How to Use IRC With Telnet

IRC is used often by Open Source software developers for collaboration.

Establish a Telnet session over the Internet with an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) server when you wish to converse with other Internet users through text messages. IRC services are used extensively by Unix/Linux computer enthusiasts that prefer to use lightweight IRC or Telnet applications for holding meetings or establishing chat groups over a computer network. Use a Telnet client application to open an IRC session if you do not have an IRC client installed on your computer.

Things You'll Need

• IP address or hostname of an IRC server
• Password of an account that has permission to access the IRC server
• Nickname and User name for the IRC session
• TCP port used by the IRC server obtained from the IRC server administrator
• Name of an IRC channel on the IRC server
• Windows 7 computer with the Telnet client enabled

Instructions

1. Click the "Start" button on the Windows 7 taskbar, and enter "cmd" into the "Search" box. Tap the "Enter" key, and the black command line window will display.

2. Type "telnet my.irc.server.net 6667" at the command prompt except replace the "my.irc.server.net" with the hostname or IP address of the IRC server and replace "6667" with the port number used by the IRC server if it is not using the default port setting. Press the "Enter" key.

3. Enter the "PASS" command followed by a space and the password of an account authorized to establish a session with the IRC server, and press the "Enter" key.

4. Type "NICK yournickname" at the command line except replace "yournickname" with a nickname you wish to use, and tap the "Enter" key. Write "USER yourusername 8 * : first last" at the command line except replace "yourusername" with your IRC account user name, and replace "first" with your first name and "last" with your last name. Press the "Enter" key.

5. Enter "JOIN #channel" except replace "channel" with the name of a channel you wish to join, then press the "Enter" key.

6. Type "Hello" to greet all others that are currently connected to the same channel, and wait to receive a response. Enter "Quit" at the command line when you wish to exit the channel.

References

• Turvasana: How to Test an IRC Server by Using Telnet
• O'Reilly: IRC Hacks
• Nomad Programming: Misc 01 -- IRC Chat Thru Telnet