Jabberd 1.4.x Administration Guide

1. Open a console and type cd /path/to/jabber/ (wherever you have installed jabberd)

2. Type ls -l jabberd/jabberd to view the permissions on the Jabber daemon. The output on your console should look something like this:

   -rwxr-xr-x    1 user  group    675892 Feb 25  2002 jabberd/jabberd
   

3. Type ./jabberd/jabberd to start the Jabber daemon. This will run the server using the default hostname of localhost. You should see one line of output in your console window:

   20020923T02:50:26: [notice] (-internal): initializing server
   

   If you get "unable to listen on (port)" errors, please make sure there is no other daemon already running on these ports. netstat -ltp gives you a list of network daemons.

   Note

   When you try to start the server, you may see an error telling you that "Configuration parsing using jabber.xml failed". There are two reasons why you might experience this error. One is that the file you are pointing to does not exist; the solution is to type ./jabberd/jabberd -c /path/to/jabber.xml and thus specify the full path to your configuration file. The other reason is that the file exists but contains an XML error; the solution is to fix your XML (e.g., by pasting your entire jabber.xml file into the XML Syntax Checker at xml.com).

4. Open a separate console window on the same machine and type telnet localhost 5222 to connect to your server (yes, you can connect using simple old telnet!). You should see the following:

   Trying 127.0.0.1...
   Connected to your-machine-name.
   Escape character is '^]'.
   

5. Now open an XML stream to your server by pasting the full text of the following XML snippet into your telnet window:

   <stream:stream
     to='localhost'
     xmlns='jabber:client'
     xmlns:stream='http://etherx.jabber.org/streams'>
   

   You should immediately receive a reply from your server:

   <?xml version='1.0'?> <stream:stream xmlns:stream='http://etherx.jabber.org/streams' id='some-random-id' xmlns='jabber:client' from='localhost'>

   Congratulations! Your Jabber server is working.

6. Close the stream properly by pasting the following XML snippet into your telnet window: </stream:stream>

7. Stop the server by killing the process or simply typing ^C in the window where you started the server deamon.

Comments

If you get "unable to listen on (port)" errors when compile with --enable-ipv6, remove ipv6 support in configure, or check your system ipv6 config
Posted by on 2003-12-15 17:33

With ref to jabberd1.4.3 Administration guide:
how to open an XML stream to my server?
I am getting following error:
#telnet 127.0.0.1 5222
Trying 127.0.0.1...
telnet: Unable to connect to remote host: Connection refused
pls help
Posted by Santosh on 2004-06-30 07:46

jabberd is not running or not configured to listen on 127.0.0.1. Try "netstat -ltp" (see above). Check jabberd config.
Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-06-30 08:56

The jabberd program was running, but netstat -ltp did not show it. Where would I configure it to listen on the ports? I got this in the error.log:
[alert] (-internal): io_select unable to listen on 5222 [(null)]
[alert] (-internal): io_select unable to listen on 5269 [(null)]
but the program is still running. Tried the setup.sh,tried configuring through webmin module, and glanced over the code (which I just realized had the ports listed seemingly correctly but had to be configured to listen to ip address). Now, how do I set the range for any computer connection?
Posted by Thad on 2004-07-01 15:38

See checkpoint 2 below.
Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-07-02 03:15

<?xml version='1.0'?><stream:stream xmlns:stream='http://etherx.jabber.org/streams' id='41EE189B' xmlns='jabber:client' from='localhost'>Connection closed by foreign host.
Any ideas ?
Posted by NuN on 2005-01-19 02:22

1. In the /path/to/jabber/ directory, type ./jabberd/jabberd -D to start the Jabber daemon in debug mode. You will see dozens of lines of debug information fly by in your console window.

   If you get "unable to listen on (port)" errors, please make sure there is no other daemon already running on these ports. netstat -ltp gives you a list of network daemons.

   Note

   Now that you have configured your host name to be a fully qualified domain name, it is possible that you will receive an error telling you that that "jabberd is unable to listen on ports 5222 and 5269". To fix this, you need to configure your server to bind to a specific IP address. First, in the <pthcsock/> section of your jabber.xml file, change <ip port="5222"/> to <ip port="5222">yourIPaddress</ip>. Second, in the dialback section of your jabber.xml file, change <ip port="5269"/> to <ip port="5269">yourIPaddress</ip>.

   
   
   Comments

   You will get the same error message compiling jabber with IPv6 support (1.4.3+) and no IPv6 support in the kernel (module or static).
   Posted by PeterPramb on 2003-11-20 13:41

   Getting the:
   
   io_select unable to listen on 5222 [(null)]: jabberd already running or invalid interface?
   io_select unable to listen on 5269 [(null)]: jabberd already running or invalid interface?
   
   After running Jabber, Netstat shows:
   [root@myth2 jabberd-1.4.3]# netstat -tlun
   Active Internet connections (only servers)
   Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State
   tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:32768 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:32769 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:3306 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:111 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:10000 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   tcp 0 0 0.0.0.0:22 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:631 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   tcp 0 0 127.0.0.1:25 0.0.0.0:* LISTEN
   udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:32770 0.0.0.0:*
   udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:10000 0.0.0.0:*
   udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:861 0.0.0.0:*
   udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:111 0.0.0.0:*
   udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:631 0.0.0.0:*
   udp 0 0 192.168.2.251:123 0.0.0.0:*
   udp 0 0 127.0.0.1:123 0.0.0.0:*
   udp 0 0 0.0.0.0:123 0.0.0.0:*
   
   I have tried it both with and without IP6 and SLL. What else could it be?
   Posted by CHF on 2004-10-21 00:29

   You added the interface's IP to the <ip/> section as described above?
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-10-21 08:09

   
   
   

2. Open a separate console window on the same machine and type telnet yourhostname 5222, where 'yourhostname' is the hostname (preferably a fully qualified domain name) you configured in your jabber.xml file. Once again you should see the following:

   Trying 127.0.0.1...
   Connected to your-machine-name.
   Escape character is '^]'.
   

   If you get "unknown host" it seems the host name can not be resolved. Check your DNS setup.

   If you get "connection refused" check your Jabber configuration, it seems like the Jabber server does not listen on the specified IP/interface or is not running at all. Type netstat -ltp to list all running network daemons.

   
   
   

3. Open an XML stream to your server by pasting the full text of the following XML snippet into your telnet window. Replace 'yourhostname' with the hostname you configured jabberd to run with.

   <stream:stream
     to='yourhostname'
     xmlns='jabber:client'
     xmlns:stream='http://etherx.jabber.org/streams'>
   

   You should immediately receive a reply from your server:

   <?xml version='1.0'?> <stream:stream xmlns:stream='http://etherx.jabber.org/streams' id='some-random-id' xmlns='jabber:client' from='yourhostname'>

   Note

   If you get disconnected here, check that the host name you are telneting to matches exactly the host name you configured in the Jabberd configuration files matches exactly the host name you entered in the "from" tag in the XML above. The Jabber protocol is pretty pedantic when it comes to host names - it needs to for it supports virtual hosting.

   
   
   

4. Send the following XML to discover what information you need to provide in order to register an account on this server:

   <iq id='reg1' type='get'>
     <query xmlns='jabber:iq:register'/>
   </iq>
   

   You should receive the following reply, which tells you that name, email address, username, and password are required in order to register an account on this server:

   <iq id='reg1' type='result'>
     <query xmlns='jabber:iq:register'>
       <instructions>
         Choose a username and password 
         to register with this server.
       </instructions>
       <name/>
       <email/>
       <username/>
       <password/>
     </query>
   </iq>
   

   Note

   If you get disconnected here, make sure that you entered the XML of Step 4 in the same telnet session as Step 3 (i.e., you may not close and reopen telnet between steps 3 and 4).
   Make sure the hostname you are telneting to matches the hostname configured in jabber.xml (every hostname must be supplied in lowercase!).
   Note that Debian Woody's Jabber packages are broken. You must enable mod_auth_plain there.

   
   
   Comments

   I found I had to run the jabberd from where I compiled it, NOT where I had placed the binary.
   Posted by keith hutchison on 2003-11-15 01:56

   As the paths to several modules are specified as relative paths in the default configuration file, you not only need to move the jabberd executable but also its modules (*.so).
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2003-12-10 11:33

   I always get disconnected with the xml query (after typing <query xmlns='jabber:iq:register'/>), so I try this instead and it works anyway :
   <iq id='reg1' type='get'>
   <query xmlns='jabber:iq:register'>
   </query>
   </iq>
   Posted by Chat--Noir on 2003-12-30 12:11

   If you get an server response "
   <stream:error>Disconnected</stream:error></stream:stream>Connection closed by foreign host." and your jabber error.log says "bouncing a routed packet to ..." than you shuold have an mismatch between the -h parameter in the jabberd commandline and the jabber.xml file <host> section. Those hostnames MUST match.
   Posted by Frank Matthieß on 2004-04-17 07:32

   I'm using Mandrake 8.2 and found it necessary to add the <host> tag explicitly in the .xml file, as I kept getting the same error as Frank Matthieß. Aparantly only having it in the .cfg file is not enough.
   Posted by Fred Keet on 2004-04-17 11:45

   Standard jabberd does not use a .cfg file. Probably you are referring to some specific script wrappers which might be buggy. As seen in the standard configuration .xml file, the <host> tag includes a <jabberd:cmdline> tag which instructs the configuration loader to use command line parameters for <host/>. If the <jabberd:cmdline> tag is deleted from the .xml configuration, of course using -h on command line ceases to work.
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-04-17 17:58

   Well, I stated in the xml file following
   <host><jabberd:cmdline flag="h">troval.diak</jabberd:cmdline></host>
   <nd start the server with
   jabberd -h troval.diak
   
   but i still get
   
   20040428T08:25:45: [notice] (yourhostname): bouncing a routed packet to yourhostname from 13@c2s/81B1AC0: Internal Delivery Error
   
   when i try to telnet some commands of connect with <insert jabber client>
   
   
   what am i doing wrong ?
   Posted by stacato on 2004-04-28 04:26

   Seems you forgot to replace "yourhostname" in the telnet session by the actual Jabber host's name. Also, there's no need to both change the .xml AND use the -h command line switch. Use <host>whatever</host> in the .xml OR leave it as-is (with the "cmdline" stuff) and use "-h name".
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-04-28 04:47

   So, why do we get
   <error code='501'>Not Implemented</error></iq>
   
   What is missing?
   Is there something in the config xml file that is needed to allow for registration of users.
   Posted by Kiran Mudiam on 2004-09-24 16:49

   The default jabber.xml configuration file allows users to register in-band. So, no, you don't need special configuration (however, if you use other jabberd14 packages than provided by this site, there's no guarantee "their" jabber.xml file matches the official default one). The only part of jabber.xml dealing with in-band registration is the <mod_register>./jsm/jsm.so</mod_register> and the <register�notify ...> part, see http://jabberd.jabberstudio.org/1.4/doc/conf . Check if these parts are present in your jabber.xml.
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-09-25 06:07

   Attention gentoo-users:
   
   The part that allows you to register is commented out by default. To avoid "<error code='501'>Not Implemented</error></iq>" you need to edit /etc/jabberd/multiple.xml and uncomment the tags <mod_register> and <register>.
   Posted by Erik Östlund on 2004-10-24 14:28

   
   
   

5. Next send your registration information to the server:

   <iq id='reg2' type='set'>
     <query xmlns='jabber:iq:register'>
       <username>jabberuser</username>
       <password>secret</password>
       <name>myName</name>
       <email>email@domain.com</email>
     </query>
   </iq>
   

   If everything worked correctly, you will receive the following XML indicating that your registration was successful:

   <iq id='reg2' type='result'/>
   

   Note that one xdb_file failed to open file ...: No such file or directory warning at this point in jabberd's debug output is perfectly normal (as the user's spool file does not exist yet and is about to be created) and can be safely ignored.

   If your spool directory is not set up properly, you will receive the following XML:

   <error code='500'>Password Storage Failed</error></iq>
   

   Similarly, if your username is already taken, you will receive the following XML:

   <error code='409'>Username Not Available</error></iq>
   

   
   
   Comments

   Here I get the following error:
   
   20041028T17:05:36: [alert] (194.106.120.193): xdb request failed, error accessing spool loaction /194.106.120.193: No such file or directory
   
   There is such directory under spool location.
   Platform: Windows XP
   
   Any ideas?
   Posted by Igor on 2004-10-28 12:07

   Check the spool directory setting in the config file (default: "./spool", perhaps try to change to a absolute path). BTW you really DON'T want to run with an IP as hostname. See the discussion concerning this above.
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-10-29 03:16

   
   
   

6. Now that you have registered an account, you need to log on. First, ask the server what information is required to log on:

   <iq id='auth1' type='get'>
     <query xmlns='jabber:iq:auth'>
       <username>jabberuser</username>
     </query>
   </iq>
   

   The server will then tell you what authentication information is required:

   <iq id='auth1' type='result'>
     <query xmlns='jabber:iq:auth'>
       <username>jabberuser</username>
       <password/>
       <digest/>
       <resource/>
     </query>
   </iq>
   

   Note

   If you do not see the <password/> tag in the server's reply, make sure mod_auth_plain or mod_auth_crypt is enabled in jabberd's configuration.

   
   
   Comments

   I am fine up to this step then I do this step and I am told
   
   <query xmlns='jabber:iq:auth'>
   <username>jabberuser</username>
   </query>
   </iq>
   <iq id='auth1' type='error'>
   <query xmlns='jabber:iq:auth'>
   <username>jabberuser</username>
   </query>
   <error code='401'>Unauthorized</error></iq>
   
   if I skip this step then I can do step 7 but not step 8, there is no response from my sever when i send
   
   <presence/>
   Posted by mike e. on 2004-04-19 17:17

   You probably have "mod_auth_plain" commented out in your jabber.xml file. Debian does this by default and it causes this problem.
   Posted by Ryan on 2004-05-06 22:02

   This is true for the (buggy) packages of jabberd 1.4.2 in Debian Woody only. You should use jabberd 1.4.3 anyways.
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-05-07 06:33

   I get:
   
   20040514T14:00:36: [warn] (myhost.com): xdb_file failed to open file D:\Archivos de programa\JabberD\spool/myhost.com/grupo15.xml: No such file or directory
   
   iam working under winXp and the "/" is invalid for a directory i think. it's that the problem? In that directory i have the 'grupo15.xml' file... I think that is the reason i couln't log in the server with my account.Thanks!
   Posted by Demian on 2004-05-14 09:38

   Nupp, XP and winX are normally able to translate the / to \. So it seems that you have a different problem.
   HTH
   Posted by thorsten on 2004-05-20 02:58

   
   
   

7. You may choose either "password" (plaintext) or "digest" (encrypted) for your password; for simplicity, we will use plaintext. You must also specify a "resource" for this connection. So we will send the following XML:

   <iq id='auth2' type='set'>
     <query xmlns='jabber:iq:auth'>
       <username>jabberuser</username>
       <password>secret</password>
       <resource>telnet</resource>
     </query>
   </iq>
   

   And the server will send us the following indicating that authentication was successful:

   <iq id='auth2' type='result'/>
   

   
   
   Comments

   Fine until here ... Right after this step
   
   <iq id='auth2' type='error'>
   <query xmlns='jabber:iq:auth'>
   <username>jabberuser</username>
   <password>secret</password>
   <resource>telnet</resource>
   </query>
   
   I get
   
   <error code='500'>Internal Server Error</error></iq>
   
   
   Ideas ?
   Posted by samuelgoto on 2004-10-16 11:42

   Why do I need allow telnet in my resource???
   Isn´t Telnet unsecurity????
   Posted by Angela on 2004-11-10 11:15

   Running telnetd (the telnet *server* that allows shell access on the remote host) is considered insecure as it's unencrypted. However, telnet (the telnet *client*) is more or less an all-purpose tool. For example, do "telnet www.jabber.org 80" and try to speak to the web server running on www.jabber.org (if you are not fluent in HTTP you won't be able to do much though ;-).
   Posted by Maqi (admin) on 2004-11-10 15:46

   
   
   

8. Finally, send presence to the server so that it knows you are online and available for messaging:

   <presence/>
   

   The server will immediately send you a welcome message something like the following:

   <message from='yourhostname' to='jabberuser@yourhostname'>
     <subject>Welcome!<subject>
     <body>
       Welcome to the Jabber server at localhost -- we 
       hope you enjoy this service! For information about 
       how to use Jabber, visit the Jabber User's 
       Guide at http://docs.jabber.org/
     </body>
   </message>
   

   If desired, you may change the welcome message by modifying the text contained in the <welcome/> element of the jabber.xml file.

   
   
   

9. Next, repeat steps 3 through 8 from another machine (make sure to use a username other than "jabberuser"!). If you have your hostname and DNS tables configured correctly, everything should work from another machine just as it does on your server's machine.

   When you have finished, send the following XML from your second telnet window:

   <message to='jabberuser@yourhostname'>
     <body>hi!</body>
   </message>
   

   You will see that same XML show up in your first telnet window, with the addition of a "from" address indicating the Jabber ID of the sender.

   Congratulations! Your Jabber server is working fine!

   Note

   It is possible that when you try to send messages, you will see an error telling you that "sending name is invalid". This is a DNS error. Make sure that you can ping your Jabber server's hostname from other locations on the network, and talk to your network administrator to ensure that your server's hostname has a valid DNS entry. In addition, you may need to add an entry for that hostname to your machine's /etc/hosts file.

   
   
   

10. Now that you have passed Checkpoint #2, close the streams properly by pasting </stream:stream> into both telnet windows, then stop the server by killing the process or simply typing ^C in the window where you started the server deamon.