APUIM Gateways

• About
  • Definition
  • Multi-Service Gateway
  • Protocols
  • Reliability
  • Security
  • Concurrent Use
• How to Use
  • APU Jabber Messenger
    • Register a Gateway
    • Manually Adding Contacts
  • Psi (Mac OSX and Windows)
    • Register a Gateway
    • Manually Adding Contacts
• Gateway FAQs
  • MSN Messenger
  • Yahoo! Messenger
  • AIM (AOL Instant Messenger)
  • ICQ

About

Definition

Gateways, are bridges that allow you to use one software application to continue to communicate with your existing (AIM, MSN, Yahoo!, and ICQ) contacts.

Multi-Service Gateway

You may have experienced a problem of one of your contacts using a different IM system than you, and have had to have multiple IM clients running at the same time on your computer just to communicate. Some have solved this problem by running Trillian, a multi-service IM application. APUIM uses Jabber, which sort of does the same thing as Trillian, but on the protocol level on the server. This means that when you switch machines or change programs you do not have to re-configure all of your services.

Protocols

All traffic, regardless of the IM service used, is ultimately delivered to your computer via the Jabber protocol. Gateways, then are translating between these closed protocols and Jabber. The Jabber protocol (XMPP) is the only Open Internet Standard for Instant Messaging. This means that APU's investment in this technology will not go away any time soon, and will allow open communication with the world. There are many public and private Jabber networks, and we envision APUIM users communicating with many Internet users directly via a secure Open Jabber protocol rather than the proprietary protocols that the current big Public IM networks depend on.

Reliability

It is important to note that the Gateways only work because of extensive work by programmers reverse-engineering the proprietary protocols such as AIM uses. Therefore, APU cannot guarantee that its Gateways will continue to work continuously, or support all the same features as the official client supports. Also, communication with the Gateways is not secure, it is the same as using the Public IM services directly.

Security

Communication with the Gateways is not secure. It is the same as using the Public IM services directly. The only truely secure communication using APUIM is the Jabber protocol with another APUIM user (someone who's JID is username@apuim.apu.edu). To check to see which protocol a contact is using, mouse over their name in your roster.

Concurrent Use

The Jabber service allows multiple logins, with concurrent use. The Gateways cannot, and it will cause problems if you are logged in multiple times. If you register for a Gateway with Jabber, it is best if you not run any other IM software that uses that same service at the same time. Remember to disable any programs that launch IM applications on system startup. If in doubt, exit all IM applications, and then restart your Jabber client. Many problems related to gateways can simply be solved by logging out and back in. MSN Messenger can be very persistant, as other applications such as Outlook can start it without the user being aware. The most likely result in these cases are that whichever user was logged on first gets kicked off, and contacts will look to be offline.

How to Use

You must register with a Gateway before you can add Public IM contacts to your Roster. The registration process generally consists of entering in your credentials for Public IM services that you are already subscribed to. This means that you need to use the Official Client, or some other means to establish an account with the Public IM service you would like to use. APU will not provide assistance for establishing accounts with these services.

APU Jabber Messenger

To register a gateway, go to "Tools", "Other Services, and the name of the service you would like to use. Follow the instructions on the window that opens, giving the appropriate style username and password for the service you would like to add. For instance MSN uses e-mail addresses as usernames so you have to include username@somehost.com.

Register a Gateway

1. Go to the "Tools" menu, "Other Services", and the name of the service you would like to use.
2. Follow the instructions on the window that opens, giving the appropriate style username and password for the service you would like to add. For instance MSN uses e-mail addresses as usernames so you have to include username@somehost.com.
3. Once registered, the Gateway might pull in your previously authorized contacts into you roster, depending on the service. If not, you will have to add your contacts manually.

Manually Adding Contacts

1. Cick on the "Add +" button. Select "Contact by ID..." and change the drop down for "Messaging Service:" to the appropriate service.
2. Type in the the username, screenname, or ID as shown in the example at the top of the window.
3. Click "Add".
4. You will need to "Accept" authorization for each of the contacts that you add. It is important to note that if they were pre-authorized users, the pending status is not waiting on the other party to accept, but waiting for you to authorize Jabber to communicate with that contact. You may need to pay attention to your minimized window area at this time for alerts requesting you to respond to these authorizations.

Psi (Mac OSX and Windows Client)

Register a Gateway

1. Click on the Psi menu (the Triad icon), and select "Browser Services - apuim". The Jabber Browser allows you to see which services are available on the server, and register with them.
2. Double click on the name of the gateway you would like to register with, or select it and click on the "key icon" at the top of the window.
3. Follow the instructions on the window that opens, giving the appropriate style username and password for the service you would like to add. For instance MSN uses e-mail addresses as usernames so you have to include username@somehost.com.
4. Once registered, the Gateway might pull in your previously authorized contacts into you roster, depending on the service. If not you will need to add the contacts manually.

Manually Adding Contacts

1. Go to "Add a Contact" on the Psi menu.
2. Drop down the Service to the appropriate one.
3. Enter the username, screenname, or id as requested in the "Service ID Translation" box.
4. Hit "Get Jabber ID" to generate the correct Jabber ID in the form below.
5. You can optionally specify a nickname and a group for your roster.
6. You do not need to "Request authorization when adding" unless this is a brand new contact.
7. Uncheck the "Close window after adding" if you would like to add several contacts at in a row.
8. You will need to "Accept" authorization for each of the contacts that you add. It is important to note that if they were pre-authorized users, the pending status is not waiting on the other party to accept, but waiting for you to authorize Jabber to communicate with that contact. You may need to pay attention do alert animations in your roster or in your system tray in order to accept these authorizations.