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IRC: Vhosts

In computer networking, a hostname is a label that is assigned to a device connected to a computer network and that is used to identify the device. On the internet, a hostname is typically assigned to your home IP address. However, not all IP addresses have hostnames. If that is the case, your IP address then becomes your hostname. A hostname might for example look like this: 1-2-3-4.myisp.com. On IRC, hostnames are the part of the user string that come after the username. (See: Fig 1). Hostnames can show that a user is connecting from a certain IP, so in the interest of privacy, most IRC networks obsfucate your hostname (turns it into a bunch of random letters and numbers that are still unique to your IP address, without exposing your actual hostname).

Figure 1

On IRC, users can register "Virtual Hostnames", also known as "VHosts", either for privacy reasons, stylistic reasons, or to make identification at a glance easier. In KolymaIRC, it is extremely easy to register a VHost, and is highly encouraged - and in some cases, required.

After you have registered your nickname (Read here), you may request a vhost by running a command. The vhost you requested will then be forwarded to the Network Administrators, and can be approved or denied. The command to request a vhost is:

/msg hostserv request my.vhost.goes.here		
				

For information on using VHosts for channel identification, see: identification#standard-vhosts

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