You control who can connect to the service.You can create a secure messaging system.Keep all messaging communications in-house.Easy cross-platform messaging.You like to fiddle with your Mac and having a Jabber Server sounds cool.
There are actually many other reasons, especially for larger companies that use messaging systems, but for the majority of users, creating a Jabber server comes down to the security of knowing that your home or small business iChat messages aren’t accessible to outside eyes. That doesn’t mean you’re creating a closed environment. The Jabber server you create in this guide can be configured for in-house use only, open to the Internet, or just about anything in-between. But even if you choose to open your Jabber server to Internet connections, you can still use various security measures to encrypt and keep your messaging private. With the background out of the way, let’s get started. There are various Jabber server applications available. Many require you to download source code, and then compile and make the server application yourself. Others are ready to go, with very simple installation instructions. We’re going to use Openfire, an open source, real-time collaboration server. It uses XMPP (Jabber) for its instant messaging system, and it works out of the box with the iChat client, as well as many other Jabber-based messaging clients. Best of all, it’s a simple installation that isn’t much different than installing any other Mac application. It also uses a web-based interface for configuring the server, so there are no text files to be edited or managed.
What You Need to Create a Jabber Server
Openfire real-time collaborative server.An Intel-based Mac.About a half an hour of your time.
Download Openfire Jabber/XMPP Server
Installing Openfire
Setting up Openfire
The setup is now complete.
Openfire Admin Console: Email Settings
Openfire Admin Console: Creating Users
Using iChat to Connect
You will need to create a new account for the user in iChat. That’s it. You now have a fully operational Jabber server that will allow iChat clients to connect. Of course, an Openfire Jabber server has quite a bit more functionality to it than we explored here. We only looked at the bare minimum required to get the Openfire server up and running, and to connect your iChat clients to it. If you would like to learn more about using the Openfire Jabber server, you can find additional documentation at: Openfire Documentation The last page of this guide includes instructions for uninstalling the Openfire server from your Mac.
Uninstall Openfire for Mac
Some of the files and folders you’ll need to delete are stored in hidden folders. Before you can delete them, you must first make the items visible. You can find instructions on how to make invisible items visible, as well as how to return them to the hidden format after you’ve finished uninstalling Openfire, here: View Hidden Folders on Your Mac Using Terminal
