Post date: Jan 06, 2011 6:46:32 PM
irssi is an Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client that runs in a terminal. screen acts as a persistent terminal for remote systems you are not always connected to. You can use screen to keep a persistent irssi session open. .
Linux system with terminal, such as an EC2 instance.
Login as user with sudo permission.
The most popular command line IRC client is IRSSI. It uses the perl shared library, which might need some additional setup in Linux.
sudo yum install irssi
sudo cp -pr /usr/lib64/perl5/CORE/* /usr/local/lib/
sudo ldconfig
These configuration examples will use irc.freenode.net and #irssi as examples.
Start irssi:
irssi
Configure your user information (default is your Linux account name):
/set user_name username
/set nick username
/set alternate_nick username2
Set network and channel auto-connection information:
/network add freenode
/server add -auto -network freenode irc.freenode.net 6667
/channel add -auto #irssi freenode
/join #irssi
Change the current irssi "window" by using Alt + (Arrow key) or this command:
/window 2 (or other number)
Save the current window
/layout save
/save
Quit irssi:
/quit
The next time you start irssi, it should automatically connect to the channels added with -auto.
/network add network
/server add network server port
/connect network
/join #channel
/quit "Quit message"
Making a connection to esper.net using SSL, and register your nickname:
/network add esper
/server add -ssl -ssl_verify -network esper na.irc.esper.net 6697
/connect esper
The registration process depends on the network. You should receive a message from NickServ or AuthServ describing the procedure.
On freenode: /msg NickServ register <password> <email_address>
You should receive an email in a few minutes.
The steps to use your registered nickname also depend on the network.
On freenode: /msg NickServ identify <password>
On EsperNet: /msg NickServ VERIFY REGISTER <username> <verification string>
Use your package manager to install screen:
sudo yum install screen
When you run screen, your terminal will exist inside "screen":
screen
List the separate screen. You will start with only 1:
screen -list
You can also start screen inside of screen, but it might get confusing.
Detach from a screen, but leave it running:
Press Ctrl-A, then D.
A detached screen is useful for keeping an irssi connection open while you are not logged in to the server.
After logging in, you can reattach with this command:
screen -raAd
To close a screen terminal while attached, use "exit" as usual.
You can link some software to an IRC channel, such as a github repository or MineCraft server.
See this article for more information on screen and irssi: A Guide to Efficiently Using Irssi and Screen
Read about the freenode IRC network: http://freenode.net/faq.shtml