Server comes with a command called RoomsAdminTool located at /Applications/Server.app/Contents/ServerRoot/usr/bin/RoomsAdminTool. This tool can list available rooms using a -l flag:
RoomsAdminTool -l
You can also create new rooms, using the following format, where krypted is the name of the room, the persistent option means the room is, er, persistent. The description option indicates a description used for the room.
RoomsAdminTool -n krypted -c persistent yes description "This room is for friends of krypted only”
To then delete the room, use the -d option:
RoomsAdminTool -n krypted -d
Add the -v to do it all verbosely. There are lots of other options as well, as follows (from the man page):
Valid Configuration Keys and Values:
[table id=8 /]
Ultimately, if you’d like to do Student Information System (SIS) integration, or wait for an AD/OD group and then programmatically generate rooms, this is how you’d do it. Also, it’s worth noting that Messages (and so Jabber if you’re running your own server) is a very basic instant messaging tool. There are more modern ways of interacting with others these days, including Slack and Confluence. Additionally, the Messages app can just use the phone number of people to let address books become a way of managing groups you’d like to message. These do not require a dedicated server, but most strategies will require a monthly fee that’s typically per-user.
