Openfire is a powerful instant messaging (IM) and chatserver that implements the XMPP protocol. This document will guide you through installing Openfire. For a full list of features and more information, pleasevisit the Openfire website: http://www.igniterealtime.org/projects/openfire/
Installation
Windows
Run the Openfire installer. The application will be installed to C:\Program Files\Openfire by default.
Note: On Windows systems we suggest using a service to run Openfire (read the Windows Service section below). When using Openfire Launcher on Windows Vista or newer with UAC protection enabled, it has to be run with Run as administrator option, to be able to write changes to config and embedded database (if used) stored in C:\Program files\Openfire\ folder.
Linux/Unix
Choose either the RPM or tar.gz build. If using the RPM, run it using your package manager to install Openfire to /opt/openfire:rpm -ivh openfire_X_Y_Z.rpm
If using the .tar.gz, extract the archive to /opt or /usr/bin:tar -xzvf openfire_X_Y_Z.tar.gz
mv openfire /opt
Note: the .tar.gz build does not contain a bundled Java runtime (JRE). Therefore, you must have JDK or JRE 1.7.0 or later installed on your system. You can check your java version by typing "java -version" at the command line and (if necessary) upgrade your Java installation by visiting java.com.
Setup Overview
To complete the installation of Openfire, you'll need toperform each of the following steps:
- Database - if you choose to use an external database, you must prepare your database for Openfire.
- Setup - Use the built-in web-based setuptool to setup and verify the server configuration.
- Admin Console - use the web-based admin tool tomanage the server.
This document also includes information on:
- Running under Windows
- Running under Unix/Linux
- Installing and using plugins
Files in the Distribution
The files in your distribution should be as follows (somesub-directories omitted for brevity):
openfire/ |- readme.html |- license.html |- conf/ |- bin/ |- jre/ |- lib/ |- plugins/ |- admin/ |- resources/ |-database/ |-security/ |- documentation/
- The conf directory is where Openfire storesconfiguration files.
- The bin directory contains the server executables. Dependingon which distribution you installed, different executables will be available.
- The jre directory contains a Java runtime that is bundled with the Windows and RPM versions of Openfire.
- The lib directory contains libraries necessary forrunning Openfire.
- The plugins directory contains server plugins. Bydefault, Openfire ships with a web-based admin console plugin.
- The resources/database directory contains SQL schema files tocreate new Openfire databases, as well as upgrade scripts forexisting installations.
- The resources/security directory is where Openfiremaintains keystores to support SSL connection security.
- The documentation directory contains serverdocumentation.
Setup the Database
Openfire can store its data in an embedded database or you can choose to usean external database such as MySQL or Oracle. If you would like to use an external database,you must prepare it before proceeding with installation. View the databasesetup documentation for more information.
Setup the Server
A web-based, "wizard" driven setup and configuration tool is builtinto Openfire. Simply launch Openfire (platform-specific instructions below) and use a web browser toconnect to the admin console. The default port for theweb-based admin console is 9090. If you are on the same machine as Openfire, thefollowing URL will usually work: http://127.0.0.1:9090. Initial setup and administration can also be donefrom a remote computer using LAN IP address instead or hostname if it is resolvable by the remote computer.Windows Server administrators should add http://127.0.0.1 address to Internet Explorer's Trusted Sites list, ifEnhanced Security configuration is enabled in Internet Explorer. Otherwise they will get a blank screen.
Admin Console
After completing the above steps, Openfire will be configuredand you can use the web-based admin console to administerthe server. The URL should be the same as you used to setup the serverunless you changed the port during the setup.
Running Openfire in Windows
If you used the Openfire installer, a shortcut for starting the graphical launcher is provided in your Start Menu. Otherwise, run openfire.exe in the bin/ directory of yourOpenfire installation. A button on the on the launcher allowsyou to automatically open your web browser to the correct URL to finish setting up the server:
Windows Service
If you're running Openfire on Windows, you will likely want torun Openfire as a standard Windows service after initial setup.If you used the Windows installer, a openfire-service.exe filewill be in the bin directory of the installation. You can usethis executable to install and control the Openfire service.
From a console window, you can run the following commands:
- openfire-service /install -- installs the service.
- openfire-service /uninstall -- uninstalls the service.
- openfire-service /start -- starts the service
- openfire-service /stop -- stops the service.
You can also use the Services tool in the Windows Control Panel to start andstop the service.
Note: the graphical launcher is not compatible with the Windows service. If you install the service, you should use service controlsas described above to control the server rather than the graphical launcher.
Upgrading Note: you should stop Openfire service before running the installer to upgrade to the newer version.
Custom Parameters
Advanced users may wish to pass in parameters to the Java virtual machine (VM) to customize the runtime environment of Openfire. You can do this by creating openfire.vmoptions files in the bin/ directory of your Openfire installation. For the Windows service, you'd create a new text file called openfire-service.vmoptions. Each parameter to the VM should be on a new line of the file. For example, to set the minimum heap size to 512 MB and max VM heap size to 1024 MB, you'd use:
-Xms512m-Xmx1024m
To create parameters for the normal launcher, create a file called openfired.vmoptions (since the openfire.exe launcher invokes the openfired.exe executable to actually start the server).
Running Openfire in Linux/Unix
If you are running on a Red Hat or Red Hat like system (CentOS, Fedora, etc), we recommend using theRPM as it contains some custom handling of the standard Red Hat like environment. Assuming that youhave used the RPM, you can start and stop Openfire using the
/etc/init.d/openfirescript.
# /etc/init.d/openfire
Usage /etc/init.d/openfire {start|stop|restart|status|condrestart|reload}
# /etc/init.d/openfire start
Starting openfire:
If you are running on a different Linux/Unix varient, and/or you have used the .tar.gz 'installer',you can start and stop Openfire using the
bin/openfirescript in your Openfire installation:
# ./openfire
Usage: ./openfire {start|stop}
# ./openfire start
Starting openfire
If you would like to install Openfire as a service, two scripts are provided in the
bin/extradirectory:
- redhat-postinstall.sh -- automatically installs Openfire as a service on Red Hat. It does so by creating a "jive" user and then copying the openfired script to your init.d directory. This script must be run as root. Please see the comments in the script for additional information.
- openfired -- script to run Openfire as a service. You must manually configure this script. See the comments inthe script for additional details.
It is not recommended that you use either of these scripts if you installed via RPM. The RPM has already taken care of what these scripts take care of.
Custom Parameters
Advanced users may wish to pass in parameters to the Java virtual machine (VM) to customize the runtime environment of Openfire. If you installed via RPM, you can customize this by editing /etc/sysconfig/openfire and looking at the OPENFIRE_OPTS option. If you installed via .tar.gz, you will need to tweak your startup script to fit your needs.
Plugins
Plugins add additional features and protocol support to Openfire. After setting up yourOpenfire installation, you may want to download and install plugins to enhance yourserver. Plugins can be downloaded from theplugins page on igniterealtime.orgor directly inside the administration console.
Installing Plugins
If you download a plugin from inside the Openfire administration console, it will automaticallybe installed. If you manually download the plugin (packaged as a .jar file), you can deploy itby copying the plugin file to the plugins/ directory of your Openfire installation. Aplugin monitor will automatically extract the plugin into a directory and install the plugin in Openfire.You may also use the "upload plugin" feature in the admin console (under the Plugins tab) to loada plugin from your local file system to the server.
Note: For nearly all plugins, a restart of the Openfireserver software is not required. You should be able to install and removeplugins on-demand without impacting Openfire.
Managing Plugins
Plugins can be managed inside the Openfire admin console. You can also manually delete a plugin at any time bydeleting its JAR file (Openfire will automatically remove the plugin from memory and delete it's directory when youdo so).
