path: root/docs/FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) concerning Anope
-------------------------------------------------

List of Questions
-----------------

1) What is Anope?

2) Where can I find Anope?

3) Does Anope run under Windows?

4) Can I send you questions without reading the FAQ, INSTALL or 
    README files?

5) When I run "make", I get an error message like "missing separator",
   "Unassociated shell command", "Unexpected end of line seen", etc.

6) I get an error like "Makefile.inc not found".

7) I typed "./services" at the command line, but nothing happened!

8) I need support for the XYZ protocol.

9) Whenever I start Anope, I get a message on my IRC server saying
   "connection refused" or something similar, and Anope gives an error
   message from the server saying "Closing Link: ...".

10) My IRC server is giving me messages like "Connection to
    services.whatever.net[127.0.0.1] activated" and then "Access denied --
    no N line".  Why?

11) When I say "/connect services.*", it doesn't work!

12) Anope complains in the logfile about being unable to load the
    default language.

13) Anope always dies after about five minutes, saying "FATAL ERROR!
    Can't back up nick.db".

14) Anope starts up okay, but if I try to register a nickname, it comes
    back with "Sorry, registration failed."

15) Anope crashed with a segmentation fault.

16) Anope's channel mode setting doesn't work.  I can't set modes with
    OperServ, and every time ChanServ tries to set a mode, my server
    reverses the change.

17) Using the OperServ JUPE command results in server messages like
    "Server juped.server introduced by non-hub server services.my.net".

18) I can't use the ADMIN command to add Services admins--it tells me
    "Permission denied."

19) When I add an AKILL, the users matching it don't get killed.

20) Anope reports (via /stats u or /msg OperServ STATS) a different
    number of users online than I get from doing /lusers.

21) Anope ignored the SET SUCCESSOR setting and deleted a channel when
    the founder expired.

22) Trying to use OperServ gives me "Access denied", but my nick is in the
    ServicesRoot directive and is registered, and I've identified for my
    nick.

23) Anope spricht kein Deutsch!, etc.  (Anope doesn't speak my
    language!)

24) I selected a language other than English, but sometimes Anope sends
    responses in English instead.

25) I've found a bug that's not mentioned here or in the
    BUGS files.  What should I do?

26) Your Services program doesn't do XYZ like DALnet Services.  What's
    wrong?

27) I've got a great new idea for Anope.  Do you want it?

28) Examples of features I have been asked about and why we won't add (or
      haven't yet added) them--so don't ask us about them.
      
29) How do I add bots to BotServ?

30) When I used the OperServ RAW command, Anope and/or my network
    crashed, or did weird things! Please fix this bug!

31) I would like to have the list of the different RAW on OperServ

32) I can't get /OS UMODES and /OS SVSNICK do not work!

33) What is a Super-Admin? How does it work? Why might it not work?

34) How to auto voice all those whom join my #channel?


List of answers
---------------

1) What is Anope?

    Anope is a set of services for IRC networks.  See the README
    file for more information. And in case you were wondering, 
    Anope is Epona spelt backwards :)

2) Where can I find Anope?

    The latest version can always be found at the official Anope
    distribution site:

        * http://www.anope.org/

    New version announcements can also be found at http://www.anope.org/
    in the main page.

3) Does Anope run under Windows?

    Yes. For more information visit http://windows.anope.org on how to
    obtain the windows version of Anope.

4) Can I send you questions without reading the FAQ, INSTALL or README files?

    No. If you don't read those files, your messages will most probably
    be ignored. We don't mean to be rude, but if we took the time
    to write down some documentation, we'd expect you to take some
    time to read it.

5) When I run "make", I get an error message like "missing separator",
  "Unassociated shell command", "Unexpected end of line seen", etc.

    Your make program isn't compatible with the Makefile for Anope.
    The Makefile was designed to work with GNU make, and as such may
    not work on other systems' "make" programs.  If you get an error
    from "make", obtain GNU make from ftp://prep.ai.mit.edu/pub/gnu/
    (or wherever you prefer) and use it instead of your system's
    default "make".  Note that GNU make may already be installed on
    your system; try using the command "gmake" instead of "make".
    
    The make programs bundled with SunOS/Solaris and FreeBSD have been
    reported not to work; you will need to use GNU make on these
    systems.

6) I get an error like "Makefile.inc not found".

    You forgot to run the configure script first.  See the INSTALL file
    for compilation instructions.

7) I typed "./services" at the command line, but nothing happened!

    Anope puts itself in the background when it starts, so you get
    your shell prompt right back.  Meanwhile, Anope will continue
    setting up, then connect to the IRC server specified in
    services.conf (or on the command line).  If it doesn't connect, you
    probably specified the wrong server type when running the configure
    script.  (Also make sure that you are actually running one of the
    supported servers.  There are a gazillion different variations on
    the basic IRC protocol out there, and I have neither the time nor
    the desire to add support for them.)
    
    The recommended server, under which Epona (the original code base
    used by Anope) was developed, is Bahamut. DreamForge 4.6.7 will also 
    work fine, but it's a bit obsolete nowadays. Derivatives of Bahamut
    and DreamForge may also work, if they don't change the server<->server 
    protocol too much; contact their authors for more information.
    Most people, though, are running Anope with UnrealIRCd, UltimateIRCd
    or Bahamut.
    
    As always, you can check the log file (services.log by default) for
    error messages.

8) I need support for the XYZ protocol.

    Hang in there! We are working on making Anope protocol independent.
    It should show up sometime soon... more details to follow.

9) Whenever I start Anope, I get a message on my IRC server saying
   "connection refused" or something similar, and Anope gives an error
   message from the server saying "Closing Link: ...".

    See section 3 of the INSTALL file.

10) My IRC server is giving me messages like "Connection to
    services.whatever.net[127.0.0.1] activated" and then "Access denied --
    no N line".  Why?

    This is typically caused by including a port number in the C:line
    for services, which tells your server to try to autoconnect to it
    (depending on the class (Y:line) settings).  This is not what you
    want, because Anope will connect to the server itself, but does
    not listen for servers to connect to it.  The solution is to remove
    the port number from the C:line.

11) When I say "/connect services.*", it doesn't work!

    Of course not.  RTFM (Read The Fine Manual), and see the previous
    answer.

12) Anope complains in the logfile about being unable to load the
    default language.

    You forgot to run "make install".

13) Anope always dies after about five minutes, saying "FATAL ERROR!
    Can't back up nick.db".

    Make sure that the user Anope runs as has write access to the
    data directory, and that the data directory actually exists (the
    latter shouldn't be a problem if you ran the configure script).
    This means Anope needs write and execute permission on the data
    directory itself and execute permission on every parent directory
    of the data directory.

14) Anope starts up okay, but if I try to register a nickname, it comes
    back with "Sorry, registration failed."

    Make sure you've selected the correct IRC server type in the
    configure script; see question 9 for details.

15) Anope crashed with a segmentation fault.

    See if you can reproduce this by doing a certain sequence of
    things.  If so, please report it to us (see part 6 of README file).  If
    not, you're probably out of luck; if you like, you can report it to
    us anyway, but chances are it won't get fixed if we don't have
    instructions on reproducing it.  If you do have such a problem, you
    may find the crontab utility useful for dealing with it.
    
    Also, see the DumpCore directive in the configuration file. It allows
    Anope to dump its core whenever it's segfaulting, usually calling it
    core and placing it into Anope's main directory.
    Open up gdb by issuing the following command at your shell:

        * gdb services core

    (of course replacing 'core' with the name of the core if different)
    and type 'bt' at the gdb prompt. After that, send us the output you
    got and keep the core file in a safe place, in case we need it to
    dig deeper into the problem.

16) Anope's channel mode setting doesn't work.  I can't set modes with
    OperServ, and every time ChanServ tries to set a mode, my server
    reverses the change.

    Make sure EVERY servers on your network has a U: line for Services in
    ircd.conf, for example:

        U:services.whatever.net:*:*

17) Using the OperServ JUPE command results in server messages like
    "Server juped.server introduced by non-hub server services.my.net".

    Services' uplink must have an H: line for Services in the
    ircd.conf file, which looks something like:

        H:*::services.whatever.net

18) I can't use the ADMIN command to add Services admins, it tells me
    "Permission denied."

    Did you define yourself as the Services root?  You need to insert
    your nickname in the ServicesRoot directive in services.conf.
    Also, you must be a global IRC Operator and your nickname must be
    registered and properly indentified with NickServ.

19) When I add an AKILL, the users matching it don't get killed.

    Use the AkillOnAdd configuration directive.

20) Anope reports (via /stats u or /msg OperServ STATS) a different
    number of users online than I get from doing /lusers.

    Anope doesn't count its own pseudo-clients (NickServ, ChanServ,
    etc.) in its user count.

21) Anope ignored the SET SUCCESSOR setting and deleted a channel when
    the founder expired.

    Normally, this is because the successor had too many channels
    registered; in this case, you will see an entry in the log file
    like the following:

        [date] Successor (SuccessorNick) of channel #somechannel owns too
              many channels, deleting channel #somechannel

    If you don't get a message like this or you can verify that the
    successor wasn't running into the channel limit, please report it
    using the bug-reporting procedure below (see section 6 of the 
    README file).

22) Trying to use OperServ gives me "Access denied", but my nick is in the
    ServicesRoot directive and is registered, and I've identified for my
    nick.

    You need to be opered (i.e. user mode +o) to access OperServ.

23) Anope spricht kein Deutsch!, etc.  (Anope doesn't speak my
    language!)

    See section 5 of the README file.

24) I selected a language other than English, but sometimes Anope sends
    responses in English instead.

    Some language files are not complete--in other words, they don't
    have a translation of every message Anope uses, but only some of
    them.  In this case, the missing messages will be displayed in
    English.  You can either wait for the primary translator to provide
    us with a translation, or do the translation yourself and send us
    the messages translated into your language.

25) I've found a bug that's not mentioned here or in the README or
    BUGS files.  What should I do?

    See section 6 of the README file.

26) Your Services program doesn't do XYZ like DALnet (or other) Services.  
    What's wrong?

    Nothing is wrong, except your expectations.  Anope is a
    completely different program from that used on DALnet; they are
    similar in concept only.

27) I've got a great new idea for Services.  Do you want it?

    We are always interested in hearing new ideas.  HOWEVER, do not
    expect your proposal to be in the next Anope release for sure.
    As a rule, we usually don't add anything that can be equivalently
    done by other means, or that we consider totally useless; see below
    for examples of things we don't plan to add.

    Our general intent is for Anope to provide as much functionality
    as possible--while staying as lean as possible.  So features which 
    are arguably beneficial will tend to be added, while features of
    limited or no benefit or which can be equally provided by something
    else already in use will tend to be passed over.

    If you'd like to give us your idea, you can go to our website at
    http://www.anope.org/ and add it on our online Forum, in the Feature
    Requests section.

28) Examples of features we have been asked about and why we won't add (or
    haven't yet added) them, so don't ask us about them:

    * An option to make ChanServ stay in some/all registered channels:
      we see absolutely no necessity for this feature, since BotServ
      already does this anyway.

    * A "current time" field in NickServ and ChanServ INFO displays:
      Most people have clocks of some sort either on their computer
      screens or on their walls (or both), and all IRC servers, as well
      as Services, have a command to return the server's current time.
      Thus a current-time field in INFO displays would simply take up
      extra space for no reason.

29) How do I add bots to BotServ?

    Read /msg BotServ HELP and /msg BotServ HELP BOT.

30) When I used the OperServ RAW command, Anope and/or my network
    crashed, or did weird things! Please fix this bug!

    "That's not a bug, it's a feature."

    Have you ever typed /msg OperServ HELP RAW? It's clearly stated
    there that this command is dangerous and that its use may result
    in very bad things.

    And that's why this command has been disabled by default. If you
    enabled and used it, YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN. All help requests will 
    be ignored, even if the problem happens not immediately.

31) I would like to have the list of the different RAW on OperServ

    If you have to ask, you should not be messing with RAW :)

32) I can't get /OS UMODES and /OS SVSNICK do not work!

    Make sure you the USE_OSSVS is defined on config.h. Since these
    are very controversial commands, they are turned off by default.
    Then, make clean ; make ; make install

33) What is a Super-Admin? How does it work? Why might it not work?

    Super-Admin's have extra privileges, including being founder on
    all channels. It must be activated on a per user basis and is
    only available to Services Admins and Services Roots.
    It is set using OperServ and is not persistent.
    It only works if SuperAdmin is not commented in the services
    configuration file. This is commented by default.
    Read /msg OperServ HELP SET SUPERADMIN for further help.

34) How to auto voice all those whom join my #channel?

    /cs set #channel secure off
    /cs set #channel xop off
    /cs levels #channel set AUTOVOICE -1