sendxmpp

Sendxmpp project is a Perl-script designed to send XMPP (Jabber) messages, similar to what mail does for email. The software is freely available under the GNU General Public License v2 and was created by Dirk-Jan C. Binnema. The hard work behind sendxmpp is accomplished by Ryan Eatmon's Net::XMPP-modules, which should be installed prior to using sendxmpp. Additionally, a Jabber account is needed to use the software. Jabber accounts are available for free at jabber.org, but it is also possible to run one's own server.

Sendxmpp is utilized on computers worldwide, such as for distributing CVS-commit alerts, sending server warnings, and notifying users. For example, if you need to manage a remote server and keep an eye on its CPU load-average, you could write a script to monitor it and run it periodically from cron. The script might contain code like the following:

if test "$cpuload" -gt "$CPULOADMAX"; then
top -b -n 1 | sendxmpp -s "Wake up! CPU load is $cpuload at `hostname`" [email protected]
fi

With sendxmpp, your Jabber client will pop-up a message, depending on the client you use. There are various clients available for different platforms and Operating Systems.

To install sendxmpp, simply unpack the tarball and enter the new directory. Then run the following commands:

$ perl Makefile.PL
$ make
$ make install

This latest version includes documentation improvements and the ability to specify non-default port numbers for Jabber servers.