NAME

       BitlBee - IRC gateway to IM chat networks

SYNOPSIS

       bitlbee [-I] [-c configuration file] [-d configuration directory]

       bitlbee -D [-i address] [-p port number] [-n] [-v] [-c configuration file] [-d configuration directory]

       bitlbee -h

DESCRIPTION

       BitlBee  is  an  IRC  daemon that can talk to instant messaging networks and acts as a gateway. Users can
       connect to the server with any normal IRC client and see their 'buddy list' in &bitlbee.

       bitlbee is normally started as a system service (with init scripts, systemd units or equivalent). It  can
       also be run as an inetd(8) / xinetd(8) service or a stand-alone daemon with the options below.

       To use it, connect to it with an IRC client with a command such as "/connect localhost"

RUN MODES

       -I     Run  in inetd(8) mode. This is the default setting for historical reasons, but not the recommended
              one (See ForkDaemon below).

       -D     Run in Daemon mode. In this mode, BitlBee forks to the background and waits for  new  connections.
              All clients will be served from one process.  This mode is also useful for debugging.

       -F     Run  in  ForkDaemon  mode.  This is similar to ordinary daemon mode, but every client gets its own
              process. Easier to set up than inetd mode, and without the possible stability issues. This is  the
              recommended runmode for most use cases.

OPTIONS

       -i address
              When  running  in daemon mode, specifies the network interface (identified by IP address) to which
              the daemon should attach. Use this if you don't want BitlBee to listen on every  interface  (which
              is the default behaviour).

       -p port number
              When  running  in  daemon  mode,  specifies  the  port  number  on which BitlBee should listen for
              connections. 6667 is the default value.

       -n     Wehn running in daemon mode, this option prevents BitlBee from forking into the background.

       -v     Be more verbose. This only works together with the -n flag.

       -c path to other configuration file
              Use a different configuration file.

       -d path to user settings directory
              BitlBee normally saves every user's settings in /var/lib/bitlbee/. If you want the settings to  be
              stored  somewhere else (for example, if you don't have write permissions in the default location),
              use this option.

       -h     Show help information.

COMMANDS

       To get a complete list of commands, please use the help commands command in the  &bitlbee  channel  after
       connecting to bitlbee.

SEE ALSO

       inetd(8), inetd.conf(5)

       http://www.bitlbee.org/

       For  more  information  on using BitlBee, once connected, you should use the help command in the &bitlbee
       channel.

BUGS

       Of course there are bugs. If you find some, please report them at http://bugs.bitlbee.org/.

LICENSE

       This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify  it  under  the  terms  of  the  GNU
       General  Public License as published by the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
       (at your option) any later version.

       This program is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT ANY  WARRANTY;  without  even
       the  implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public
       License for more details.

       You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License along with this program; if not,  write
       to the Free Software Foundation, Inc., 59 Temple PLace, Suite 330, Boston, MA  02111-1307  USA

AUTHORS

        Wilmer van der Gaast <wilmer@gaast.net>

                                                   19 May 2010                                        bitlbee(8)