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Installing ejabberd development environment on OSX

This short guide will show you how to compile ejabberd from source code on Mac OS X, and get users chatting right away.

Before you start

ejabberd is supported on Mac OS X 10.6.8 and later. Before you can compile and run ejabberd, you also need the following to be installed on your system:

  • Gnu Make and GCC (the GNU Compiler Collection). To ensure that these are installed, you can install the Command Line Tools for Xcode, available via Xcode or from the Apple Developer website.
  • Git
  • Erlang/OTP 19.1 or higher. We recommend using Erlang 21.2.
  • Autotools

Homebrew

An easy way to install some of the dependencies is by using a package manager, such as Homebrew – the Homebrew commands are provided here:

  • Git: brew install git
  • Erlang /OTP: brew install erlang
  • Elixir: brew install elixir
  • Autoconf: brew install autoconf
  • Automake: brew install automake
  • Openssl: brew install openssl
  • Expat: brew install expat
  • Libyaml: brew install libyaml
  • Libiconv: brew install libiconv
  • Sqlite: brew install sqlite
  • GD: brew install gd
  • Rebar: brew install rebar rebar3

You can install everything with a single command:

brew install erlang elixir openssl expat libyaml libiconv libgd sqlite rebar rebar3 automake autoconf

Installation

To build and install ejabberd from source code, do the following:

  1. Clone the Git repository: git clone git@github.com:processone/ejabberd.git
  2. Go to your ejabberd build directory: cd ejabberd

  3. Run the following commands, assuming you want to install your ejabberd deployment into your home directory:

    chmod +x autogen.sh
./autogen.sh
export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/openssl/lib -L/usr/local/lib -L/usr/local/opt/expat/lib"
export CFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/openssl/include/ -I/usr/local/include -I/usr/local/opt/expat/include"
export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/openssl/include/ -I/usr/local/include -I/usr/local/opt/expat/include"
./configure --prefix=$HOME/my-ejabberd --enable-sqlite
make && make install

Note that the previous command reference the previously installed dependencies from Homebrew.

Running ejabberd

  • From your ejabberd build directory, go to the installation directory: cd $HOME/my-ejabberd
  • To start the ejabberd server, run the following command: sbin/ejabberdctl start

  • To verify that ejabberd is running, enter the following: sbin/ejabberdctl status If the server is running, response should be as follow:

    $ sbin/ejabberdctl status
The node ejabberd@localhost is started with status: started
ejabberd 14.12.40 is running in that node

  • To connect to the ejabberd console after starting the server: sbin/ejabberdctl debug

  • Alternatively, you can also run the server in interactive mode: sbin/ejabberdctl live

Registering a user

The default XMPP domain served by ejabberd right after the build is localhost. This is different from the IP address, DNS name of the server. It means remote users can connect to ejabberd even if it is running on your machine with localhost XMPP domain, by using your computer IP address or DNS name. This can prove handy in development phase to get more testers.

Adium

Adium is a popular XMPP client on OSX. You can use it

  1. Launch Adium. If the Adium Setup Assistant opens, close it.
  2. In the Adium menu, select Preferences, and then select the Accounts tab.
  3. Click the + button and select XMPP (Jabber).
  4. Enter a Jabber ID (for example, “user1@localhost”) and password, and then click Register New Account.
  5. In the Server field, enter the following:
  6. Users registering on the computer on which ejabberd is running: localhost
  7. Users registering from a different computer: the ejabberd server’s IP address
  8. Click Request New Account.

After registration, the user will connect automatically.

Registered users wishing to add an existing account to Adium should enter the ejabberd server’s IP address in the Connect Server field on the Options tab.

Command line

You can register a user with the ejabberdctl utility: ejabberdctl register user domain password

For example: ejabberdctl register user1 localhost myp4ssw0rd

Domains

To use your system’s domain name instead of localhost, edit the following ejabberd configuration file: $HOME/my-ejabberd/etc/ejabberd.yml (point to the place of your real installation).

Note: You may find example ejabberd.cfg files. This is the old obsolete format for configuration file. You can ignore the and focus on the new and more user friendly Yaml format.

Find the line listing the hosts:

hosts:
  - "localhost"

Replace localhost with your XMPP domain name, for example:

hosts:
  - "example.org"

Save the configuration file and restart the ejabberd server. A user’s Jabber ID will then use the domain instead of localhost, for example: user1@example.org

You can also configure multiple (virtual) domains for one server:

hosts:
  - "example1.org"
  - "example2.org"

Get chatting

Users that are registered on your server can now add their accounts in a chat application like Adium (specifying either the server’s IP address or domain name), add each other as contacts, and start chatting.