Programming Jabber

Open a connection point in the main server

We’ve already seen a mechanism earlier in this chapter in Section 4.1.3 that allows external components to connect into the Jabber server backbone by exchanging XML streams in the jabber:component:accept namespace. This is the TCP socket connection method.

We can prepare a connection point to the main Jabber server by specifying a component connection like this:

<service id="conflinker">
  <host>conference.yak</host>
  <accept>
    <ip>127.0.0.1</ip>
    <port>9001</port>
    <secret>confsecret</secret>
  </accept>
</service>

in the configuration for the main Jabber server.

There’s no real difference between this XML and the XML shown in the <accept/> example earlier in this chapter. The clue lies in the service ID, which has been defined as conflinker. There’s nothing special about the name; it simply gives the administrator a hint that there’s some sort of link to a conference service from this point.

We’re specifying acceptance of connections on IP address 127.0.0.1 (the same host as this main server), but it could just as easily be the IP address assigned to a network card, so that the connection could be made from a satellite server on a separate host.