Telnetting to IRC from your OSX Terminal or the Windows Command Prompt
can be acheived with a few simple steps.
We've gone ahead and outlined the process below.
Happy Telnetting!
[ INSTRUCTIONS ]
From your OSX machine, navigate to: /applications/terminal From your Windows machine, navigate to: c:/system32/cmd.exe
telnet irc.freenode.net 6667
If the connection was successful, you will see the server respond with something similar to the following output:
> Trying 2001:5a0:3604:1:64:86:243:181...
Connected to chat.freenode.net.
Escape character is '^]'.
:karatkievich.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Looking up your hostname...
:karatkievich.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Checking Ident
:karatkievich.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** Couldn't look up your hostname
The socket is now physically connected to the IRC server, but you’ll still need to over a few more steps.
The IRC server needs to know your login, your real name, and the nickname you want to use.
The
nick
command sets your nickname. If I wanted my nickname to be “1wtnycirc,”
I would type the following into the Telnet session window and press enter:
nick 1wtnycirc
Press enter
user 1wtnycirc * : your name
Press enter
Your Telnet session will proceed to generate the following output,
indicating a successful server response
:karatkievich.freenode.net NOTICE * :*** No Ident response
user 1wtnycirc 8 *: 1wtnycirc
:karatkievich.freenode.net 001 1wtnycirc :Welcome to the freenode Internet Relay Chat Network 1wtnycirc
:karatkievich.freenode.net 002 1wtnycirc :Your host is karatkievich.freenode.net[2001:5a0:3604:1:64:86:243:181/6667], running version ircd-seven-1.1.4
:karatkievich.freenode.net 003 1wtnycirc :This server was created Sun Jan 8 2017 at 22:54:39 EST
:karatkievich.freenode.net 004 1wtnycirc karatkievich.freenode.net ircd-seven-1.1.4 DOQRSZaghi1wtnycirclopswz CFILMPQSbcefgijklmnopqrstvz bkloveqjfI
:karatkievich.freenode.net 005 1wtnycirc CHANTYPES=# EXCEPTS INVEX CHANMODES=eIbq,k,flj,CFLMPQScgimnprstz CHANLIMIT=#:120 PREFIX=(ov)@+ MAXLIST=bqeI:100 MODES=4 NETWORK=freenode STATUSMSG=@+ CALLERID=g CASEMAPPING=rfc1459 :are supported by this server
:karatkievich.freenode.net 005 1wtnycirc CHARSET=ascii NICKLEN=16 CHANNELLEN=50 TOPICLEN=390 DEAF=D FNC TARGMAX=NAMES:1,LIST:1,KICK:1,WHOIS:1,PRIVMSG:4,NOTICE:4,ACCEPT:,MONITOR: EXTBAN=$,ajrxz CLIENTVER=3.0 CPRIVMSG CNOTICE ETRACE :are supported by this server
:karatkievich.freenode.net 005 1wtnycirc KNOCK SAFELIST ELIST=CTU WHOX :are supported by this server
:karatkievich.freenode.net 251 1wtnycirc :There are 120 users and 86877 invisible on 34 servers
:karatkievich.freenode.net 252 1wtnycirc 31 :IRC Operators online
:karatkievich.freenode.net 254 1wtnycirc 50521 :channels formed
:karatkievich.freenode.net 255 1wtnycirc :I have 4642 clients and 1 servers
:karatkievich.freenode.net 265 1wtnycirc 4642 12000 :Current local users 4642, max 12000
:karatkievich.freenode.net 266 1wtnycirc 86997 96600 :Current global users 86997, max 96600
:karatkievich.freenode.net 250 1wtnycirc :Highest connection count: 12001 (12000 clients) (659025 connections received)
:karatkievich.freenode.net 375 1wtnycirc :- karatkievich.freenode.net Message of the Day -
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- Welcome to karatkievich.freenode.net. Thanks to
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- http://www.tatacommunications.com/ for sponsoring
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- this server!
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- KARATKIEVICH, ULADZIMIR (1930-1984) was a Belarusian
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- romantic writer. After his first published work was a poem
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- in 1951, he followed up with novels, short stories, plays,
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- essays, articles and screenplays. His probably most popular
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- work is the novel 'King Stakh's Wild Hunt' (1964). Most his
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- novels are about Belarus's past. He won many national
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- literary awards and influenced the Belarusian literature's
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- development of historical themes.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- Welcome to freenode - supporting the free and open source
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- software communities since 1998.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- By connecting to freenode you indicate that you have read and
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- accept our policies and guidelines as set out on https://freenode.net
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- In the event that you observe behaviour that contravenes our policies,
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- please notify a volunteer staff member via private message, or send us an
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- e-mail to complaints@freenode.net -- we will do our best to address the
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- situation within a reasonable period of time, and we may request further
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- information or, as appropriate, involve other parties such as channel operators
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- Group Contacts representing an on-topic group.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- freenode runs an open proxy scanner.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- If you are looking for assistance, you will be able to find a list of
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- volunteer staff using the '/who freenode/staff/*' command, and you may
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- message any of us at any time. Please note that freenode predominantly
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- provides assistance via private message, and while we have a network
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- channel the primary venue for support requests is via private message to
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- a member of the volunteer staff team.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- From time to time, volunteer staff may send server-wide notices relating to
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- the project, or the communities that we host. The majority of such notices
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- will be sent as wallops, and you can '/mode <yournick> +w' to ensure that you
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- do not miss them. Important messages relating to the freenode project, including
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- notices of upcoming maintenance and other scheduled downtime will be issued as
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- global notices.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- Representing an on-topic project? Don't forget to register, more information
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- can be found on the https://freenode.net website under "Group Registration".
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- freenode organises an annual conference, and we would like to extend our
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- thanks to the attendees, exhibitors and speakers who made freenode #live 2017
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- possible. And of course, our generous sponsors: Bytemark, Canonical (Ubuntu),
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- Falanx Cyber Security, Private Internet Access and Yubico for footing the bill.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- Thank you also to our server sponsors for the sustained support in keeping the
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- network going for close to two decades.
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- freenode #live returns to Bristol, UK on November 3rd-4th 2018, keep an eye
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- on the https://freenode.live website for our call for volunteers and call for
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- participation. If you are interested in sponsoring next year's event, please
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- send us an e-mail to sponsor@freenode.live
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :- Thank you for using freenode!
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 372 1wtnycirc :-
:karatkievich.freenode.net 376 1wtnycirc :End of /MOTD command.
Contemporary servers respect commands from the updated IRC RFC 2812. This
user
command makes use of some features specified in this updated document. Particularly, the
8
is a numeric mode parameter used to automatically set user modes when registering with the server. This parameter is a bit mask, with bit 2 representing user mode
w
and bit 3 representing user mode
i
, therefore using a numerical value of 8 means that you
are asking the server to set you to be invisible, omitting 8 will set you as visible on the server.
Currently, only these two bits are of any significance. Also note that the text after the : is where you would enter your real name. After successfully sending the nick and user commands, the server will send several lines of text to you as shown above. If nothing seems to be happening for a while, don't worry - the server may impose an artificial delay of up to a minute if it did not find an Ident server running on your machine. et voilà! You are now connected to the freenode IRC server!
Now that you are connected, you can perform any of the commands a traditional IRC GUI client is capable of :)
[STAYING ALIVE IN IRC LAND ]
Sometimes it is difficult for IRC servers to keep track of a user who is still connected. One trick they employ is to send a PING command to user that have not exhibited any recent activity. The user is expected to respond with a PONG message to effectively communicate their presence. If the user does not send a response in a timely fashion, the server will assume inactivity and close the connection. As a general rule, the PONG reply must include the arguments that were sent as part of the PING command from the server. For example, if you were to receive the following message:
PING:karatkievich.freenode.net
You would reply with the following PONG command:
PONG :karatkievich.freenode.net
[ JOINING AN IRC CHANNEL ]
Your Telnet connection serves as a virtual IRC client that can be accessed from anywhere in the world. Since Telnet is a primitive communications platform, the usual IRC user commands like /join and /msg won’t work here, since you are operating within the raw environment/protocol. Telnetting allows you to perform all of the same tasks you would normally perform on on your traditional IRC GUI client. If you wanted to join the #freenode channel, you would simply input:
join #freenode
Press enter
[MESSAGING A USER ]
To message a user privately, simply use the recipient's nickname in place of the channel name.
If you want to send a private message to the user with the nickname “1wtnycirc,”
you would input the following command:
privmsg 1wtnycirc: Hello 1WT!
Press enter
[MESSAGING A CHANNEL ]
To send a public message to a channel #freenode, you would input the following command:
privmsg #freenode: Hello Everyone!
Press enter
[ENDING YOUR SESSION ]
To end your session and disconnect from the server, you will need to input the quit command.
To end your session and announce your departure, you will need to input the quit :1WT OUT!