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Setting up the Connections app for the Microsoft Teams client

This task involves packaging and installing the Connections app inside Microsoft Teams.

Make sure you've configured an Azure app to support the Microsoft Teams app.

  1. Clone or download the connections-samples repo:https://github.com/HCL-TECH-SOFTWARE/connections-samples/.

  2. Open the App Manifests folder: https://github.com/HCL-TECH-SOFTWARE/connections-samples/tree/main/customizer/samples/microsoft-teams/App%20Manifests/ and locate the file manifest.json.

  3. Edit the manifest.json file as follows (more details in the README in the App Manifests folder above):

    1. Replace %Connections\_Hostname%​​​​​​​​ with the hostname and domain of your Connections server.

    2. Replace %Connections\_AzureApplicationId%​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ with the Azure Application ID (Bot ID) of your recently created Connections Azure application.

    3. Make any other desired changes to manifest.

  4. Package the Microsoft Teams app.

    The files can be zipped up using your favorite archive utility. Just ensure that there are no folders contained within the zip files. All files should be at the root level of the archive.

    If you are using a terminal on a Mac or Linux, use something similar to the following:

    zip ConnectionsTeamsApp.zip *

  5. Install in Teams:

    1. Open the Microsoft Teams admin center and login as an admin user: https://admin.teams.microsoft.com/
    2. Open Teams Apps -> Manage Apps from the navigation sidebar pane.

    3. Click Upload an app at the top of the page.

    4. Upload the zip file containing the manifest.json from step 2.

    5. Follow the link to manage your newly created app and verify the information on the About tab.

    6. Open the Permissions tab. From here, an admin can choose to accept the application permissions for all users.

  6. Add the app to a Teams channel or chat:

    1. From your Teams UI, open the Teams app store. You may be be able to click on the Built for <your org name> section of the app store to view the installed apps.

    2. Find your newly created Connections Azure application. If the application is not showing, type the app name into the search bar.

    3. Then click Select and select to add the app to either a team or chat.

    4. Enter the team channel or chat that you want to add the app to and click Set up to enable both the Tab app and Messaging Extension app. You can also select either Set up a tab or Set up a bot from the Set up list to add each component individually.

      Note: The Set up a bot action is required for the messaging extension component to work in a team or chat.

      The following information may also be useful for reference when working with Microsoft Teams application manifests:

Teams App Overview and Prereqs: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/build-your-first-app/build-first-app-overview

Manifest Schema: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/resources/schema/manifest-schema

Localization File JSON Schema: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/resources/schema/localization-schema

Create an App Package for your Microsoft Teams App: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoftteams/platform/concepts/build-and-test/apps-package

Publish a Custom App by Uploading an App Package: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/MicrosoftTeams/upload-custom-apps

What to do next

Deploy the microservices and configure IBM HTTP Server for Teams. See the "Set up Microsoft Teams integration" section in Steps to install or upgrade to Component Pack 8 CR1.