Setting up MSN with BitlBee

It's dead again

After two additional years, MSNP21 is gone too.

You should use skypeweb instead.

The rest of this page contains outdated information.

Network status

Adding the account itself

To add a MSN account to BitlBee:

account add msn username@hotmail.com password
account msn on

This should be enough for most people.

You can also leave out the password and set it afterwards with /oper.

FAQ

Q: Why would I want MSN?

A: It lets you talk with skype contacts who have microsoft accounts without installing skype, and seems to be fairly reliable.

Q: Isn't it going to die?

A: Maybe! Maybe not! Who cares? It still works.

Q: Doesn't MSN use the XMPP protocol?

A: No. MSN and MSNXMPP are two different things. MSNXMPP was just a gateway to connect to MSN through XMPP, but it's never been the main way to use MSN.

The MSNXMPP servers have been shutdown as of december 2013. The old protocol still works. Use the instructions above to add the account.

Q: Is OAuth supported?

A: Not by this protocol.

Versions

3.4.1 works. Any earlier version doesn't.

Troubleshooting

"Login error: Connection timeout" after "Authenticated, getting buddy list"

If you haven't upgraded yet, this is what the blocked ApplicationID error looks like.

<@root> msn - Logging in: Connecting
<@root> msn - Logging in: Connected to server, waiting for reply
<@root> msn - Logging in: Transferring to other server
<@root> msn - Logging in: Connected to server, waiting for reply
<@root> msn - Logging in: Authenticated, getting buddy list
<@root> msn - Login error: Connection timeout
<@root> msn - Logging in: Signing off..

"Error during Passport authentication: (null)"

The most common error, usually means "location blocked".

See HowtoFixMsn for a solution.

This error says "(null)" because bitlbee can't parse the error message to show something more meaningful. Because of this, it could also get shown for other error codes.

"Error reported by MSN server: Authentication failed"

This error can mean that the account is "temporarily blocked" and you need to verify it by providing a phone number.

It has also been seen when using a non-primary 'alias' address to log in to an account (just switch to the correct one).

Check your account recent activity page for more details, and see HowtoFixMsn.

"Error during Passport authentication: wsse:FailedAuthentication (Authentication Failure)"

This error almost always means that the password is incorrect.

"BitlBee - Received offline message. BitlBee can't show these"

You'll have to use a different client to fetch those messages (pidgin, amsn, emesene, etc)

The reason this message is shown is because the relevant code isn't implemented in bitlbee yet. Patches welcome

Server side support of offline messages has been disabled - if you actually get this message, let us know in #bitlbee!

A groupchat opens for individual conversations

MSN groupchats are weird. Your bitlbee is confused.

(known bug)

A note about outlook.com

Outlook.com is the new hotmail.com / msn.com / live.com. Some useful stuff you can do with it:

Log in with any account previously registered with passport.net (yes, you can use anyusername@anydomain.example.com and get an empty email inbox)
Set account aliases, which are other email addreses that point to the same microsoft account.
Register new accounts that can be used with msn and skype.
Use aliases to rename the registered accounts to any existing email address.
View the "recent activity" of the account - mostly successful/failed logins, and security challenges.
A few other neat security related features (two step auth, security codes, mobile authenticator app, etc)