Configuring ChatOps

Review the following sections to set up the ChatOps integration. After you complete the entire set up, click Activate bot to enable the chat feature for use in SBM Work Center.

Connecting to the ChatOps Server

In the ChatOps Server section, enable the ChatOps integration and enter connection information for your ChatOps communication server.

If you configured ChatOps in SBM Configurator, enter the connection information for your SBM server that hosts the ChatOps component.
  1. Select the check box to enable the ChatOps integration. This displays the Open Chat option to the Actions menu of an item in Work Center. Clear this check box to disable the chat feature in Work Center.
  2. Enter the Host name and Port number of your ChatOps server.
  3. Enter the ChatOps REST API user and REST API user password. You must enter the user name and password of a ChatOps account that can connect via the REST API. The REST API user is a ChatOps account; it is not an SBM user account nor a Chat Server user account.
After you save the configuration, click Test Connection to verify that the ChatOps server is accessible using the suppled credentials.

Connecting to a Chat Server

In the Chat Server section, select which type of chat server you want to use with ChatOps, and then enter the server connection details for the chat server. Note that any SBM users who will use the chat feature in Work Center must also have an account in the chat server that you select.

If you configured ChatOps in SBM Configurator, select the same chat server, and then enter the same settings that you used for your chat server.

  1. Select one of the following supported Chat Servers:
    • Slack
    • Mattermost
    • Microsoft Teams
    Depending on the type of chat server you select, you may need to provide additional connection information details.
  2. Enter a name to use for the chat bot that users will interact with in chat sessions. Users can issue commands to the chat bot to perform transitions or archive a conversation in the related work item. The default name is sbm-bot.
  3. Enter the chat server Team name or workspace name. This name is used in the chat server URL. For example:
    http://chat-server/teamName/channelName

Configuring the Chat Bot

In the Bot configuration section, enter chat bot details that will be sent to ChatOps server when you activate the bot.

The configured bot is a .zip archive of JavaScript files that is located on the server that hosts SBM Common Services here: installDir\SBM\Common\Misc\chatops.
  1. Enter the Integration name. This is used in the .zip file that is sent to the ChatOps communication server. The default name is sbm.
  2. Enter the time to live (TTL) value in seconds. This is the amount of time that the bot credentials will be cached in ChatOps. The default TTL value is 1800 seconds.
  3. Select Use interactive messages to display transition buttons within the chat session. Note that use of interactive messages requires additional configuration in your chat server. If this option is not selected in SBM, the list of available transitions appears as a series of strings in the chat session.
The ChatOps integration is now configured and ready for activation. Click Activate bot to send the .zip file to ChatOps.

Click Deactivate bot to send a command to the ChatOps server that deactivates the last chat bot that was sent from SBM.

Tip: To enable the item link that appears at the beginning of a chat session, use SBM Configurator to configure Notification Server settings and provide a Web server host name under Link Settings.