Openfire: Installation Guide

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Openfire is a powerful instant messaging (IM) and chat server that implements the
XMPP protocol. This document will guide you through installing Openfire. For a full list
of features and more information, please visit 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.
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_3_0_0.rpm

If using the .tar.gz, extract the archive to /opt or /usr/bin:

tar -xzvf openfire_3_0_0.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 1.5.0 (Java 5) 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 http://java.sun.com.

Setup Overview
To complete the installation of Openfire, you'll need to perform each of the following
steps:
1. Database - if you choose to use an external database, you must prepare your
database for Openfire.
2. Setup - Use the built-in web-based setup tool to setup and verify the server
configuration.
3. Admin Console - use the web-based admin tool to manage the server.
This document also includes information on:
Running under Windows
Running under Unix/Linux
Installing and using plugins

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Files in the Distribution

The files in your distribution should be as follows (some sub-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 stores configuration files.

The bin directory contains the server executables. Depending on which
distribution you installed, different executables will be available.
The jre directory contains a Java 5 runtime that is bundled with the
Windows and RPM versions of Openfire.
The lib directory contains libraries necessary for running Openfire.
The plugins directory contains server plugins. By default, Openfire ships
with a web-based admin console plugin.
The resources/database directory contains SQL schema files to create
new Openfire databases, as well as upgrade scripts for existing
installations.
The resources/security directory is where Openfire maintains keystores
to support SSL connection security.
The documentation directory contains server documentation.

Setup the Database

Openfire can store its data in an embedded database or you can choose to use an
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 database
setup documentation for more information.

Setup the Server

A web-based, "wizard" driven setup and configuration tool is built into Openfire. Simply
launch Openfire (platform-specific instructions below) and use a web browser to
connect to the admin console. The default port for the web-based admin console is
9090. If you are on the same machine as Openfire, the following URL will usually work:
http://127.0.0.1:9090. Initial setup and administration can also be done from 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, if Enhanced Security configuration is enabled in
Internet Explorer. Otherwise they will get a blank screen.

Admin Console
After completing the above steps, Openfire will be configured and you can use the
web-based admin console to administer the server. The URL should be the same as
you used to setup the server unless you changed the port during the setup.

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Running Openfire in Windows

If you used the Openfire installer, a shortcut for starting the a graphical launcher is
provided in your Start Menu. Otherwise, run openfire.exe in the bin/ directory of your
Openfire installation. A button on the on the launcher allows you 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 to run Openfire as a
standard Windows service after initial setup. If you used the Windows installer, a
openfire-service.exe file will be in the bin directory of the installation. You can use
this 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 and stop the
service.
Note: the graphical launcher is not compatible with the Windows service at this time. If
you install the service, you should use service controls as described above to control

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the server rather than the graphical launcher.

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 the RPM as it contains some custom handling of the standard Red
Hat like environment. Assuming that you have used the RPM, you can start and stop
Openfire using the /etc/init.d/openfire script.
# /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/openfire script 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/extra directory:
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 in the 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 your

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Openfire installation, you may want to download and install plugins to enhance your
server. Plugins can be downloaded from the plugins page on igniterealtime.org or
directly inside the administration console.
Installing Plugins
If you download a plugin from inside the Openfire administration console, it will
automatically be installed. If you manually download the plugin (packaged as a .jar file),
you can deploy it by copying the plugin file to the plugins/ directory of your Openfire
installation. A plugin 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 load a plugin from your local file system to the server.
Managing Plugins
Plugins can be managed inside the Openfire admin console. You can also manually
delete a plugin at any time by deleting its JAR file (Openfire will automatically remove
the plugin from memory and delete it's directory when you do so).

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