diff --git a/modules/services/networking/bitlbee.nix b/modules/services/networking/bitlbee.nix
index ffc1dcbad4b..82e875f5aae 100644
--- a/modules/services/networking/bitlbee.nix
+++ b/modules/services/networking/bitlbee.nix
@@ -4,9 +4,28 @@ with pkgs.lib;
 
 let
 
+  cfg = config.services.bitlbee;
   bitlbeeUid = config.ids.uids.bitlbee;
 
-  inherit (config.services.bitlbee) portNumber interface;
+  authModeCheck = v:
+    v == "Open" ||
+    v == "Closed" ||
+    v == "Registered";
+
+  bitlbeeConfig = pkgs.writeText "bitlbee.conf"
+    ''
+    [settings]
+    RunMode = Daemon
+    User = bitlbee  
+    ConfigDir = /var/lib/bitlbee      
+    DaemonInterface = ${cfg.interface}
+    DaemonPort = ${toString cfg.portNumber}
+    AuthMode = ${cfg.authMode}
+    ${cfg.extraSettings}
+
+    [defaults]
+    ${cfg.extraDefaults}
+    '';
 
 in
 
@@ -19,71 +38,82 @@ in
     services.bitlbee = {
 
       enable = mkOption {
-	default = false;
-	description = ''
-	  Whether to run the BitlBee IRC to other chat network gateway.
-	  Running it allows you to access the MSN, Jabber, Yahoo! and ICQ chat
-	  networks via an IRC client.
-	'';
+        default = false;
+        description = ''
+          Whether to run the BitlBee IRC to other chat network gateway.
+          Running it allows you to access the MSN, Jabber, Yahoo! and ICQ chat
+          networks via an IRC client.
+        '';
       };
 
       interface = mkOption {
-	default = "127.0.0.1";
-	description = ''
-	  The interface the BitlBee deamon will be listening to.  If `127.0.0.1',
-	  only clients on the local host can connect to it; if `0.0.0.0', clients
-	  can access it from any network interface.
-	'';
+        default = "127.0.0.1";
+        description = ''
+          The interface the BitlBee deamon will be listening to.  If `127.0.0.1',
+          only clients on the local host can connect to it; if `0.0.0.0', clients
+          can access it from any network interface.
+        '';
       };
 
       portNumber = mkOption {
-	default = 6667;
-	description = ''
-	  Number of the port BitlBee will be listening to.
-	'';
+        default = 6667;
+        description = ''
+          Number of the port BitlBee will be listening to.
+        '';
+      };
+
+      authMode = mkOption {
+        default = "Open";
+        check = authModeCheck;
+        description = ''
+          The following authentication modes are available:
+            Open -- Accept connections from anyone, use NickServ for user authentication.
+            Closed -- Require authorization (using the PASS command during login) before allowing the user to connect at all.
+            Registered -- Only allow registered users to use this server; this disables the register- and the account command until the user identifies himself.
+        ''; 
+      };
+
+      extraSettings = mkOption {
+        default = "";
+        description = ''
+          Will be inserted in the Settings section of the config file.
+        ''; 
+      };
+
+      extraDefaults = mkOption {
+        default = "";
+        description = ''
+          Will be inserted in the Default section of the config file.
+        ''; 
       };
 
     };
 
   };
 
-
   ###### implementation
 
   config = mkIf config.services.bitlbee.enable {
 
     users.extraUsers = singleton
       { name = "bitlbee";
-	uid = bitlbeeUid;
-	description = "BitlBee user";
-	home = "/var/empty";
+        uid = bitlbeeUid;
+        description = "BitlBee user";
+        home = "/var/lib/bitlbee";
+        createHome = true;
       };
 
     users.extraGroups = singleton
       { name = "bitlbee";
-	gid = config.ids.gids.bitlbee;
+        gid = config.ids.gids.bitlbee;
       };
 
-    jobs.bitlbee =
+    systemd.services.bitlbee = 
       { description = "BitlBee IRC to other chat networks gateway";
-	name = "bitlbee";
-
-	startOn = "ip-up";
-
-	preStart =
-	  ''
-	    if ! test -d /var/lib/bitlbee
-	    then
-		mkdir -p /var/lib/bitlbee
-		chown bitlbee:bitlbee /var/lib/bitlbee
-	    fi
-	  '';
-
-	exec =
-	  ''
-	    ${pkgs.bitlbee}/sbin/bitlbee -F -p ${toString portNumber} \
-	      -i ${interface} -u bitlbee
-	  '';
+        after = [ "network.target" ];
+        wantedBy = [ "multi-user.target" ];
+        serviceConfig.User = "bitlbee";
+        serviceConfig.ExecStart = "${pkgs.bitlbee}/sbin/bitlbee -F -n -c ${bitlbeeConfig}";
       };
 
     environment.systemPackages = [ pkgs.bitlbee ];