IRC Services Manual

5. Importing and exporting databases

5-1. Exporting Services databases in XML format
5-2. Importing (merging) data from an XML file
5-3. Converting data from other Services-like programs
    5-3-1. Using the convert-db program
    5-3-2. Notes on converting databases from particular programs

Table of Contents

5-1. Exporting Services databases in XML format

In order to facilitate processing of the Services databases by other programs, Services provides the ability to export the databases in XML and the HTTP server built into Services. database access module (httpd/dbaccess) will display an "XML database download" link. Clicking on the link will display the XML data in your browser, which you can then save (for Netscape and Internet Explorer, select "Save as..." from the browser's File menu). Alternatively, you can download the link directly without displaying it in your browser; in Netscape, hold shift while clicking on the link, and in Internet Explorer, right-click on the link and select "Save target as..." from the pop-up menu.

The format of the exported XML data is discussed in Appendix B. No DTD is currently available.

Note: Services will not respond to any network activity while you are downloading the database. If you have a large database, this can make Services appear to "freeze" with respect to the IRC network, and it may even get disconnected from the network in extreme cases.

Note to Internet Explorer users: Some versions of Internet Explorer have a bug which can prevent the XML data from being displayed or downloaded properly. If you have this problem, use another browser, or add the following key to your registry using the Registry Editor (regedit), as described in Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q239750 [support.microsoft.com]:

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5-2. Importing (merging) data from an XML file

Just as it can export data in XML format, Services can also read in XML data and import (merge) it into its databases. Importing is handled by the module must be loaded at startup (loading it via an OperServ REHASH or a SIGHUP signal will have no effect).

To import a set of data stored in XML format into Services, start Services with the command-line option "-import=filename", where filename is the name of the file containing the data; if it does not begin with a slash, it is taken relative to the Services data directory. Services will parse the data file, and if no errors are found, the data will be merged into Services' databases and the program will terminate. If problems are found, they will be printed on standard output.

Normally, if nickname or channel "collisions" occur—that is, if a nickname or channel in the input data is already registered in Services' databases—Services will skip over that nickname group or channel, respectively. (For nicknames, the entire nickname group is skipped to prevent cases where, for example, a user's secondary nick is available but the primary nick is registered to someone else.) This behavior can be modified by the options in modules.conf. Additionally, Services can be made to output a list of all data imported by setting the option (which is set in the example modules.conf provided with Services).

Note that the maximum user count, OperServ SU password, and news items will not be imported. Also, any autokills, session limit exceptions, or S-lines which collide with those in the database will be automatically skipped.

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5-3. Converting data from other Services-like programs

5-3-1. Using the convert-db program

For users of other Services-like programs who want to switch to IRC Services, a program called convert-db is supplied to convert databases used by such programs into XML data files, which can then be imported into Services as described in section 5-2 above. This program is installed into the Services data directory (/usr/lib/ircservices for binary distributions, /usr/local/lib/ircservices by default for source distributions).

In its simplest form, convert-db takes the pathname of the directory containing the database files to convert on the command line, and writes the converted XML data to standard output. A typical invocation might look like this:

Note that not all features of all programs are supported by Services, and some settings may be lost when you import data. See section 5-3-2 below for information on particular programs, and section 5-2 for notes on importing the converted data into Services.

The full syntax for convert-db is as follows:

convert-db [-v] [+program-name] pathname

• -v: Display progress information as the data is converted.
• +program-name: Explicitly indicates what program was used to create the data files. A list of possible program-name values is given in table 5-1 below. program-name values are not case sensitive.
• pathname: Specifies the pathname of the directory containing the database files.

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5-3-2. Notes on converting databases from particular programs

Note that this is not a comprehensive list of differences; only the major differences and types of data that cannot be converted are listed.

All programs

• The "NOOP" and "NEVEROP" nickname flags used in some programs to mean "do not auto-op this nickname regardless of channel access level" are not supported. Any nicknames with these flags set will still be opped by Services if they have the appropriate access level in a channel.
• The setter and reason for a forbidden nickname or channel will not be imported.
• Channel privilege level settings (the equivalent of the ChanServ LEVELS command), on programs that support them, will not be imported; all channels will be reset to the default values.
• Services does not record the setter and last used time for channel access entries is not supported; this data will be lost on conversion for programs that do record it.
• Services does not support "bots" or a "BotServ", and all such data will be lost on conversion.

Auspice

• The ChanServ TIMEOP feature in version 2.6 and later is not supported. Nicknames on a channel's TIMEOP list will not be added to the channel's access list for Services, and thus will have no privileges on the channel.
• Services does not support "root" and "master" privilege levels as in Auspice. There can only be one root nickname, which is set in ircservices.conf; all root/master settings in the data files will be discarded. (Admin/oper settings will be retained.) Note that Services admins can perform any function (except modifying the admin list), including modifying Services settings and shutting down Services.
• NickServ AUTH, COMMENT, NOTE, LOCK, MARK, SET KILL HIGH, SETFLAG AUTOJOIN, and SETMLOCK, as well as ChanServ BADWORDS, FREEZE, and MARK, are not supported. Nickname notes will be converted to non-expiring memos with the user themselves as the sender; other data will be lost.
• Services uses a different news system than Auspice; network and channel news items will not be converted.
• Aside from the above, Services does not store the following information; it will be lost when the databases are converted:
  • UIN, age, and gender for nicknames
  • last GETPASS user and HOLD setter and reason for channels
• E-mailing of log files is not supported.

Bolivia

• Channel memos are implemented differently (they are stored separately from nickname memos), and any user may send a memo to a channel.
• Limiting channels to priviliged users (the LEVEL command) is not supported, and such restrictions will be discarded when converting the databases. However, some IRC servers (such as Unreal) have channel modes allowing channels to be limited to IRC operators or administrators only, and Services allows those modes to be locked on with the SET MLOCK command.
• ChanServ FREEZE is not supported.
• ChanServ HOLD setter will be lost when converting.
• E-mailing of log files is not supported.

Daylight

• Services does not support the XMANAGEMENT channel setting.

Epona

• Services does not store the following information; it will be lost when the databases are converted:
  • ICQ number for nicknames
  • last used time for channel access entries
• Services does not distinguish between using the ChanServ OP, VOICE, and related commands on oneself or on other users.

IRCS

• By default, IRCS supports channels with names longer than 63 characters (including the leading "#"). Services does not support these by default, and such channels will not be imported.
• Channel autoop/autovoice cannot be set for individual nicknames. All nicks with appropriate access will be opped even if the NickServ NOOP setting was set or ChanServ SET AUTOOP OFF was used for the nick.
• The numeric access level for SOP is different from that used in Services, so some access levels will be altered to match the default SOP level in Services. (Channel privileges will remain unchanged.)
• The "senior", "junior", and "helper" OperServ access levels do not exist in Services. Users on the "senior" list will be moved to the Services admin list; users on other lists will be moved to the Services operator list. WARNING: As a result of the above, users on the "senior" list will be given access to the JUPE and LISTIGNORE commands.

Magick I 1.4

• Services does not send replies using PRIVMSG; the NI_PRIVMSG nickname setting will be ignored.
• Services does not have a "channel news" system like Magick, and all channel news items will be discarded.

PTlink 2.18

• PTlink supports several encryption methods; passwords encrypted with a method other than MD5 cannot be used with Services, and convert-db will refuse to convert such databases.
• Services does not store the following information; it will be lost when the databases are converted:
  • ICQ number, location, birthdate, and time of last identify for nicknames
  • maximum number of users and time of maximum for channels

SirvNET

• Channel memos are implemented differently (they are stored separately from nickname memos), and any user may send a memo to a channel.
• Limiting channels to priviliged users (the LEVEL command) is not supported, and such restrictions will be discarded when converting the databases. However, some IRC servers (such as Unreal) have channel modes allowing channels to be limited to IRC operators or administrators only, and Services allows those modes to be locked on with the SET MLOCK command.
• NickServ AUTH and ChanServ FREEZE are not supported.
• ChanServ HOLD setter and reason will be lost when converting.
• E-mailing of log files is not supported.

trircd

• Forbid setter and reason information will be lost after conversion.
• SET EXCEPTION, SET INVITES, HIDE OPTIONS, and HIDE DESC channel settings are not supported.

Wrecked 1.2.0

• Services does not send replies using PRIVMSG; the NI_PRIVMSG nickname setting will be ignored.
• The VOPALL channel setting is not supported.

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