If you want to take a look at a running Ergo instance or test some client code, feel free to play with [testnet.ergo.chat](https://testnet.ergo.chat/) (TLS on port 6697 or plaintext on port 6667).
**Note:** See the [productionizing guide in our manual](https://github.com/ergochat/ergo/blob/stable/docs/MANUAL.md#productionizing-with-systemd) for recommendations on how to run a production network, including obtaining valid TLS certificates.
You can also clone this repository and build from source. Typical deployments should use the `stable` branch, which points to the latest stable release. In general, `stable` should coincide with the latest published tag that is not designated as a beta or release candidate (for example, `v2.7.0-rc1` was an unstable release candidate and `v2.7.0` was the corresponding stable release), so you can also identify the latest stable release tag on the [releases page](https://github.com/ergochat/ergo/releases) and build that.
The `master` branch is not recommended for production use since it may contain bugs, and because the forwards compatibility guarantees for the config file and the database that apply to releases do not apply to master. That is to say, running master may result in changes to your database that end up being incompatible with future versions of Ergo.
You'll need an [up-to-date distribution of the Go language for your OS and architecture](https://golang.org/dl/). Once that's installed (check the output of `go version`), just check out your desired branch or tag and run `make build`. This will produce an executable binary named `ergo` in the base directory of the project. (Ergo vendors all its dependencies, so you will not need to fetch any dependencies remotely.)
You can use the `--conf` parameter when launching Ergo to control where it looks for the config file. For instance: `ergo run --conf /path/to/ircd.yaml`. The configuration file also stores where the log, database, certificate, and other files are opened. Normally, all these files use relative paths, but you can change them to be absolute (such as `/var/log/ircd.log`) when running Ergo as a service.
By default, logs go to stderr only. They can be configured to go to a file, or you can use systemd to direct the stderr to the system journal (see the manual for details). The configuration format of logs is designed to be easily pluggable, and is inspired by the logging config provided by InspIRCd.
Passwords (for both `PASS` and oper logins) are stored using bcrypt. To generate encrypted strings for use in the config, use the `genpasswd` subcommand as such:
Ergo relies heavily on user accounts to enable its distinctive features (such as allowing multiple clients per nickname). As a user, you can register your current nickname as an account using `/msg NickServ register <password>`. Once you have done so, you should [enable SASL in your clients](https://libera.chat/guides/sasl), ensuring that you will be automatically logged into your account on each connection. This will prevent [problems claiming your registered nickname](https://github.com/ergochat/ergo/blob/master/docs/MANUAL.md#nick-equals-account).
