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As this question did not receive any informative answers: [ Setting up linux shell accounts for public access ] I would like to rephrase the original question for my own purposes:

I would like to create, what is colloquially known on IRC as, "a shell account" on my own Linux server for my own personal use (there is no security issue at stake, I can shoot myself if I do something stupid) - I would like this so that I can install this server in a remote location and then connect to the IRC user (myself) which I would like logged into my own private IRC server 24 hours a day. My location will be regularly changing so I cannot remain logged in from my local site at all times. I would like to connect over an SSL enabled connection.

I admit that I do not know if this is possible with standard Linux, so if this is something which requires third party software please point me in a suitable direction as so far google has been remarkably vague ..

If i have completely misunderstood the term or use of "IRC shell accounts" any further advice is appreciated.

Many thanks

Edit: I cannot improve the question .. I did not understand that "IRC Shell Accounts" were nothing more than "standard shell accounts".

I will say that I got two replies which understood my question and provided both long and short answers. Perhaps if this question is left as is and without the demotion it will provide help to others.

Please go ahead with close

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2 Answers 2

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You either want to install a so called "Bouncer" (BNC) which supports SSL connection.

Or you might use a combination of ssh + screen/tmux and an IRC console client (like irssi).

Also there are websites that offer similar functionality: https://www.irccloud.com/

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  • Thanks for your reply: screen/tmux sounds very much like what I am looking for. According to (wikivs.com/wiki/Screen_vs_tmux?) the bit that I am interested in is: "Both GNU Screen and tmux allow the user to detach and reattach terminal sessions, leaving any shells and their subprocesses managed by the multiplexer while detached." Following further investigation and achieving my goal I will mark this as the solution (if indeed it is) very soon.
    – dotvotdot
    Sep 17, 2015 at 16:48
  • screen works well for my simple requirements.
    – dotvotdot
    Sep 19, 2015 at 17:17
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"Shell accounts" are really nothing more than a regular user account on a regular Linux / BSD system, usually accessed over the SSH protocol.

(Most public providers usually pre-install various common software, set some resource limits, run an email server for users; some old ones even act as ISPs; they often have a community built around their system... but that's irrelevant here.)

Howto

So step 0 is to actually have a server – ideally, running Linux or some BSD variant.

  • Some use their own hardware hosted somewhere with a 24/7 network connection, e.g. at a colocation facility, or at their workplace, or even at home (assuming the ISP allows that). A static-ish, publicly accessible IP address is needed.

  • Others simply rent a dedicated server from companies like OVH, or a VPS from Linode or DigitalOcean or many other providers.

Step 1 is to enable remote access – install the SSH service (OpenSSH). Often it already comes as part of the basic OS installation, and you only need to start/enable the sshd daemon.

Step 2 is to create a user account for yourself, in case you haven't done this yet. (The tools are adduser on Debian, useradd on Arch, pw user add on FreeBSD, and so on.)

Well, that's basically it. You have a "shell account", into which you can ssh remotely, run tools like tmux or screen (for the "attaching/detaching" part), and IRC clients like irssi or weechat.

Security

Though you really should do a few more things.

In particular, remember that the entire IPv4 address space is frequently scanned by botnets looking for insecure systems & easily guessable passwords, and most likely they'll start beating on your door within minutes of enabling SSH.

So an important part of OpenSSH configuration is to a) have a strong password, or b) learn how to use SSH public-key auth and disable password logins entirely. (Which is a separate topic.)

Similarly, if your chosen OS supports automatic updates (e.g. Ubuntu's unattended-upgrades), you should use them. Public providers go even further, by setting up grsec or SELinux or systrace or AppArmor, but for a private personal server it's probably overkill – unless the distro already has done the integration for you, as e.g. Fedora does.

(The security issue here is not just about you; it's also about your system getting abused to attack other systems.)

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  • Thanks for your reply, sorry I skipped over the part where you mention screen/tmux and so did not respond to you first.
    – dotvotdot
    Sep 17, 2015 at 16:53

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