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How to install UnrealIRCd from source on Debian / Ubuntu

A practical step-by-step guide to compile and run UnrealIRCd on Debian and Ubuntu. Based on the official documentation:
Installing from source (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Installing_from_source)

This should take about 20–30 minutes if you follow the steps carefully.

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1. Prerequisites (packages)

You need a compiler, OpenSSL, and a few optional libraries (recommended).

Ubuntu 20.04 / 22.04 / 24.04:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config gdb libssl-dev libpcre2-dev libargon2-dev libsodium-dev libc-ares-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev

Debian 13:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config gdb libssl-dev libpcre2-dev libargon2-dev libsodium-dev libc-ares-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev

Debian 11 / 12:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config gdb libssl-dev libpcre2-dev libargon2-0-dev libsodium-dev libc-ares-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev

Minimum only (any apt-based distro):
sudo apt-get install build-essential libssl-dev


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2. Do not run as root

Build and run UnrealIRCd as a normal user, never as root.

Create a dedicated user:
sudo adduser unrealircd

Switch to that user:
su - unrealircd

All steps below are done as the [tt]unrealircd[/tt] user.

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3. Download the source

wget --trust-server-names https://www.unrealircd.org/downloads/unrealircd-latest.tar.gz

If [tt]wget[/tt] is missing:
sudo apt-get install wget


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4. Extract the archive

tar xzvf unrealircd-*.tar.gz
cd unrealircd-*

(Replace with the real directory name if needed, e.g. [tt]unrealircd-6.2.0[/tt].)

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5. Configure, compile, install

Run the interactive config (press Enter to accept defaults):
./Config

Compile:
make

Install (important — this installs into [tt]~/unrealircd[/tt] by default):
make install


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6. Create the configuration file

Go to the install directory:
cd ~/unrealircd

Copy the example config (if it is not already there):
cp conf/examples/example.conf conf/unrealircd.conf

Edit it:
nano conf/unrealircd.conf

Important:

• Walk through the file line by line
  
• Change values marked as required (server name, me {}, etc.)
• If you skip this, the server will refuse to start
  

Optional: read the syntax guide first:
Configuration file syntax (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Configuration_file_syntax)

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7. Start UnrealIRCd

cd ~/unrealircd
./unrealircd start

Check status:
./unrealircd status

Stop / restart:
./unrealircd stop
./unrealircd restart

After config changes, rehash without full restart:
./unrealircd rehash


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8. Next steps (recommended)

• Get a real TLS certificate (Let's Encrypt) (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Using_Let%27s_Encrypt_with_UnrealIRCd)
  
• Run UnrealIRCd with systemd (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Using_systemd_with_UnrealIRCd) (auto-start on boot)
  
• Install Services (Anope) (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Linking_UnrealIRCd_with_anope)
  
• IRCOp guide (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/IRCOp_guide)
  
• FAQ (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/FAQ) — common problems and fixes
  

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Quick reference

# packages (example: Ubuntu 22.04/24.04)
sudo apt-get install build-essential pkg-config gdb libssl-dev libpcre2-dev libargon2-dev libsodium-dev libc-ares-dev libcurl4-openssl-dev

# as user unrealircd
wget --trust-server-names https://www.unrealircd.org/downloads/unrealircd-latest.tar.gz
tar xzvf unrealircd-*.tar.gz
cd unrealircd-*
./Config
make
make install
cd ~/unrealircd
cp conf/examples/example.conf conf/unrealircd.conf   # if needed
nano conf/unrealircd.conf
./unrealircd start


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Source: unrealircd.org — Installing from source (https://www.unrealircd.org/docs/Installing_from_source)

Questions or stuck on a step? Post your distro version and the error output here.