Jabber Services at UIC

Jabber is an open source instant messaging system based on XML, with client software available for all the major operating systems. Jabber makes it easy to communicate online with fellow UIC staff and students. To use Jabber, you must have a valid UIC netid and ACCC common password.

To configure a jabber client you will need the following information (for specific instructions, see the list of Jabber clients below):

• the jabber server name is im.uic.edu
• the port should be set to 5223
• select force old-style SSL
• your username is yrnetid@im.uic.edu (some clients will accept your username as just your netid)
• your password is your ACCC common password

To add contacts, use your client's interface to add netid@im.uic.edu where netid is the UIC netid of the person you want to add to your contact list. If that person uses jabber, they will receive a request to authorize you. Once authorized, you will see their status on your contact list. This is a bit different from AIM (AOL IM) where you can add contacts without their express permission.

jabber.org has a pretty comprehensive list of jabber clients you can use. Here are some of the popular ones used by ACCC staff:

Windows

• Spark
• neos mt
• MirandaIM; Miranda also has a portable version which you can install on a USB drive
• Pidgin (formerly Gaim)
• many are fond of Trillian Pro, but it's not free

Linux

• Pidgin (formerly Gaim)
• Spark

Mac

• Apple's own iChat client supports jabber
• Adium is the preferred jabber client for many Mac users, it supports a lot of customization
• Spark

If you want to use jabber from two (or more) locations simultaneously (which means if you have it open on two or more machines), there are two things you want to keep in mind:

• naming your resource - give each client a different resource name, for example "work", "home", "laptop", "mobile"
• setting your client's priority - once you've named each resource, set a different priority for each client (note that the higher the number, the higher the priority)

Now if you're logged in from two locations:

• resource: work priority: 2
• resource: home priority: 1

If you set it up this way, by default, messages will be routed to your work location. If you are out and about campus and log in from your laptop (resource: laptop priority: 3), new messages will go to your laptop. You can also force messages to go to a particular resource by sending messages to yrnetid@im.uic.edu/resourcename.

If you set the resource name to the same value on two different jabber clients, you will experience problems logging in (try it for fun, but it will annoy anyone on your contact list as you continuously log in and log out). If you set the priority to the same value on two clients, the most recent connection wins.

For a more in-depth explanation, see chapter 5 of O'Reilly's Programming Jabber.

Some features of jabber may not be supported in all clients. Before settling on a client, check whether the features you want to use (audio chat, videoconferencing) are supported.

Conference rooms

Jabber allows you to set up conference rooms, analogous to chat rooms where three or more users can participate in a conversation.

Audio and video support