#342 Migrating from IRC to Matrix: steps
Closed: no action needed 2 years ago by mattdm. Opened 3 years ago by ankursinha.

I spent a couple of hours this morning setting up matrix to use my Freenode credentials etc. It isn't quite as straightforward---there are things one should know that aren't obvious. Dumping the info here before I forget. A fair version of this could perhaps be a quick-doc to help other community members.

  • to prevent spam, most Fedora channels require nicks to be registered. This is explained here: Nickname Registration - freenode
  • as the doc explains, it's good to have a few nicks grouped with the same Freenode account. This is also useful to have a different nick when using IRC and a different one for Matrix
  • Once done, login to element.io: this requires signing up but these credentials are unrelated to the Freenode registration
  • In the element web app, one can join Freenode channels using /join #freenode_#channelname:matrix.org. Reference: The matrix.org IRC bridge now bridges all of Freenode! | Matrix.org
  • To use the Freenode registered nick, one needs to speak to the @appservice-irc:matrix.org bridge. This should be listed in the left hand side bar in the Element web app.
  • Here, use !nick <registered IRC nick> to use the nick registered with Freenode.
  • To ensure that you are automatically authenticated (when the bridge drops and reconnects etc.), use !storepass <Freenode password>. Reference: matrix-appservice-irc 0.7.0 is out! | Matrix.org

If you use your Freenode registered nick, the access you have on Freenode channels will also be available on the Element side of things. So you will be able to op etc. here, and change the channel logo etc.

Additional note:

  • /nick on the Element side changes the display name there only. If one has not used the !nick .. bit, this will automatically change the nick on the IRC side to <displayname>[m] (with the [m] suffix). If this particular nick that Freenode is seeing is not registered/grouped to your account, you may not be able to speak in channels where registration is necessary to be "voiced".

This is to be noted that, we need a matrix account first before linking it to our freenode IRC account. As matrix is a decentralized platform, it has many "homeservers".
To get a list of available public homeservers, one must take a look here: link

Of-course there are lot more homeservers not present on that list but for now it will prevent overcrowding of the main homeserver.

Thanks for documenting this. We will have our own homeserver. Additionally, we're looking at hosting our own bridge, which the GNOME folks are doing and highly recommend. Instead of #freenode_#channelname:matrix org, we can have #channelname:fedoraproject.org.

We should also strip the redundant fedora- prefix with room names on fedoraproject.org server.

For example, I would expect #fedora-kde:matrix.org/#freenode_#fedora-kde:matrix.org should become #kde:fedoraproject.org.

@mattdm wrote…
Additionally, we're looking at hosting our own bridge, which the GNOME folks are doing and highly recommend.

If we can manage this in an administrative layer so end-users and chat mods don't have to worry about it, that is a win. This is a big pain point for moderators in the current public instance. (Seeing as I became a blocker for 50-80 rooms being plumbed from matrix.org to Freenode IRC)

@ngompa wrote…
We should also strip the redundant fedora- prefix with room names on fedoraproject.org server.

:100: :thumbsup:

@ngompa wrote…
For example, I would expect #fedora-kde:matrix.org/#freenode_#fedora-kde:matrix.org should become #kde:fedoraproject.org.

:heart: :heart:

@ankursinha asked me to comment here. I found that using !nick NICK and !storepass PASSWORD is unreliable for me when the IRC bridge reconnects, and sometimes leaves me unauthenticated / connected to freenode with the wrong nick.

The alternative was way more reliable, and I didn't have to reauthenticate with the IRC bridge since I used this command instead (four months and counting without issues): !storepass NICK:PASSWORD It will set nickname and password without the chance for - what I suspect are - race conditions with the NickServ authentication.

I'm going to close this, as I think the situation has changed significantly with both libera.chat and with our upcoming new chat server. We'll definitely want Nickserv docs as part of that -- I for one wanted to make sure I preserve mattdm on Libera! -- but thankfully it should be much simpler (and less necessary for casual users).

Metadata Update from @mattdm:
- Issue close_status updated to: no action needed
- Issue status updated to: Closed (was: Open)

2 years ago

Login to comment on this ticket.

Metadata