IRC-NickServ Frequently Asked Questions (Mar 1 1994)
Ove Ruben R Olsen
This message is automatically posted once a week to inform new readers
of what NickServ is about. It will also give answers to Frequently
Asked Questions about NickServ issues.
If you don't want to see this posting every week, please add the subject
line to your kill file. The Subject: indicates when this message was last
changed.
If you find any errors in this FAQ (spelling or language), please notify
the author at ru...@uib.no. Thanks.
Questions answered in this FAQ:
01) What is NickServ ?
02) How to correctly address NickServ ?
03) On-line help
04) Query NickServ about a nick
05) How do I register my nick ?
06) How do I change my email adress and/or info
07) How to drop a registred nick
08) Nicks will expire after 10 weeks of non-use.
09) Changing my password
10) How to identify yourself to NickServ
11) Using the same nick from several hosts
12) Listing the access list
13) Removing access list entries
14) I have forgot my password, what do I do now...
15) Reporting bugs
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A note on NickServ replies:
ASCII based clients will see replies from NickServ as -service.de-.
Zircon based clients will see replies from NickServ in the info window.
Anything else may indicate a fake NickServ
01) What is NickServ ?
NickServ (or Nick...@Service.de as the correct name is) is a service
where you can register your nick for your and others convenience.
BEWARE: Registering your nick does NOT indicate that you OWN your nick.
Nicks are not owned on IRC.
This is an established FACT.
Registering your nick is done to avoid confusion if someone else should
unfortunately out of ignorance use your nick.
Register your nick and make it a "established" one. A bot using your
nick may or may not be killed depending on the IRC-operator you ask.
BUT, a human using your nick will never ever be killed by a IRC-Op.
Think of registering your nick as getting a "brith certificate" for your
nick, with your email and your name or cute saying.
02) How to correctly address NickServ ?
To adress NickServ, the command is:
/msg Nick...@service.de <command> <parameters>
Anything else may be a faulty NickServ, unless you get the following
mesage:
-service.de- NickServ has changed. For security purposes,
-service.de- you will have to send your service queries via
-service.de- /msg Nick...@service.de <command>
-service.de- If you use an IRC client with ALIAS capability,
-service.de- you may simply define an appropriate command.
A lot of silly users have faked NickServ in the past, and thus
be able to get their hands on login-passwords. To fake NickServ
should be very difficult these days.
One appropriate alias for ircII (which I use myself) is:
/alias NS /msg Nick...@service.de $*
03) On-line help
You may get on-line help two ways:
/msg Nick...@service.de help <command> <subcommand>
or messaging a NickServ operator and ask him or her politely for help.
BUT, you should read the current HELP entry first. Remember that NickServ
operators are humans with things to do besides being a NickServ oper :-)
Be patient.
04) Query NickServ about a nick
Send /msg Nick...@service.de whois <nickname>
You may then get a entry telling you the following info:
- Nickname and supplied additional information
- Email address
- When Nickname registred, and what user and host.domain it use
- Signon and off times
- Status (matching user/host, Authentication info)
05) How do I register my nick ?
The correct syntax is:
/msg Nick...@service.de register <password> <email> <additional info>
NOTE: the <password> is NOT YOUR LOGIN PASSWORD. Find a new and fresh
password to use with nickserv. The password is there for your
security so that no-one than you can alter or remove your nickserv
entry.
The password is case sensitive.
For instance, a user nicked "gnarfer" wants to register his nickname
he then issues the following:
/msg Nick...@service.de register LSD-Rules ru...@uib.no Ruben Olsen
NickServ will then reply with:
-service.de- *** You have been registered.
06) How do I change my email adress and/or info
First identify yourself to the NickServ with the identify command,
then issue a register command.
07) How to drop a registred nick
First identify yourself to NickServ with the identify command, then issue
a /msg Nick...@service.de UNREG
NickServ will then reply with
-service.de- *** '<YourNick>' is unregistered.
For instance if a user name "gnarfer" does unregister his nick, NickServ
replies with
-service.de- *** 'gnarfer' is unregistered.
08) Nicks will expire after 10 weeks of non-use.
A nick will be removed after aproximately 10 weeks of non-use. Things
are a bit lax during summer vacation, so your nick will usualy survive
during this.
09) Changing my password
You must identify yourself (if not done) before you can issue the
passwd command, the correct syntax is:
/msg Nick...@service.de passwd <newpassword>
If everything goes OK, NickServ will reply with:
-service.de- *** Password has been changed.
NOTE: the <password> is NOT YOUR LOGIN PASSWORD. Find a new and fresh
password to use with nickserv. The password is there for your
security so that no-one than you can alter or remove your nickserv
entry. The password is case sensitive.
10) How to identify yourself to NickServ
The correct syntax is:
/msg Nick...@service.de identify <password>
where <password> is your NickServ password.
NOTE: If there is a link-break (which happens from time to time), you
must re-identify yourself to the NickServ.
11) Using the same nick from several hosts
To be able to do this, you must add other hosts in the access list.
To be able to alter the access list, you must first identify yourself
(if not done). Then issue the command:
/msg Nick...@service.cd access add <user>@<host>.<domain>
wildcarding is allowed.
For instance if the user nicked "gnarfer" wants to add some of the
other hosts he is using, he will then issue
/msg Nick...@service.de access add rubenro@*.blh.no
NickServ will the reply with:
-service.de- *** ACCESS: Site entry 'rubenro@*.bih.no' added -
delayed until next synch operation
-service.de- *** NickServ register entry updated (added 1 site).
12) Listing the access list
Syntax is
/msg Nick...@service.de access list
You must identify yourself first if you have not done this before you
can issue an access command.
13) Removing access list entries
Syntax is
/msg Nick...@service.de access delete <number>
where <number> is a number given in a access list
You must identify yourself first if you have not done this before you
can issue a access delete command.
For instance if the user nicked "gnarfer" wants to delte the entry named
rubenro@*.blh.no, he will first issue the access list command and
NickServ responds with
-> *Nick...@service.de* access list
-service.de- Site entry #1: rubenro@*.bih.no
-service.de- Site entry #2: rubenro@*.blh.no
-service.de- *** ACCESS DELETE <number> to delete a site entry.
He then does the
/msg Nick...@service.de delete 2
and NickServ responds with
-service.de- *** ACCESS: Site entry 2 deleted.
14) I have forgot my password, what do I do now...
This is a frequent problem; the solution is as follows:
1) Logon to IRC with the matching NickServ host and user entry. That is
the host and user you registred your nicks by. NickServ operators
issuing a whois command to the NickServ should then see:
-service.de- * Status: Matching host entries
If this message does not appear, the NickServ operator may refuse
to change your NickServ password.
2) type
/msg Nick...@service.de operwho
You will then get a list of NickServ operators, send one of the nicks
that has a asterix ('*') in front of their nick a message politely
asking if they can set a new password for you.
Remember that NickServ operators are humans with things to do beside
beeing a NickServ oper :-), please be patient.
3) Remember to change your passwd again. REMEMBER to change it to
something that is not your login password.
This is done with /msg Nick...@service.de passwd <newpasswd>
Sending mail to the NickServ email adress, or to me, will only get you
the above as an answer ;-)
You can't ask what your current password is since it is not possible to
"see" a NickServ password. They are all encrypted in the database.
15) Reporting bugs
To report a NickServ bug, either do it ON-line with the BUG command,
or send a mail to I...@Informatik.TU-Muenchen.DE with Subject: NickServ.
On-line bug reporting is done with /msg Nick...@service.de BUG <bug
report>.
If you want to report a bug by email, issue a
/msg Nick...@service.de help bug
to get the current version and compile, please include this in your
email. When mailing, rember to include as much information as possible
on the problem as you see or experience it.
Forgeting your NickServ password is NOT a bug ;-), nor a email issue.
If you email NickServ about forgotten passwords, you will surely get
a reply with the answer of question 14 :-)
If you have futher problems with NickServ or question that are not covered
in this FAQ, you are welcome to email to I...@Informatik.TU-Muenchen.DE.
Your mail will then be forwarded to the right authorities on NickServ.
You may also speak with "ruben" on line (or any other NickServ operator).
Unfortunately I will definitely NOT be answering any questions after
11.00 PM GMT ;-), so if you don't get a respone from me, stay cool. You
may also issue a /whois ruben ruben (yes ruben twice) to see my idle time
and my correctly set away msg (please respect this).
\Ruben.
--
<sig>Ove Ruben "Gnarfer" R Olsen a VI user. IRCNO Secretary. Preferred email:
ru...@uib.no. Maintaining the root EX/VI-archive. FAQing comp.editors,
alt.irc and no.irc</sig>