Eggdrop 1.10.1rc2 documentation

# Installing Eggdrop

This is the quick install guide; if you have had little or no experience with UNIX or Eggdrop, READ THE README FILE NOW! This file is best for experienced users.

For more information on compiling Eggdrop, see the Compile Guide in doc/COMPILE-GUIDE (and of course, the README FILE).

## Quick Startup

Eggdrop uses the GNU autoconfigure scripts to make things easier.

1. Type ‘./configure’ from the Eggdrop directory. The configure script

     will determine how your system is set up and figure out how to correctly compile Eggdrop. It will also try to find Tcl, which is required to compile.

2. Type either ‘make config’ or ‘make iconfig’ to determine which

     modules will be compiled. ‘make config’ compiles the default modules (everything but woobie.mod). If you want to choose which modules to compile, use ‘make iconfig’.

3. Type ‘make’ from the Eggdrop directory, or to force a statically

     linked module bot, type ‘make static’. Otherwise, the Makefile will compile whatever type of bot the configure script determined your system will support. Dynamic is always the better way to go if possible. There are also the ‘debug’ and ‘sdebug’ (static-debug) options, which will give more detailed output on a (highly unlikely :) crash. This will help the development team track down the crash and fix the bug. Debug and sdebug will take a little longer to compile and will enlarge the binary a bit, but it’s worth it if you want to support Eggdrop development.

4. Eggdrop must be installed in a directory somewhere. This is

     accomplished by entering the UNIX command:

         make install

     This will install the Eggdrop in your home directory in a directory called ‘eggdrop’ (i.e. /home/user/eggdrop).

     If you want to install to a different directory, use:

         make install DEST=<directory>

     For example:

         make install DEST=/home/user/otherdir

     Note that you must use full path for every file to be correctly installed.

5. Since version 1.8, Eggdrop can use SSL to protect botnet links. If you intend on protecting botnet traffic between Eggdrops, you must generate SSL certificates by running:

           make sslcert

        Or, if you installed your eggdrop to a different directory in step 4, you
        will want to run:

          make sslcert DEST=<directory>

       For those using scripts to install Eggdrop, you can non-interactively
       generate a key and certificate by running:

          make sslsilent

        Read docs/TLS for more info on this process.

[The following steps are performed in the directory you just installed Eggdrop into from the previous step]

6. Edit your config file completely.

7. Start the bot with the “-m” option to create a user file, i.e.

       ./eggdrop -m LamestBot.conf

8. When starting the bot in the future, drop the “-m”. If you have edited

     your config file correctly, you can type:

         chmod u+x <my-config-file-name>

     For example:

         chmod u+x LamestBot.conf

     From then on, you will be able to use your config file as a shell script. You can just type “./LamestBot.conf” from your shell prompt to start up your bot. For this to work, the top line of your script MUST contain the correct path to the Eggdrop executable.

9. It’s advisable to run your bot via crontab, so that it will

     > automatically restart if the machine goes down or (heaven forbid) the bot should crash. Eggdrop includes a helper script to auto-generate either a systemd or crontab entry. To add a systemd job, run:

     >     ./scripts/autobotchk [yourconfig.conf] -systemd

     or to add a crontab job, run:

         ./scripts/autobotchk [yourconfig.conf]

10. Smile. You have an Eggdrop!

## Cygwin Requirements (Windows)

Eggdrop requires the following packages to be added from the Cygwin installation tool prior to compiling:

    Interpreters: tcl, tcl-devel
    Net:          openssl, libssl-devel
    Devel:        autoconf, gcc-core, git, make
    Libs:         zlib-devel

## Modules

Modules are small pieces of code that can either be compiled into the binary or can be compiled separately into a file. This allows for a much smaller binary.

If there are any modules that you have made or downloaded, you can add them to the bot by placing them in the /src/mod directory with a mod extension. They will be automatically compiled during make for you. They must have a valid Makefile and, of course, be compatible with the rest of the Eggdrop source.

If you wish to add a module at a later time, follow the same steps in paragraph 2. After you have moved the appropriate files, you will only need to type ‘make modules’ to compile only the modules portion of the bot.

This is the end. If you read to this point, hopefully you have also read the README file. If not, then READ IT!&@#%@!

Have fun with Eggdrop!

> Copyright (C) 1997 Robey Pointer Copyright (C) 1999 - 2025 Eggheads Development Team