Using Pidgin (IM Client) With Googe Apps
More and more people, it seems are using the open source (free) IM client, Pidgin, which supports chatting on multiple networks simultaneously, without the need to run a plethora of bulky, proprietary chat clients (Pidgin currently supports about 16 protocols, including AIM, Yahoo, MSN, and Google Talk).
And simultaneously, as it grows in popularity, more and more people are asking me how to get it to work with Google Chat inside Google Apps. Unfortunately, the instructions posted in the Google Help Center don’t work for a lot of folks, so if you follow those, and still find no joy, give this a try:
1. Make sure that you have Google Talk “turned on” (activated”) in your Google Apps Admin dashboard. If it’s off, and you turn it on, you may have to wait up-to 30 minutes before it becomes active.
2. In Pidgin, choose Accounts->Manage Accounts->Add and choose XMPP as the protocol.
3. For Username, enter your Google Apps username (the portion to the left of the @ symbol in your email address).
4. For Domain, enter your domain name (example: mydomain.com).
5. The Resource field is somewhat ambiguous here. I use it to specify which computer I’m using.
6. Enter your Password and check, “Remember password.”
7: Your “Basic” tab should look something like this (note that the “User Options” are optional):
![](http://webgroupwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/pidgin11.jpg "Pidgin\'s \\"Basic\\" account settings tab")
8. Click the “Advanced” tab.
9. Select “Force old (port 5223) SSL“
10. Set the Connect Port to 443
11. Set the Connect server to talk.google.com
12. Ensure that the rest of the settings look like this:
![](http://webgroupwest.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/pidgin21.jpg "Pidgin\'s \\"Advanced\\" account settings tab")
13. Click Save, and you should be connected.
You should now be able to use Pidgin with Google Talk (for Google Apps). If this tip works for you (or, doesn’t), I’d love to hear from you.
Happy Googling!
November 9th, 2008 at 3:52 pm
I didn’t have to go through all this when setting up my Google Apps email for Pidgin, but this is very useful information for those who have had problems. Thanks!
December 9th, 2008 at 10:46 am
Worked for me, mate! Thanks!
December 10th, 2008 at 10:03 am
Glad it worked for you, Ruprict. It’s funny, but quite a few people have written, telling me this wasn’t necessary for them, but for some reason, there appear to be quite a few of us who can’t get it to work, otherwise.
December 19th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Crazy that Google doesn’t address this. Their instructions seem to work for a lot of people, but many of us have problems.
I want to ask you how you figured this out but more important… THANK YOU!!!!!!!
December 19th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
Thanks for this!
It has been really annoying how this wasn’t working.. although it was working before I upgraded to Ubuntu 8.10 so not sure what was happening with that version!
February 3rd, 2009 at 7:55 pm
Wow worked great thanks so much!
February 25th, 2009 at 8:49 am
its amazing… ive followed the directions to a T and still nothing… it takes about 30-60 seconds in its connection attempt, then notifies of the failure.
i suspect this is because google either changed something or i have my mx records for my domain setup incorrectly. id think it wasnt the latter tho as my email in google apps works just fine.
February 26th, 2009 at 9:45 am
t,
You might want to try Digsby, instead (see http://webgroupwest.com/2008/11/digsby-is-cool-im/)... I’m at the point where I’ve switched to it completely.
May 6th, 2009 at 10:14 pm
Nice work this was extremely helpful Thankyou!
June 10th, 2009 at 1:04 am
Thank a lot. It works!
August 7th, 2009 at 12:12 am
Thanks a lot for the instructions. It works!
August 8th, 2009 at 1:34 am
it worked for me…………….but i can not see the buddy list. its empty…….can ne1 help me…..thanx
September 2nd, 2009 at 2:19 pm
It works! Thanks.
December 7th, 2009 at 12:57 am
it works mate.Great.