bug#29108: 25.3; ERC SASL support

[J.P.]

Hi Ulrich,

Ulrich Mueller <ulm@gentoo.org> writes:

> ERC is a little behind the times by not supporting SASL, so please
> pretty please can we have this?

If you're still interested in SASL, please try installing these patches
[1] and maybe do something like the following:

Connect to InspIRCd's testnet:

  (require 'erc)
  (erc-toggle-debug-irc-protocol)
  (push 'v3 erc-modules)
  (erc-tls :server "testnet.inspircd.org"
           :port 6697
           :nick "my-nick"
           :full-name "My Nick")

And register with anope nick services:

  ERC> /msg NickServ REGISTER password123 fake@fake.example.org

  ERC> /quit

Then connect again (the client certs should be real, in preparation for
the next demo):

  (push 'sasl erc-v3-extensions)
  (setq erc-v3-sasl-mechanism 'plain)
  (erc-tls :server "testnet.inspircd.org"
           :port 6697
           :nick "my-nick"
           :password "password123"
           :full-name "My Nick"
           :client-certificate (list "/tmp/key.pem" "/tmp/cert.pem"))

Look for this in the server buffer:

  *** Account status for my-nick: logged in as my-nick

Then do:

  ERC> /msg NickServ CERT ADD

  ERC> /quit

This time, using EXTERNAL (note the lack of a password):

  (setq erc-v3-sasl-mechanism 'external)
  (erc-tls :server "testnet.inspircd.org"
           :port 6697
           :nick "my-nick"
           :full-name "My Nick"
           :client-certificate (list "/tmp/key.pem" "/tmp/cert.pem"))

Once again, note the success message. The fancier mechanisms also work.
Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks.


[1] https://jpneverwas.gitlab.io/erc-tools/49860/patches.tar.gz

    Alternative, package.el-based option in footnote #2 of this post:

    https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/emacs-erc/2021-08/msg00002.html