Skip to content
ElixIRCd

Quick Start

The fastest way to run ElixIRCd is with Docker. The official image is available on Docker Hub.

Docker Quick Start

Section titled “Docker Quick Start”

  1. Run the server

    Terminal window
    docker run \
      -p 6667:6667 -p 6697:6697 -p 8080:8080 -p 8443:8443 \
      faelgabriel/elixircd

    This starts the server with default settings, exposing:

    • 6667 — IRC plaintext
    • 6697 — IRC SSL/TLS (self-signed cert by default)
    • 8080 — WebSocket (HTTP)
    • 8443 — WebSocket (HTTPS, self-signed cert)

  2. Connect with an IRC client

    Open your IRC client and connect to localhost:6667 (no password required by default).

    Server: localhost
    Port: 6667
    SSL: No

  3. You’re in!

    You’ll receive the welcome sequence, MOTD, and can start using the server:

    /nick YourNick
    /join #test
    /msg NickServ REGISTER yourpassword your@email.com

With Custom Configuration

Section titled “With Custom Configuration”

  1. Download the default config

    Get the default configuration file and save it as elixircd.exs locally.

  2. Edit the config

    At minimum, change the server name and hostname:

    elixircd.exs
    config :elixircd,
      server: [
        name: "My IRC Network",
        hostname: "irc.myserver.com",
        password: nil,  # optional server password
        motd: File.read("config/motd.txt")
      ],

  3. Run with your config

    Terminal window
    docker run \
      -p 6667:6667 -p 6697:6697 -p 8080:8080 -p 8443:8443 \
      -v ./elixircd.exs:/app/config/elixircd.exs \
      faelgabriel/elixircd

First Steps After Connecting

Section titled “First Steps After Connecting”

Once connected, here’s what to do:

# Set your nickname
/nick MyNick


# Register your nickname with NickServ
/msg NickServ REGISTER mypassword myemail@example.com


# Identify if already registered
/msg NickServ IDENTIFY mypassword


# Join a channel
/join #general


# Create a channel and register it with ChanServ
/join #mychannel
/msg ChanServ REGISTER #mychannel mypassword "My channel description"

Next Steps

Section titled “Next Steps”