DNS Tunnel Access to TransIRC

We're excited to introduce tapeworm — a DNS-tunneled SSH access method for TransIRC. Designed to get around network restrictions, this tool allows you to reach our SSH-based IRC environment even when SSH is blocked on a network (Note we do offer SSH on port 443).

Tapeworm is a standalone client that wraps your SSH connection in DNS queries and connects through UDP/5353. On the server side, your session is decoded and forwarded to our custom NickGate SSH service, preserving your real IP with the PROXY protocol for identity-aware authentication.

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🪱 What is tapeworm?

Tapeworm is a cross-platform SSH client that tunnels through DNS. It is built to automatically connect to TransIRC's DNS tunnel gateway and authenticate you with your IRC nickname and password, just like our regular SSH service.

• No configuration required — just run the binary.
• Tunnels SSH through 5353/udp using DNS packets.
• Works on restricted networks, captive portals, or when SSH is blocked.
• Passes your real IP to the backend using PROXY protocol v1.

🔐 How Authentication Works

Once tunneled, your SSH session reaches our NickGate server — the same gateway used for direct SSH. Authentication is done via your NickServ credentials:

• Use your IRC nickname as the SSH username.
• Your NickServ password is your SSH password.
• NickGate authenticates using the Ergo IRC API.
• On success, you're dropped into our terminal environment.

🖥️ Your Environment

Once logged in, you'll be placed into a tmux session containing:

• IRC Client: Preconfigured for TransIRC (WeeChat, Irssi, etc.).
• Issue Tracker: Report problems via issue.py.
• Wiki Reader: Browse our wiki from your terminal.
• Help Viewer: Access help docs in markdown format.
• News Marquee: Live updates from the network team.

🛡️ Security & Identity

• NickServ authentication: No shell access — verified users only.
• Real IP forwarding: Ensures moderation and identity accuracy.
• Session-controlled: Exiting tmux ends your session cleanly.

🚀 How to Use tapeworm

Download the tapeworm client and run it from your terminal:

./tapeworm-client

No arguments or config files needed — it will automatically tunnel to our DNS gateway and prompt for your IRC credentials.

You can review the tapeworm source code here: https://github.com/TransIRC/TapeWorm

To register your nickname, connect to IRC and run:

/msg NickServ REGISTER yourpassword youremail

💡 Tips

• Use a UTF-8 terminal for proper rendering.
• Mouse support works in many panes, like the wiki viewer.