Integrating Openfire Users with an existing Content Management System (e107)

Openfire Openfire Support
1

Hi All,

I have succesfully installed a standalone installation of Openfire using mysql backend on a windows 2003 server, and have tested successfully the use of Spark with a couple of accounts. Even the gateway functionality to MSN and othe existing clients works fine. My challenge is to integrate user accounts with an existing CMS system (e107)

I have had a look at the very basic documentation that hasn’t helped me to attempt using the existing e107 user/password database with Openfire!

My Scenario:

Openfire database schema (native) is on a database called openfire (logically!)

My CMS user database is in a database called thepilotclub on the same mysql server

user names and passwords are stored in a table called e107_user on DB thepilotclub (fields are user_loginname and user_password respectively)

Could someone please provide me with a template openfire.xml to use this alternative user management and authentication schema? I simply tried lots of variations and could never get it to work! Do I have to define another database connection? My existing openfire.xml has a database profile section titled <defaultprovider> yet the documentation indicates that I should be using <provider>! Do I need both a <defaultprovider> and a <provider> section.

Apologies if my request is not intuitive! I have over 650 users in the existing CMS system, and I’d love nothing more than to be able allow my users to use Openfire with their usernames and passwords from the existing system - and not ask them to create yet another account and password combination just for the IM system

Thanks very much in advance for any guidance and tips or template openfire.xml’s that you share!

Dave Tidwell

Longwood, FL, USA

2

This is a very desirable feature capability, and one that is common in some areas of CMS/application integration.

For example, most CMS systems have methods or existing packages for the integration of say, phpBB, vBulletin, and other forumware into their CMS database, providing for a single sign-on in the community.

Other CMS systems have full blown 3rd party projects implementing forumware into the respective CMS in a ‘native’ fashion - these forums integrate specifically with the CMS, and may not even be available at all in other CMS systems.

I see a great benefit in having mods, published kludges, etc., available for just such interoperability from a single (usually the CMSs) database for authentication purposes.

The one thing that might make this a moot point though, is that the XMPP accounts are (if you permit it) enabled on the fly upon successful installation of a client - at which point you can merely create your own Jabber account on Openfire.

Since users won’t conceivably have a need for their CMS uid/pwd combination as a benefit in creating an account on the XMPP server, I don’t see a lot of effort moving forward on a goal such as you’re asking.

On the other hand, there is a problem with this. If you have a social community of any kind maintained by a CMS database, and you want to provide an XMPP server’s services ONLY to your registered users, then it just doesn’t make sense to allow open registrations from an XMPP client on the server - for this you really would want the authentication to take place through the CMSs user database…

But, there are issues there as well. When a user creates a new account on their CMS, they’re going to need to have a default set of ‘other’ credentials, pertaining to uid/naming conventions created for them in the CMS’s database as well - corelating directly to other required fields neccessary on the XMPP server operated by OpenFire.

Otherwise, they’re still going to have to be required to set up certain aspects of their user account on the XMPP server before they’ll be able to use any of the IM services provided by OpenFire.

All in all, I think that a program goal to achieve this functionality for Joomla, Drupal, and perhaps a couple of other Open Source CMS systems (one could exclude things like CiviCRM, which integrates nicely already into these two CMSs, or perhaps even WordPress, which integrates into Joomla via CorePHP) would be a great thing.

I’ve subscribed to this thread so I can follow any progress in the form of the development of just such a capability for the two CMS systems I’ve mentioned.

Kindest regards,

Bradley

3

Greets, have a look at Custom Database Integration Guide http://www.igniterealtime.org/builds/openfire/docs/latest/documentation/db-integ ration-guide.html

Also many have asked similar questions, so try a forum search as well