (perhaps for debugging purposes), use the \fB-foreground\fP
parameter.

The \fIircd-hybrid\fP package in your distribution may ship with an rc-script
which handles this for you. In Debian, it is \fB/etc/init.d/ircd-hybrid\fP.
.SH EXAMPLE
# ircd -configfile /usr/share/ircd/ircd.conf -logfile /var/log/ircd.log

Starts \fIircd\fP with the config file /usr/share/ircd/ircd.conf and
with a log file /var/log/ircd.log. It implicitly forks back to the
console -- to prevent this, use \fB-foreground\fP.

Many of the above paths are hard-coded at compile time in the
\fBinclude/defaults.h\fP file, so it may be convenient to edit these to
suit your needs before you compile the \fIircd\fP.
.SH COPYRIGHT
(c) 1988,1989 University of Oulu, Computing Center, Finland,
.LP
(c) 1988,1989 Department of Information Processing Science,
University of Oulu, Finland
.LP
(c) 1988-1991 Jarkko Oikarinen
.LP
(c) 1997-2021 ircd-hybrid development team
.LP
For full COPYRIGHT, see the COPYING file within the IRC source package.
.LP
.RE
.SH BUGS
If you find a bug and you have a core file from \fIircd\fP as a result, use a
debugger like \fBgdb(1)\fP to process the core file and send a backtrace
to \fBbugs@ircd-hybrid.org\fP.
.SH AUTHORS
irc2.8 and earlier: Jarkko Oikarinen, currently jto@tolsun.oulu.fi.
.LP
ircd-hybrid: ircd-hybrid development team, bugs@ircd-hybrid.org.
.LP
Manual page written by Jeff Trim, jtrim@orion.cair.du.edu,
later modified by jto@tolsun.oulu.fi.
.LP
Updated by W. Campbell, wcampbel@botbay.net, Edward Brocklesby,
ejb@klamath.uucp.leguin.org.uk, and highly revised by Joshua Kwan
(joshk@triplehelix.org) for the Debian distribution.