using dircproxy + stunnel + xchat

this gives you a secure, persistant connection to irc while letting you use xchat.

# apt-get install xchat stunnel4 dircproxy

create a password

the program dircproxy-crypt can be used to create a hashed password. we will use this password to prevent other people from connecting to our proxy, but allow us to connect remotely.

> dircproxy-crypt
Password: blah
blah = 5iZGIkjqh.fW.

config dircproxy

edit ~/.dircproxyrc:
listen_port 57000
connection {
    password "5iZGIkjqh.fW."
    server "localhost"
    server_port "6994"
    join "#channel1,#channel2"
    away_message "away..."
}

create stunnel key file

create the key:
> cd ~/.stunnel
> openssl req -new -x509 -days 3650 -nodes -out stunnel.pem -keyout stunnel.pem                                        

check the contents of the key:
> openssl x509 -subject -dates -fingerprint -in stunnel.pem

Or, if you don't have openssl, visit www.stunnel.org/pem/ and save the file as ~/.stunnel/stunnel.pem

configure stunnel

~/.stunnel/stunnel.conf:
cert = /home/user/.stunnel/stunnel.pem
key = /home/user/.stunnel/stunnel.pem
client = yes
[994]
accept = 6994
connect = irc.indymedia.org:994

configure xchat

  • connect to localhost/57000.
  • check use a proxy server.
  • specify a server password (the one in dircproxyrc).

run everything

> sudo stunnel4 /home/user/.stunnel/stunnel.conf
> dircproxy