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INTERNET-DRAFT Kent Cedola
File: <draft-pfenning-irc-extensions-01.txt> Microsoft Corporation
13 February 1997 Thomas Pfenning
Microsoft Corporation
Extensions to the Internet Relay Chat Protocol (IRCX)
1. Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working docu-
ments of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and
its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute work-
ing documents as Internet-Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference mate-
rial or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.''
To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the
``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet-Drafts Shadow
Directories on ds.internic.net (US East Coast), nic.nordu.net
(Europe), ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast), or munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim).
The distribution of this memo is unlimited. It is filed as <draft-
pfenning-irc-extensions-00.txt>, and expires July 13, 1997. Please
send comments to the authors.
2. Abstract
This document describes extensions to the Internet Relay Chat protocol
defined in RFC 1459[1]. The added functionality includes optional user
authentication for multiple security providers, support for UNICODE[2]
characters, multilayer security, and a unified property mechanism.
Chat server implementations can optionally support channel or server
services with full control over all messages and events. These ser-
vices communicate with the core server over an extended IRC connec-
tion.
All changes to the IRC protocol are designed in a way that existing
clients will continue to work against servers implementing the exten-
sions. Support for the extended protocol can be queried by clients to
take advantage of the added functionality or to conform to the basic
protocol as defined in RFC 1459.
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 1]
INTERNET-DRAFT 13 February 1997
3. Modified UTF7 Encoding of UNICODE characters
Allowing UNICODE characters for all user visible strings introduces a
set of compatibility problems if the protocol must be backwards com-
patible. While UTF7 encoding[1] maintains readability for pure ASCII
strings, the BASE64 encoding of extended characters can contain char-
acters which have a special meaning to the parser. In order to provide
backwards compatibility with exisiting IRC clients and to allow new
client to use a subset of UNICODE features on existing IRC server we
introduce an additional postprocessing step on the result of an UTF7
translation.
The quoting character for the postprocessing step is ''. All mappings
are listed in the table below.
+------------------------------------+
|Table 1 - Character Quoting in UTF7 |
+----------------+-------------------+
| \b | for " " blank |
| \c | for "," |
| \\ | for "\" |
| \r | for CR |
| \n | for LF |
+----------------+-------------------+
This mechanism is a first proposal and subject to change if we dicover
a more general solution to this problem. Since a similar problem was
discovered in the context of the IMAP protocol[3] it might be worth-
while to define a new safe encoding of UNICODE which translates to
alphanumeric characters only. It seems, that every special character
has a special meaning in one or the other protocol.
4. Terms and Definitions
Throughout the document we will use certain terms which are defined in
this section.
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 2]
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+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Table 2 - Definition of Terms |
+---------------+--------------------------------------------------+
| Chat Network | Chat Network is comprised of one or more |
| | servers linked together. |
| Server | A server is a single machine. |
| Channel | A channel (sometimes called a room or confer- |
| | ence) is conversation between one or more |
| | users. |
| Member | A member is a user that is part of a conversa- |
| | tion in a channel. |
| User | A user is a client that makes a connection to |
| | the server. |
| Objects | An object is a general term for channels, |
| | users, members (users in a channel), and |
| | servers. The type of object can be determined |
| | from the first character of the object's name. |
+---------------+--------------------------------------------------+
4.1. User Access Levels
Each client falls into one of eight level that define the ability to
perform operations. Some levels are determined on the context of the
operation to be performed.
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Table 3 - Definition of Client Levels |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
| Chat Administrator | A Chat Administrator has full access to |
| | all aspect of the server. |
| Chat Service | A Chat Service is defined for external |
| | application to provide extended services |
| | to the chat network. Also refered to as |
| | bots. |
| A Chat Manager | A Chat Manager is a senior sysop access |
| | level that is permitted a wider range of |
| | opertions than a Chat Sysop. |
| A Chat Sysop | A Chat Sysop is a user that is ability |
| | to oversee and control the chat network. |
| A Chat Owner | A Chat Owner is a owner of a channel |
| | that has the ability to manage channel |
| | hosts. |
| A Chat Host | A Chat Host is a member of a channel |
| | with the ability to manage a channel. |
| | Also refered to as a channel operator. |
| A Chat Member | An Chat Member is a member of a channel. |
| A Chat User | An Chat User is a client connected to |
| | the server. |
+---------------------+--------------------------------------------+
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 3]
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4.2. Prefixes
Each object contains a unique prefix that identifies the type of
object. By tagging UNICODE objects with a special prefix a client can
easily decide whether to use standard ASCII or UNICODE when sending a
message to a user or channel.
+-----------------------------------------------------------------+
| Table 4 - Object identifiers |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------------+
| # | The '#' prefix identifies an IRC2 global channel. |
| & | The '&' prefix identifies an IRC2 local channel. |
| + | The '+' prefix identifies an IRC2 modeless channel. |
| %# | The "%#" prefix identifies an extended global chan- |
| | nel name which consist of a modified UTF7 encoded |
| | Unicode string. |
| %& | The "%&" prefix identifies an extended local chan- |
| | nel name which consist of a modified UTF7 encoded |
| | Unicode string. |
| %+ | The "%+" prefix identifies an extended modeless |
| | channel name which consist of a modified UTF7 |
| | encoded Unicode string. |
| % | The '%' character identifies the last channel that |
| | this client specified and is a member of. The '%' |
| | character must be followed by a space or comma. It |
| | is used to optimize server processing of multiple |
| | messages from a client to a channel. |
| A to } | The 'A' through '}' prefix identifies a standard |
| | IRC2 nick name. |
| ' | The ''' prefix identifies an extended IRCX nick |
| | name which consist of a modified UTF7 encoded Uni- |
| | code string. The ''' character followed by a space |
| | or comma represents the local client connection. |
| 0 | The '0' prefix identifies an internal object iden- |
| | tifier (OID). The OID consists of the '0' prefix |
| | and 8 hexadecimal characters. The use of OID is |
| | implementation dependent. |
| $ | The '$' prefix identifies a server on the network. |
| | Just '$' represents the local server the client is |
| | connected to. |
+---------+-------------------------------------------------------+
5. Channels
Channels support four mutually exclusive states of visibility; public,
private, hidden and secret. The visibility of a channel effects which
modes and properties are available to a client. Each mode/property is
followed by a table that consists of a matrix of the channel's visi-
bility state and each type of client. R/W is for Read/Write access,
WO for Write Only access, RO for Read Only access, "-" for no access
(can't be queried) and N/A for does not apply. These access rights are
listed for the different adminstrative levels.
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 4]
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5.1. Modes
Each channel object contains a number of binary mode settings that can
be queried and optionally updated via the IRC2 MODE and/or the IRCX
MODEX command. The IRC2 mode, if available, is presented with the
+<Letter> format after the name of the mode.
5.1.1. PUBLIC (IRC2 default)
The channel is public and all information about the channel (except
for text messages) can be queried by non-members. The PUBLIC mode is
mutually exclusive with the PRIVATE, HIDDEN and SECRET modes.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Private N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Hidden N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Secret N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
5.1.2. PRIVATE (IRC2 +P)
The channel is private and only the name and number of members can be
queried by non-members. The PRIVATE mode is mutually exclusive with
the PUBLIC, HIDDEN and SECRET modes.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Hidden N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Secret N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
5.1.3. HIDDEN (IRCX +Q)
The channel is hidden and can not by located by enumeration queries.
The HIDDEN mode is mutually exclusive with the PUBLIC, PRIVATE, and
SECRET modes. The purpose of the new HIDDEN channel mode is to permit
channels that can not be found using the standard LIST command, but
properties can be queried if the exact name is known. Thus a HIDDEN
channel is the same as a PUBLIC channel except that it can not be enu-
merated by using the LIST command.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Private N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Secret N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
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5.1.4. SECRET (IRC2 +S)
The channel is secret and can not by located by any query. The SECRET
mode is mutually exclusive with the PUBLIC, PRIVATE, and HIDDEN modes.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Private N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Hidden N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
5.1.5. MODERATED (IRC2 +M) The MODERATED mode changes the default
speaker setting for new members to off.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
5.1.6. NOEXTERN (IRC2 +N)
The NOEXTERN mode blocks messages from non-members to the channel.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
5.1.7. TOPICOP (IRC2 +T)
The TOPICOP mode only permits channel hosts the ability to change the
channel topic property.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
5.1.8. INVITE (IRC2 +I)
The INVITE mode only permits invited users to enter the channel.
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 6]
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Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W RO -
5.1.9. KNOCK (IRCX +J)
The KNOCK extended mode causes a KNOCK message to be sent to all chan-
nel hosts if an uninvited user attempts to join an invite only chan-
nel. Useful for clients that wish to use custom access control of a
channel and will automatically issue an invite to a select group of
users.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
5.1.10. NODATA (IRCX +D) The NODATA channel mode will disable CTCP
messages from being sent to a channel. A CTCP message is defined as a
message that contains Control-A as the first character of the message
text.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
5.1.11. NOFORMAT (IRCX +F) The NOFORMAT channel mode is an indication
to the client application not to format text received from the chan-
nel. Normally clients will prefix text messages with "x said y" or "x
whispers to y and x", if the NOFORMAT mode is set then just the raw
text should be displayed moving to the next line at the end of the
message. The client should not echo text sent by the client. This is
to permit custom applications to control the formatting to clients.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
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5.1.12. NOWHISPER (IRCX +W)
The NOWHISPER channel mode will disable WHISPER messages from being
sent to a channel.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
5.1.13. BROADCAST (IRCX +E)
The BROADCAST channel mode is a special mode used for channels that
will send information one way from channel hosts to channel members.
Each member in a channel will only see themself in the channel.
Client applications should expect messages from host members that do
not appear in the channel member list via the WHO or NAMES commands.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO -
5.1.14. EXTERNAL (IRCX +X)
The EXTERNAL channel mode restricts the visibility and messaging
within a channel. Members will only see themself and other hosts in
the channel. Any message sent by a member will only be received by
the host members. Hosts will see all members in the channel and mes-
sages from a host are seen by all members.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
5.1.15. REGISTERED (IRCX +R)
The channel has been registered via a chat service.
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 8]
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Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO -
5.1.16. SERVICE (IRCX +Z)
A service is monitoring/controlling the channel. This is an indica-
tion to the client that message traffic sent to the channel is being
monitored by a Chat Service which does not appear as a member in the
channel. The SERVICE flag is only set by the Chat Server.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public RO RO RO RO RO RO RO RO
Private RO RO RO RO RO RO RO -
Hidden RO RO RO RO RO RO RO RO
Secret RO RO RO RO RO RO RO -
5.1.17. AUTHONLY
The AUTHONLY channel mode restricts access to the channel to only
users that have been authenticated by the server.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W RO RO -
5.1.18. CLONEABLE
The CLONEABLE channel mode defines a channel that will create new
clone channels if the parent channel is full. A clone channel is cre-
ated with the same name as the parent cloneable channel with a numeric
suffix starting at 1, ranging to 99. It is not valid to set the
CLONEABLE channel mode of a channel that ends with a numeric charac-
ter. When a clone channel is created, any channel that has the same
name will be removed. This is to prevent channel take over of a clone
channel.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO -
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 9]
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5.1.19. CLONE
The CLONE channel mode defines a channel that was created by the
server when a parent CLONEABLE channel was full.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO (1) RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO (1) RO RO -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO (1) RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO (1) RO RO -
1. The CLONE channel mode can only be set on a channel that has the
same base name as a CLONEABLE channel the user is also an owner of.
This is to permit a channel owner to pre-create clone channels.
5.2. Properties
Each channel object contains a number of properties that can be
queried and optionally updated via the IRCX PROP command.
5.2.1. OID (R/O)
The OID channel property is the internal object identifier for the
channel. The OID can be optionally used in place of the full string
name of a channel as a short cut. If the OID is "0", then this fea-
ture is not supported on the server.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public RO RO RO RO RO RO RO RO
Private RO RO RO RO RO RO RO -
Hidden RO RO RO RO RO RO RO RO
Secret RO RO RO RO RO RO RO -
5.2.2. NAME (R/O)
The NAME channel property is the name of the channel.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public RO RO RO RO RO RO RO RO
Private RO RO RO RO RO RO RO -
Hidden RO RO RO RO RO RO RO RO
Secret RO RO RO RO RO RO RO -
5.2.3. KEYWORD The KEYWORD channel property is the keyword required
to enter the channel.
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 10]
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Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W - - R/W R/W RO RO
Private R/W R/W - - R/W R/W RO -
Hidden R/W R/W - - R/W R/W RO RO
Secret R/W R/W - - R/W R/W RO -
5.2.4. HOSTKEY
The HOSTKEY channel property is the host keyword that will provide
host (channel op) access when entering the channel.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W WO - R/W RO - -
Private R/W R/W WO - R/W RO - -
Hidden R/W R/W WO - R/W RO - -
Secret R/W R/W WO - R/W RO - -
5.2.5. OWNERKEY
The OWNERKEY channel property is the owner keyword that will provide
owner access when entering the channel.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W - - R/W - - -
Private R/W R/W - - R/W - - -
Hidden R/W R/W - - R/W - - -
Secret R/W R/W - - R/W - - -
5.2.6. TOPIC
The TOPIC channel property is the current topic of the channel.
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W (1) RO
Private R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W (1) -
Hidden R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W (1) RO
Secret R/W R/W RO RO R/W R/W (1) -
1. The TOPIC property can only be set by members if the TOPICOP chan-
nel mode is not set.
5.2.7. PICS
The PICS channel property is the current PICS rating of the channel.
Chat clients that are PICS enabled can use this property to determine
if the channel is appropriate for the user.
.LP
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 11]
INTERNET-DRAFT 13 February 1997
Admin Service Manager Sysop Owner Host Member User
Public R/W R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO
Private R/W R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO
Hidden R/W R/W R/W RO RO RO RO RO
Secret R/W R/W R/W RO RO RO RO -
6. IRCX Server Messages
This section summarizes all extended messages which can be send unso-
licited from the server.
6.1. CLONE (new IRCX message)
Informs the hosts in a CLONEABLE channel of the creation of a new
CLONE channel.
Syntax: CLONE <channel-name> <oid>
6.1.1. Parameters
<channel-name> The name of the created CLONE channel.
<oid> The object identifier for this new CLONE channel. The value is
implementation dependent and must be 0 if not supported.
6.1.2. Remarks
The CLONE message can be sent at anytime to the hosts of a CLONEABLE
channel of the creation of a CLONE channel. Normally used by custom
application to automatically join the new CLONE channel.
6.1.3. Example
Server: CLONE #MyChat1 034F8FF32
6.2. EVENT (new IRCX message)
Notification to the client of an event.
Syntax 1: EVENT CHANNEL <time-stamp> CREATE <user>
Syntax 2: EVENT CHANNEL <time-stamp> DELETE <user>
Syntax 3: EVENT CHANNEL <time-stamp> KILL <user> :<reason>
Syntax 4: EVENT MEMBER <time-stamp> JOIN <user>
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 12]
INTERNET-DRAFT 13 February 1997
Syntax 5: EVENT MEMBER <time-stamp> PART <user> :<reason>
Syntax 6: EVENT MEMBER <time-stamp> KICK <user> :<reason>
Syntax 7: EVENT USER <time-stamp> REGISTER <user> <local-ip/port>
<remote-ip/port> <access>
Syntax 8: EVENT USER <time-stamp> QUIT <user> :<reason>
Syntax 9: EVENT USER <time-stamp> KILL <user> :<reason>
6.2.1. Parameters
<time-stamp> The number of seconds elapsed since midnight (00:00:00),
January 1, 1970, coordinated universal time when the event occured on
the server.
<user> The user's nick, userid, host and server in
nick!user@host$server format that triggered the event.
<reason> {same as for REDIRECT}
<local-ip:port> The local server IP address and port number of the
<user>.
<remote-ip:port> The remote client IP address and port number of the
<user>.
6.2.2. Remarks
The EVENT command is to use to define the events that the client is
interested in.
6.3. REDIRECT (new IRCX message)
Informs the client to connect to another server.
Syntax: REDIRECT <server-list> :<reason>
6.3.1. Parameters
<server-list> The server list is a comma seperated list of host:port
pairs. That can be specified either as a FQDN or by the IP address in
quuad dotted notation.
<reason> The redirect reason is an implementation dependent string
which can optionally be displayed at the client. If the string starts
with a '%' character is is handled as modified UTF7 according to sec-
tion 4.
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 13]
INTERNET-DRAFT 13 February 1997
6.3.2. Remarks
The REDIRECT message can be sent to the client at anytime to request
the client to disconnect and reconnect to another server specified in
the list. The REDIRECT message is generally sent when a server is to
be shutdown.
6.3.3. Example
Server: REDIRECT chat.corp.net:6667,134.9.3.3:6667 :Server full.
7. IRCX Client Messages
All messages sent from the client to an IRCX server can optionally be
tagged with a message prefix. This implies that the client has veri-
fied, that the server it is talking to supports the extended IRC pro-
tocol. A tag is a string enclosed in square brackets. Only the charac-
ters [a-z,A-Z,0-9] are valid in a tag. The string can contain a mini-
mum of 1 and a maxminum of 16 charcters. An empty string is not
allowed.
All replies from the server to a client message prefixed with a tag
will have the same tag prepended. This feature allows the matching of
replies to multiple outstandig messages and easy dispatch of messages
to multithreaded clients. The tag will not be sent to other clients.
Tagged data messages can be used for indicating a certain payload to
other clients.
Syntax [alphanumeric string] <IRCX-message>
Parameters
<IRCX-message> This argument is any valid client message according to
the IRC or IRCX specification.
7.1. AUTH Command (new IRCX command)
Authenticate the client using an SASL[4] authentication mechanism. The
details of the authentication mechanisms is specified in a profile
that should be registered with the IANA.
Syntax 1: AUTH <name> <seq>: [<parameter>]
Syntax 2 (from server to client only): AUTH <name> OK <ident> <uid>
Cedola & Pfenning [Page 14]
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7.1.1. Parameters
<name> The name of the SASL mechanism to use for authentication. The
specific SASL mechanisms supported are implementation dependent.
<seq> The sequence is a value of 'I' or 'S'. The 'I' value is speci-
fied for the initial AUTH message and 'S' for all subsequence AUTH
messages. If the client specifies '*' for the sequence the server
will abort the authentication sequence and return IRCERR_AUTHENTICA-
TIONFAILED.
<parameter> This is optional data send as an argument with the AUTH
messages. The content is depends on the autentication mechanism being
used.
<ident> The ident is the userid@domain of the authenticated client
account. It is returned on the final response from the server (Syn-
tax2) when authentication is successful.
<uid> The uid is the internal object identifier assigned to the
client connection. If not supported by the server then '0' must be
returned.
7.1.2. Results:
AUTH message
IRCERR_ALREADYAUTHENTICATED
IRCERR_ALREADYREGISTERED
IRCERR_AUTHENTICATIONFAILED
IRCERR_AUTHENTICATIONSUSPENDED
IRCERR_BADCOMMAND
IRCERR_BADPREFIX
IRCERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
IRCERR_UNKNOWNPACKAGE
7.1.3. Remarks:
If the server is known to support IRCX with specific SASL mechanism(s)
then the first message must be the AUTH command (if authentication is
to be used). If the server state is unknown, send the message
"ISIRCX\r\nPING\r\n" and non IRCX servers will return the PONG reply
without the IRCX message (or an error message and then the PONG), IRCX
servers will return the IRCRPL_IRCX message (see IRCX command for more
info) and then the PONG reply.
The server will send the syntax 2 form when the authentication process
is complete or a numeric error reply.
7.1.4. Example:
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Client: AUTH NTLM I: <-quoted blob data>
Server: AUTH NTLM S: <-quoted blob data>
Client: AUTH NTLM S: <-quoted blob data>
Server: AUTH NTLM OK userid@domain 03FA4534C
7.2. EVENT (new IRCX command)
Add/Change/Delete event logging to the client connection.
Syntax 1: EVENT [ADD | DEL] <event> [<mask>]
Syntax 2: EVENT LIST [<event>]
7.2.1. Parameters
<event> Type of event, CHANNEL, MEMBER and USER.
<mask> Option mask for apply a selection critical per event.
7.2.2. Results
IRCRPL_EVENTADD
IRCRPL_EVENTDELETE
IRCRPL_EVENTLIST
IRCRPL_EVENTEND
IRCERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
IRCERR_BADFUNCTION
IRCERR_EVENTDUP
IRCERR_EVENTMIS
IRCERR_NOSUCHEVENT
IRCERR_TOOMANYEVENTS
7.2.3. Events
See the EVENT section for IRCX Server Messages for more detail of gen-
erated events.
7.2.4. Remarks
The EVENT command is a sysop only function to select which events the
client is interested in.
7.2.5. Examples
Add channel events
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Client: EVENT ADD CHANNEL
Server: 801 CHANNEL *!*@*$*
Add list event with no active events returned
Client: EVENT LIST
Server: 803 CHANNEL *!*@*$*
804 * :End of events.
7.3. IRCX (new IRCX command)
Enables IRCX mode and displays IRCX status.
Syntax: IRCX
7.3.1. Parameters
None.
7.3.2. Results
IRCRPL_IRCX
7.3.3. Remarks
Before a client is registered with a non-IRCX server, sending the
ISIRCX command will result in no response from the server. Recommend
sending the ISIRCX command followed by the PING command, and if a PONG
is just returned then the server doesn't support IRCX.
7.3.4. Example
Client: IRCX
Server: :<host> 800 <nick> 1 0 NTLM,DPA,ANON *
://http:chat.mysite.net
7.4. ISIRCX (new IRCX command)
Queries if the server supports the Extended IRC2 protocol (RCX).
Syntax: ISIRCX
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7.4.1. Results
IRCRPL_IRCX
7.4.2. Remarks
Before a client is registered with a non-IRCX server, sending the
ISIRCX command will result in no response from the server. Recommend
sending the ISIRCX command followed by the PING command, and if a PONG
is just returned then the server doesn't support IRCX.
7.4.3. Example
Client: ISIRCX
Server: :<host> 800<nick> 1 0 NTLM,DPA,ANON *
://http:chat.mysite.net
7.5. LIST (extension to IRC2 command)
List channels with extended filters.
Syntax 1: LIST [channel-list]
Syntax 2: LIST [query-list] [query-list ...]
7.5.1. Parameters
<query-list> One or more <query-terms>
<query-term> This parameter allows the specification of certain fil-
ters for the search operation.
+------------------------------------------------------------------+
| Table 5 - Search filters for LIST command |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
| <# | Select channels with less than # members |
| ># | Select channels with more than # members |
| C<# | Select channels created less than # minutes ago |
| C># | Select channels created greater than # minutes ago |
| T<# | Select channels with a topic changed less than # |
| | minutes ago |
| T># | Select channels with a topic changed greater than # |
| | minutes ago |
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------+
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7.5.2. Results
Same as defined in RFC 1459.
7.5.3. Remarks
The LIST extension was first implemented for the Undernet version of
the standard IRC2 server.
7.6. MODE (extension to IRC2 command)
Enumerates, adds or changes modes of a channel or user.
Syntax 1: MODE <nick>
Syntax 2: MODE <nick> {+ | - } { o }
7.6.1. Parameters
<nick> The nick name of a user.
7.6.2. Results
MODE message
IRCERR_NOPRIVILEGES
7.6.3. Remarks
Client that have authenticated as a sysop can enable or disable their
sysop access via the +/- o mode parameter.
7.6.4. Example
Client: MODE MyNick -o
Server: MODE MyNick -o
7.7. MODEX (new IRCX command)
Enumerates, adds or changes extended modes of a channel or user.
Syntax 1: MODEX <object>
Syntax 2: MODEX <object> {+ | -} <modex> [...]
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7.7.1. Parameters
<object> The name of a user, channel, member or server.
<modex> An extended mode (see MODEX under the specific object type).
7.7.2. Results
MODEX message
IRCRPL_MODELIST
IRCRPL_MODELIST2
IRCRPL_MODEEND
IRCRPL_BADMODE
IRCERR_NOPRIVILEGES
IRCERR_CHANOPRIVSNEEDED
IRCERR_CHANOWNPRIVSNEEDED
7.7.3. Remarks
The MODEX command is a replacement to the standard IRC2 MODE command,
but unlike the single character letter used by MODE, MODEX supports
named mode settings. The MODEX command only effects binary (on or
off) modes of an object.
To issue a MODEX command on a channel member, the <object> field con-
sists of the channel name, followed by a comma and then the nick of
the member. For example, "MODEX #MyChannel,Nick" to list the modes of
the user Nick member information in the channel #MyChannel.
The IRCRPL_MODELIST (805) message contains the channel modes settable
by client connections, the IRCRPL_MODELIST2 (806) message contains the
channel flags that are only settable by the server or a chat service.
If an error occurs, no modes are updated.
7.7.4. Examples
Client: MODEX #MyChannel
Server: 805 #MyChannel PUBLIC TOPICOP NOEXTERN
806 #MyChannel PERSISTENT
807 #MyChannel :End of modes
Longer transaction with query and setting of particular modes.
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Client: MODEX #MyChannel
Server: 805 #MyChannel PUBLIC TOPICOP NOEXTERN
807 #MyChannel :End of modes
Client: MODEX #MyChannel +PRIVATE -TOPICOP +NODATA +NOWHISPER
Server: MODEX #MyChannel +PRIVATE +NOEXTERN +NODATA +NOWHISPER
Client: MODEX #MyChannel
Server: 805 #MyChannel PRIVATE NOEXTERN NODATA NOWHISPER
807 #MyChannel :End of modes
7.8. NOTICE (extension to IRC2 command)
Send a notice to a channel or user.
Syntax 1: NOTICE <channel|nick> :<message>
Syntax 2: NOTICE <channel> <nick-list> :<message>
7.8.1. Results
Same as defined in RFC 1459.
7.9.
PRIVMSG (extension to IRC2 command)
Send a message to a channel or user.
Syntax 1: PRIVMSG <channel|nick> :<message>
Sybtax 2: PRIVMSG <channel> <nick-list> :<message>
7.9.1. Results
Same as defined in RFC 1459.
7.10. PROP (new IRCX command)
Add/Changes/Deletes a channel data property.
Syntax 1: PROP <channel>
Syntax 2: PROP <channel> *
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Syntax 3: PROP <channel> <property>[,<property>]
Syntax 4: PROP <channel> <property> :<data>
7.10.1. Results
PROP message
IRCRPL_PROPLIST
IRCRPL_PROPEND
IRCRPL_PROPVALUE
IRCERR_BADPROPERTY
IRCERR_NOPRIVILEGES
IRCERR_CHANOPRIVSNEEDED
IRCERR_CHANOWNPRIVSNEEDED
7.10.2. Remarks
The PROP command provides a new method for manipulating string and
number properties of server, user, channel and member objects based of
a label name. Members of channels are defined by specifying the name
of the member's channel, a comma delimited, followed by the user's
nick.
7.10.3. Examples
Client: PROP #MyChannel
Server: 808 #MyChannel TOPIC HOSTKEY PICS
809 #MyChannel :End of properties
Client: PROP #MyChannel TOPIC
Server: 810 #MyChannel TOPIC :This is the topic of my channel
Client: PROP #MyChannel TOPIC :Change my channel topic to
something
Server: PROP #MyChannel TOPIC :Change my channel topic to
something
7.11. WHISPER (new IRCX command)
Whisper to member(s) in a channel.
Syntax: WHISPER <channel> <nick-list> :<message>
7.11.1. Results
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WHISPER message
IRCERR_NEEDMOREPARAMS
IRCERR_NORECIPIENT
IRCERR_NOTEXTTOSEND
IRCERR_NOTONCHANNEL
IRCERR_CANNOTSENDTOCHANNEL
IRCERR_TOOMANYTARGETS
IRCERR_NOSUCHNICK
IRCERR_NOSUCHCHANNEL
7.11.2. Remarks
The purpose of the WHISPER command is to whisper to one or more mem-
bers in a channel within the context of that channel. IRCX clients
must display the WHISPER message within the context (window) of the
channel specified.
8. IRCX Command Responses
The new extended IRCX numeric replies follow the same convention as
with IRC with a specific range for command responses and another range
for error results. The IRCX command responses are in the ranage of
800 to 899 and 900 to 999 for the error results. The prefix field is
optional if the host generating the error is the same as the host the
client is connected to.
8.1. Command Replies
800 - IRCRPL_IRCX <state>
<version> <package-list> <option-list> :<admin url>
The response to the IRCX command. The <state> indicates if the has
IRCX mode enabled (0 for disabled, 1 for enabled). The <version> is
the version of the IRCX protocol starting at 0. The <package-list>
contains a list of authentication packages supported by the server.
The package name of "ANON" is reserved to indicate anonymous connec-
tions are permitted. The <option-list> contains a list of options
supported by the server; theses are implementation dependent. If no
options are available, the '*' character should be used. The <admin-
url> field contains an administrator defined URL.
801 - IRCRPL_EVENTADD
<event> <mask>
The acknowledgment response to the EVENT ADD command. The <event>
contains the name of the event added. The <mask> is the selection
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mask. If no mask was provided in the EVENT command, then the default
mask of *!*@*$* is used.
802 - IRCRPL_EVENTDEL
<event> <mask>
The acknowledgment response to the EVENT DEL command. The <event>
contains the name of the event deleted. The <mask> is the selection
mask. If no mask was provided in the EVENT command, then the default
mask of *!*@*$* is used.
803 - IRCRPL_EVENTLIST
<event> <mask>
Response to the EVENT LIST <event> message to display a list of cur-
rent events the client is interested in.
804 - IRCRPL_EVENTEND
:End of events
Response to the EVENT LIST <event> message to indicate the end of the
event list.
805 - IRCRPL_MODELIST
<object> <mode-list>
Response to the MODEX command of extended modes.
806 - IRCRPL_MODELIST2
<object> <mode-list>
Response to the MODEX command of extended flags that are only set by
the server.
807 - IRCRPL_MODEEND
<object> :End of modes
Last message in an extended mode list.
808 - IRCRPL_PROPLIST
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<object> <property-list>
Response to the PROP command to list properties of an object. Multi-
ple IRCRPL_PROPLIST messages can be generated per list.
809 - IRCRPL_PROPEND
<object> :End of properties
Last message in a property list.
810 - IRCRPL_PROPVALUE
<object> <property> :<value>
Response to a PROP query of a specific property.
8.2. IRCX Error Replies.
900 - IRCERR_BADCOMMAND
<command> :Bad command
In response to an incorrectly formatted command.
901 - IRCERR_BADPREFIX
<command> :Bad command prefix specified
A message prefix is not supported for this command.
902 - IRCERR_BADTAG
<channel> <property> :Bad property specified
The message tag is incorrect.
903 - IRCERR_ALREADYAUTHENTICATED
<package> :Already authentication
The client has already authenticated with the server.
904 - IRCERR_AUTHENTICATIONFAILED
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<package> :Authentication failed
The authentication failed due to a bad userid/password or server/net-
work failure.
905 - IRCERR_AUTHENTICATIONSUSPENDED
<package> :Authentication suspended for this IP
Authentication has been temporary disabled due to too many authentica-
tion failures from this IP.
906 - IRCERR_UNKNOWNPACKAGE
<package> :Unsupported authentication package
The authentication package specified is not known to the server.
ISIRCX command will return a list of supported authentication pack-
ages.
907 - IRCERR_EVENTDUP
<event> <mask> :Duplicate event entry
908 - IRCERR_EVENTMIS
<event> <mask> :Unknown event entry
909 - IRCERR_NOSUCHEVENT
<event> :No such event type
10 - IRCERR_TOOMANYEVENTS
<event> :Too many events specifed
911 - IRCERR_UNKNOWNFUNCTION
<command> :Unknown function
A unknown command function was specified.
912 - IRCERR_UNKNOWNMODE
<mode> :Unknown mode
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913 - IRCERR_UNKNOWNPROPERTY
<property> :Unknown property
914 - IRCERR_NODATA
<object> :Does not permit data messages
915 - IRCERR_NOWHISPER
<object> :Does not permit whisper messages
916 - IRCERR_NOREMOTE
<object> :Does not remote clients to join this channel
917 - IRCERR_RESTRICTED
<command> :Restricted by the administrator
The command/function/operation was not executed due to an administra-
tor restriction on this client connection.
918 - IRCERR_SECURITY
<command> :Security failure
The command/function/operation is not permited for this level of
client due to security.
999 - IRCERR_INTERNALERROR
:Internal error code <error-code>
Internal error generated that doesn't map to a valid IRCX error reply.
The error code is implementation dependent.
9. Security Considerations
Security issues are discussed in the authentication section.
The IRCX command returns a set of authentication mechanisms supported
by the server. This method is open to a middle man attack whereby an
attacker modifies the list of returned authentication method and only
offer a cleartext password transaction. In order to avoid this type of
attack only authentication methods with a challenge response mechanism
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should be used whenever security is a concern.
Since all administration commands for IRC and IRCX are send in cleart-
ext a stream layer encryption mechanism like SSL[5] or IPSEC is
required to protect the integrity and confidentiality of the transac-
tions. The mechanisms for establishing these connection are outside
the scope of this document.
10. References
[1] "Internet Relay Chat Protocol", Network Working Group RFC 1459, J.
Oikarinen, D. Reed, May 1993
[2] The Unicode Consortium, "The Unicode Standard Version 2.0", Addi-
son Wesley Developers Press, July 1996
[3] "INTERNET MESSAGE ACCESS PROTOCOL - VERSION 4rev1", Network Work-
ing Group RFC 2060, M. Crispin, December 1996
[4] "Simple Authentication and Security Layer (SASL)", Work in
Progress, draft-myers-auth-sasl-07.txt, J. Myers, December 1996
[5] "The SSL Protocol Version 3.0", Work in Progress, draft-ietf-tls-
ssl-version3-00.txt, Alan O. Freier, Philip Karlton, Paul C. Kocher,
November 1996
11. Authors' Addresses
Kent Cedola
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
EMail: kentce@microsoft.com
Thomas Pfenning
Microsoft Corporation
One Microsoft Way
Redmond, WA 98052
EMail: thomaspf@microsoft.com
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