setups, but most probably need further tweaking for more "advanced" setups.
You can check the current settings by running `ngircd --configtest`. This
-command not only shows the settings, it shows error, warning and hits, if it
+command not only shows the settings, it shows error, warning and hints, if it
detects any.
Therefore it is definitely best practice to *always run this check* after
### Configuration File and Drop-in Directory
-The `ngircd --configtest` command shows the name of the default configuration
-file, too. For example `/etc/ngircd/ngircd.conf`.
+After installing ngIRCd, a sample configuration file should have been set up if
+none existed already. By default, when installing from sources, the file is
+named `/usr/local/etc/ngircd.conf` (other common names, especially for
+distribution packages, are `/etc/ngircd.conf` or `/etc/ngircd/ngircd.conf`).
+Run the command `ngircd --configtest` to check the name of the configuration
+file which is used by default on your local system.
-In addition, ngIRCd supports further configuration file snippets in a "drop-in"
+In addition, ngIRCd supports configuration file snippets in a "drop-in"
directory which is configured with the `IncludeDir` variable in the `[Options]`
section and has a built-in default value (like `/etc/ngircd/ngircd.conf.d/`).
-All configuration files must match `*.conf`.
+All configuration files matching the `*.conf` pattern are read-in from this
+directory after the main `ngircd.conf` file.
-It is a good idea to not edit a default `ngircd.conf` file but to create one
+It is a good idea to not edit the default `ngircd.conf` file but to create one
ore more new files in this include directory, overriding the defaults as
needed. This way you don't get any clashes when updating ngIRCd to newer
releases.
+You can find the template of the sample configuration file in the `doc/`
+directory as `sample-ngircd.conf` and
+[online](https://ngircd.barton.de/doc/sample-ngircd.conf) on the homepage. It
+contains all available options.
+
## Configuration File Syntax
The configuration consists of sections and parameters.
Please see the `ngircd.conf`(5) manual page for an in-depth description of the
configuration file, its syntax and all supported configuration options.
+The sample configuration file uses comments beginning with `#` *or* `;` -- this
+is only for the better understanding of the file, both comment styles are
+equal. The lines commented out with `;` show example or default settings,
+whereas the lines using `#` are descriptions of the options.
+
## Simple Single-Instance Server
A good starting point is to configure a valid (and unique!) IRC server name
And you can have as many *Operator blocks* as you like, configuring multiple
different IRC Operators.
+
+## Configuring SSL/TLS Encryption
+
+Please see the file `SSL.md` for details.