Things look quiet here. But I've been doing a lot of blogging at
dan.langille.org because I prefer WordPress now.
Not all my posts there are FreeBSD related.
I am in the midst of migrating The FreeBSD Diary over to WordPress
(and you can read about that here).
Once the migration is completed, I'll move the FreeBSD posts into the
new FreeBSD Diary website.
DCC is and IRC Protocol and is an acroynm for Direct Client to Client protocol.
DCC allows two IRC users to chat and/or send files directly with each other instead of
passing the data through the server. It is a more efficient use of resources than a
normal chat window.
The way DCC Chat works often means it does notwork if you are
behind a firewall. This is not the fault of the firewall, but rather it is a
consequence of the DCC chat protocol. The problem stems from the IP address
translation which often occurs as the traffic passes through the firewall. This
translation is known as NAT or Network Address Translation.
The symptoms of the problem are an inability to send files with DCC but you are able to
receive files.
To get around this problem, I've decided to try and install an IRC Proxy which will get
around the problem.
natd options
If you are using natd, then I've been
told that using the following options will allow DCC to work. Please note that I'm
now running ipfilter and I've not
tested these options. If you find that they work for you, please let me know.
The
following is an extract from the man
natd pages:
-use_sockets | -s
Allocate a socket(2) in order to establish an FTP data or IRC
DCC send connection. This option uses more system resources,
but guarantees successful connections when port numbers con
flict.
-same_ports | -m
Try to keep the same port number when altering outgoing pack
ets. With this option, protocols such as RPC will have a
better chance of working. If it is not possible to maintain
the port number, it will be silently changed as per normal.
Try using these options to get your DCC to work.
natd and ports 6667/66685 July 2000
David van Geyn wrote in this these tidbits:
I just thought I'd let you know in case you hadn't found out, natd aliases DCC
connections if you are on port 6667 or 6668 of the IRC server. So if you are
connected to EFnet IRC Network or whichever network on either of those ports, DCC chat and sends
should work (they do for me, ever since I've been using those ports).
