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).
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
Notes #
- Hostnames are a combination of 2 or more strings seperated by a dot (.)
- Your VHost can be whatever you want it to be, as long as it is under 32 characters in length.
- Your VHost is only activated after you have logged in (identified), and is thus usually used for access authentication.
- Your VHost cannot be the domain address of a website which you have not recieved permission from the owner to use. (Per KolymaNET Policy)
- Your VHost cannot contain any suggestive or misleading language. (Per KolymaNET Policy)
- Your VHost cannot imply you are a KolymaNET employee. (Per KolymaNET Policy)
- All KolymaNET employees have a vhost ending in "kolyma.net". Generally, this is
@kolyma.net, however, employees of different directorates may have group-specific vhosts, such as@nss.kolyma.net. KolymaNET and Kolsyetmol members may have different vhosts, such as@kolsyetmol.kolyma.netor@kolyma.org