How to enable SSL-IRC-access to Freenode and OFTC with XChat

The two main IRC networks I use are Freenode and OFTC. I've always liked the idea (though I don't currently make use of it) of things like HTTPS Everywhere, and I remember being disappointed the last time I checked if major IRC networks supported SSL. For some reason, I checked tonight and found out they do! Here's how to set it up with XChat on Linux.

When you reconnect to the network, you'll see something like this in your connection log. Enjoy!

* Looking up irc.freenode.net
* Connecting to chat.freenode.net (128.237.157.136) port 7000...
* * Certification info:
*   Subject:
*     OU=Domain Control Validated
*     OU=Gandi Standard Wildcard SSL
*     CN=*.freenode.net
*   Issuer:
*     C=FR
*     O=GANDI SAS
*     CN=Gandi Standard SSL CA
*   Public key algorithm: rsaEncryption (2048 bits)
*   Sign algorithm sha1WithRSAEncryption
*   Valid since Jan 13 00:00:00 2010 GMT to Jan 13 23:59:59 2011 GMT
* * Cipher info:
*   Version: TLSv1/SSLv3, cipher DHE-RSA-AES256-SHA (256 bits)
* Connected. Now logging in...
* *** Looking up your hostname...
* *** Checking Ident
* *** No Ident response
* *** Found your hostname
* Welcome to the freenode Internet Relay Chat Network mattst88

– Tags: irc howto