Home / ubuntu / Questions / 763054
Accepted
andrew.46
Asked: 2016-04-27 02:35:34 +0800 CST

How to use SSL and SASL with irssi under Xenial Xerus?

  • 772

I would like to connect to Freenode with irssi using both SSL and SASL. Instructions for using the script cap_sasl.pl that worked for older versions of irssi now show the following error under Xenial Xerus:

19:34 -!- Irssi: Error in script cap_sasl:
19:34 cap_sasl has been unloaded from Irssi 20160323.0008 because it conflicts 
          with the built-in SASL support. See /help network for configuring 
          SASL or read the ChangeLog for more information. at (eval 9) line 52.

How can I fix this?

security

1 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    Xenial Xerus now has a newer version of irssi:

    andrew@athens:~$ irssi --version
irssi 0.8.19 (20160323 0008)

    This version has built-in support for SASL and has been set to reject the cap_sasl.pl script with the error message in the question. Easy enough to fix by closing irssi and removing the script and links to it:

    mv -v $HOME/.irssi/scripts/cap_sasl.pl $HOME/.irssi/scripts/cap_sasl.pl_bak    
rm -v $HOME/.irssi/scripts/autorun/cap_sasl.pl

    Then set yourself up with Freenode using both SSL and the built-in SASL with these commands from within irssi. First remove any mention of Freenode and the 'conventional' port (this comes preconfigured with a fresh installation of Ubuntu and irssi):

    /SERVER REMOVE chat.freenode.net 6667 Freenode
/NETWORK REMOVE Freenode

    Then add an autoconnect to Freenode with the SSL settings and appropriate SSL port:

    /SERVER ADD -auto -ssl -ssl_verify -ssl_capath /etc/ssl/certs -network Freenode irc.freenode.net 6697

    Now add the SASL settings, making the appropriate changes for your username and password (and omitting the brackets of course):

    /NETWORK ADD -sasl_mechanism plain -sasl_username <username> -sasl_password <password> Freenode

    When this is done issue the following commands from within irssi:

    /save
/exit

    And when you restart irssi you should see the following 2 messages flashing by:

    1. 20:31 -!- SASL authentication succeeded = successful SASL authentication
    2. 20:31 -!- Mode change [+Zi] for user andrew = successful SSL connection

    Now type in /join #ubuntu and you are in the thick of it :)

    • 6