What Is dIRC? A Clear Introduction for Beginners

Getting Started with dIRC: Step-by-Step Setup Guide

This guide walks you through installing, configuring, and verifying dIRC so you can start using it quickly. Assumptions: you have a modern Windows, macOS, or Linux machine, a basic terminal/command-line familiarity, and administrative privileges for installing software.

1. What is dIRC?

dIRC is a lightweight, decentralized IRC-compatible client/server toolkit (assumed name). It provides real-time text chat with modern features like encrypted transport, channel persistence, and pluggable extensions.

2. System requirements

• 64-bit OS: Windows 10+, macOS 11+, or a recent Linux distro
• 2 GB RAM minimum
• 200 MB free disk space
• Node.js v18+ (if dIRC uses Node) or Go 1.20+ (if built in Go) — this guide assumes the Node.js variant.
  If your system differs, adjust the runtime step below accordingly.

3. Install prerequisites

1. Install Node.js v18+:
   • Windows/macOS: Download from nodejs.org and run the installer.
   • Linux (Debian/Ubuntu):

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     curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_18.x | sudo -E bash - sudo apt-get install -y nodejs 

2. Install Git:
   • Windows: Install Git for Windows.
   • macOS: brew install git or install Xcode command line tools.
   • Linux: sudo apt-get install git

4. Download dIRC

Clone the repository (replace URL with the project’s repo):

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git clone https://github.com/example/dirc.git
cd dirc 

5. Install dIRC

Install dependencies and build:

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npm install npm run build 

If dIRC uses a global CLI:

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npm install -g . 

6. Configure dIRC

Create or edit config file at /.dirc/config.json (create directories if missing). Example minimal config:

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{
“server”: {
    “host”: “0.0.0.0”,
    “port”: 6697,
    “tls”: true,
    “certPath”: ”/path/to/cert.pem”,
    “keyPath”: ”/path/to/key.pem”
  },
  “storage”: {
    “type”: “sqlite”,
    “path”: “/.dirc/dirc.db”
  },
  “admins”: [“alice”,“bob”]
}

• For local testing, set tls to false and use port 6667.
• To enable encryption in production, obtain TLS certs from a CA or use self-signed for testing.

7. Generate TLS certificates (optional, for TLS mode)

Self-signed example:

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mkdir -p ~/.dirc/certs openssl req -x509 -nodes -days 365 -newkey rsa:2048 -keyout ~/.dirc/certs/key.pem -out ~/.dirc/certs/cert.pem 

Point certPath and keyPath in config to these files.

8. Start dIRC

Run as a background service or foreground for testing:

Foreground:

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npm start 

As a systemd service (Linux example): Create /etc/systemd/system/dirc.service:

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[Unit] Description=dIRC server After=network.target

 
[Service] Type=simple User=dirc ExecStart=/usr/bin/node /opt/dirc/dist/index.js Restart=on-failure
 
[Install] WantedBy=multi-user.target 

Then:

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sudo systemctl daemon-reload sudo systemctl enable –now dirc 

9. Create user accounts

If dIRC uses CLI or HTTP API to create users, example CLI:

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dirc-cli user create –username alice –password ‘StrongPass123’ 

Or via HTTP API:

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curl -X POST https://localhost:6697/api/users -d ‘{“username”:“alice”,“password”:“StrongPass123”}’ -H “Content-Type: application/json” –insecure 

10. Connect with a client

Use any IRC-compatible client (HexChat, irssi, WeeChat) or dIRC’s web client. Example HexChat settings:

• Server: your-server.example.com
• Port: 6697
• Use SSL: checked
• Nickname: alice

11. Verify and test

• Join a channel: /join #test
• Send messages between two clients
• Check logs at ~/.dirc/dirc.log and storage file

12. Common troubleshooting

• Port in use: change port or stop conflicting service (e.g., existing IRC server).
• TLS errors: check cert paths and permissions.
• Permission denied when running as service: ensure correct User and file ownership.

13. Security and maintenance tips

• Use strong admin passwords and rotate keys.
• Regularly back up your storage file and config.
• Keep Node.js and dIRC updated.
• Limit admin access and use firewall rules to restrict ports.

14. Next steps (optional)

• Configure plugins/extensions for authentication, moderation, or bridging.
• Set up monitoring and alerts.
• Integrate with reverse proxy (nginx) for TLS termination and easier domain management.

If you want, I can adapt this guide to your OS (Windows/macOS/Linux) and dIRC implementation (Node/Go).