Many users will run their irssi application the moment the login into machine. Although quite normal, many users will want to automate the process. One possibility is to use the following snippet of code added to your `~/.bashrc file`:
```
:::bash
# Start an irssi under screen if it wasn't started before
if ! pidof irssi > /dev/null; then
screen -d -m -S irssi irssi
fi
```
This is a very good solution when you know you're going to login straight away onto machine once it boots-up, and you know it won't get rebooted because of power failure or human intervention. It's also a good solution when you do not have access to system administrator account.
But if you *do* have access to the administrator account (the omnipotent root), you could have irssi started-up for a number of users using an init.d script.
**Under Debian**
In addition to having the irssi package installed, don't forget to install screen:
```
:::bash
apt-get install screen
```
Paste the following contents into file located at /etc/init.d/irssid:
```
:::bash
#!/bin/bash
### BEGIN INIT INFO
# Provides: irssid
# Required-Start: $network
# Required-Stop: $network
# Default-Start: 2 3 4 5
# Default-Stop: 0 1 6
# Short-Description: Start irssi daemon within screen session at boot time
# Description: This init script will start an irssi session under screen using the settings provided in /etc/irssid.conf
### END INIT INFO
# Include the LSB library functions
. /lib/lsb/init-functions
# Setup static variables
configFile='/etc/irssid.conf'
daemonExec='/usr/bin/screen'
daemonArgs='-D -m'
daemonName="$(basename "$daemonExec")"
pidFile='/var/run/irssid.pid'
#
# Checks if the environment is capable of running the script (such as
# availability of programs etc).
#
# Return: 0 if the environmnt is properly setup for execution of init script, 1
# if not all conditions have been met.
#
function checkEnvironment() {
# Verify that the necessary binaries are available for execution.
local binaries=(irssi screen)
for bin in "${binaries[@]}"; do
if ! which "$bin" > /dev/null; then
log_failure_msg "Binary '$bin' is not available. Please install \
package containing it."
exit 5
fi
done
}
#
# Checks if the configuration files are available and properly setup.
#
# Return: 0 if irssid if properly configured, 1 otherwise.
#
function checkConfig() {
# Make sure the configuration file has been created
if ! [[ -f $configFile ]]; then
log_failure_msg "Please populate the configuration file '$configFile' \
before running."
exit 6
fi
# Make sure the required options have been set
local reqOptions=(user group session)
for option in "${reqOptions[@]}"; do
if ! grep -q -e "^[[:blank:]]*$option=" "$configFile"; then
log_failure_msg "Mandatory option '$option' was not specified in \
'$configFile'"
exit 6
fi
done
}
#
# Loads the configuration file and performs any additional configuration steps.
#
function configure() {
. "$configFile"
daemonArgs="$daemonArgs -S $session irssi"
[[ -n $args ]] && daemonArgs="$daemonArgs $args"
daemonCommand="$daemonExec $daemonArgs"
}
#
# Starts the daemon.
#
# Return: LSB-compliant code.
#
function start() {
start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --oknodo --pidfile "$pidFile" \
--make-pidfile --chuid "$user:$group" --background \
--exec "$daemonExec" -- $daemonArgs
}
#
# Stops the daemon.
#
# Return: LSB-compliant code.
#
function stop() {
start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --oknodo --retry 30 --pidfile "$pidFile" \
--chuid "$user:$group" --exec "$daemonExec" -- $daemonArgs
}
checkEnvironment
checkConfig
configure
case "$1" in
start)
log_daemon_msg "Starting daemon" "irssid"
start && log_end_msg 0 || log_end_msg $?
;;
stop)
log_daemon_msg "Stopping daemon" "irssid"
stop && log_end_msg 0 || log_end_msg $?
;;
restart)
log_daemon_msg "Restarting daemon" "irssid"
stop
start && log_end_msg 0 || log_end_msg $?
;;
force-reload)
log_daemon_msg "Restarting daemon" "irssid"
stop
start && log_end_msg 0 || log_end_msg $?
;;
status)
status_of_proc -p "$pidFile" "$daemonExec" screen && exit 0 || exit $?
;;
*)
echo "irssid (start|stop|restart|force-reload|status|help)"
;;
esac
```
Configuration file where you can specify the user, group, and pass additional options for irssi should be placed withing `/etc/irssid.conf`. Here's an example file with comments:
```
:::bash
#
# Configuration file for irssid init script
#
# Mandatory options:
#
# user - Specify user for running irssi.
# group - Specify group for running irssi.
# session - Specify screen session name to be used for irssi.
#
# Non-mandatory options:
#
# args - Pass additional arguments to irssi.
#
# Example configuration:
#user='john'
#group='users'
#session='irssi'
#args='--config /home/john/.irssi/config_alternative'
```
Now you can start, stop, or check status of your irssi screen session using the following commands:
```
:::bash
/etc/init.d/irssid start
/etc/init.d/irssid stop
/etc/init.d/irssid status
```
Finally, when you're satisfied with the options you made, you can add the irssid to appropriate runlevels with:
```
:::bash
update-rc.d irssid defaults
```
**Under Gentoo**
In addition to having irssi installed, make sure you install the screen package:
```
:::bash
emerge screen
```
Paste the following contents into file located at /etc/init.d/irssid:
```
:::bash
#!/sbin/runscript
# Setup static variables
configFile='/etc/conf.d/irssid'
daemonExec='/usr/bin/screen'
daemonArgs='-D -m'
daemonName="$(basename "$daemonExec")"
pidFile='/var/run/irssid.pid'
#
# Checks if the environment is capable of running the script (such as
# availability of programs etc).
#
# Return: 0 if the environmnt is properly setup for execution of init script, 1
# if not all conditions have been met.
#
function checkEnvironment() {
# Verify that the necessary binaries are available for execution.
local binaries=(irssi screen)
for bin in "${binaries[@]}"; do
if ! which "$bin" > /dev/null; then
eerror "Binary '$bin' is not available. Please install \
package containing it."
exit 5
fi
done
}
#
# Checks if the configuration files are available and properly setup.
#
# Return: 0 if irssid if properly configured, 1 otherwise.
#
function checkConfig() {
# Make sure the configuration file has been created
if ! [[ -f $configFile ]]; then
eerror "Please populate the configuration file '$configFile' \
before running."
exit 6
fi
# Make sure the required options have been set
local reqOptions=(user group session)
for option in "${reqOptions[@]}"; do
if ! grep -q -e "^[[:blank:]]*$option=" "$configFile"; then
eerror "Mandatory option '$option' was not specified in \
'$configFile'"
exit 6
fi
done
}
#
# Loads the configuration file and performs any additional configuration steps.
#
function configure() {
daemonArgs="$daemonArgs -S $session irssi"
[[ -n $args ]] && daemonArgs="$daemonArgs $args"
daemonCommand="$daemonExec $daemonArgs"
}
checkEnvironment
checkConfig
configure
#############################
# Gentoo-specific functions #
#############################
depend() {
need net localmount
after bootmisc
}
start () {
ebegin "Starting irssid"
start-stop-daemon --start --quiet --oknodo --pidfile "$pidFile" \
--make-pidfile --chuid "$user:$group" --background \
--exec "$daemonExec" -- $daemonArgs
eend $?
}
stop () {
ebegin "Stopping irssid"
start-stop-daemon --stop --quiet --oknodo --retry 30 --pidfile "$pidFile" \
--chuid "$user:$group" --exec "$daemonExec" -- $daemonArgs
eend $?
}
```
Configuration file where you can specify the user, group, and pass additional options for irssi should be placed withing `/etc/conf.d/irssi`. Configuration file syntax is the same as for Debian script.
Now you can start, stop, or check status of your irssi screen session using the following commands:
```
:::bash
/etc/init.d/irssid start
/etc/init.d/irssid stop
/etc/init.d/irssid status
```
Finally, when you're satisfied with the options you made, you can add the irssid to any runlevel you prefer (let's say the *default* one):
```
:::bash
update-rc add irssid default
```