The xmpp_server role deploys and configures Prosody, an XMPP server implement in Lua. The XMPP server allows users to easily exchange messages and files.

At the moment, the file exchange between different users happens directly. While this makes the process simple, it does have some drawbacks:

• The exchange of files can be unreliable, requesting the users to resend the same file multiple times. At time of this writing it is not clear what the underlying problem is.
• Files can only be sent to other users which are currently online.
• Files can only be sent to a singular XMPP client.

XEP-0363: HTTP File Upload provides for a mechanism to exchange the files between XMPP clients via intermediary HTTP server. This allows to send files to offline users, as well as for users to download the same file via multiple connected clients.

To improve the file-sending experience, the xmpp_server role should be updated to enable Prosody's implementation of this XMPP extension.

The following should be done:

• Update the xmpp_server role.
  • Enable and configure the mod_http_file_share component.
  • Make sure to put some kind of limits in place to avoid excessive disk usage. The limits should be configurable via role parameters.
• Update role reference documentation.
• Update usage instructions.
• Update release notes.