NAME

       ircd - ircd-hybrid: an advanced, lightweight Internet Relay Chat Daemon

SYNOPSIS

       ircd   [-configfile  filename]  [-klinefile  filename]  [-dlinefile  filename] [-xlinefile
              filename]   [-resvfile   filename]   [-logfile   filename]   [-pidfile    filename]
              [-foreground] [-version] [-help]

DESCRIPTION

       ircd  is  the  server  (daemon) program for the Internet Relay Chat Program. The ircd is a
       server in that its function is to "serve" the client program irc(1) and  other  compatible
       programs with messages and commands. All commands and user messages are passed directly to
       the ircd for processing and relaying to other IRC servers.

       This is ircd-hybrid, the highly modified (and hopefully improved) variant of the  original
       ircd program by Jarkko Oikarinen.

OPTIONS

       -configfile filename
              Specifies  the  ircd.conf  file  to  be  used  for this ircd. 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 ircd in.

       -klinefile filename

       -dlinefile filename

       -xlinefile filename

       -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.

       -logfile filename
              Specifies  an  alternative  logfile   to   be   used   than   that   specified   in
              include/defaults.h

       -pidfile filename
              Specifies  the file used by the ircd to store its process ID. The option is used to
              override the default ircd.pid given at compile time.

       -foreground
              Makes ircd run in the foreground.

       -version
              Makes ircd print its version and exit.

       -help  Makes ircd print available options and exit.

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 ircds 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 ircd running!

BOOTING THE SERVER

       It is sufficient to  type  ircd  at  the  command  line  to  start  ircd-hybrid  into  the
       background.  If  you  wish to run ircd in the foreground (perhaps for debugging purposes),
       use the -foreground parameter.

       The ircd-hybrid package in your distribution may ship with an rc-script which handles this
       for you. In Debian, it is /etc/init.d/ircd-hybrid.

EXAMPLE

       # ircd -configfile /usr/share/ircd/ircd.conf -logfile /var/log/ircd.log

       Starts   ircd  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
       -foreground.

       Many  of the above paths are hard-coded at compile time in the include/defaults.h file, so
       it may be convenient to edit these to suit your needs before you compile the ircd.

COPYRIGHT

       (c) 1988,1989 University of Oulu, Computing Center, Finland,

       (c) 1988,1989 Department of Information Processing Science, University of Oulu, Finland

       (c) 1988-1991 Jarkko Oikarinen

       (c) 1997-2022 ircd-hybrid development team

       For full COPYRIGHT, see the COPYING file within the IRC source package.

BUGS

       If you find a bug and you have a core file from ircd as a  result,  use  a  debugger  like
       gdb(1) to process the core file and send a backtrace to bugs@ircd-hybrid.org.

AUTHORS

       irc2.8 and earlier: Jarkko Oikarinen, currently jto@tolsun.oulu.fi.

       ircd-hybrid: ircd-hybrid development team, bugs@ircd-hybrid.org.

       Manual   page   written   by   Jeff   Trim,  jtrim@orion.cair.du.edu,  later  modified  by
       jto@tolsun.oulu.fi.

       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.