Error

=ERROR REPORT==== 11-Nov-2004::18:55:27 ===
E(<0.38.0>:ejabberd_config:58): 
  Can't load config file "ejabberd.cfg": 
    {25, erl_parse, ["syntax error before: ", ["'{'"]]} 

=INFO REPORT==== 11-Nov-2004::18:55:27 ===
    application: ejabberd
    exited: "invalid return value from ejabberd_app:start(normal,[]) ->
      {'EXIT', [\"syntax error before: \",[\"'{'\"]]}"
    type: temporary

Explanation

There is a syntax error in your configuration file ejabberd.cfg. Unforunately, the error message do not provide the exact line number where the error was found. In the above example the error is before the character '{'.

Solution

Open your ejabberd.cfg and check carefully for syntax errors. In our example file:

line 1:  % Local users:
line 2:  {acl, local, {user_regexp, ""}}
line 3:  
line 4:  % Only admins can use configuration interface:
line 5:  {access, configure, [{allow, admin}]}.

As you can see, before the '{' character on line 5 there is an error: a missing '.' at the end of line 2. Correction:

line 2:  {acl, local, {user_regexp, ""}}.