Quadronyx
Jabber Server
Introduction | Transports | Server Features | Jabber Clients | Using the Quadronyx Jabber Server | Registering an account | Account Information | Adding a user (friend) | Registering with Services | AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) Transport | ICQ Transport | MSN (MSN Messenger) Transport

Introduction

The Quadronyx Jabber server is fully operational.

Jabber is an increasingly popular Instant Messenger (IM) protocol. Unlike proprietory protocols like those used by MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ and AOL Instant Messenger (AIM), Jabber is completely open and as of October 2004, an IETF accepted standard (under the name XMPP).

For more information regarding Jabber and XMPP, see:
The Jabber protocol is decentralised which means that any Jabber user, connected to one Jabber server, can communicate with another Jabber user, connected to a completely different Jabber server. This means you're not locked in to any one Jabber server.

Transports

Oh great, not ANOTHER Instant Messenger program required on my system! Nope, not so! The Quadronyx Jabber server offers the benefits of various transports.

Transports run on a Jabber server and allow you to communicate with OTHER networks. Simply registering with the appropriate transport will then allow you to communicate with all your friends on other networks, all through the one client.

For Jabber users, a transport is not necessary. Additionally, Google chose Jabber for their IM protocol, meaning you don't need a special transport to talk to your GoogleTalk friends either!

Server Features

The Quadronyx Jabber server supports various features and is continually having new ones added. Jabber clients that have "Service Discovery" will allow you to see a complete list of server features.

Some of the more interesting features are:
  • AIM Transport - Used to talk to AOL Instant Messenger contacts
  • ICQ Transport - Used to talk to ICQ contacts
  • Jabber User Directory (JUD) - Register with this so others can find you easier. Think of it as a local White Pages.
  • MSN Transport - Used to talk to MSN Messenger contacts
  • Public Chatrooms - Allows you to create and join public chatrooms for groups to communicate together
  • Yahoo! Transport - Used to talk to Yahoo! Messenger contacts

Jabber Clients

In order to start using a Jabber server (such as the Quadronyx Jabber server), you will need a Jabber client. Due to Jabber being the open protocol, there are MANY clients to choose from, unlike the proprietory protocols and clients. Some available clients are:

Using the Quadronyx Jabber Server

Once you've chosen a Jabber client, you can connect to the server and start communicating with everyone. The servers address is: jabber.quadronyx.com.au.

The Quadronyx Jabber server uses SSL for communications to ensure that everything transmitted is encrypted. You will find that the certificate is signed by CA Cert (http://www.cacert.org/). If CA Cert is not in your list of trusted root certificates, you will recieve a warning. This can be safely ignored.

The Quadronyx Jabber server is maintained by Le Fallen. Feel free to forward any requests you have to him. His current Jabber status is as follows:

lefallen@jabber.quadronyx.com.au

Registering an account

The following instructions will help you in registering a new account with the Quadronyx Jabber server. It assumes that you have not used Jabber at all and that you have only just installed a Jabber client. These instructions will cover the client called PSI however they should work for other clients with minimal changes.

PSI allows you to easily register an account the first time you run it. Start PSI now and you should be presented with a Psi: Add Account dialog (see figure 1). If not you can click the Add button from the Psi: Jabber Accounts dialog (accessed by selecting "Account Setup" from the main PSI menu).

figure 1: PSI - Add Account
figure 1

In the Name field, type the name that you want to assign to the account. Note that in PSI this name is only used to refer to the account internally and in no way has to match your display name etc. Some clients DO use this name as the basis for your display name however.

Also ensure that you check the Register new account checkbox. Once you have done this, click the Add button (see figure 2).

figure 2: PSI - Add Account
figure 2

You should now be presented with the PSI: Register Account dialog (see figure 3).

figure 3: PSI - Register Account
figure 3

Your Jabber ID is in a format not unlike an e-mail address: a username that is selected by you, followed by an at symbol (@), and finally the Jabber server address - in our case the Quadronyx Jabber server address is jabber.quadronyx.com.au.

As far as the username is concerned, it's up to you. It can be anything you like as long as it isn't already taken. In the example case, we've allocated the username test. You will also want to enter a password into the Password and Confirm Password boxes.

Finally, ensure that the Use SSL encryption (to server) checkbox is checked. In order to ensure that your conversations cannot be snooped on, monitored or logged in any way, the Quadronyx Jabber server ONLY supports SSL encrypted communications (see figure 4).

Note that while communications between the Quadronyx Jabber server and it's clients are completely encrypted, this does not mean that your conversations with other people are fully encrypted end-to-end unless they too are using encryption. Note that protocols such as Microsoft's MSN Messenger, ICQ and others do not support encryption.

figure 4: PSI - Register Account
figure 4

If you have to make Internet connections through a proxy, you will need to configure this also. To do this, click the Edit... button in the Proxy section. This will bring up the PSI: Proxy Profiles dialog where you can enter your proxy information (see figure 5).

figure 5: PSI - Proxy Profiles
figure 5

Once all this is done, you can click the Register button. If all goes according to plan, You should get a Success dialog like figure 6.

figure 6: PSI - Register Success
figure 6

Account Information

After connecting with your new account, you will receive an error stating that PSI was "Unable to retrieve your account information". The dialog that also appears, will allow you to enter them (see figure 7).

If you are not presented with an account details dialog, you can access it by opening the Psi: Jabber Accounts dialog (accessed by selecting "Account Setup" from the main PSI menu), clicking the Modify button, selecting the Details tab, and finally clicking the Edit Personal Details button.

Enter your Full Name and Nickname in this dialog, and Birthday, Phone number, Homepage and E-Mail if you wish. You may also want to enter details into the Work, Location and About tabs, however these are completely optional.

Once you are done, you can click Publish, and then Close to finish.

figure 7: PSI - Account Information
figure 7

Adding a user (friend)

You can add a friend to your Jabber account from the Psi: Add User dialog, displayed by selecting your account from the Add a contact sub-menu of the main PSI menu.

The Psi: Add User dialog will be displayed (see figure 8), where you can enter the Jabber ID of the user you are adding, along with an optional Nickname and Group. Ensure that "Request authorization when adding" is checked so the user can add you too!

figure 8: PSI - Add User
figure 8

When someone adds you to their Jabber Account (or they accept your request) a System Message will appear, informing you that the user wants to subscribe to your "presence" and asking if you would like to add and authorize them (see figure 9). Click the "Add/Auth" button to do this.

figure 9: PSI - Authorize account
figure 9

After both you and your friend have authorized each other, a dialog will be displayed to inform you that the process is complete (see figure 10).

figure 10: PSI - Account authorized
figure 10

Registering with Services

You can register with the server's services by selecting the appropriate service from the Service Discovery. This is accessed by selecting your account from the Service Discovery sub-menu of the main PSI menu.

In the Psi: Service Discovery dialog (see figure 11), right-click the service you want to register with, and select Register. A slightly different dialog will be displayed for each service, and most are self explainitory.

figure 11: PSI - Service Discovery
figure 11

After a successful registration occurs, a Registration successful dialog will appear, similar to figure 12.

figure 12: PSI - Registration Successful
figure 12

AIM (AOL Instant Messenger) Transport

When registering with the AIM transport, you must enter your AIM screen name and password into the registration dialog that appears (see figure 13).

After registration, the success dialog (as figure 12 above) should be displayed.

If you do not have an AIM screen name already, and you ABSOLUTELY need one, you can get one from here: http://www.aim.com/. Of course the better thing to do would be encourage your friends to use Jabber instead ;)

figure 13: PSI - AIM Registration
figure 13

ICQ Transport

When registering with the ICQ transport, you must enter your ICQ user id number and password into the registration dialog that appears (see figure 15).

After registration, the success dialog (as figure 12 above) should be displayed.

If you do not have an ICQ user id already, and you ABSOLUTELY need one, you can get one from here: http://www.icq.com/. Of course the better thing to do would be encourage your friends to use Jabber instead ;)

figure 15: PSI - ICQ Registration
figure 15

MSN (MSN Messenger) Transport

When registering with the MSN transport, you must enter your MSN passport and password into the registration dialog that appears (see figure 17). The passport is usually the email address you registered for MSN with.

After registration, the success dialog (as figure 12 above) should be displayed.

figure 17: PSI - MSN Registration
figure 17



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