ngIRCd Release 27

[ngircd-alex.git] / man / ngircd.8.tmpl

diff --git a/man/ngircd.8.tmpl b/man/ngircd.8.tmpl
index f1251e1f2ede69446078fed1411bdbd62de4697b..d82d137d7b6068d7f6679f1439f0233667995dd4 100644 (file)
--- a/man/ngircd.8.tmpl
+++ b/man/ngircd.8.tmpl
@@ -1,32 +1,37 @@
 .\"
 .\" ngircd(8) manual page template
 .\"
 .\"
 .\" ngircd(8) manual page template
 .\"

-.TH ngircd 8 "Dec 2010" ngircd "ngIRCd Manual"
+.TH ngircd 8 "Sep 2023" ngIRCd "ngIRCd Manual"

 .SH NAME
 .SH NAME

-ngIRCd \- the next generation IRC daemon
+ngIRCd \- the "next generation" IRC daemon

 .SH SYNOPSIS
 .SH SYNOPSIS

-.B ngircd [
+.B ngircd
+[

 .I Options
 .I Options

-.B ]
+]

 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .BR ngIRCd
 .SH DESCRIPTION
 .BR ngIRCd

-is a free open source daemon for the Internet Relay Chat (IRC),
-developed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).
+is a free, portable and lightweight Internet Relay Chat (IRC) server for small
+or private networks, developed under the GNU General Public License (GPL).

 .PP
 .PP

-It's written from scratch and is not based upon the original IRCd like
-many others. It is easy to configure, supports server links (even with
-original ircd's) and runs on hosts with changing IP addresses (such as
-dial-in networks).
+The server is quite easy to configure and runs as a single-node server or can
+be part of a network of ngIRCd servers in a LAN or across the internet. It
+optionally supports the IPv6 protocol, SSL/TLS-protected client-server and
+server-server links, the Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) system for user
+authentication, IDENT requests, and character set conversion for legacy
+clients.

 .PP
 .PP

-Currently supported platforms include AIX, A/UX, FreeBSD, HP-UX, IRIX,
-Linux, Mac OS X, NetBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, and Windows with Cygwin.
+The name ngIRCd stands for
+.IR "next-generation IRC daemon",
+which is a little bit exaggerated:
+.IR "lightweight Internet Relay Chat server"
+most probably would have been a better name :-)

 .PP
 .PP

-As ngIRCd relies on UNIX standards and uses GNU automake and GNU autoconf
-there are good chances that it also supports other UNIX-based operating
-systems as well. By default, ngIRCd writes diagnostic and informational messages using
-the syslog mechanism.
+By default ngIRCd logs diagnostic and informational messages using the syslog
+mechanism, or writes directly to the console when running in the foreground
+(see below).

 .SH OPTIONS
 .SH OPTIONS

-The default behaviour of
+The default behavior of

 .BR ngircd
 is to read its standard configuration file (see below), to detach from the
 controlling terminal and to wait for clients.
 .BR ngircd
 is to read its standard configuration file (see below), to detach from the
 controlling terminal and to wait for clients.


@@ -47,14 +52,25 @@ terminate the server.
 Disable automatic connections to other servers. You can use the IRC command
 CONNECT later on as IRC Operator to link this ngIRCd to other servers.
 .TP
 Disable automatic connections to other servers. You can use the IRC command
 CONNECT later on as IRC Operator to link this ngIRCd to other servers.
 .TP

+\fB\-y\fR, \fB\-\-syslog\fR
+Write log messages to the syslog even when running in the foreground. This only
+makes sense when
+.I \-n/\-\-nodaemon
+was given on the command line
+.I before
+this option!
+.PP
+The following options prevent ngIRCd from starting regularly, but perform a
+specific action and then exit the daemon again:
+.TP
+\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
+Display a brief help text and exit.
+.TP

 \fB\-t\fR, \fB\-\-configtest\fR
 Read, validate and display the configuration; then exit.
 .TP
 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
 Output version information and exit.
 \fB\-t\fR, \fB\-\-configtest\fR
 Read, validate and display the configuration; then exit.
 .TP
 \fB\-V\fR, \fB\-\-version\fR
 Output version information and exit.

-.TP
-\fB\-h\fR, \fB\-\-help\fR
-Display a brief help text and exit.

 .SH FILES
 .I :ETCDIR:/ngircd.conf
 .RS
 .SH FILES
 .I :ETCDIR:/ngircd.conf
 .RS


@@ -64,9 +80,60 @@ The system wide default configuration file.
 .RS
 Default "message of the day" (MOTD).
 .RE
 .RS
 Default "message of the day" (MOTD).
 .RE

+.SH SIGNALS
+The daemon understands the following signals:
+.TP
+\fBTERM\fR
+Shut down all connections and terminate the daemon.
+.TP
+\fBHUP\fR
+Shut down all listening sockets, re-read the configuration file and
+re-initialize the daemon.

 .SH HINTS
 .SH HINTS

-It's wise to use "ngircd \-\-configtest" to validate the configuration file
-after changing it.
+It is
+.I always wise
+to use "ngircd \-\-configtest" to validate the configuration of ngIRCd after
+making changes to the configuration files!
+.SH DEBUGGING
+ngIRCd can log additional debug messages, which can be enabled with the command
+line option \-\-debug (\-d) or by sending the USR1 signal to the running daemon.
+Some of those messages may leak personal information, be very technical and can
+be very verbose. Therefore the debug mode is meant for troubleshooting only and
+should definitely be disabled during normal operation!
+.PP
+In addition, a "protocol sniffer" can be enabled on build time by passing the
+"\-\-enable\-sniffer" option to the ./configure script which enables the
+"\-\-sniffer" (\-s) command line option (which is not available by default):
+this "sniffer" logs all incoming and outgoing IRC commands on all connections,
+which can be handy to debug problems with the daemon itself or IRC clients.
+.PP
+Both modes are indicated in the version string shown by the IRC "VERSION"
+command: if the version ends in a dot (like in "26.1."), the daemon operates in
+"normal" mode (the version used in the example is "26.1"). If it ends in ".1"
+(like in "26.1.1") the "debug-mode" is enabled; and if it ends in ".2" (like in
+"26.1.2") the "IRC sniffer" is enabled, too.
+.PP
+\fBOptions:\fR
+.TP
+\fB\-d\fR, \fB\-\-debug\fR
+Enable debug mode and log extra messages.
+.TP
+\fB\-s\fR, \fB\-\-sniffer\fR
+Enable IRC protocol sniffer, which logs all sent and received IRC commands to
+the console/syslog. This option requires that ngIRCd has been ./configure'd
+with "\-\-enable\-sniffer" and enables debug mode automatically, too.
+.PP
+\fBSignals:\fR
+.PP
+Note: Usage of these signals is broadcasted to all users with the +s ("receive
+server notices") mode set!
+.TP
+\fBUSR1\fR
+Toggle debug mode on and off during runtime.
+.TP
+\fBUSR2\fR
+Dump internal server state to the console/syslog when debug mode is on (use
+command line option \-\-debug or signal USR1).

 .SH AUTHORS
 Alexander Barton, <alex@barton.de>
 .br
 .SH AUTHORS
 Alexander Barton, <alex@barton.de>
 .br