Push Notifications addon

This addon adds Push Notifications capabilities to eXo mobile applications.

Installation

At the root of your eXo Platform distribution, execute:

./addon install exo-push-notifications

Configuration

Firebase

This addon relies on Firebase to manage Push Notifications, so you must first create the Firebase project:

• go to the Firebase console

• login with your Google account

• click on Add Project

• give a name to your project and click on Create Project

You should now be redirected to the Firebase console, where you can create Android and iOS apps.

Android

In order to push mobile notifications to the eXo Android app, follow these steps:

• click on Add Firebase to your Android app

• set the Android package name to org.exoplatform, and optionally set an app nickname

• click on Register App

• click on Continue, then Finish

iOS

• Go to the Firebase console.

• In the center of the project overview page, click the iOS icon to launch the setup workflow.

• If you’ve already added an app to your Firebase project, click Add app to display the platform options.

• Enter your app’s bundle ID in the iOS bundle ID field. (Make sure to enter the ID your app is actually using.)

• (Optional) Enter other app information: App nickname and App Store ID.

• Click Register app.

For more information, check https://firebase.google.com/docs/ios/setup === API enabling

The Firebase Cloud Messaging API must be enabled in order to be able to use it:

• go to the Google Developer console

• select your Firebase project

• click on Enable APIs and Services

• search for "firebase cloud messaging"

• click on the item Firbase Cloud Messaging API

• click on Enable

eXo Platform

eXo Platform needs to know which Firebase project to send notifications to and with which credentials:

• in the Firebase console, go to the Settings of your Android app

• go to Service Accounts

• click on Generate New Private Key

• save the JSON file in the file gatein/conf/fcm.json of your eXo Platform instance (this is the default location for this file, but it can be changed via the parameter exo.push.fcm.serviceAccountFilePath in exo.properties)

The following options can also be configured in exo.properties:

• exo.push.fcm.message.expirationTime : how long (in seconds) the message should be kept in FCM storage if the device is offline - defaults to the default value of FCM

• exo.messaging.token.expirationTime : how long (in seconds) an inactive token is kept in the database before being deleted

• exo.notification.portalname : title of the push notifications (also used for mail notifications)

Usage

You can now start your eXo Platform instance. Once started:

• login with any user

• go to your Notifications settings page (User Menu > My Notifications).

• enable any type of notification you want to receive on your mobile

Once done, login with the eXo mobile application and start using it. You should now receive push notifications.

eXo Platform Compatibility

Addon Version	eXo Platform Version
1.0.x	4.4.0+

How to test without the eXo mobile app ?

In order to test push notifications without the eXo mobile app, Firebase provides a sample mobile application which allows to display them. You can run it with Android Studio.

Once launched:

• the sample application should open:

• click on the button Log Token. It will display a token on the screen and in the logs in Android Studio.

• copy this token

• call the REST service to register the device in eXo:

curl \
    -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
    --user root:gtn \
    -X POST -d '{"token": "<my-token>", "username": "<my-username>", "type": "android"}' \
    http://localhost:8080/rest/private/v1/messaging/device

The token is now registered in the database. You can start receiving push notifications on the sample Firebase mobile app:

You can use the Google Developer console to monitor the notifications sent.