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I want to run my own XMPP server.

I want to be able to chat with other XMPP users (no matter which provider they use), using a JID under my own domain.

Absolute requirements:

  • it needs to be Free Software (FLOSS)
  • it needs to be compilable on GNU/Linux (I’m using CentOS, if it matters)

Besides that, I hope to find a server that fullfils my expectations as much as possible:

After installation, it should just work out of the box, or requiring only minimal configuration. Primarily, I don’t want to have to manually do something to secure the server (the configuration should have sensible/secure defaults, there should be no patches I’d have to apply, etc.).

I will be the only user (maybe using several JIDs), so there is no need for multi-user handling, registration, outgoing spam protection, …. It would be nice if there were a server that considers (or is focussed on) such a use case (because the developers could spend their effort on other areas), but I guess any server would do.

The server should be (as far as possible) standards-compliant (following XEPs).

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    I've heard good things about Openfire, but as I've never tried to set it up myself, I don't feel comfortable offering it as a recommendation. If someone wants to try it out and report, feel free to post an answer.
    – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil'
    Commented Feb 7, 2014 at 1:57
  • See also on Server Fault SE: Low-Resource Single-User XMPP Daemon
    – unor
    Commented Mar 7, 2014 at 17:00

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Single user jabber servers feel like overkill - you're going to need to federate with other servers to get any use of it (and this needs to be turned on at the other server), and no current package is designed for a single user as a result. I have set up and run openfire and its well documented, easy to maintain and really easy to administer. You can get one up in about 10 minutes, though I suppose its not the lightest option rather large, and not lightweight, needing a database for example.

I've also heard good things about prosody and it looks even more lightweight - it has a text based backend, is modular. Its also in active development. It might be a better option, but I've not tried it myself yet.

In both cases, you may end up preferring to install from source to get the latest version, rather than relying on the repositories. This isn't entirely a bad thing for personal use, though i'd consider it a pain in production.

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    Openfire is not exactly a lightweight thing I’d recommend to one user. It’s a Java™ monstrum…
    – mirabilos
    Commented Feb 7, 2014 at 9:42
  • Oh agreed. Its not much work to run though. Prosody looks like a better option but I'm a little too busy to fire up an instance, point a domain at it, and see what happens
    – Journeyman Geek
    Commented Feb 7, 2014 at 14:41
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    To clarify: With "single user" I meant that I’ll be the only user on this server/host, but of course it should federate with all other XMPP servers out there.
    – unor
    Commented Mar 7, 2014 at 17:02

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