this post was submitted on 01 Dec 2023
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XMPP Server? (sedd.it)
submitted 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) by stown@sedd.it to c/selfhosted@lemmy.world
 

I'm looking to try self-hosting an XMPP server for my family to use as a secure communication platform. I realize that end2end encryption with XMPP doesn't seem as strong as something like Matrix but my self-hosted Matrix server has been very unreliable.

I'm looking for recommendations and resources. I'v considered running Prosody and Openfire but both of them look like a pretty involved installation process with plenty of room to fuck up. Does anyone know of something similar to matrix-ansible-install for an XMPP server? Should I be looking at something besides Prosody or Openfire?

Please, no YouTube tutorials. I prefer written instructions.

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[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 9 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

I realize that end2end encryption with XMPP doesn’t seem as strong as something like Matrix

Who told you this bit of misinformation? OMEMO e2ee on XMPP is significantly "stronger" than what Matrix does (which is a watered down version).

Snikket mentioned below is probably the easiest to get started with.

[–] stown@sedd.it 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Nobody told me this, it was just lack of information on my part. Matrix makes a big deal about end2end encryption but Prosody and Openfire don't seem to put that point out front.

[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Why would they? They are not selling snakeoil 😏

On a more serious note: e2ee is a client feature, so it makes little sense for server software to highlight it.

[–] stown@sedd.it 0 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Is there a client for Android that you would recommend which implements OMEMO?

[–] kpw@kbin.social 2 points 10 months ago

Conversations from F-Droid is pretty solid.

[–] poVoq@slrpnk.net 1 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

If you are using Snikket, use the Snikket app. It has OMEMO enabled by default. Otherwise I think Cheogram is good, see: https://joinjabber.org/docs/apps/#

[–] hayalci@fstab.sh 1 points 10 months ago

You can use Snikket with other servers too, there is no restriction or special sauce. It's mostly a fork of Conversations.

[–] kpw@kbin.social 1 points 10 months ago

Prosody and Openfire are servers while end-to-end encryption happens on the client side (that's why it's called end-to-end). It would be kind of strange if a server implementation talks about E2EE. The OMEMO protocol only needs server features which are widely implemented. Maybe there is an ancient XMPP server implementation out there that doesn't support it, but you will be fine with Prosody, Snikket, ejabberd or anything else really.

[–] TCB13@lemmy.world 4 points 10 months ago

I realize that end2end encryption with XMPP doesn’t seem as strong as something like Matrix

This isn't true.

[–] lsintoni@misskey.social 3 points 10 months ago

@stown@sedd.it take a look at #Snikket
Is a semplified Prosody-like server you can install with docker.

And OMEMO is a very good enryption protocol, same as Signal.

[–] cmeerw@programming.dev 0 points 10 months ago

There is also jabberd2 if you are brave enough to use software that's no longer updated.

[–] helenslunch@feddit.nl -1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Might it be easier to upgrade to Matrix 2.0? Haven't tested it but it's supposed to be like 80x faster and more reliable.

[–] TCB13@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (1 children)

What about... just NO.

Matrix is developed by a for profit entity, a group of venture capitalists and having a spec doesn’t mean everything. The way Matrix is designed is to force into jumping through hoops and kind of draw all attention to Matrix itself instead of the end result

For all the people about to downvote:

Decentralized communication protocol Matrix shifts to less-permissive AGPL open source license Element, the company and core developer behind the decentralized communication protocol known as Matrix, has announced a notable license change that will make the open source project just that little bit less appealing for companies looking to build on top of it.

https://techcrunch.com/2023/11/06/decentralized-communication-protocol-matrix-shifts-to-less-permissive-agpl-open-source-license/

[–] hillbicks@feddit.de 1 points 10 months ago

The fact that the ccc uses matrix as their official chat "app" doesn't imply that it is inherently insecure I would say.