Problem while running the test server - irc: TLS handshake failed

[rkazak]

Hi - I am trying to run the test server on a mac mini using
MacOS 15.6.1
Python 3.13.7

Here is the logged output from the test server

mini.local >python3 weercd.py
weercd 1.0.0-dev - WeeChat IRC testing server
Options: {'host': None, 'port': 7777, 'file': None, 'maxchans': 5, 'maxnicks': 100, 'nickused': 0, 'notice': ['user', 'channel'], 'sleep': 0, 'wait': 0, 'debug': False}
Listening on port 7777 (ctrl-C to exit)
Connection from ('127.0.0.1', 53475)
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "/Users/rkazak/weechat.d/weercd/weercd.py", line 557, in
main()
~~~~^^
File "/Users/rkazak/weechat.d/weercd/weercd.py", line 547, in main
client = Client(clientsock, addr, args)
File "/Users/rkazak/weechat.d/weercd/weercd.py", line 138, in init
self.connect()
~~~~~~~~~~~~^^
File "/Users/rkazak/weechat.d/weercd/weercd.py", line 205, in connect
self.recv(0.1)
~~~~~~~~~^^^^^
File "/Users/rkazak/weechat.d/weercd/weercd.py", line 197, in recv
msgs = self.conn.read(timeout)
File "/Users/rkazak/weechat.d/weercd/weercd.py", line 97, in read
data = data.decode("UTF-8")
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xdc in position 12: invalid continuation byte

Has anyone encountered this previously?

This article seems to describe the situation I am seeing, and I am using it as a debug starting point.

Another observation is that while trying to debug the issue, for each execution I did the location of the invalid byte moved?

data = data.decode("UTF-8")
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xf5 in position 15: invalid start byte

data = data.decode("UTF-8")
UnicodeDecodeError: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xb6 in position 11: invalid start byte

The 'packet' contents that get received is

============ Debug ==========
contents 'b'\x16\x03\x01\x01v\x01\x00\x01r\x03\x03H\xab|\xcd\xeff\xe0/\x8a\xb0\xac")E\xfb\x95\x844w\x14n\x8ed\x06\xfa\xcd\xac\x0ce\xfe\x19M \xeb,\x01n\xdb\xdc\xf1,\xa7+\x86((#\xa7\x83\xdf\xda\x0e\xe9\xdc\x1e2\xc3n\xca\xe2\xf6ZE7^\x00:\x13\x02\x13\x03\x13\x01\x13\x04\xc0,\xcc\xa9\xc0\xad\xc0\n\xc0+\xc0\xac\xc0\t\xc00\xcc\xa8\xc0\x14\xc0/\xc0\x13\x00\x9d\xc0\x9d\x005\x00\x9c\xc0\x9c\x00/\x00\x9f\xcc\xaa\xc0\x9f\x009\x00\x9e\xc0\x9e\x003\x01\x00\x00\xef\x00\x1c\x00\x02@\x01\x00\x16\x00\x00\x00\x17\x00\x00\x00\x05\x00\x05\x01\x00\x00\x00\x00\x00\r\x00(\x00&\t\x04\t\x05\t\x06\x04\x01\x08\t\x08\x04\x04\x03\x08\x07\x05\x01\x08\n\x08\x05\x05\x03\x08\x08\x06\x01\x08\x0b\x08\x06\x06\x03\x02\x01\x02\x03\x003\x00k\x00i\x00\x17\x00A\x043?\x08eb\xd9\xfe\xf2\xbf\x7f7\xd3Q{\xb0\xc62!\x943T\xcd\xf5R6\xa5\xa9V\x8f\xb0Q\x9b\x0c\x9aa\xf7&oB\xbaa\x97d\x02\x17\x8f\x04\xa6\xe3\n\x97\x9f\x9fgeU\xbc8N_\x80\xe9\xc7\xe8\x00\x1d\x00 \x13\x17\x92\xce&,VV\x02\x7f!\xa1NM\x86\x9a\xf8\x8f^}I6\xb4\xe8u0*\x1c0\x97\xcbW\x00\x0b\x00\x02\x01\x00\x00\n\x00\x16\x00\x14\x00\x17\x00\x18\x00\x19\x00\x1d\x00\x1e\x01\x00\x01\x01\x01\x02\x01\x03\x01\x04\x00-\x00\x03\x02\x01\x00\x00+\x00\t\x08\x03\x04\x03\x03\x03\x02\x03\x01\xff\x01\x00\x01\x00\x00#\x00\x00'
============ Debug ==========

I'll look into it if it's a new issue, but I would guess someone has seen this already!

[rkazak]

Also this is what was seen from the client

  │18:29:06 weechat     │ WeeChat 4.7.1 [compiled on Aug 16 2025 19:49:19]

     │18:29:06 weechat     │ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
     │18:29:06 weechat     │ Plugins loaded: alias, buflist, charset, exec, fifo, fset, irc, logger, lua, perl, python, relay, ruby, script,
     │                     │ spell, tcl, trigger, typing, xfer
     │18:41:09 weechat =!= │ irc: server "weercd" already exists
     │18:41:35  weercd === │ ========== End of backlog (14 lines) ==========
     │18:41:35  weercd  -- │ irc: connecting to server 127.0.0.1/7777 (TLS)...
     │18:41:35  weercd =!= │ irc: TLS handshake failed
     │18:41:35  weercd =!= │ irc: error: The TLS connection was non-properly terminated.
     │18:41:35  weercd  -- │ irc: reconnecting to server in 10 seconds
     │18:41:42  weercd     │ irc: auto-reconnection is cancelled
     │18:41:42  weercd  -- │ irc: disconnected from server

[flashcode]

Hi,

Thanks for reporting, this is because weercd doesn't support TLS, you must connect without TLS.

I'm going to update the README because instructions for WeeChat are obsolete: since v4.0.0, TLS is used by default.

I'll also fix the server itself to catch such exception and display an error message instead.

[rkazak]

Hi,

Just pulled your change and still see the issue.

mini.local >python3 weercd.py
weercd 1.0.0-dev - WeeChat IRC testing server
Options: {'maxchans': 5, 'maxclients': 0, 'debug': False, 'file': None, 'host': None, 'maxnicks': 100, 'notice': ['user', 'channel'], 'port': 7777, 'sleep': 0, 'time': 0, 'nickused': 0, 'wait': 0}
Listening on port 7777 (ctrl-C to exit)
Connection from ('127.0.0.1', 63541)
Error reading on socket: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xe8 in position 11: invalid continuation byte

Elapsed: 0.0s - packets: in:0, out:0 (0/s) - bytes: in:0, out: 0 (0/s)
Closing connection with ('127.0.0.1', 63541)
Listening on port 7777 (ctrl-C to exit)
Connection from ('127.0.0.1', 63542)
Error reading on socket: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xe7 in position 14: invalid continuation byte

Elapsed: 0.0s - packets: in:0, out:0 (0/s) - bytes: in:0, out: 0 (0/s)
Closing connection with ('127.0.0.1', 63542)
Listening on port 7777 (ctrl-C to exit)
Connection from ('127.0.0.1', 63545)
Error reading on socket: 'utf-8' codec can't decode byte 0xd9 in position 12: invalid continuation byte

Elapsed: 0.0s - packets: in:0, out:0 (0/s) - bytes: in:0, out: 0 (0/s)
Closing connection with ('127.0.0.1', 63545)
Listening on port 7777 (ctrl-C to exit)

[flashcode]

Is the client connecting without TLS?

As I said, TLS is still not supported in weercd and must be disabled on client side, otherwise you see this error, which is expected.

[rkazak]

Thank you - I set irc.server.weercd.tls off - and I think it's working... The channels are randomly generated which just threw me...