How to Install UnrealIRCd on OpenBSD

UnrealIRCd is one of the most popular IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server software available that offers a lot of features and customization options. In this tutorial, you'll learn how to install and configure UnrealIRCd on OpenBSD.

Prerequisites

Before you start, make sure you have the following prerequisites:

  • OpenBSD installed on your system
  • A user account with root or sudo privileges
  • Basic knowledge of the command line

Step 1 - Download UnrealIRCd

First, navigate to the UnrealIRCd official website at https://www.unrealircd.org/ and download the latest stable release.

You can use the following command to download the package:

$ ftp https://www.unrealircd.org/downloads/UnrealIRCd-5.0.9.tar.gz

Step 2 - Install Dependencies

UnrealIRCd requires some dependencies to be installed before installation. Run the following command to install them:

$ sudo pkg_add -i autoconf automake gmake openssl

Step 3 - Compile and Install UnrealIRCd

After installing the dependencies, extract the downloaded package and navigate to the extracted directory using the following command:

$ tar -xvzf UnrealIRCd-5.0.9.tar.gz
$ cd UnrealIRCd-5.0.9

Then, run the following command to configure UnrealIRCd:

$ ./Config

It will show you the configuration options on the screen. You can choose the default options by pressing enter or customize them according to your needs.

After configuring, compile and install UnrealIRCd using the make command:

$ make
$ sudo make install

Step 4 - Create an UnrealIRCd User

By default, UnrealIRCd is installed to run as the user named ircd. However, it's not recommended to run the server as the root user. So, you need to create a new user to run the server.

Run the following command to create a new user named ircd:

$ sudo useradd ircd

Step 5 - Configure UnrealIRCd

Finally, you need to configure UnrealIRCd to run as the new user.

Navigate to the conf directory, and copy the unrealircd.conf.example file to unrealircd.conf using the following command:

$ cd conf
$ sudo cp unrealircd.conf.example unrealircd.conf

Open the unrealircd.conf file using your favorite text editor and modify the following options:

  • set::cloaking-key: Set a random string as the cloaking key.
  • me::hostname: Set the hostname of your server.
  • admin::email: Set the email address of server administrator.

Once you've made the changes save the file and exit.

Step 6 - Start UnrealIRCd

You're now ready to start the IRC server. To do that, run the following command:

$ sudo /usr/local/unrealircd/bin/unrealircd start

It will start the UnrealIRCd server using the ircd user you created earlier.

Conclusion

You've successfully installed and configured UnrealIRCd on OpenBSD. You can now connect to the server using an IRC client and start building your own IRC community. Happy chatting!