Jabber has been removed from the DreamHost panel. If you had previously configured Jabber on your domain, it will continue to function normally.
Overview
Jabber/XMPP (Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol formerly named Jabber) is an open-source, decentralized Instant Messaging protocol that DreamHost offers free of charge on Shared, VPS, and Dedicated Hosting plans.
DreamPress does not offer free Jabber service.
The protocol is built to be extensible and other features such as Voice over IP and file transfers have been added. XMPP gives you an IM address of the same format as an email address, and you can keep your same Jabber ID @example.com even if you switch providers.
The great thing about XMPP on DreamHost is that you can host your own XMPP chat server on your domain.
How do I change an XMPP user's password?
You should change XMPP user passwords in the panel on the Jabber IM page.
It's recommended to change it here since the user info is maintained in a database by DreamHost. If you update it in your client, you may need to contact DreamHost to reset it.
XMPP clients
There are various XMPP clients you can use. Visit the following link for a list of clients:
- XMPP client download: XMPP Client
Why use XMPP instead of another IM service?
- 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.
- You can make your IM address be the same as your email address (@example.com), rather than something like 19015012 or some strange impersonal 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@example.com/home, user@example.com/work, and user@example.com/laptop.
Secure connections
In order for secure Jabber to work, you must have an SSL certificate and a Unique IP set up for the domain on which you're using Jabber.
If an SSL is already used on the domain, you'll be able to use Jabber securely when you set up Jabber users on that domain.
Make sure you set the port to 5222 on your Jabber account.
Not all Jabber clients support SSL connections. Make sure you check your clients user guide to confirm.
Troubleshooting
Connection issues
Check the following if you're having connection issues:
- You've created an XMPP user via the panel and its status is active.
- You have the right server/domain name, username, and password (check your CAPS lock).
- Your network connection is functioning normally.
- Your website itself is up and hosted with DreamHost. If not, it's not XMPP that's broken, it's something more general with your domain.
