Version 2.2.4
Last revised by eDdYk0nG (eddykong87@yahoo.com) on 2010-04-10
Originally written by Kzoo (kzoo@dal.net) and Wizzu (wizzu@dal.net) on 2000-10-01
Copyright © 2000-2010 by the DALnet IRC Network
Please direct any comments or feedback about this document (only! no help requests!) to docs@dal.net. If you need help on issues not covered in this document, please see the information at help.dal.net.
This document describes the steps to follow in order to register a nickname on DALnet. It also covers other commands and concerns related to the email requirement of the nickname registration (see below).
DALnet nickname (nick) registration is now a three-step process. Process of CAPTCHA. An email address has to be set for nicknames. Nickname registrations that have not been confirmed through email or IRC will expire within 72 hours. It's therefore very important to set a valid email address.
This document was based on the #ServHelp session held by the DALnet Events Team - help.dal.net/events.
Note: DALnet Nick Registration Service (NickServ) has been changed to ask for a "text captcha" before it process NickServ REGISTER requests. The goal of services is to always give nicks and channels to the "first human to get it". In the past few years, we've seen increases in bots getting nicks and channels, holding them, and never releasing them. It is not fair to the average person that a botnet gets a nickname before a human does. Captcha is a test made by a program that supposedly only humans can pass but not computers. The most common scenario is an image of a word or phrase that computer programs can't read that you have to type into an input field to complete a subscription or registration. When you issue the usual registration command to NickServ you will be asked to answer a simple random question. This question is also to be sent to NickServ. If the answer is correct you will be sent the normal AUTH email that will have to be completed as usual. If the answer is wrong you will be asked to try again. The questions are really simple and will be updated every week.
The command for registering your nick is as follows:
/nickserv register password email
address
User gets back a notice from NickServ with the question.
/nickserv register password email
address answer
Example:
/nickserv register PeanuttyButteryPass12 janet@peanutbutter.ca
-NickServ- Before you can register the nick PeanutButterLover, you need to answer this question:
-NickServ- Mark's name is?
-NickServ- To answer, type: /msg NickServ@services.dal.net REGISTER PeanuttyButteryPass12 janet@peanutbutter.ca answer_here
-NickServ- For more information, please visit www.dal.net/kb/view.php?kb=188 or join the DALnet Official Help Channel #DALnetHelp, #IRCHelp and #Help
/nickserv register PeanuttyButteryPass12 janet@peanutbutter.ca Mark
Where PeanuttyButtery12 would be the password, janet@peanutbutter.ca would be the working email address and Mark would be the answer for the given question.
There are many things you should keep in mind when chosing a password. Please see the DALnet's Password Guide at docs.dal.net/docs/passwords.html for further information on this subject.
You will be required to confirm your nickname registration before you have access to all the features available with services. Therefore it's very important for you to use a valid email address. Please see section 3 for more information.
You will be required to identify to your nickname before being able to use a number of commands. There are actually many ways to identify, the two most popular being:
/msg nickserv@services.dal.net identify nick
password
/nickserv identify nick password
It is possible to identify to a nickname that you are not using at the time. If you solely wish to identify to your current nickname, then the nick parameter can be excluded. Examples:
/msg nickserv@services.dal.net identify PeanuttyButteryPass12
/msg nickserv@services.dal.net identify PeanutButterLover PeanuttyButteryPass12
/nickserv identify PeanuttyButteryPass12
/nickserv identify PeanutButterLover PeanuttyButteryPass12
Other methods of identifying to NickServ include:
/quote nickserv identify nick password
/identify nick password
/services identify nick password
As with the previous commands, the nick parameter is optional if you only intend to identify to the nick that you are currently using.
NOTE: It is a good idea to type all services commands in the status window (or, if your IRC client does not have a status window, another place which is not a channel or message window) to avoid accidentally showing your password. For example, sending your password to an open channel if you forget the slash (/) in the command.
Under no circumstances should you ever attempt to identify to anyone other than NickServ or ChanServ. So, if you meet people with nicks of MickServ, NickSrv, etc. be distrustful. You could lose your nickname and any privileges associated with it, should the password fall into the hands of someone else. Keep in mind that you and you alone are responsible for protecting your password. You can find a comprehensive guide on Services or IRC Operator impersonators at docs.dal.net/docs/ircimps.html.
If you cannot identify to your nick, please remember that passwords are case sensitive. That means that NickServ recognizes upper- and lower-case letters separately, for example "apple", "APPLE" and "aPPLe" would all be different passwords. Be sure you are typing your password correctly. If you continue to get an error message, try the SENDPASS command described at docs.dal.net/docs/nickserv.html. If that doesn't work, try looking for an IRC Operator. Instructions on finding one can be obtained at docs.dal.net/docs/findoper.html.
Within an hour or so, you will receive email from "DALnet User Registration" sent to the address you have set. In this mail you will be told your authorization (AUTH) code and how to use it, to complete your nickname registration.
If your email client supports it, the easiest way to authorize is to click on the Web address (beginning with "users.dal.net/cgi-bin/verify.cgi?") in the email. However, if this is not possible for you, then do the following:
The email you were sent contains a command you can use to send the authorization code. If possible, copy this command into the computer's paste-buffer. If you can't do that, write it down carefully on a piece of paper.
Connect to DALnet (irc.dal.net 7000).
If you copied the command, paste it in to your IRC client. If you wrote it down, type it in.
Send the command. You should receive confirmation from NickServ that you have been authorized. (On some IRC clients, this will appear in your status window.)
-NickServ- Mission accomplished! The nick YourNick is fully
-NickServ- registered. You now have access to change your nick
-NickServ- settings, send memos to other users and use DALnet's
-NickServ- registered user web site at users.dal.net
If you need to use "/quote nickserv" or "/msg nickserv@services.dal.net", simply copy/paste the rest of the command from your email following the "/nickserv" part of the command.
Should you try to set an AUTH code for a nick which is already fully registered, NickServ will respond that
-NickServ- This nick is already fully registered.
You may want to change the address associated with your nick.
The actual command for changing an email address is:
/nickserv set email nickpass email address
For example:
/nickserv set email mypass123 janice@delightful.net
Please note that the un-complete nickname are also able to change the emaill address. Changing an email address is a two-stage process. When an email address change is requested, an email will first be sent to the current address. This email will explain that an address change was requested and give you the opportunity to abort the change within 72 hours. If the change is not aborted after 72 hours, a confirmation email will be sent to the new address, allowing the user to complete the change.
You can use the SET EMAIL command without any parameters to view the email address that you currently have set for your nickname:
/nickserv set email
As of 31st October 2000, DALnet required that every registered nickname had a valid email address set. Nicknames without an associated email address were expired at that date.
Some of the privileges you have before the nickname is authorized include the following:
You can use the identify command
You can use the set email command
You can use the drop command
You can log into users.dal.net
Privileges not available to a partially registered nickname include the following:
You cannot use MemoServ to send or receive memos
You cannot use the NickServ access list feature (the access command)
These NickServ commands are not available to you: set enforce, set url, set mailblock, set noop, ghost, recover and release
For additional information on these commands, please visit docs.dal.net/docs/nickserv.html, type /nickserv help while on DALnet, or visit www.dal.net/services.
The whole purpose of setting an email address for your nick is so that a forgotten password may be sent to you through email. This is a more secure means of obtaining lost passwords than trying to convince a CSop that you are the true owner of the nick. Whenever a password is requested for a nick, it is sent to the email address currently associated with that nick.
NOTE: It is your responsibility to maintain good access security for your email. If your email account is password-protected, using the same password for your email as you used for the nick is not a good idea. Should one password be discovered, chances are other things associated with the same password could also be compromised.
How does this password process work? As of 12th July 2001, DALnet allows its users to have their passwords sent to them through the SENDPASS command. You must have the email address for the nickname when requesting a nickname SENDPASS and the email address for the founder's nickname when requesting a channel sendpass. Only one SENDPASS per email address is allowed every 72 hours. Thus, if someone forgets both their nickname and channel password, they will have to wait.
The security of the password is further protected by a second restriction. Only a certain number of SENDPASSes may be requested by the same IP or host in a certain amount of time.
The syntax of the SENDPASS command is explained at docs.dal.net/docs/nickserv.html.
CSops are still available for password or ownership questions that the user cannot solve on their own. Your email address is not revealed to the IRCop during a sendpass. NickServ handles the sending of the email automatically.
Once again, instructions on how to find an IRCop can be found at docs.dal.net/docs/findoper.html.
DALnet's email privacy statement is available at www.dal.net/emailinfo.html. It describes the firm policy DALnet has on protecting your email address. Under no circumstances will DALnet provide the list of email addresses to anyone. If you are concerned about your email address' privacy, please read the statement.
Once again, IRC operators asking NickServ to send passwords to users do not see the email address, since this is an automated process.
Other users will not be able to see your email address, unless you want them to. If you do not do anything about your email address after you have set it, no one will be able to see it. If you do want to show your email address in your visible NickServ information (available with /nickserv info yournick), you can set that up as follows. After identifying for your nickname, type this command:
/nickserv set showemail on
Should you change your mind and want to remove your email from your visible information, the command is:
/nickserv set showemail off
As mentioned previously, your email security is your responsibility. DALnet is not responsible for spam messages or stolen passwords due to the negligence of the owner. Although using SHOWEMAIL has its advantages if you have forgotten the email and the password and you want to use SENDPASS, people can see your email address and may send you spam mail. If you share your email account with someone else, that someone can get your nick password. Strictly speaking, passwords are confidential and should not be shared.
If you do not want to use your actual email address, please use one of the many free accounts available on the web. However, it is safe not to use these free accounts due to the security threat that may arise. Also, please keep your email address setting current. DALnet cannot be responsible for nicknames which have an invalid email address set.
That is certainly your right. However, we would like to point out that DALnet is a free service. There are lots of other free services out there that may ask you for your email address in order to serve you better. DALnet does not oblige you to register your nick in order to log on to our servers.
For those who are really sensitive about their email address privacy, we recommend that you get a free email service to complete the registration of your nick. Once that is done, you can forget all about this email account if you'd like. However, keep in mind that if you do this, you will forfeit all rights to password assistance in the future.
Answer: You should first be sure that the number you have entered is correct. This is why copy and paste is recommended whenever possible. It may also be possible that you have changed your email address and are entering the number for the former address. Please read the entire email you receive to be sure that the number you are entering is the AUTH code for that nickname. In setting emails for several nicks, confusion like this could easily happen.
In addition, if you have changed your email address since the last registration, a new authorization code would have been sent to the second email account. Only this new authorization code will work to complete your nickname registration.
You can also request another authorization code from services by resetting your email address with the SET EMAIL command (section 4). If NickServ tells you that you have already set the email address then you can get around it by specifying a bogus email address before setting it back to your real email.
Answer: As long as it is within 24 hours of the time you registered your nick you can change it. You first identify to your nickname. Then you can use the SET EMAIL command (section 4) to set the correct email address.
Please remember that if the original address was not correct, you will not get the first AUTH code from Services. When you receive the email message at the correct address, go ahead and enter the AUTH code as described above.
Answer: Check your email for the authorization code and enter it in order to complete the registration of your nickname. Once this is done, the RECOVER and GHOST commands will become available to you.
Answer: There are several reasons why this might happen. The first one is that there was a typo in the email address. You can verify what NickServ thinks the address should be by using:
/nickserv set email
If the email address is incorrect, you can use the following to set the correct email address:
/nickserv set email nickpass email address
Another reason may be that there is lag in the email message being sent out. If many people have set their email addresses for their nicknames, the queue of messages to be sent may be long. Please wait at least six hours before asking for help.
You may not be setting a valid email address. You must use an email address that actually works. If you do not want to use your official address, please find a free email account on the web. Remember, it is up to you to keep this address active, since that is where any passwords may be sent in the event of you forgetting the password. Also, a DALnet email address is not a valid address for this purpose. See section 6.1 for further information.
Answer: Password security is your responsibility.
Try to have your password sent to you using the SENDPASS command described at docs.dal.net/docs/nickserv.html. If this doesn't work, please go to #operhelp and wait to be voiced by someone who is opped in the channel. Do not respond to any messages from anyone but an op. There is a help document that deals with how to find to an IRC operator while on DALnet. You can access it from docs.dal.net/docs/findoper.html.
Here are some instructions for good password security:
Choose a password that is at least seven characters long and contains both upper- and lower-case letters as well as some numbers.
Never type in Services commands in a channel window, instead use another window (for example, the status window if your IRC client has one).
Do not script passwords on your computer, since others may gain access with or without your knowledge. You should also be careful of the scripts that you are using. Some of them allow other people to not only steal your passwords, but to also control your computer.
If you identify to your nickname while in a cybercafe, library or any other public domain Internet service, be sure that no one else can see your password and that no password stealing scripts are loaded. It might also be prudent to make sure that "logging" has not been turned on.
Never share passwords with anyone and be aware that no one from DALnet will message you for your password. The only time you may be asked about a password is by a CSop you have approached for password help.
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