How to Install Metronome IM on Arch Linux

Metronome IM is an instant messaging client for Linux systems. It supports multiple chat protocols such as XMPP, Google Talk, and Facebook Chat. In this tutorial, we will guide you through the process of installing Metronome IM on Arch Linux.

Prerequisites

Before proceeding with the installation process, ensure that your Arch Linux system has the following packages installed:

• base-devel
• git
• ca-certificates

You can install these packages by running the following command in your terminal:

sudo pacman -S base-devel git ca-certificates

Installation

Step 1: Clone the Repository

The first step is to clone the Metronome IM repository from GitHub. To do this, open your terminal and run the following command:

git clone https://github.com/maranda/metronome.git

Step 2: Install Dependencies

Before building Metronome, you need to install its dependencies. Run the following command to install the necessary dependencies:

sudo pacman -S lua lua-expat lua-filesystem lua-socket lua-sec lua-event lua-dbi lua-zlib lua-bitop luarocks

Step 3: Build and Install Metronome

After installing the dependencies, navigate to the Metronome directory using the following command:

cd metronome/

Next, run the following command to configure and build Metronome:

make

Finally, install Metronome with the following command:

sudo make install

Step 4: Configure Metronome

After installing Metronome, you need to configure it to use your preferred chat protocol. To do this, navigate to the Metronome configuration directory using the following command:

cd /usr/local/etc/metronome/

Next, create a configuration file called metronome.cfg.lua using your preferred text editor:

sudo nano metronome.cfg.lua

Copy and paste the following configuration into the file, replacing the placeholder values with your own settings:

daemonize = true
pidfile = "/var/run/metronome/metronome.pid"

-- Network configuration
network_backend = "epoll"
network_options = {
    tcp_nodelay = true,
}

-- Modules enabled in all cases
modules_enabled = {
    "roster"; -- Allow users to have a roster. Recommended ;)
    "saslauth"; -- Authentication for clients and servers. Recommended ;)
    "tls"; -- Add support for secure TLS on c2s/s2s connections
    "dialback"; -- s2s dialback support
    "disco"; -- Service discovery
    "posix"; -- POSIX functionality, sends server to background, enables syslog, etc.
}

-- Logging configuration
log = {
    info = "/var/log/metronome/metronome.log"; -- Change to your desired log location
}

-- Certificate Configuration
certificates = "certs/"
ssl = {
    key = "/etc/ssl/private/localhost.key";
    certificate = "/etc/ssl/certs/localhost.crt";
}

-- Server configuration
VirtualHost "localhost"
    enabled = true
    ssl = {
        key = "/etc/ssl/private/localhost.key";
        certificate = "/etc/ssl/certs/localhost.crt";
    }

Once you have finished configuring your Metronome instance, save the configuration file by pressing CTRL+X, followed by Y, and then ENTER.

Step 5: Start Metronome

To start Metronome, run the following command in your terminal:

sudo service metronome start

Step 6: Test Your Installation

To test your Metronome installation, open the client of your choice and configure it to connect to your Metronome server using the protocol of your choice. Once you have successfully connected to your Metronome server, you should be able to send and receive messages.

Conclusion

In this tutorial, you learned how to install Metronome IM on Arch Linux, configure Metronome, and test your installation. Metronome is a powerful instant messaging client that supports multiple chat protocols and provides a secure and reliable messaging experience. We hope that this tutorial has been helpful for you.

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