SILC Client Quick Setup
- Download and install gaim from http://gaim.sf.net.
- Run it and add an account. Expand the "Show More Options" tree. The
setup screen should look similar to the one above.
- Set "Protocol" to "SILC".
- Set "Screen Name" and "Alias" to your user name.
- Enter a password...although I'm not sure what this is used for yet.
- Check both "Remember Password" and "Auto-login".
- My personal server is "chloe.k50.net". The default SILC server listed
will get you on to the main SILC network (where I'm not, but can also be
used to chat with others). The main SILC network is "silc.silcnet.org". If
you want to casually chat with all your friends, add another account and
use this network instead of wasting my already limited bandwidth.
- The server port should remain at the default "706".
- Check "Public key authentication".
- When this feature eventually works, "Block IMs without Key Exchange"
will someday be turned on.
- The rest of the features can be unchecked.
- For "Proxy type" select "No Proxy" unless you have a convoluted
network setup and know what you are doing.
- Save the settings and click the "on-line" check box back at the
"Accounts" screen.
- Connecting to a server will take a minute. That's mainly because of
key generation. Encryption keys are complex so others can't easily break
into them. It may take a minute for the keys to generate, but it should
not freeze forever.
- To add someone in the main list, use the "Buddies/Add Buddies" menu.
"Screen Name" is the user's real name. "Alias" is how you want that user
to appear in your list. "Group" is sub-grouping in your list. Type a new
group name to create it. "Account" is which of your users will be used to
talk to that person. Rember gaim can be set up for multi-server usage.
- To join a chat room, use the "Buddies/Join a chat..." menu. "Account"
is your user to be used to talk. "Channel" is the chat room name.
"Password" is the password for that chat room, provided there is one.
Key Exchange
On a side note, gaim does expect some key exchanges to work smoother.
This can get a little complicated...but only a little. You can just tell
it "ok" and "cancel" to key problems as appropriate, but this tends to not
use the standard validation features.
If you are not behind a firewall, newer gaim versions have an auto send
option to automate all this. If not, you will have to do it manually.
To use keys properly... (the manual key exchange method)
- FIRST, download, email, send someway the PUBLIC key (not private) you
generate when you start the SILC connection. On WinXP this key is
typically located in "c:\Documents and Settings\LOGIN_NAME\Application
Data\.silc\public_key.pub" where "LOGIN_NAME" is the name you used to
log into windoze at start up. COPY (not move) that key out somewhere and
RENAME it with your user name in front of it for clarity. From there you
can transfer as you see fit. DO NOT mess with the private (.prv) key. If
someone gets the private key, they can impersonate you.
- Add your "buddy" as stated above. Gaim will complain about not having
a public key. From there you can select the import option and select it
to the file.
- Each user will have to do this once for initial setup when making
private connections.
- If you ever lose your keys (windoze crash, reinstall, whatever), you
will have to repeat this process.
- I keep my keys on the chloe server in /pub/SILC_Keys directory.
Problems
Sometimes problems happen that can drive you nuts. Here are a few tips
on starting over to fix them.
- Install gaim to its default paths. Sometimes programmers "miss"
things and hard code locations...when they shouldn't.
- If gaim flat out fails, terminate the process. Afterwards, go into
Task Manager and terminate any leftover gaim processes. Also check the
task bar tool tray for the gaim icon.
- If gaim really-really fails, uninstall it then reinstall it.
- If that still fails, delete the leftover files before then reinstall.
These are located in a few different places. In WinXP, "c:\Documents and
Settings\LOGIN_NAME\Application Data" directory has a ".gaim" and a
".silc" directory. If you want to keep your key pair, copy those out of
the .silc directory first and put them back after the reinstall. NOTE:
I've have a problem between major versions with copying back a key
pair...not sure why. After that delete everything in the "c:\Program
Files\Gaim" directory.
- If you're really paranoid, you can run regedit.exe and search for
"gaim" and remove those entries from the registry before the reinstall. A
reboot may be a good idea but shouldn't be necessary for this.
- If you're really "l33t" you'd be running gaim under linux or bsd and
none of this windoze crap would matter.
Other
Gaim works with many other protocols besides SILC. Gaim also supports
multiple logins to different servers as different users. You can use gaim
with these other servers at the same time but keep in mind that you are
only chatting ENCRYPTED through the SILC server, NOT the others.