Jabber IM

Jabber/XMPP is an open source, decentralized Instant Messaging protocol that DreamHost offers free of charge on every hosting plan.

XMPP gives you an IM address of the same format as an email address, and you can keep your same Jabber ID @yourdomain.com even if you switch providers. XMPP also supports multiple "resources" for the same account.. so you could have me@domain.com/home, me@domain.com/work, and me@domain.com/laptop all with the same contact lists (which are stored on the server and not the client!)

XMPP allows communication to AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! via installed gateways on our server. The particulars of how to connect varies based on what client you decide to use.

There are a multitude of free (not to mention AD-free!) clients for all operating systems.

In order to use XMPP you just need to go to the "Goodies &gt; Jabber" area of our web panel and add users. Any changing of user statuses through the web panel takes five minutes to go through on the XMPP server.

How do I set up my XMPP client with DreamHost?
First, you need to create a XMPP user through our "Goodies &gt; Jabber" tab at our web panel (and wait five minutes for the status to become active).

Then, it really depends on the client you're using, but typically these are the settings (assuming you've created a XMPP user named me@mydomain.com): username: me server: mydomain.com port: 5222 (typically the default) Note you should NOT use "jabber.org" as the server (or any public server like that).

Why would I use XMPP instead of another IM service?
Basically for the same reasons you'd use Internet email instead of the old mail services offered by online services a decade ago. Also for the same reasons you'd use gnutella instead of napster.


 * XMPP is decentralized. There is no one point of failure for communications. This also means you are in control of your own instant messaging destiny, rather than being at the mercy of AOL, Microsoft, or Yahoo.


 * XMPP is open. No company controls the protocol, and anybody can (and has) written plug-ins and clients for it. XMPP can also communicate with all the major proprietary IM systems through public gateways.

Of course there are also some purely aesthetic reasons to use XMPP too.


 * You can make your IM address be the same as your email address (@yourowndomain.com even!), rather than something like 19015012 or some strange AOL screen name!


 * XMPP supports "resources" which are multiple locations for the same user account. No more setting up multiple accounts for your home, work, and laptop! In XMPP you just have user@domain.com/home, user@domain.com/work, and user@domain.com/laptop.


 * Impress your friends and coworkers by being so knowledgeable about this cutting-edge technology that's just beginning to show up on the mainstream radar! :)

How do I add a new XMPP user?
Just go to the "Goodies &gt; Jabber IM" of our web panel and click the link to "Create New Jabber User".

Then you just have to enter the username you'd like to set up, select the domain (only fully-hosted domains may have XMPP set up on them), and set their password. Once you submit that form your new user will be created on the server within an hour or so and you'll be able to connect through any XMPP client!

How do I talk to AIM/ICQ/MSN/Yahoo! IM users with XMPP?
In order to talk with users on any of these services, you have to already have a user account with that particular service. This is necessary so that YOU show up on THEIR "buddy lists" (since the other services don't support messages to XMPP users.. yet!).

The specific procedure for adding a gateway will vary by client, but typically you have to first tell your client your username and password for the remote service (e.g. AIM), and then when you add users you'll be able to either put in their Jabber ID or their other service ID (and then select which service they're on). We will try our best to always provide working gateways (transports) to the big four IM services, but they are known to change their protocol at random and even block ip ranges to foil gateway services like ours. There should always be public gateways you can use if ours are mis-behaving though!

Note, there are some clients that don't use gateways to communicate with the other networks, instead they just have all the guts for talking to AIM, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo! built-in. These clients may generally be more reliable for contacting the other networks, but the downside is if one of the companies breaks their protocol you'll have to download a new version of your client rather than just waiting for us to update our gateways transparently.

Eventually if XMPP reaches a critical mass the major services will have no choice but to open up their protocols to it! :)

Can I transfer files over XMPP?
You sure can! If your XMPP client doesn't support it, you should look for a better client!

There might be some difficulties in transferring files across XMPP to other IM services, but that should typically work fine too.

What XMPP client software do you recommend?
There are gobs and gobs of them!

Our personal favorites are:

Cross Platform

 * Spark

Windows

 * Pandion
 * Trillian Pro
 * Psi
 * Yabber
 * Exodus
 * Pidgin
 * Miranda IM

Mac

 * Adium
 * Fire
 * iChat AV
 * Psi

Linux/BSD

 * Gabber
 * Psi
 * Pidgin
 * Gajim
 * Empathy

HTML/Javascript

 * Jappix
 * Meebo

How do I change a XMPP user's password?
You should change XMPP user passwords via the panel, as the user info is maintained in a DB by Dreamhost. If you update it via your client, you may find your password reverted the next time a fresh XMPP config is pushed out!

Why can't I connect to my XMPP service?
We're not sure! Please check the following things:


 * You've created a XMPP user via our web panel and its status is active.
 * You have the right server name, username, and password (check your CAPS lock)!
 * Your network connection is otherwise working.
 * Your website itself is up and hosted with us. (If not, it's not really XMPP that's broken, it's something more general with your domain!)
 * If you are using google apps on your domain and trying to connect to the google talk account there while using one of the XMPP clients linked here, ensure that you are signing in with username@yourdomain.tld, and select that you want to specify the google talk server manually. Set it to talk.google.com on 5222. Do not use your domain as a google talk server unless you have specifically set the XMPP server up on your domain.

If you still can't connect, please let support know exactly what you are using to log in and the error message you're getting, as well as your client and OS!

How do I remove a XMPP user?
Go to our "Goodies &gt; Jabber" panel and click either the "inactivate" or "remove" link next to the user you'd like to remove.

Inactive users are still stored on our system, but won't be able to log in until they are re-activated.

Removing a user deletes all record of them from our system (including their server-side contact lists!).

Whenever you make any of these changes you have about 5 minutes before the change actually occurs. That means you can re-activate a removed user you didn't mean to remove if you act fast!

How do I setup a conference with multiple XMPP Users?
Note: conferences are unsupported (the following instructions may work for you, but DreamHost does not support multi-user conferencing on their XMPP servers.)

If you want to set up conferences with multiple XMPP users, you can do so by logging into your DH Jabber IM account, and setting up a &quot;room&quot;. The settings to use differ based on the OS of the server you are hosted on.

For domains hosted by machines running Sarge, use the following settings:

conference server: conference For domains hosted by machines running Woody, use the following settings: conference server: conference.jabber.mydomain.com The name of the room can be anything that's allowed as a XMPP room name.

What is IM (Instant Messaging) ?
Instant Messaging is an Internet service provided by numerous competing providers in which end users have a "contact list" (or buddy list) of their friends and colleagues. You can always see in real time if your friends are online and then send them a message which pops up on their screen right away.

The biggest proprietary IM providers are AOL Instant Messaging (AIM), ICQ ("I Seek You", get it? The first IM system, AOL bought them.), MSN IM, and Yahoo! IM.

XMPP is an attempt to turn IM into a "real" Internet standard along the lines of e-mail!

More Information
Jabber User Guide (old)