IRC

IRC, or Internet Relay Chat, is often used as a real-time communication capability with open source projects. We're pretty proud of the friendly vibe in the OpenStack channels and invite anyone wanting to ask questions or talk about all things OpenStack to the channels.

IRC software can be found for all operating systems. The IRC clients comparison chart on Wikipedia can help you pick one for your operating system.

You don't have to have a complex setup to use IRC. You can use the web client for Freenode, which doesn't require any download or setup. Just pick a nickname and join #openstack: http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=openstack,openstack-dev.

How to read messages exchanged when you're offline
IRC, unlike other chat systems, doesn't keep when you're offline. In order to be notified of relevant communications you can either look at the channel logs or setup an IRC proxy.

The most common IRC proxies are znc and bip. See the following guides to configure them:


 * Installation notes for Fedora/RH-like and example bip.conf contributed by Kashyap Chamarthy
 * ZNC configuration notes contributed by Sean Dague
 * WeeChat IRC client combines proxy and client, and allows you to run the client in a shell and access that client additionally from a web client or Android app.

IRC meetings
The OpenStack project holds its various public meetings on IRC. See Meetings for details.

OpenStack IRC channels (chat.freenode.net)
If you want to start a new IRC channel, please consult with the InfrastructureTeam in #openstack-infra or at openstack-infra@lists.openstack.org to ensure it gets registered appropriately.

Many IRC channels are logged and recordings are publicly accessible. If you're concerned about privacy consider using a cloak, tor, hide your real name and be mindful not to write sensitive data in these channels.

{| class="wikitable sortable" border="1" ! IRC Channel !! Description
 * #openstack || general discussion, support
 * #openstack-ansible || OpenStack-Ansible discussions
 * #openstack-anvil || Anvil discussion channel
 * #openstack-app-catalog || Community App Catalog discussions
 * #openstack-barbican || Barbican-related team discussions
 * #openstack-blazar || blazar (formerly climate) team discussions
 * #openstack-board || OpenStack Foundation Board Meeting Back channel (mainly quiet except during meetings)
 * #openstack-telemetry || Telemetry team (ceilometer, aodh, gnocchi) discussions
 * #openstack-chef || deployment and operating OpenStack with Chef
 * #openstack-chinese || general discussion, support in Chinese
 * #openstack-cinder || cinder team discussions
 * #openstack-community || coordination of community activity
 * #openstack-containers || Magnum team discussion
 * #openstack-cue || Cue team discussion
 * #openstack-defcore || Defcore discussion channel
 * #openstack-dev || general and cross-project development discussion
 * #openstack-dib || Discussion around diskimage-builder
 * #openstack-dns || Designate DNS team discussions
 * #openstack-doc || documentation team discussion
 * #openstack-dragonflow || Dragonflow team discussion
 * #openstack-ec2api || EC2 API discussion channel
 * #openstack-fr || general discussion, support in French
 * #openstack-fwaas || Firewall as a Service discussions
 * #openstack-gbp || Group Based Policy discussions
 * #openstack-glance || glance team discussions
 * #openstack-glare || glare team discussions
 * #openstack-freezer || freezer team discussions
 * #openstack-gsoc || google summer of code discussions
 * #openstack-ha || High Availability discussions
 * #openstack-heat-translator || Heat-Translator and TOSCA-Parser team discussions
 * #openstack-horizon || horizon team discussions
 * #openstack-hyper-v || Microsoft Windows guests and hypervisor discussion
 * #openstack-i18n || I18N team discussions
 * #openstack-infra || developer community infrastructure, continuous integration testing
 * #openstack-ironic || ironic & bare metal discussions
 * #openstack-jjb || Jenkins Job Builder discussions
 * #openstack-karbor || karbor team discussions
 * #openstack-keystone || keystone team discussions
 * #openstack-ko || general discussion, support in Korean
 * #openstack-kolla || Kolla team discussion channel
 * #openstack-kuryr || Kuryr team discussion channel
 * #openstack-latinamerica || OpenStack Latin America (Spanish)
 * #openstack-lbaas || Neutron LBaaS and Project Octavia discussions
 * #openstack-manila || shared / distributed file system service team discussions
 * #openstack-marconi || queue/messaging marconi team discussions
 * #openstack-meeting || team meetings
 * #openstack-meeting-alt || team meetings, alternate channel
 * #openstack-meeting-cp || cross-project meetings
 * #openstack-meeting-3 || team meetings, another alternate channel
 * #openstack-meeting-4 || team meetings, another alternate channel
 * #openstack-mistral || Mistral Workflow Service for OpenStack
 * #openstack-monasca || Monasca Monitoring and Logging as-a-Service for OpenStack
 * #openstack-neutron || neutron team discussions
 * #openstack-nfv || NFV team discussions
 * #openstack-nova || nova team discussions
 * #openstack-operators || OpenStack Operators discussion channel
 * #openstack-opw || GNOME OPW mentor, intern and supporter discussions
 * #openstack-oslo || Oslo development discussion
 * #openstack-performance || All OpenStack performance related discussions
 * #openstack-pkg || Debian packaging discussions
 * #openstack-pl || OpenStack discussions in Polish
 * #openstack-powervm || PowerVM OpenStack drivers discussion channel
 * #openstack-qa || QA team discussion
 * #openstack-rally || Rally measure performance of your cloud
 * #openstack-rating || Rating team discussions
 * #openstack-release || Release managers channel
 * #openstack-requirements || Requirements discussion channel
 * #openstack-rpm-packaging || RPM packaging discussions
 * #openstack-sahara || Sahara team discussions
 * #openstack-sdks || Development of SDKs to work with OpenStack and the unified OpenStack command line tool
 * #openstack-security || General discussion about OpenStack security and open channel for the OpenStack Security Group (OSSG)
 * #openstack-searchlight || [wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Searchlight] - Search your OpenStack resources
 * #openstack-stable || stable branch management discussions
 * #openstack-state-management || TaskFlow and state-management development discussion
 * #openstack-swift || swift team discussions
 * #openstack-third-party-ci || OpenStack third-party CI operators
 * #openstack-trove || trove database team discussions
 * #openstack-tw || general discussion, support in Taiwan
 * #openstack-upstream-institute || OpenStack Upstream Institute team discussions and a forum to discuss questions and best practices about on-boarding new contributors
 * #openstack-ux || discussion channel for user experience
 * #openstack-vmware || The VMwareAPI team discussion channel
 * #openstack-watcher || Watcher discussion channel
 * #openstack-zun || Zun discussion channel
 * #congress || Congress policy developer discussion channel
 * #fuel || Fuel users&developers discussion channel
 * #heat || Heat developer discussion channel
 * #magnetodb || Key-Value storage for OpenStack
 * #murano || Murano team discussions
 * #nova-docker || Nova Docker team discussions
 * #refstack || RefStack
 * #senlin || Senlin team discussions
 * #storyboard || StoryBoard team discussions
 * #tacker || Tacker NFV Orchestrator team discussions
 * #tripleo || TripleO team discussions
 * #puppet-openstack || Openstack Puppet modules discussions
 * -}
 * #openstack-meeting-3 || team meetings, another alternate channel
 * #openstack-meeting-4 || team meetings, another alternate channel
 * #openstack-mistral || Mistral Workflow Service for OpenStack
 * #openstack-monasca || Monasca Monitoring and Logging as-a-Service for OpenStack
 * #openstack-neutron || neutron team discussions
 * #openstack-nfv || NFV team discussions
 * #openstack-nova || nova team discussions
 * #openstack-operators || OpenStack Operators discussion channel
 * #openstack-opw || GNOME OPW mentor, intern and supporter discussions
 * #openstack-oslo || Oslo development discussion
 * #openstack-performance || All OpenStack performance related discussions
 * #openstack-pkg || Debian packaging discussions
 * #openstack-pl || OpenStack discussions in Polish
 * #openstack-powervm || PowerVM OpenStack drivers discussion channel
 * #openstack-qa || QA team discussion
 * #openstack-rally || Rally measure performance of your cloud
 * #openstack-rating || Rating team discussions
 * #openstack-release || Release managers channel
 * #openstack-requirements || Requirements discussion channel
 * #openstack-rpm-packaging || RPM packaging discussions
 * #openstack-sahara || Sahara team discussions
 * #openstack-sdks || Development of SDKs to work with OpenStack and the unified OpenStack command line tool
 * #openstack-security || General discussion about OpenStack security and open channel for the OpenStack Security Group (OSSG)
 * #openstack-searchlight || [wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Searchlight] - Search your OpenStack resources
 * #openstack-stable || stable branch management discussions
 * #openstack-state-management || TaskFlow and state-management development discussion
 * #openstack-swift || swift team discussions
 * #openstack-third-party-ci || OpenStack third-party CI operators
 * #openstack-trove || trove database team discussions
 * #openstack-tw || general discussion, support in Taiwan
 * #openstack-upstream-institute || OpenStack Upstream Institute team discussions and a forum to discuss questions and best practices about on-boarding new contributors
 * #openstack-ux || discussion channel for user experience
 * #openstack-vmware || The VMwareAPI team discussion channel
 * #openstack-watcher || Watcher discussion channel
 * #openstack-zun || Zun discussion channel
 * #congress || Congress policy developer discussion channel
 * #fuel || Fuel users&developers discussion channel
 * #heat || Heat developer discussion channel
 * #magnetodb || Key-Value storage for OpenStack
 * #murano || Murano team discussions
 * #nova-docker || Nova Docker team discussions
 * #refstack || RefStack
 * #senlin || Senlin team discussions
 * #storyboard || StoryBoard team discussions
 * #tacker || Tacker NFV Orchestrator team discussions
 * #tripleo || TripleO team discussions
 * #puppet-openstack || Openstack Puppet modules discussions
 * -}
 * #openstack-stable || stable branch management discussions
 * #openstack-state-management || TaskFlow and state-management development discussion
 * #openstack-swift || swift team discussions
 * #openstack-third-party-ci || OpenStack third-party CI operators
 * #openstack-trove || trove database team discussions
 * #openstack-tw || general discussion, support in Taiwan
 * #openstack-upstream-institute || OpenStack Upstream Institute team discussions and a forum to discuss questions and best practices about on-boarding new contributors
 * #openstack-ux || discussion channel for user experience
 * #openstack-vmware || The VMwareAPI team discussion channel
 * #openstack-watcher || Watcher discussion channel
 * #openstack-zun || Zun discussion channel
 * #congress || Congress policy developer discussion channel
 * #fuel || Fuel users&developers discussion channel
 * #heat || Heat developer discussion channel
 * #magnetodb || Key-Value storage for OpenStack
 * #murano || Murano team discussions
 * #nova-docker || Nova Docker team discussions
 * #refstack || RefStack
 * #senlin || Senlin team discussions
 * #storyboard || StoryBoard team discussions
 * #tacker || Tacker NFV Orchestrator team discussions
 * #tripleo || TripleO team discussions
 * #puppet-openstack || Openstack Puppet modules discussions
 * -}
 * #fuel || Fuel users&developers discussion channel
 * #heat || Heat developer discussion channel
 * #magnetodb || Key-Value storage for OpenStack
 * #murano || Murano team discussions
 * #nova-docker || Nova Docker team discussions
 * #refstack || RefStack
 * #senlin || Senlin team discussions
 * #storyboard || StoryBoard team discussions
 * #tacker || Tacker NFV Orchestrator team discussions
 * #tripleo || TripleO team discussions
 * #puppet-openstack || Openstack Puppet modules discussions
 * -}
 * #senlin || Senlin team discussions
 * #storyboard || StoryBoard team discussions
 * #tacker || Tacker NFV Orchestrator team discussions
 * #tripleo || TripleO team discussions
 * #puppet-openstack || Openstack Puppet modules discussions
 * -}
 * #tripleo || TripleO team discussions
 * #puppet-openstack || Openstack Puppet modules discussions
 * -}
 * #puppet-openstack || Openstack Puppet modules discussions
 * -}