1 # Format of this file: description<nl>variable<nl>helptext<nl><nl>.
2 # If the question being documented is of type "choice", we list
3 # only the first occurring config variable. The help texts
4 # must not contain empty lines. No variable should occur twice; if it
5 # does, only the first occurrence will be used by Configure. The lines
6 # in a help text should be indented two positions. Lines starting with
7 # `#' are ignored. Limit your lines to 78 characters.
9 # If you add a help text to this file, please try to be as gentle as
10 # possible. Don't use unexplained acronyms and generally write for the
11 # hypothetical admin who has just downloaded ircu for the first time.
12 # Tell them what to do if they're unsure. Technical information
13 # should go in a README in the Documentation directory. Mention all
14 # the relevant READMEs and HOWTOs in the help text.
16 # All this was shamelessly stolen from several different sources. Many
17 # thanks to all the contributors. The texts are copyrighted # (c) 1997
18 # by Carlo Wood and governed by the GNU Public License.
21 Do you want to change your previous configuration
23 You will be presented a series of questions that you have to answer
24 in order to configure the IRC daemon, prior to compilation.
25 If you went through this before, then your choices have been stored
26 in a file '.config'. If you want to use the same stored configuration
27 now, specify 'n'; this will quickly skip through all questions that
28 you already answered previously, only prompting you for NEW questions.
29 Note that NEW questions only can occur when you just upgraded to a
30 new version. Note also that if you abort by pressing ^C (control-C)
31 anywhere, then all answers are lost; you must finish it before the
33 Pressing a 'c' or 'C' (followed by a return) on any question will
34 Continue the script in "use_defaults mode", that means that it will
35 take all default values unless it finds a NEW question (like when you
36 specify a 'n' here). 'C' will finish everything, but a 'c' will
37 only finish the current paragraph.
38 If you are unsure, or if you want to change a previously entered
39 configuration, specify 'y'.
41 Which compiler do you want to use
43 Here you need to specify the C compiler you want to use.
44 Using 'gcc' is highly recommended, you might even want to install it
45 on your machine first. Note that you can specify the full path if you
46 are not sure if the compiler is in your PATH (or whether or not the right
47 compiler will be used). An example is: "/usr/ucb/cc".
48 The package needs an ANSI compiler. Some compilers need an extra option
49 to compile ANSI C. In those cases you can add these options also here.
50 For example, on a HPUX-8.x you would use (if you don't have gcc):
51 "cc -Aa -D_HPUX_SOURCE".
52 Note that you should not use quotes.
54 What flags should I pass to $CC
56 These are the compiler flags, used for CC when compiling.
57 If you are not using gcc, it might be possible that your compiler is not
58 supporting -g and -O at the same time. The -g option is necessary to be
59 able to debug the daemon in the case it contains a bug that makes the
60 ircd core dump. Unless you use a version that is proven to be VERY stable,
61 it is highly recommended to use this option. All Undernet production servers
62 are expected to use it in order to help coder-com to track down bugs.
63 The -O3 will optimize the code - it also makes debugging harder.
64 If you have plenty of cpu cycles then you can use -O2 instead of -O3:
65 it will disable inlining which makes it easier to debug or core dump,
66 the daemon will use a few percent more cpu however.
67 If you are not running a production server you should remove the -Ox.
68 Ircd developers can optionally use more options to turn on extra warnings.
69 Developers (which are using gcc of course ;), should use:
70 "-g -Wall -pedantic -DGODMODE"
71 Note that you should not use quotes.
72 Note that the server uses several non-ANSI (though POSIX.1) function calls.
74 Do you need extra include directories
76 If your compiler needs extra include directories, you can specify them
77 here as a space separated list of directories. Do not use quotes and do
78 not specify the '-I' prefix. Usually you don't have to specify any
79 extra include directory, in that case you should specify "none" here.
80 If unsure, try "none" (without quotes) and see if all the '#include'
81 header files are found during compilation.
83 Which linker flags do you need
85 Here you can specify extra flags that will be passed to the linker.
86 Usually you will not need to pass any flags and you can therefore
87 specify "none" here (without the quotes).
88 SunOS users may want to add "-Bstatic" (but only if you need it).
89 You can also specify any "-L..." flags here if you need those for
92 Which extra libraries do you need
94 Some Operating Systems need linking with extra libraries for some of the
95 functions used by the daemon. In some cases, it is not known which
96 libraries are needed, even when the Operating System is known. This is
97 for instance the case with SunOS, some need -lresolv, while others don't.
98 If you forget to add a library then this will result in 'undefined variables'
99 during linking. If you do not know which library to add, it might be
100 helpful to use the unix command `nm', which lists the variables of a
101 library. For instance, if you get "unknown variable '_res_mkquery'", and you
102 wonder if this is in /usr/lib/libresolv.so, you can do:
103 nm /usr/lib/libresolv.so | grep res_mkquery
104 Do not use the leading '_' in the grep, this underscore is added by the
105 assembler but is not part of the original variable name and does not show
106 up in the output of nm.
107 Most libraries are in /lib or /usr/lib, which are scanned by default. In
108 some cases you will need to tell the linker where to search for a library.
109 You can do this by adding an -L... option to IRCDLIBS. For instance:
110 "-L/usr/ucblib -lucb" will look for 'libucb.so' in /usr/ucblib too.
111 Here is a list of what you MAYBE need to specify depending on your
115 Dynix/ptx -lsocket -linet -lnsl -lseq
116 Dell SVR4 -lsocket -lnsl -lucb
117 All others Default provided by autoconf
118 If unsure use the default provided by autoconf.
120 Where should I install the ircd binary
122 After compilation (by typing 'make'), you can install the server with
123 the command 'make install'. This will install the ircd in the directory
124 you specify here. The package tries to use a meaningful name by naming
125 the binary "ircd.<tag>", where <tag> is the name of the last patch that
126 was applied by the maintainer. A symbolic link (to be specified next)
127 will be used to point to this binary. This allows a /RESTART to
128 immediately start the new version, while keeping the old binary.
129 Note that you need to have write permissions in this directory during
130 the install. Please re-check the permissions/owner and group after
133 What should the name of the installed symbolic link to the executable be
135 'make install' installs the binary with an unique name, however it makes
136 a symbolic link to this newly installed executable which always has the
137 same name, so you can use /RESTART and/or use this name in scripts that
138 automatically restart the ircd after a reboot or crash.
139 Here you can specify the name of that symbolic link. Note that it may
140 not contain a '/'; it is just the name if the symbolic link and will be
143 Which permissions do you want the binary to have
145 Here you need to specify the octal file mode of the ircd binary.
146 Recommended is 711 - but you might need setuid or something.
147 Note that using a setuid and starting the daemon as another user
148 does prohibit the daemon from core dumping in case of a crash on some
151 Which owner do you want the binary to have
153 This will be the owner of the ircd binary after installation.
155 Which group do you want the binary to have
157 This will be the group of the ircd binary after installation.
159 Where should I install the man page
161 This is the base directory where the manual page of the ircd is installed.
162 If you are not root on your system, you can change it to your personal
163 manpath directory (which of course should be in your MANPATH environment
166 Use inlining for a few crucial functions
168 This will increases the size of the executable with 7 kb, but it also
169 speeds up execution a bit :). Your compiler needs to understand the
170 keyword __inline__ (GNU gcc and egcs do).
171 If unsure, try if `y' compiles. If it doesn't, you can try using a
172 C++ compiler (ie, configure CC to be 'g++' instead 'gcc').
174 You have poll(), but do you want to use it
176 Some Operating Systems implement select() by calling poll(), others
177 implement poll() by calling select(). The best performance will be
178 achieved by calling the lowest (sys)call ourselves of course.
179 The Undernet Daemon allows you to use select() or poll().
180 If you specify 'y' here, the daemon will use poll() directly, otherwise
181 it will use select(). If you don't know what your Operating System
182 uses as syscall, you can compile the server with USE_POLL and detach
183 the running process with 'strace -p <pid>', 'truss -p <pid>' or
184 'trace -p <pid>' depending on your Operating System, these UNIX commands
185 will show you the syscalls and therefore show if you use poll() or select().
186 The advantage of using poll() is that you are not bothered by the limits
187 of select() and fd_set size (ie, the number of clients that connect).
188 The following Operating Systems seem to use poll():
189 Solaris 2.x, SunOS 4.x, AIX, Digital UNIX, and NetBSD.
190 linux-2.2.x use poll(), but only of your glibc was compiled with that
191 kernel (and it won't unless you compile it yourself).
192 The following Operating Systems use select():
194 If unsure, test it (a ./configure check will be added in ircu2.10.06).
196 What is the domain name of your network
198 This define allows you to specify what you consider to be 'local'.
199 It is only used for statistics. When you issue the IRC command /stats w,
200 the server will respond with statistics of how many clients have been
201 connecting to your server in the last minute, hour and day. It will
202 give these statistics for all connections (including the servers), all
203 clients (from anywhere) and also for clients whose hostname ends on
204 the domain you specify here. So if you are an ISP and you want to know
205 specifically the client load from your own domain, specify that domain
206 here. If you are unsure what to do, then it isn't really important what
207 you give here, just don't give an empty string. A good guess is the last
208 two parts of your own hostname (ie, if your hostname is foo.bar.nowhere.org,
209 specify 'nowhere.org'). Note that the string you give should NOT start
210 with a '.' and you should not use quotes.
212 Please give a random seed of eight characters
214 You should specify exactly eight characters (0-9A-Za-z) here. Do not use
215 quotes or any other special characters. This value is used to initialize
216 the random generator of the server which is used to generate PING/PONG
217 cookies in order to stop spoofing IP-numbers (a PING with a random number is
218 sent to this IP-number and if the client doesn't respond with the
219 exact same number, access is denied). In order to make the random
220 number impossible to guess, it is important that you use your own random
223 Does your host have a reliable clock
225 You should really ONLY specify 'y' here when your system clock is
226 stable and accurate at all times (within a few seconds).
227 If you are running ntpdate on a regular basis, or an equivalent
228 like xntpd, to keep your system clock synchronized over the network,
229 then you might have an accurate clock. However, this is not guaranteed,
230 for example, it is known that xntpd gives unstable results on linux
231 in some cases. Note that an unstable clock is worse then an clock that
232 has a constant offset, because the servers attempt to correct for a
233 constant offset, but do not correct jumps of your system clock !
234 In general you SHOULD be running ntpdate or equivalent AND make sure it
235 works when you run a production server on Undernet. Otherwise leave
236 your clock alone and specify 'n' here.
237 If unsure specify 'n' !
239 Change root (/) after start of daemon
241 If you are a security freak and you want to the daemon to run in
242 its own environment, then you can specify 'y' here. The daemon will
243 change '/' to 'DPATH' (which you will have to specify later).
244 If this confuses you or if you are uncertain, specify 'n'.
246 Do you want the daemon set its own uid/gid
248 If you specify 'y' here, then the daemon will attempt to set its
249 User ID (uid) and Group ID (gid) to the numeric values that you will
250 have to specify next. This only makes sense if you (have to) start
251 the server as root. The most secure operation of the server is to
252 not use setuid stuff (here or by means of setting the file mode)
253 and to run the server as a special user only (ie 'irc'). Of course
254 this user must have access to all log and configuration files.
255 Note that using a setuid and starting the daemon as another user
256 does prohibit the daemon from core dumping in case of a crash on some
258 This option is actually only necessary when you use the Change Root
259 option, because otherwise you can use the file mode to set the uid
260 and gid. Note that the server refuses to run as root.
261 If unsure, specify 'n'.
265 Ok, if you insist on using this option: Here you must specify the
266 numeric value of the uid that you want the server to run as.
267 Note that you need to look in the right /etc/passwd file, which isn't
268 the same file when you used the Change Root option.
272 Ok, if you insist on using this option: Here you must specify the
273 numeric value of the gid that you want the server to run as.
274 Note that you need to look in the right /etc/group file, which isn't
275 the same file when you used the Change Root option.
277 Allow to specify configuration file on command line
279 If you specify 'y' here, you will be allowed to specify the ircd.conf
280 path (the ircd daemon configuration file) on the command line when
281 starting the daemon (with the -f <ircd.conf file> option).
282 Note that defining this and installing ircd SUID or SGID is a MAJOR
283 security problem - they can use the '-f' option to read any files
284 that the 'new' access lets them. Note also that defining this is
285 a major security hole if other users have accounts on the same machine;
286 when your ircd goes down and some other user starts up the server with
287 a new conf file that has some extra O-lines. So don't use this unless
290 Set up a Unix domain socket to connect clients/servers
292 If there are lots of users having an account on the same machine
293 (which is very unlikely because the server needs all cpu ;), then
294 using a UNIX domain socket to connect these clients to is more
295 efficient then letting them connect via TCP/IP. A UNIX domain
296 socket is a special device that will be created in your File System.
297 Your client must also support connecting to a UNIX domain socket.
298 The name of the special device must be specified in the "ircd.conf"
299 file by means of an extra 'P: line', see doc/example.conf for the
301 If you don't have many IRC-ing users on the same host as the server,
302 or when your local IRC client doesn't support UNIX domain sockets,
303 specify 'n' here. Otherwise specify 'y'.
305 Will you connect to more then one server at a time
307 All servers of one IRC "network" are connected in a "tree" (no loops).
308 Servers that are only connected to one other server (called the
309 'uplink') are called "leafs", servers that are connected to more then
310 one other server are called HUBs.
311 If you specify 'n' here then your server will prevent itself from acciden-
312 tally connecting to two servers at once, which is good because this is
313 generally bad for servers in "leaf" positions (they are net.wise located
314 too bad to route traffic). Note that on Undernet all newly linked servers
315 are linked as leafs during their test phase, and should specify 'n' here.
317 Do you want support for the old I:*:ONE:*:: construct
319 Server versions prior to ircu2.10.05 used to use the string "ONE"
320 as password in an I: line to indicate that only one connection was
321 allowed for any given IP number that matched that I: line.
322 This method only counted the *local* connections though.
323 As of ircu2.10.05 you can specifiy a single(!) digit as password
324 which then will allow that many connections from the same IP number.
325 However, now the IP numbers of ALL clients are counted, also those
326 that are connected to other servers.
327 If you do not use the depricated "ONE" password in your ircd.conf,
328 specify 'n' here. Note that if you you DO use the "ONE" password
329 and you specify 'n' here, then you should change all occurances of
330 "ONE" to "1" (this is the recommended procedure).
331 If you are lazy and you don't want to change the "ONE" passwords
332 into a "1", then specify 'y' here.
334 Send a short message instead of the MOTD to connecting clients
336 Every time a client connects to your server, the full Message Of
337 The Day (as specified in its file MPATH) is sent to the client.
338 Even while many clients allow the user to ignore the message of
339 the day: the server still sends it. Many users never read the
340 message of the day anyway, making it a huge waste of bandwidth.
341 If you specify 'y' here than the server won't send the MOTD by
342 default to the client, but rather tell the client when the MOTD
343 was last changed and how to receive the MOTD by typing /MOTD.
344 If unsure specify 'n'.
346 Do you want to enable debugging output
348 Sometimes things just don't work. This doesn't have to be a crash,
349 but it is also possible that your server just doesn't want to start
350 at all, or disallows clients to connect at all, etc.
351 With all such drastic and REPRODUCIBLE problems, it makes sense to
352 recompile the server with this option set and then running the
353 ircd (irc daemon) with the (extra) command line options: -t -x9
354 This will make the server run in the foreground and write debug output
355 to the terminal; in a lot of cases this can give a clue on what is
356 wrong (although more often it doesn't).
357 Because defining DEBUGMODE uses a LOT of cpu and is never useful
358 unless you are debugging a reproducible test case, you should never
359 specify 'y' here except for the reason just mentioned.
360 You should certainly NEVER specify 'y' for a server that runs on a
363 Do you want memory- allocation and/or leak checking
365 If you specify 'y' here, then the server will start to do book keeping
366 on the allocated memory blocks. This uses extra cpu and memory,
367 so normally you do not want this - unless you are debugging.
368 This option uses 8 bytes extra per allocated memory block.
369 The main purpose of this option is to check if a call to free(2) is done
370 with a valid pointer - if the pointer was not previously returned by
371 malloc(2), calloc(2) or realloc(2), the server will core dump in a place
372 that allows the maintainer to get an idea of what went wrong - but only
373 when the server was compiled with the -g flag of course.
374 You also need to specify 'y' here if you want to search for memory leaks.
375 On a production server, specify 'n' - unless you have lots of cpu to
376 spare and you volunteer to search for memory leaks - contact the
377 maintainer in this case.
378 If unsure, specify 'n'.
380 Do you want to have boundary checking
382 One of the most nasty bugs are those where buffer overruns are involved.
383 In an attempt to catch those in an early stage, this option will add
384 so called "magic numbers" to the beginning and end of each allocated
385 memory block. When a block is freed or reallocated, the magic numbers
386 are checked and the server core dumps when they were corrupted.
387 This option uses 12 bytes extra per allocated memory block.
388 It doesn't really use much extra cpu compared to defining DEBUGMALLOC, so
389 you might as well specify 'y' here, just in case. It only makes sense
390 though if you compiled the server with compiler option '-g'.
391 If unsure, specify 'n'.
393 Do you want memory leak testing (stats M)
395 If you specify 'y' here then the server will start to do extra book keeping
396 on the allocated memory blocks, counting the number of currently allocated
397 blocks per source code location (file and line number). You will be able
398 to retrieve these statistics with the command /stats M.
399 When there is a memory leak, then allocated memory blocks that were allocated
400 under certain conditions are never freed (however the contents of those
401 memory blocks are never used anymore); this would result in a (slow?)
402 increase of the count of allocated memory blocks. This option allows to
403 find where these blocks were allocated which might give a clue on the memory
405 This option uses 4 bytes extra per allocated memory block.
406 If you want to look for memory leaks, specify 'y' - otherwise specify 'n'.
408 Do you want extra info on allocated sizes
410 If you specify 'y' here then the server will start to do extra book keeping
411 on the sizes of the allocated memory blocks. /stats M will not only return
412 the number of allocated blocks, but also the total number of allocated
413 bytes involved. If you defined MEMLEAKSTATS to look for memory leaks, it
414 will give the total number of allocated memory per source code location
415 (file and line number).
416 This option uses 4 bytes extra per allocated memory block, unless you already
417 specified 'y' for MEMMAGICNUMS (boundary checking), because in that case
418 it was already included (and it doesn't matter what you specify here).
419 I think you should specify 'y' here, its more fun to see the sizes :).
421 Do you want support for a time interval with /stats M
423 If you specify 'y' here then the server will start to do extra book keeping
424 on the allocated memory blocks, storing the time at which the memory block
425 was allocated. This especially slows down /stats M (but unless you use
426 that command frequently, it shouldn't really matter) and uses again 4 bytes
427 of extra memory per allocated memory block.
428 This option is especially useful if you are looking for memory leaks
429 because it allows you to specify a time window with /stats M for which
430 counted blocks must be returned. This allows to ignore recently allocated
431 blocks and permanently allocated blocks (since the start of the server).
433 Directory where all ircd stuff sits
435 DPATH is provided so that the other path names may be provided in just
436 filename form. It is the Default PATH. When the server starts, it
437 chdir's to DPATH before chroot or any other file operation, making
438 it the "current directory" for the server. This is where core files
439 will go if the server core dumps.
440 Note that you should not include quotes here.
441 Note also that the command line option "-d <dir>" overrides the DPATH
442 you give here, except for the chroot (if you use that).
444 Server configuration file
446 This is the IRC daemon Configuration filename, mostly called "ircd.conf".
447 If you just specify the filename, the server will read its configuration
448 file from the Default Path "DPATH", which you specified above. However,
449 you are also allowed to specify a full path.
450 Note that you should not include quotes here.
454 MPATH is the filename, relative to DPATH, or the full path, of the
455 "Message Of The Day" file; mostly called "ircd.motd". The contents
456 of this file will be sent to every client that connects to the server,
458 Note that you should not include quotes here.
460 Server remote MOTD file (3 lines max)
462 RPATH is the filename, relative to DPATH, or the full path, of the
463 "Remote Message Of The Day" file; mostly called "remote.motd". The
464 contents of this file will be sent to every remote client that issues
465 a /MOTD <your server name>. Only the first three lines are sent, so
466 you might want to keep it that short ;).
467 Note that you should not include quotes here.
471 PPATH is the filename, relative to DPATH, or the full path, of the
472 "PID file", mostly called "ircd.pid". It is used for storing the
473 server's PID so a ps(1) isn't necessary.
474 Note that you should not include quotes here.
476 Do you want to log the use of /WHO x% (recommended)
478 Specify 'y' here if you want to log the use of /WHO ... x%... by your
479 Opers (see doc/readme.who). This is highly recommended since it will
480 reduce the abuse of this `spy' function. Note: You can disable this
481 spy function completely below, in which case you can give 'n' here.
482 If unsure specify 'y'.
484 Give the path and(or) filename of this log file
486 WPATH is the filename, relative to DPATH, or the full path, of the
487 log file where the use of /WHO ... x% ... by your Opers will be logged
488 (see doc/readme.who), mostly called "whox.log".
489 Note that you should not include quotes here.
491 Do you want to log G-lines to a separate file
493 Specify 'y' here if you want to log G-lines (Global access bans)
496 Give the path and(or) filename of this log file
498 GPATH is the filename, relative to DPATH, or the full path, of the
499 log file where the G-lines will be stored, mostly called "gline.log".
500 Note that you should not include quotes here.
502 Do you want to log connecting users to a separate file
504 Specify 'y' here if you want to log who is connecting to your server.
505 This file can grow VERY fast on a large net work, so you probably
506 want to specify 'n' here.
508 Give the path and(or) filename of this log file
510 Here you need to specify the name of the log file where the server
511 should write the data about connecting users to. You can also specify
512 a full path. Note that you should not include quotes here.
514 Do you want to log Opers to a separate file
516 Specify 'y' here if you want to log who is successfully becoming an
517 IRC Operator on your server.
519 Give the path and(or) filename of this log file
521 Here you need to specify the name of the log file where the server
522 should write the data about Opering users. You can also specify a
523 full path. Note that you should not include quotes here.
525 Do you want to use syslog
527 If you are the sys admin of this machine, or if you have permission
528 of the sys admin to do so, you can let the server write data about
529 certain events to the syslog. You will be prompted for the events
530 that you want to log being one or more of: KILL's, SQUIT's, CONNECT's,
531 OPERing, Connecting Users and finally the log facility.
532 If you are unsure, specify 'n'. It is probably not a good idea to use
533 this on a large IRC net work.
535 Log all operator kills to syslog
537 Specify 'y' here if you want all KILLs to be written to syslog.
538 Note that on a large IRC net work this is a LOT of data.
540 Log all remote squits for all servers to syslog
542 Specify 'y' here if you want all SQUITs to be written to syslog.
543 Note that on a large IRC net work this is a LOT of data.
545 Log remote connect messages for other all servers
547 Specify 'y' here if you want all CONNECTs to be written to syslog.
548 Note that on a large IRC net work this is a LOT of data.
550 Log all users who successfully become an Oper
552 Specify 'y' here if you want all OPERs to be written to syslog.
553 Note that on a large IRC net work this is a LOT of data.
555 Send userlog stuff to syslog
557 Specify 'y' here if you want all connecting users to be written to syslog.
558 Note that on a large IRC net work this is EXTREMELY MUCH data.
559 You really want to specify 'n' here.
561 Log facility (daemon, user, local0-7)
563 Well if you got this far and still need help, then I think you should
564 go back and specify 'n' at the question "Do you want to use syslog".
566 Which local facility (0-7)
568 Well if you got this far and still need help, then I think you should
569 go back and specify 'n' at the question "Do you want to use syslog".
571 Use m4 as a preprocessor on CPATH
573 If you use m4 macro's in your "ircd.conf" file, then you need to specify 'y',
574 which will enable m4 preprocessing of the "ircd.conf" file.
575 If you are unsure specify 'n'. Note using m4 macros has often lead to
576 problems (passwords or server names that match a macro name for instance),
577 while the benefits of using m4 are highly doubtful. Unless you are
578 already a m4 wizard and insist on using it I recommend to specify 'n' here.
580 Use crypted passwords for N: lines
582 In order to allow other servers to connect to you, you need to specify
583 two configuration lines in the "ircd.conf" configuration file (CPATH).
584 Each of these lines contains a password; the C: line is used for connecting
585 to a remote server and contains the password that is sent to the remote
586 server for authentication, thus this password must be in plain text.
587 The other is the N: line and contains the password that the remote server
588 is sending to you. For security reasons it is advised to store this
589 password in DES encrypted form. If you specify 'y' here, you will be
590 allowed to use the DES encrypted password in the password field of the
591 N: line, see doc/example.conf for more details. Note that you should
592 use *different* passwords in the C: and N: lines respectively for obvious
595 Use crypted passwords for operators
597 In order to allow certain users to become IRC OPERators, they must
598 authenticate themselves with a password. This password is matched
599 against an 'O: line' in the "ircd.conf" configuration file, see
600 doc/example.conf for more details. If you specify 'y' here, you are
601 allowed to use the DES encrypted form of these passwords in your
602 "ircd.conf" file (even more, your Opers don't have to tell you their
603 real password, they can provide the DES encrypted form themselves).
604 Since it has happened often in the past that the "ircd.conf" file
605 was compromised somehow, you are highly encouraged to specify 'y' here
606 and use the DES encrypted form. You can find a program 'mkpasswd' in
607 the ircd/crypt directory that will allow you to generate the encrypted
610 Max size of the total of of all sendqs (bytes)
612 This specifies the maximum amount of RAM that your server will allocate
613 for buffering sendQ's. Small leafs can use a value as little as 1000000,
614 while large HUBs need to specify a value as high as 20000000.
615 If you run out of memory, clients and/or servers are dropped with the
616 error "Buffer allocation error". Then you will have to up this number
617 (and install more RAM if appropriate).
618 If you want a more educated guess for this value then realize that any
619 value is good if you _really_ rather want to drop servers and clients
620 then allocate more memory; this will be the case when there is the
621 danger to run out memory for other allocations.
622 Even if you run the daemon on a dedicated machine, then specifying the
623 maximum of the RAM you have is a Bad Thing because really running out
624 of memory is a lot worse then dropping clients in a controlled way:
625 if possible you should have memory left for all the internal structures
626 (channels, clients, banlists, receive buffers) at all times.
627 On average, clients seem to use 150 bytes of sendQ, but at peak moments
628 this can easily increase to 2032 bytes per client (sendQs are allocated
629 in chunks of 2032 bytes).
630 The maximum possible ammount that can be allocated for sendQs is the
631 number of connected clients times whatever you specified as maximum
632 sendQ in your Y: lines in the ircd.conf file. Likely, that value will
633 be larger then the ammount of RAM you have.
634 The educated guess I talked about earlier would be 'number of clients'
635 times * 2048 bytes + 'size of net.burst' * n, where `n' is 1 for leafs
636 and up till 5 for HUB's. The 'size of net.burst' is about 125 bytes
637 per online client (on the total network).
638 For large HUBs with 4000 clients on undernet (30,000 users), this results
639 in 27 Mb. Leafs could use 12 Mb. Of course you can use less when you
640 have less than 4000 local clients.
641 Don't forget to specify this value in bytes.
643 Max receive queue for clients (bytes)
645 Currently, everything that a client sends to a server is read by the server
646 and stored in a buffer (the clients receive queue). The server will
647 process messages from this queue one by one (running over all clients
648 each time). When a client sends new messages faster they get processed,
649 and the size of its receive buffer reaches this value, the client is
650 dropped with the error "Excess flood". A reasonable value is 1024 bytes.
651 The maximum size is 8000 bytes.
653 Maximum number of network connections (23 - (FD_SETSIZE-4))
655 This specifies the maximum number of network connections the server
656 will use. You also need some non-network connects (log files etc), so
657 the maximum value is "FD_SETSIZE-4". The minimum value is 23.
658 The only benefit of using a small value is that your server uses less
659 memory - but *only* when you really have a small (client) load.
660 Routing server that hardly take clients can use 128 here for instance.
661 Servers that are always full should just specify the maximum amount
662 that still works (which might be less then FD_SETSIZE-4, some OS need
663 kernel hacking to allow more then 1024 fds per process). The only max.
664 value that is guaranteed to work is 252 ;). Note that if the value of
665 FD_SETSIZE is for instance 1024, then that doesn't mean you can't
666 connect MORE clients - but in this case you certainly need kernel
667 hacking. Find an experienced admin with the same Operating System and
668 ask him what the maximum is and how to achieve it.
670 Default client listen port
672 This is the default listen port. You can specify more listen ports
673 in the "ircd.conf" file with 'P: lines'; see doc/example.conf for more
674 details on P: lines. Note that /stats p currently only shows P: lines,
675 which might be a reason for you to use a less often used value here.
676 Note that there is actually no difference between client and server
677 listen ports, but it is good practice to separate them for statistical
678 purpose (bandwidth usage statistics).
680 Nickname history length
681 NICKNAMEHISTORYLENGTH
682 This value specifies the length of the nick name history list, which
683 is only used for /WHOWAS. It uses about 300 to 400 bytes per entry.
684 Note that at a net.break so many client disappear that the whole
685 "whowas" list refreshed a few times (unless you make it as big as
686 20,000 of course - but you shouldn't because thats a waste of ram
687 and cpu). A reasonable value is 'total number of clients' / 25.
689 Allow Opers to see (dis)connects of local clients
691 If you specify 'y' here, you will be allowed to see all client connects and
692 disconnects as a server notice. The historical reason for adding this
693 option was to detect clone bots that connected to your server. However,
694 on a large IRC network like Undernet, the number of clients that connect
695 are so huge that it is not possible to keep an eye on this and everyone
696 has been filtering these notices out anyway. Next to that it turned out
697 to use no less then 10% of the total cpu usage last time I measured it
698 (this has been improved after that, but still).
699 Unless you insist on seeing those notices you should specify 'n' here.
700 Note that in the meantime Undernet has a LOT of other (semi- and fully-
701 automated) ways to detect clone bots, which work a LOT better for this
704 Show IP address in client connection notices
706 Usually when showing a client connection, a nick, userid and hostname are
707 displayed. Selecting 'y' here will also display the numeric IP and connection
708 class of the connecting client. This can be useful for detecting spoofed DNS and
709 virtual hosted clones. This does use extra CPU though and is generally not needed,
710 however if a connection monitor bot is the only client that looks at these
711 notices, it is more efficient than sending USERIP for every connection. This
712 option makes the server compatible with Hybrid tcm bots.
714 Do you want to use R: lines in your configuration file
716 If you specify 'y' here you will be allowed to use R:lines in the "ircd.conf".
717 This allows more freedom in restricting connections to your server by
718 calling an external program to determine whether to allow the connection.
719 It also uses a lot of overhead however, and can bog things down, so you should
720 consider whether you really need them, and if you can handle the extra load.
721 If unsure, specify 'n'.
723 Process R: lines every rehash
725 You may not want to have the R: lines checks everywhere since this can
726 cost a lot of time and delays. If you specify 'y' here, then R: lines are
727 checked whenever the "ircd.conf" file is reloaded (when the REHASH command
728 is used, or a signal SIGHUP is received by the daemon). This shouldn't be
729 too much of a drain on the system if the R:lines programs are short.
731 Process R: lines always
733 If you specify 'y' here then R: lines will be checked as often as K: lines.
734 Note that this is -very- likely to cause a severe drain on your resources.
735 Use at your own risk, specify 'n' unless your really sure.
737 Allow (local) Opers to see all local invisible users
739 If you specify 'y' here, then your (local) IRC Operators will be able to
740 see all local invisible users (clients connected to your own server).
741 The reason for this is to hunt for clone bots, make sure your Operators do
742 not use this "feature" for spying on individuals and respect the user that
743 wishes to be invisible (mostly meaning that they don't want to be found when
744 on certain channels).
745 Note: If you answer 'n' here, then you will also not be able to see remote
746 invisible users (if you specify 'y' you will also get a configuration
747 question that asks you to specify whether or not you want your Opers to see
748 remote invisible users or not).
750 Allow Opers to see all invisible users
751 SHOW_ALL_INVISIBLE_USERS
752 If you specify 'y' here, then your global IRC Operators (O:) will be able
753 to see ALL invisible users. The reason for this is to hunt for clone bots,
754 make sure your Operators do not use this "feature" for spying on individuals
755 and respect the user that wishes to be invisible (mostly meaning that they
756 don't want to be found when on certain channels).
758 Allow global Opers (O:) to see inside secret channels
759 OPERS_SEE_IN_SECRET_CHANNELS
760 If you specify 'y' here, then your global IRC Operators (O:) will be able
761 to see who is on a specified, secret channel, without joining themselfs.
762 This can be needed to make a reasonable judgement in the case of a "channel
763 takeover" being reported, while the channel is set invite only.
764 See doc/readme.who for more details.
766 Allow local Opers (o:) to see inside secret channels
767 LOCOP_SEE_IN_SECRET_CHANNELS
768 If you specify 'y' here, then your local IRC Operators (o:) will be able
769 to see who is on a specified, secret channel, without joining themselfs.
770 This can be needed to make a reasonable judgement in the case of a "channel
771 takeover" being reported, while the channel is set invite only.
772 See doc/readme.who for more details.
773 If unsure, specify 'n'.
775 Don't truncate obnoxiously long /who output for opers
777 A /who command can sometimes return several hundred lines of info. To
778 reduce flooding and sending too much, the output is truncated. By
779 answering 'y' to this, when an IRC Operator uses /who, the output will
780 not be truncated, no matter how much data is returned.
782 Allow Opers to use the KILL command
784 You can select 'n' if you don't think operators should be able
785 to use the KILL command, and wish to prevent your operators from
786 using it. This will not, however, prevent operators on other
787 servers from issuing KILLs to your clients. You probably want to
788 select 'y' for this unless you really really don't think KILL
789 should -ever- be used by an operator.
791 Allow Opers to use the REHASH command
793 Allows operators to use the REHASH command to reload the servers
794 configuration file (ircd.conf) if you select 'n', you can still
795 reload the configuration file with a unix command,
796 kill -HUP `cat ircd.pid`. If unsure, select 'y'.
798 Allow Opers to use the RESTART command
800 Allows an operator to use the RESTART command to cause the server
801 to restart, using the ircd executable in SPATH. If unsure, select 'y'.
803 Allow Opers to use the DIE command
805 Allows an operator to use the DIE command to shutdown the server
806 online. If you select 'n' you will need to send the server a kill
807 signal to shutdown the server. If unsure, select 'y'.
809 Allow Opers to add local G-lines
811 Allows operators to add local G-lines with the GLINE command. This is
812 like a *local* KILL, except that the user being killed can't immediately
813 reconnect: He will have to wait for the G-line to expire.
814 The reason for adding this is that a KILL is rather useless for removing
815 (or 'warning') abusers (it is still THE command to remove ghosts and
816 a-like, the reason KILL was added in the first place). However, adding
817 G-lines for a dynamic IP with expire times larger then 10 minutes is highly
818 discouraged: The user will already have dialed in via another IP or account
819 and the G-line would only harm other, innocent, users.
821 Allow Opers to connect from a remote site
823 If you select 'n' for this, clients must be on the 'same network' as
824 the server in order to gain oper privledges. If you're not sure, just
827 Allow local opers to use the REHASH command
829 Allows a local operator (defined by a lowercase o:line in ircd.conf)
830 to cause the server to reload its configuration file (ircd.conf) with
831 the REHASH command. If unsure, select 'n'.
833 Allow local opers to use the RESTART command
835 Allows a local operator (defined by a lowercase o:line in ircd.conf)
836 to use the RESTART command. If unsure, select 'n'.
838 Allow local opers to use the DIE command
840 Allows a local operator (defined by a lowercase o:line in ircd.conf)
841 to use the DIE command. If unsure, select 'n'.
843 Allow local opers to add local G-lines
845 Allows a local operator (defined by a lowercase o:line in ircd.conf)
846 to add local G-lines with the GLINE command. This is like a *local* KILL,
847 except that the user being killed can't immediately reconnect: He will
848 have to wait for the G-line to expire.
850 Do you want to have a default LIST parameter
852 Pre-Undernet, the LIST command could either be given with one channel
853 name, or without any parameter. In the last case it would simply list
854 all channels. In time the IRC networks grew big, until the output of
855 the LIST command always filled up the sendQ of the client (and dis-
856 connected it). This was fixed by Carlo Wood (Run@IRC) on request of a
857 Dutch ISP whose users complained about this: The LIST output is now
858 generated in small chunks, generating more each time when there is room
859 in the clients sendQ. However, then it turned out that LIST (now it
860 worked) used 50% of all cpu (not even mentioning the bandwidth)...
861 This was unacceptable and the mentioned patch was disabled. On the
862 other hand we wanted LIST to work at least partly, so a few new
863 parameters have been added to LIST: <,>,C<,C>,T<,T> each followed by
864 a number they filter respectively the number of users on the channel,
865 the creation time of the channel (or age, depended on the value of
866 the number) and the topic set time.
867 If you specify 'y' here, then each time a "/LIST" (without parameter)
868 is issued by a client, a default parameter is used. Note that when
869 a parameter is used, the client can still max. sendq out - the send
870 flood control only works without any parameter.
871 If you specify 'n' here then a "/LIST" without parameters will list
872 all channels (and work), but as just said: it uses a LOT of cpu and
873 bandwidth on a large net.work.
874 If you specify 'y' you will be prompted for the default parameter.
876 Give default LIST parameter
878 Here you need to specify the default LIST parameter which is used
879 when the server receives a LIST without any parameter.
880 You should use something that limits the output to a maximum of a
881 few hundred channels; for instance "T<10" (topic is set less then
882 10 seconds ago) or ">10" (more then 10 users on the channel) or even
883 a combination of this. Note that you should not include quotes here.
885 K: line comments treated as a file
887 If you specify 'y' here, then K: line comments (see doc/example.conf
888 for more details on the K: line syntax) will be treated as a filename
889 by default. The file needs to exist and will be written to clients
890 that match that K: line.
891 If you specify 'n' here, then K: line comments will be treated as
892 a comments by default.
893 In both cases you can override the default by prepending a filename
894 with a '!' or enclose a comment between double quotes.
895 If unsure, use the default.
897 Only nullify idle-time on PRIVMSG
899 The IRC command WHOIS gives an idle time for clients. If you want that
900 this idle time is set to zero only when the clients send a PRIVMSG,
901 then you should specify a 'y' here.
902 If you specify a 'n' then the idle time will be nullified on all messages
903 except the server PING/PONG.
905 Check clone limit (2!)
909 Check clone period (20!)
913 Check clone delay (600!)
917 Max auto connects per class (1!)
921 Enable message logging
923 Define this if you want the server to log received messages in static memory
924 at parsing time. -This is for debugging purposes only-. You might want to
925 redefine LOG_MASK_TYPE in s_debug.h and LOG_MASK_LEVEL in s_debug.c too.
926 The default is to log all messages that change some status in server's data
927 structures. Select 'n' unless you are debugging the server code.
928 DO NOT SELECT THIS ON PRODUCTION SERVERS!
932 Number of messages to log. Keep this low as raising it to 1024 will use 800k
933 of _static_ memory! Recommended value is 128. You must include this even if
934 you selected 'n' for MSGLOG_ENABLED.
936 Only allow KILLs of local clients
938 This only allows operators of this server to KILL clients directly connected
939 to this server. Operators will not be able to issue KILLs for clients on
940 other servers. Some networks (not Undernet) require that this be defined
941 for newly linking servers, but if you haven't been told to do otherwise,
944 Max server idle time (60)
946 This is the maximum idle time for the server. If no messages are received
947 in TIMSEC seconds, PINGFREQUENCY and CONNECTFREQUENCY are checked.
948 Recommended value is 60 seconds.
950 KILL nick chase time limit (30)
952 This is the maximum amount of time a KILL command will automatically change
953 to the current nick of a user that has just changed nicks from the one given
954 with the original KILL. Don't change this unless you really need to.
956 Max number of channels per user (recommended: 5)
958 This is the maximum number of channels a user can be in at a time.
959 The "mandatory" value on Undernet is currently 10. Since it only
960 influences the local server when you decrease it, its up to you to decide
961 if you want to use a smaller value. Do not use a larger value however,
962 because it DOES cost more memory and bandwidth on all other servers
963 when you allow users to join more channels simultaneously.
964 One of the most important reasons to choose a smaller value is the fact
965 that the now-a-days 'GUI' clients tend to stay on every channel they
966 join (they aren't bothered by flooding in other channels). It DOES take
967 your bandwidth however to send all those messages for 10 different
968 channels to all your users.
970 Max number of silence masks (15!)
972 This is the maximum number of masks a user can silence at a time.
973 The silence command allows users to filter messages directed at them
974 from certain users or domains, at the source server. Increasing this
975 number allows users to use up more memory with inefficient use of the
976 command. If your not sure, don't change this.
978 Expected average banmask length (40!)
980 This is the expected average banmask length. Leave it at 40.
982 Use .config of THIS source tree as your upgrade default
984 Each source tree keeps its *own* config/.config file with the default
985 values for all questions (those that you gave the last time you did a
986 'make config'). Whenever you do 'make config' again in this source tree,
987 you will get these defaults.
988 However, when you *upgrade* to a new version (and get a NEW source tree),
989 it doesn't have a .config yet and will (try to) use a .config of one of
990 your previous source trees.
991 If you specify 'y' here, then the last defaults of THIS source tree will
992 be used in your next upgrade. Note that any changes you make later to
993 config/.config (by running 'make config' again) will also take effect
994 on this later upgrade.
995 You can always change this by making a new hard link from .config ->
996 ircu2.10.xx/config/.config in the directory where you keep the source
998 If unsure, and you are not currently installing a test source tree,
999 specify 'y'. If this is a second source tree that you will only be
1000 experimenting with, specify 'n'.
1002 Class 0 ping frequency (120)
1004 If the daemon doesn't receive anything from any of its links within
1005 PINGFREQUENCY seconds, then the it will attempt to check for an active link
1006 with a PING message. If no reply is received within (PINGFREQUENCY * 2)
1007 seconds, then the connection will be closed. This value is overridden by
1008 a Y:line in "ircd.conf" if the connections I/C/N: line in "ircd.conf" assigns
1009 a specific class to the connection (recommended).
1011 Class 0 connect frequency (600)
1013 This is the default frequency that the server attempts to reconnect with
1014 its uplink server if it is set to auto connect to it. Note that this value
1015 is overridden by a Y:line in ircd.conf if the C/N:lines in ircd.conf
1016 assigns a specific class to the connection (recommended).
1018 Min time before a link is good (300)
1020 Often the net breaks for a short time and its useful to reestablish the
1021 same connection faster than CONNECTFREQUENCY would allow, but to keep
1022 from trying again on a bad connection, we require that the connection be
1023 open for a certain minimum time. The recommended value is 300 seconds.
1025 Wait before reconnecting to good link (10!)
1027 When attempting to quickly reestablish a connection to a good link, we
1028 give the net a few seconds to steady. This time must be long enough for
1029 the other end to notice it broke too. The recommended value is 10 seconds.
1031 connect(2) timeout (90!)
1033 Number of seconds to wait for a connect(2) call to complete. NOTE: this
1034 must be at *LEAST* 10. When a client connects, it has CONNECTTIMEOUT - 10
1035 seconds for its host to respond to an ident lookup query and for a DNS
1036 lookup to complete. It is recommended you don't change this value, but if
1037 you do, consider the fact that users whose clients do not support NOSPOOF
1038 will have to type /QUOTE PING <big number> before registration.
1040 Max send queue (40000)
1041 DEFAULTMAXSENDQLENGTH
1042 This is the default value of the "max. sendq length" of Y: line classes
1043 (see doc/example.conf for details on Y: lines). You will probably
1044 always override this value in your "ircd.conf" with the Y: lines.
1045 The given value used to be an often used value for client sendqs.
projects / ircu2.10.12-pk.git / blob