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Howto/IRC

Howto: IRC

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Lesson 1

In this lesson, you will learn how to make some basic usage out of your new shell account. We will concentrate on how to connect to IRC with the IRC-client irssi and how to stay connected even when your computer is turned off via a helper program called screen.

Start by logging in to your shell account and type the following command:

screen

This will create a new screen. A screen is like a window that you can leave open on the server even when you disconnect. This is so that you can stay connected to IRC even when you disconnect from the shell server.

You can now start a program in this new screen. Start the IRC-client irssi for examlple:

irssi

You can now start using IRC. But before you start using IRC let's see how you can disconnect from the shell and then resume the same screen as you just started!

  • Start by closing the window you are connected with. Now let's connect to the shell again. When you have logged in, type this command to resume the screen you previously started:

screen -r

Now you will be back in the program irssi you started before. This program kept running on the server the whole time you were disconnected!

Let's now learn some basics of irssi. Start by logging in to the shell and resuming the screen if you're not already connected. In irssi there is a command promt at the bottom. This is where you write messages and type in commands. Before you can start chatting, you have to connect to an IRC server and join a channel. To do this, type the following commands:

/CONNECT irc.overloadx.net
/JOIN #blinkenshell

The first command connects to shellsnet IRC-server. This might take a couple of seconds, so wait a bit before typing in the next command. The next command will connect you to our IRC channel #blinkenshell.

Now you are connected, and you have two "tabs" open in irssi. One with the server messages and one with our IRC-channel. To change between them press and hold the ALT-key while pressing the 1-9 on your keyboard. ALT-2 will change to the IRC-channel so you can start chatting. ALT-1 will change back to the server message tab. Go to the second tab with ALT-2 and say hello to us!

When you want to turn off the computer just close the window and you can then resume the screen the next time you want to use IRC and your session of irssi will be there waiting for you, running at the server at all times!

Autoconnect

Start irssi and type these commands to automatically join the official IRC channel each time you start irssi:

/SERVER ADD -auto -network Overload irc.overloadx.net 6667
/CHANNEL ADD -auto #blinkenshell ShellsNet

Next time you start irssi, the program will automatically connect you to systemshells and join our IRC channel.

Added functionality via scripts

You can load scripts to provide additional functionality. You can find pre-installed scripts in /usr/share/irssi/scripts

Descriptions of what the scripts does can be found by viewing the script in a text editor like nano and reading the comments at the top of the source.

To load a script, type:

/SCRIPT LOAD trackbar.pl

To add autoload scripts when starting irssi, you can add a symlink like this:

cd .irssi/scripts/autorun
ln -s /usr/share/irssi/scripts/trackbar.pl ./

You might have to create the directories scripts and autorun if you have not used scripts before.

Explanation of some common and useful scripts

  • trackerbar - Prints a line where you last left of in a channel, so you easily can pick up your reading in the log when you come back.
  • screen_away - Automatically sets your status to away if you detach your screen.
  • usercount - Adds an item that displays the number of users in the statusbar.

More

  • ["FAQ/DeadScreen"] - What to do when you can't resume a screen because it's "dead".
  • ["FAQ/Unicode"] - Enable unicode to make local characters work properly.
  • ["Howto/Screen"] - More on how to use screen.