Halloy IRC Server 💬

A robust and efficient IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server implementation, designed for handling multiple clients and channels. This project provides a foundation for building your own chat application or understanding the inner workings of IRC servers. It supports essential IRC features like user authentication, channel management, and message handling.

🚀 Key Features

• Multi-Client Support: Handles numerous concurrent client connections efficiently using poll for I/O multiplexing.
• Channel Management: Allows creation, joining, and management of multiple channels.
• User Authentication: Implements password-based authentication for clients.
• Message Handling: Supports sending and receiving messages between clients and channels.
• Command Processing: Parses and executes standard IRC commands (e.g., NICK, JOIN, PRIVMSG).
• Configuration: Uses a TOML file (config.toml) for easy server configuration, including server details, authentication, and channel settings.
• Signal Handling: Gracefully handles signals (SIGINT, SIGQUIT) for clean server shutdown.
• Formatted Output: Uses Outline.hpp for visually appealing console output.

🛠️ Tech Stack

• Language: C++
• Networking: Sockets (TCP)
• I/O Multiplexing: poll
• Configuration: TOML (config.toml)
• Data Structures: std::string, std::vector, std::set
• Operating System: Linux (developed and tested on Linux / WSL2)
• Build System: c++ (GCC)

📦 Getting Started / Setup Instructions

Prerequisites

• A c++ (GCC) compiler
• Make

Installation

1. Clone the repository:

   git clone https://github.com/MatriX1232/ft_irc.git
   cd ft_irc

2. Install Dependencies (Example using apt on Debian/Ubuntu):

   sudo apt update
   sudo apt install build-essential

   Note: You may need to install a TOML parsing library separately depending on your system and chosen library.

3. Build the project:

   make

Running Locally

1. Configure the server:

   • Edit the config.toml file to set the desired port, password, and other server settings. Important Security Note: Avoid storing sensitive information like passwords in plain text. Consider using environment variables or a more secure configuration management approach in a production environment.

2. Run the server:

   ./ircserv <port> <password>

   Replace <port> and <password> with the port number and password you configured in config.toml or desire to use.

💻 Usage

After starting the server, you can connect to it using an Halloy IRC client.

1. Configure your IRC client:

   • Set the server address to localhost or the IP address of the server.
   • Set the port to the port number you configured in config.toml.
   • Enter the server password when prompted.
   • Set your desired nickname, username, and real name.

2. Join channels:

   • Use the /join <channel_name> command to join a channel. For example, /join #general.

3. Send messages:

   • Type your message in the chat window and press Enter to send it to the current channel.
   • Use /msg <nickname> <message> to send a private message to another user.

📝 License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.