Welcome to the world of Global IRC-d: the first IRC server for computers running Mac OS. Global IRC-d is a shareware program, this means you can use it freely for 30 days (the trial period), after which you must pay the shareware fee. Global IRC-d however, will not stop working after 30 days if not registered, but a message to encourage the server administrator to register will appear in every channel every 10 minutes until you register the program. To get more info go to the registration page

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What is IRC and why would I want to run my own server?

IRC is the main and most popular chat protocol on the internet. IRC stands for Internet Relay Chat, there are IRC clients and IRC servers. Clients are used to connect to IRC servers and chat with other people, while the servers are run to host clients on your computer. Most people would find it enough for a reason to be able to control the server, being admins or ircops; however IRC aims to let people meet and chat. Some IRC clients can be found on: Macintosh, Linux, Windows.

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Loading Global IRC-d:

Before loading Global IRC-d make sure you're using the correct version (68k or PPC, if you're not sure which version to get, get the FAT version), future problems could be caused by using the wrong version. Remember, also, that the requirements for Global IRC-d are:

-PPC or 68k processor and System 7.1 or later

-1.4 MB of free disk space

-5 MB ram

Loading the IRCd is simple, open it by double clicking on the Global IRC-d world icon. A registration window will appear asking you to register your copy, if you have already registered and received your Serial Number just enter them in the lower field of the window (NB: remember that the Serial Number will only work with the Name you sent us with the money, for security reasons we will send you back the Name (with modifications if necessary) together with the Serial Number). If you don't have a Serial Number just click on "Cancel".

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Setting up Global IRCd-d:

Global IRC-d has features to make it easy for users to setup the program without need to open the configuration files and edit them manually. Between this features you will find the several preferences windows, the "Lines Manager" and the "Mask Maker".

Server name: the name of the server (which is not the same thing as the IP address, the internet protocol address). You can put anything in this field, but don't expect client to be able to connect to what you put there. Your IP address, will appear written in the non-editable field in the bottom of the window called "Local Address".

Infoline: the line of information that will appear in the whois of every user connected to the server.

Max. cons: the maximum number of connections that the server will alow.

Port: the port used by the server to host clients, the most popular ports are 6666, 6667, 6668, 6669 and 7000.

Preferences buttons: these buttons will open the preference windows, used to set up your server.

MOTd field: it's the lower big editable field. Here you can put the message of the day, which will be sent to every client after establishing a connection.

Channels list: this list will show the list of channels.

Save & Load buttons: used to Save, Load your preferences.

Send MOTd: the server will send the MOTd (message of the day) to the users after connecting to the server.

Admin 'p' default: "p" is a user flag that protects the user against deops, kicks, bans, kills, k-lines, etc. With this checkbox turned on when an someone gains admin status the "p" flag will be set automatically for them. However an admin can manually turn it on by typing:

Admin 'h' default: "h" is a user flag used to identify helpers. With this checkbox turned on when an someone gains admin status the "h" flag will be set automatically for them. However and admin can manually turn it on by typing:

Use password: the password will be required for clients to connect to the server.

Autosave prefs when quitting: the modifications will be saved automatically when quitting.

Max # per user: the maximum number of channels a user will be allowed to be in simultaneously.

This window's purpose is to let the main administrator (the person that runs the ircd on his computer) choose if external administrators can change the preferences listed in the box through IRC commands. The window opens but this feature is not implemented yet, so it will be described in future versions of this guide. NB. anything you change in this window will not be saved

Customized Oper/Admin message in whois: this line of text will be shown whe someone does a whois in a server Administrator, Sub-Administrator or IRCoperator. It will appear after then nickname of the Oper.

Customized helper message in whois: this line of text will be shown whe someone does a whois in a server helper. It will appear after the nickname of the helper.

Send pings every: pings are used by the server to know if a connection is alive, they will be sent after the period of time you choose.

The "Lines Manager" is an a-lines, o-lines and k-lines editor. It lets you add, modify or remove lines.

Admin, Sub-Admin and Operator lines: the first column is the name of the account, the second is the password, the third is the kind of line ("A" for Admin, "a" for Sub-Admin, "o" for IRCop) and the fourth is the list of hotmasks for that operator. To add an a-line simple click on "Add", highlight the new account with the mouse and click on "Modify". The fields of the selected account will be shown in bold, this means you can edit them. After doing so just click on "Done". Remember that you can't have two accounts with the same login name (the name in the first column). Also, remember that you must separate the different hotmasks for an account by commas (",").

Kill lines: they're added and modified the same way admin and operator lines are. The first field is the userid@host of the person you want to k-line, the second is the reason the ircd will give to this person every time he tries to connect. Kill lines are used to ban a user from the server.

The "Mask Maker" window is used to edit custom masks for privileged users (admins, IRCops, friends, etc). The first column is the password required to appear with the host in the second column. The password must be typed with a "mask-" before it. For example, if the password was "deca" as in the first row, you put "mask-deca" in your clients password field when connecting to the server. In the second case you put "mask-knox".