# Ejabberd 2.1.10 Developers Guide

### Alexey Shchepin
`mailto:alexey@sevcom.net`
`xmpp:aleksey@jabber.ru`

> I can thoroughly recommend ejabberd for ease of setup – Kevin Smith, Current maintainer of the Psi project

## Contents

Introduction

`ejabberd` is a free and open source instant messaging server written in Erlang/OTP.

`ejabberd` is cross-platform, distributed, fault-tolerant, and based on open standards to achieve real-time communication.

`ejabberd` is designed to be a rock-solid and feature rich XMPP server.

`ejabberd` is suitable for small deployments, whether they need to be scalable or not, as well as extremely big deployments.

## 1 Key Features

`ejabberd` is:

- Cross-platform: `ejabberd` runs under Microsoft Windows and Unix derived systems such as Linux, FreeBSD and NetBSD.
- Distributed: You can run `ejabberd` on a cluster of machines and all of them will serve the same Jabber domain(s). When you need more capacity you can simply add a new cheap node to your cluster. Accordingly, you do not need to buy an expensive high-end machine to support tens of thousands concurrent users.
- Fault-tolerant: You can deploy an `ejabberd` cluster so that all the information required for a properly working service will be replicated permanently on all nodes. This means that if one of the nodes crashes, the others will continue working without disruption. In addition, nodes also can be added or replaced ‘on the fly’.
- Administrator Friendly: `ejabberd` is built on top of the Open Source Erlang. As a result you do not need to install an external database, an external web server, amongst others because everything is already included, and ready to run out of the box. Other administrator benefits include:
  - Comprehensive documentation.
  - Straightforward installers for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows.
  - Web Administration.
  - Shared Roster Groups.
  - Command line administration tool.
  - Can integrate with existing authentication mechanisms.
  - Capability to send announce messages.
- Internationalized: `ejabberd` leads in internationalization. Hence it is very well suited in a globalized world. Related features are:
  - Translated to 25 languages.
  - Support for IDNA.
- Open Standards: `ejabberd` is the first Open Source Jabber server claiming to fully comply to the XMPP standard.
  - Fully XMPP compliant.
  - XML-based protocol.
  - Many protocols supported.

## 2 Additional Features

Moreover, `ejabberd` comes with a wide range of other state-of-the-art features:

- Modular
  - Load only the modules you want.
  - Extend `ejabberd` with your own custom modules.
- Security
  - SASL and STARTTLS for c2s and s2s connections.
  - STARTTLS and Dialback s2s connections.
  - Web Admin accessible via HTTPS secure access.
- Databases
  - Internal database for fast deployment (Mnesia).
  - Native MySQL support.
  - Native PostgreSQL support.
  - ODBC data storage support.
  - Microsoft SQL Server support.
- Authentication
  - Internal Authentication.
  - PAM, LDAP and ODBC.
  - External Authentication script.
- Others
  - Support for virtual hosting.
  - Compressing XML streams with Stream Compression (XEP-0138).
  - Statistics via Statistics Gathering (XEP-0039).
  - IPv6 support both for c2s and s2s connections.
  - Multi-User Chat module with support for clustering and HTML logging.
  - Users Directory based on users vCards.
  - Publish-Subscribe component with support for Personal Eventing via Pubsub.
  - Support for web clients: HTTP Polling and HTTP Binding (BOSH) services.
  - IRC transport.
  - Component support: interface with networks such as AIM, ICQ and MSN installing special tranports.

## 3 How it Works

A XMPP domain is served by one or more `ejabberd` nodes. These nodes can be run on different machines that are connected via a network. They all must have the ability to connect to port 4369 of all another nodes, and must have the same magic cookie (see Erlang/OTP documentation, in other words the file `~ejabberd/.erlang.cookie` must be the same on all nodes). This is needed because all nodes exchange information about connected users, S2S connections, registered services, etc…

Each `ejabberd` node have following modules:

- router;
- local router.
- session manager;
- S2S manager;

### 3.1 Router

This module is the main router of XMPP packets on each node. It routes them based on their destinations domains. It has two tables: local and global routes. First, domain of packet destination searched in local table, and if it found, then the packet is routed to appropriate process. If no, then it searches in global table, and is routed to the appropriate `ejabberd` node or process. If it does not exists in either tables, then it sent to the S2S manager.

### 3.2 Local Router

This module routes packets which have a destination domain equal to this server name. If destination JID has a non-empty user part, then it routed to the session manager, else it is processed depending on it’s content.

### 3.3 Session Manager

This module routes packets to local users. It searches for what user resource packet must be sent via presence table. If this resource is connected to this node, it is routed to C2S process, if it connected via another node, then the packet is sent to session manager on that node.

### 3.4 S2S Manager

This module routes packets to other XMPP servers. First, it checks if an open S2S connection from the domain of the packet source to the domain of packet destination already exists. If it is open on another node, then it routes the packet to S2S manager on that node, if it is open on this node, then it is routed to the process that serves this connection, and if a connection does not exist, then it is opened and registered.

## 4 Authentication

#### 4.0.1 External

The external authentication script follows the erlang port driver API.

That script is supposed to do theses actions, in an infinite loop:

- read from stdin: AABBBBBBBBB.....
  - A: 2 bytes of length data (a short in network byte order)
  - B: a string of length found in A that contains operation in plain text operation are as follows:
    - auth:User:Server:Password (check if a username/password pair is correct)
    - isuser:User:Server (check if it’s a valid user)
    - setpass:User:Server:Password (set user’s password)
    - tryregister:User:Server:Password (try to register an account)
    - removeuser:User:Server (remove this account)
    - removeuser3:User:Server:Password (remove this account if the password is correct)
- write to stdout: AABB
  - A: the number 2 (coded as a short, which is bytes length of following result)
  - B: the result code (coded as a short), should be 1 for success/valid, or 0 for failure/invalid

Example python script

    #!/usr/bin/python

    import sys
    from struct import *

    def from_ejabberd():
        input_length = sys.stdin.read(2)
        (size,) = unpack('>h', input_length)
        return sys.stdin.read(size).split(':')

    def to_ejabberd(bool):
        answer = 0
        if bool:
            answer = 1
        token = pack('>hh', 2, answer)
        sys.stdout.write(token)
        sys.stdout.flush()

    def auth(username, server, password):
        return True

    def isuser(username, server):
        return True

    def setpass(username, server, password):
        return True

    while True:
        data = from_ejabberd()
        success = False
        if data[0] == "auth":
            success = auth(data[1], data[2], data[3])
        elif data[0] == "isuser":
            success = isuser(data[1], data[2])
        elif data[0] == "setpass":
            success = setpass(data[1], data[2], data[3])
        to_ejabberd(success)

## 5 XML Representation

Each XML stanza is represented as the following tuple:

    XMLElement = {xmlelement, Name, Attrs, [ElementOrCDATA]}
            Name = string()
            Attrs = [Attr]
            Attr = {Key, Val}
            Key = string()
            Val = string()
            ElementOrCDATA = XMLElement | CDATA
            CDATA = {xmlcdata, string()}

E. g. this stanza:

    <message to='test@conference.example.org' type='groupchat'>
      <body>test</body>
    </message>

is represented as the following structure:

    {xmlelement, "message",
        [{"to", "test@conference.example.org"},
         {"type", "groupchat"}],
        [{xmlelement, "body",
             [],
             [{xmlcdata, "test"}]}]}}

## 6 Module `xml`

  `element_to_string(El) -> string()`

      El = XMLElement

  Returns string representation of XML stanza `El`.
  `crypt(S) -> string()`

      S = string()

  Returns string which correspond to `S` with encoded XML special characters.
  `remove_cdata(ECList) -> EList`

      ECList = [ElementOrCDATA]
      EList = [XMLElement]

  `EList` is a list of all non-CDATA elements of ECList.
  `get_path_s(El, Path) -> Res`

      El = XMLElement
      Path = [PathItem]
      PathItem = PathElem | PathAttr | PathCDATA
      PathElem = {elem, Name}
      PathAttr = {attr, Name}
      PathCDATA = cdata
      Name = string()
      Res = string() | XMLElement

  If `Path` is empty, then returns `El`. Else sequentially consider elements of `Path`. Each element is one of:
    `{elem, Name}` `Name` is name of subelement of `El`, if such element exists, then this element considered in following steps, else returns empty string.
    `{attr, Name}` If `El` have attribute `Name`, then returns value of this attribute, else returns empty string.
    `cdata` Returns CDATA of `El`.
  TODO:

               get_cdata/1, get_tag_cdata/1
               get_attr/2, get_attr_s/2
               get_tag_attr/2, get_tag_attr_s/2
               get_subtag/2

## 7 Module `xml_stream`

  `parse_element(Str) -> XMLElement | {error, Err}`

      Str = string()
      Err = term()

  Parses `Str` using XML parser, returns either parsed element or error tuple.

## 8 Modules

### 8.1 Module gen_iq_handler

The module `gen_iq_handler` allows to easily write handlers for IQ packets of particular XML namespaces that addressed to server or to users bare JIDs.

In this module the following functions are defined:

  `add_iq_handler(Component, Host, NS, Module, Function, Type)`

      Component = Module = Function = atom()
      Host = NS = string()
      Type = no_queue | one_queue | parallel

  Registers function `Module:Function` as handler for IQ packets on virtual host `Host` that contain child of namespace `NS` in `Component`. Queueing discipline is `Type`. There are at least two components defined:
    `ejabberd_local` Handles packets that addressed to server JID;
    `ejabberd_sm` Handles packets that addressed to users bare JIDs.
  `remove_iq_handler(Component, Host, NS)`

      Component = atom()
      Host = NS = string()

  Removes IQ handler on virtual host `Host` for namespace `NS` from `Component`.

Handler function must have the following type:

  `Module:Function(From, To, IQ)`

      From = To = jid()

    -module(mod_cputime).

    -behaviour(gen_mod).

    -export([start/2,
             stop/1,
             process_local_iq/3]).

    -include("ejabberd.hrl").
    -include("jlib.hrl").

    -define(NS_CPUTIME, "ejabberd:cputime").

    start(Host, Opts) ->
        IQDisc = gen_mod:get_opt(iqdisc, Opts, one_queue),
        gen_iq_handler:add_iq_handler(ejabberd_local, Host, ?NS_CPUTIME,
                                      ?MODULE, process_local_iq, IQDisc).

    stop(Host) ->
        gen_iq_handler:remove_iq_handler(ejabberd_local, Host, ?NS_CPUTIME).

    process_local_iq(From, To, {iq, ID, Type, XMLNS, SubEl}) ->
        case Type of
            set ->
                {iq, ID, error, XMLNS,
                 [SubEl, ?ERR_NOT_ALLOWED]};
            get ->
                CPUTime = element(1, erlang:statistics(runtime))/1000,
                SCPUTime = lists:flatten(io_lib:format("~.3f", CPUTime)),
                {iq, ID, result, XMLNS,
                 [{xmlelement, "query",
                   [{"xmlns", ?NS_CPUTIME}],
                   [{xmlelement, "cputime", [], [{xmlcdata, SCPUTime}]}]}]}
        end.

### 8.2 Services

    -module(mod_echo).

    -behaviour(gen_mod).

    -export([start/2, init/1, stop/1]).

    -include("ejabberd.hrl").
    -include("jlib.hrl").

    start(Host, Opts) ->
        MyHost = gen_mod:get_opt(host, Opts, "echo." ++ Host),
        register(gen_mod:get_module_proc(Host, ?PROCNAME),
                 spawn(?MODULE, init, [MyHost])).

    init(Host) ->
        ejabberd_router:register_local_route(Host),
        loop(Host).

    loop(Host) ->
        receive
            {route, From, To, Packet} ->
                ejabberd_router:route(To, From, Packet),
                loop(Host);
            stop ->
                ejabberd_router:unregister_route(Host),
                ok;
            _ ->
                loop(Host)
        end.

    stop(Host) ->
        Proc = gen_mod:get_module_proc(Host, ?PROCNAME),
        Proc ! stop,
        {wait, Proc}.

> This document was translated from LATEX by H E V E A.