Skip to content

DNS Addresses

Jump to bottom Edit New page
Mike edited this page Dec 22, 2025 · 5 revisions

DNS Addresses

This page documents known AIM and iChat DNS hostnames that can be redirected to a Open OSCAR Server instance to enable legacy client compatibility.

These overrides were contributed by CursedSilicon (Issue #122) and tested successfully with AIM 6.1 and Apple iChat.

Recommended DNS Overrides

Hostname Purpose / Notes Example Target
www.aim.com AIM client homepage redirect Your OOS host IP (e.g. 172.23.0.20)
www.aol.com Prevent client ad / portal errors Same IP
aim-charts.pf.aol.com AIM statistics service Same IP
aimtoday.aol.com “AIM Today” news / portal page Same IP
s.aolcdn.com CDN for client images / CSS Same IP
login.oscar.aol.com Primary OSCAR login endpoint Same IP
login.messaging.aol.com Alternate login host Same IP
kdc.uas.aol.com Key distribution (legacy auth) Same IP
configuration.apple.com Enables iChat AIM login Same IP
browser.cdn.aol.com Embedded AIM browser ads Same IP

🧩 These can be implemented with dnsmasq, Pi-hole, or simple /etc/hosts entries.
Replace 172.23.0.20 with the IP address of your Open OSCAR Server instance.

Important: BYOWP (“Bring Your Own Web Page”)

Open OSCAR Server does not include built-in hosting for any of the web pages referenced above (e.g. aimtoday.aol.com, www.aim.com, browser.cdn.aol.com).
If a client requests those URLs, it expects to retrieve static HTML, images, or ads that the original AOL servers once provided.

To preserve functionality or aesthetics:

  • You can self-host simple placeholder pages or redirects using Nginx, Apache, or any static-site service.
  • Alternatively, point these domains to a lightweight web server showing a banner, redirect, or “Welcome to My Server” page.

iChat Compatibility Notes

  • iChat was confirmed to authenticate successfully when configuration.apple.com resolves to your OOS host.
  • Redirecting the other AIM-related domains ensures that iChat’s background web calls complete cleanly (preventing timeout warnings).
  • Other AIM/OSCAR-based clients — such as Pidgin, Trillian, GAIM, and Digsby — also benefit from these DNS overrides.

Example dnsmasq.conf 

address=/login.oscar.aol.com/172.23.0.20
address=/configuration.apple.com/172.23.0.20
address=/aimtoday.aol.com/172.23.0.20
address=/browser.cdn.aol.com/172.23.0.20

Optional SRV Records (for self-host setups)

While not strictly required, you can publish SRV records for clarity and auto-detection:

  • _oscar._tcp.example.com. 0 0 5190 login.oscar.example.com
  • _icq._tcp.example.com. 0 0 5190 login.icq.example.com

This allows some clients to locate your OSCAR service automatically.

Additional Notes

  • Most “AIM Today” and CDN-style domains are cosmetic only; redirecting them prevents client hangs.
  • If you want those URLs to display content, it’s entirely BYOWP — host your own small webpage or redirect.
  • Verified updates, tested hostnames, or SRV examples are welcome — please contribute your findings to the Wiki.
Add a custom footer

Open OSCAR Server Wiki

Quick Links

Contribute

  • See something missing? Edit the wiki pages above.
  • Add your client results to Compatible Clients.

Clone this wiki locally