How to Install UnrealIRCd on macOS

UnrealIRCd is a popular open-source IRC server used by many communities for their chat rooms. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the steps to install UnrealIRCd on macOS.

Prerequisites

  • A macOS system with admin access.
  • Xcode Command Line Tools installed on your system.

Step 1: Install Homebrew

Homebrew is a package manager for macOS that will help us to install UnrealIRCd. To install Homebrew, run the command:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

It will prompt for admin privileges to install Homebrew.

Step 2: Install OpenSSL

UnrealIRCd requires OpenSSL to establish secure connections. To install OpenSSL, run the following command:

brew install openssl

Step 3: Download UnrealIRCd

Go to the UnrealIRCd website and download the latest stable version for macOS. Alternatively, you can also download it using the command line:

curl -O "https://www.unrealircd.org/downloads/UnrealIRCd-latest.tar.gz"

Step 4: Extract the package

Extract the downloaded package using the following command:

tar xzf UnrealIRCd-latest.tar.gz

Step 5: Configure and compile the package

Change to the extracted directory and run the configure script with OpenSSL support:

cd UnrealIRCd
./configure --with-openssl=/usr/local/opt/openssl

If the configuration is successful, compile the package:

make

Step 6: Install UnrealIRCd

Install the compiled package with the following command:

sudo make install

It will prompt for your admin password to install UnrealIRCd.

Step 7: Setup UnrealIRCd

UnrealIRCd creates its configuration files in the /usr/local/UnrealIRCd/conf directory. Change to this directory and make a new configuration file:

cd /usr/local/UnrealIRCd/conf
cp ircd.conf.example ircd.conf

Edit the configuration file ircd.conf to customize your server settings. The main sections to look for are Serverinfo, Operators, and Connect blocks.

Step 8: Run UnrealIRCd

Run the following command to start the UnrealIRCd server:

/usr/local/UnrealIRCd/src/ircd start

Conclusion

Congratulations! You have successfully installed UnrealIRCd on your macOS system. You may need to open the port 6667 on your firewall to enable clients to connect to your server. Enjoy your new IRC server!