Notification and Transport Configuration

Last modified 23 Sep 2023 19:10 +02:00
Table of Contents

This document shows Notification and Transport configuration for version 4.5 and later.

For versions 4.4 and before use this Configuration guide instead.

For a basic introduction to notifications, please see this general overview.

Here we describe detailed information on how to configure the notifications as a system administrator.

Notification and transport configuration is specified with notificationConfiguration and messageTransportConfiguration containers inside System Configuration Object.

Configuring transports

In 4.5 the new container for transport configuration was introduced - messageTransportConfiguration. You can still place the transport configuration inside notificationConfiguration but that style will be eventually deprecated, depending on the GUI support for the new configuration style.

There is just one notable difference in both styles. The "old" style supports name attribute to distinguish between multiple transports of the same type - while the new style uses name element which is more idiomatic for midPoint configuration.

Currently, there are a couple of transports available: mail, sms, custom and file.

They have to be configured to work properly. For the time being, here we show a sample configuration, hopefully self-explanatory enough:

<mail>
    <!-- There can be more servers if necessary; they are tried in the specified order. -->
    <server>
        <host>smtp.gmail.com</host>
        <!--
        Specify port: 25, 587 (e.g. MS Exchange and TLS) or other based on your mail server.
        You can skip the port definition altogether to use default (25).
        -->
        <port>587</port>
        <username>abc@gmail.com</username>
        <password>
            <clearValue>abcdef</clearValue>
        </password>
        <!-- Other transportSecurity options: none, starttlsEnabled, starttlsRequired -->
        <transportSecurity>starttlsRequired</transportSecurity>
    </server>

    <server> <!-- Second server -->
       . . .
    </server>
    <server> <!-- Third server -->
       . . .
    </server>

    <defaultFrom>abc@gmail.com</defaultFrom>
    <!-- standard javax.mail debugging; it is going to stdout (midpoint.out)! -->
    <debug>true</debug>
    <!--
    All notifications are logged to this file IN ADDITION TO sending them via mail.
    They are logged in all cases: even if they eventually cannot be sent.
    -->
    <logToFile>mail-notifications.log</logToFile>
</mail>

Ensure your SMTP server will accept multiple connection (message rate limit) as midPoint notifications are being sent as the objects are created, e.g. one user can have 15 accounts or one organization 40 entitlements created at the same time. This is especially important for Microsoft Exchange, where the default limit seems to be very low (5 connections per minute).

Also please note that SSL-related settings for mail messaging are currently experimental (e.g. there is no support for setting certificate validation-related properties; default behavior of javax.mail implementation is used). You may also need to store the mail server self-signed SSL certificate in your Java "cacerts" keystore.

For Microsoft Exchange, we’ve successfully tested the configuration with port=587, transportSecurity=starttlsRequired and a valid username/password combination.

In previous versions of midPoint, there could be only one configuration of the mail transport. Since 4.5, when using the modern configuration style in messageTransportConfiguration container, multiple mail transports can be used. They are then distinguished by their name, for example:

<notificationConfiguration>
    <handler>
        <simpleFocalObjectNotifier>
            <transport>main</transport>
        </simpleFocalObjectNotifier>
        <simpleResourceObjectNotifier>
            <transport>accounts</transport>
        </simpleResourceObjectNotifier>
    </handler>
</notificationConfiguration>
<messageTransportConfiguration>
    <mail>
        <name>main</name>
        <!-- ... -->
    </mail>
    <mail>
        <name>accounts</name>
        <!-- ... -->
    </mail>
</messageTransportConfiguration>

The same way of naming individual transports can be used for all transport kinds (sms, custom, file).

"File" transport

This transport can be used to diagnose notifications. It works in a similar way as "redirectToFile" option, but:

  1. can be used when you want to send messages both via mail/sms and log them into a file,

  2. can be used selectively for some classes of notifications, and not for others.

An example:

<notificationConfiguration>
    <handler>
        <simpleUserNotifier>
            ...
            <transport>mail</transport>
            <transport>users</transport>
        </simpleUserNotifier>
        <simpleWorkflowNotifier>
            ...
            <transport>mail</transport>
            <transport>file</transport>
        </simpleWorkflowNotifier>
        <simpleCampaignNotifier>
            ...
            <transport>mail</transport>
            <transport>file</transport>
        </simpleCampaignNotifier>
        ...
    </handler>
    ...
</notificationConfiguration>
<messageTransportConfiguration>
    <file>
        <name>users</name>
        <file>notifications-users.txt</file>
    </file>
    <file>
        <name>file</name>
        <file>notifications-other.txt</file>
    </file>
    <mail>
        <name>mail</name>
        ...
    </mail>
</messageTransportConfiguration>

"SMS" transport

SMS transport assumes the existence of HTTP-based SMS gateway. The administrator basically configures how to construct the HTTP request to send the SMS.

Some examples:

<!-- there can be more SMS configurations, distinguished by their name -->
<sms>
    <name>method1</name>
    <!-- there can be one or more gateways; if one fails, the next one is tried -->
    <gateway>
        <urlExpression>
            <script>
                <code>"https://my-sms-gateway.com/send?number=" + encodedTo + "&amp;text=" + encodedMessageText</code>
            </script>
        </urlExpression>
    </gateway>
</sms>

<sms>
    <name>with-post</name>
    <gateway>
        <method>post</method>
        <urlExpression>
            <value>https://gw.com/send</value>
        </urlExpression>
        <headersExpression>
            <value>Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded</value>
            <value>X-Custom: test</value>
        </headersExpression>
        <bodyExpression>
            <script>
                <code>"Body=\"$encodedMessageText\"&amp;To=$encodedTo&amp;From=$encodedFrom".toString()</code>
            </script>
        </bodyExpression>
        <username>a9038321</username>
        <password>5ecr3t</password>
        <!-- Logs messages to a file IN ADDITION TO being sent via gateway. Useful for debugging. -->
        <logToFile>target/sms.log</logToFile>
    </gateway>
</sms>

<sms>
    <name>test</name>
    <!--
    When used, logs all notifications to a file INSTEAD OF sending them via gateway;
    this element can be used also within definition of a gateway - in that case the
    computed URL is logged as well.
    -->
    <redirectToFile>sms-notifications.log</redirectToFile>
</sms>

The following items can be configured for a gateway:

Item Description Note

method

Which HTTP method is used to send SMS. Currently, "get" and "post" are supported. If not specified, "get" is assumed.

since 3.7.1

urlExpression

Expression that returns URL used to send SMS.

since 3.7.1 (up to 3.7, this item was called url)

headersExpression

Expression that returns HTTP request headers. The expression should return 0, 1 or more string values that will be used as request HTTP headers. Each value is in the form of "name: value", i.e. a header name followed by colon, space and a header value. If one header has to have more values, such name-value pair should be present more times for the given header name.

since 3.7.1

bodyExpression

Expression that returns request body used to send SMS (as a string).

since 3.7.1

bodyEncoding

Encoding to be used for the message body. ISO 8859-1 is the default. Note that if you use any other encoding, your responsibility is to provide appropriate Content-Type header (see headersExpression item). This requirement might change in the future.

since 3.7.1

username, password

How to authenticate to the SMS gateway.

since 3.7.1

redirectToFile

Instead of opening HTTP connection, writes the URL and other parameters to this file. Useful for debugging.

+

logToFile

In addition to executing the expression, writes all messages to a file. Useful for debugging.

since 3.7.1

Expressions specified in urlExpression (url), headersExpression, bodyExpression can use the following variables:

Variable Meaning

from

The message sender: Either message.from, smsConfiguration.defaultFrom or an empty string (in that order).

to

List of message recipients.

messageText

Message text (body).

encodedFrom

URL-encoded version of the from variable.

encodedTo

URL-encoded version of the to variable.

encodedMessageText

URL-encoded version of the messageText variable.

message

The whole message (com.evolveum.midpoint.notifications.api.transports.Message).

Configuring notifiers

generalNotifier

It can accept any event and produce any notification(s). All is directed by parameters and expressions, as described in the following table. Please note that the following parameters can be used in any kind of notifier.

Parameter name Type Cardinality Meaning

name (attribute)

String

0..1

Name of the notifier - just a help to the administrator in order to increase readability of the configuration.

description

String

0..1

Description of the notifier - also just a help to the admin.

recipientExpression

ExpressionType

0..1

Recipient(s) that should get the notifications. (TODO: Exact form is to be determined yet, but here may be mail addresses, phone numbers, etc. We need to think how to distinguish these kinds of destinations.) Default: mail address of the requestee - user that is being dealt with by repository object change or within a workflow; or account owner.

ccExpression

ExpressionType

0..1

Recipient(s) that should get the notifications (as Cc). Only for mail transport.

bccExpression

ExpressionType

0..1

Recipient(s) that should get the notifications (as Bcc). Only for mail transport.

subjectExpression

ExpressionType

0..1

How to construct the subject of the message that is to be sent.

subjectPrefix

String

0..1

Simpler alternative to subjectExpression: the subject itself will be constructed by the notifier (applicable to concrete kinds of notifiers, like e.g. userPasswordNotifier), but it will be prefixed by value specified here.

bodyExpression

ExpressionType

0..1

How to construct the body (text) of the message that is to be sent.

watchAuxiliaryAttributes

Boolean

0..1

Whether to send a notification when only auxiliary attributes (namely: validityStatus, validityChangeTimestamp, effectiveStatus, disableTimestamp, modifyChannel, modifyTimestamp, modifierRef and maybe others) are modified. Default value: false. This setting also influences the list of modifications that is shown within the notification when using simpleUserNotifier and simplePasswordNotifier - if set to false, modifications of auxiliary attributes are not listed among account/user modifications.

showModifiedValues

Boolean

0..1

Whether to show modified values (or only names of changed attributes). Default: true. (NOT IMPLEMENTED YET. THE NAME MIGHT CHANGE.) Applies to concrete notifiers, not to the general one.

showTechnicalInformation

Boolean

0..1

Whether to show technical information (e.g. model context or account operation details) in the notification. Applies to concrete notifiers, not to the general one.

transport

String

0..N

To what transport(s) should the message be sent.

An example:

TODO

simpleUserNotifier

Sends out a notification about the change of a user. It has no special parameters in addition to parameters of a general notifier.

simpleResourceObjectNotifier

Sends out a notification about the change of a resource object.It has one parameter:

Parameter name Type Cardinality Description

watchSynchronizationAttributes

Boolean

0..1

Whether to send a notification when only auxiliary attributes related to synchronization situation (synchronizationSituationDescription, synchronizationSituation) are modified. Default: false.

userPasswordNotifier, accountPasswordNotifier

Send a notification when a user/account password is generated or changed. No special parameters.

workflowNotifier

Send a notification when a process instance or work item is started or completed. No special parameters.

Configuring filters

category filter

Passes events that are of one of the specified categories. There are the following categories available:

Category name Expression Description

userEvent

event.isUserRelated()

Event connected to a user object in repository.

resourceObjectEvent

event.isAccountRelated() (TODO: change this in code and in docs)

Event connected to an object on a resource.

workItemEvent

event.isWorkItemRelated()

Start/completion of a work item.

workflowProcessEvent

event.isWorkflowProcessRelated()

Start/completion of a workflow process instance.

workflowEvent

event.isWorkflowRelated()

workItemEvent or workflowProcessEvent

(Expressions are used in scripts connected to event processing, see below.)

An example:

<category>userEvent</category>

status filter

Passes events that can be described by one of specified status descriptions. This has a slightly different meaning depending on the event category:

Name Expression Meaning for user events Meaning for account events Meaning for workflow events****

success

event.isSuccess()

All modifications were carried out successfully.*

The operation was successful.

The request was approved.

alsoSuccess

event.isAlsoSuccess()

At least one modification was carried out successfully.*

onlyFailure

event.isOnlyFailure()

All modifications failed.**

The operation was unsuccessful.

The request was denied.

failure

event.isFailure()

At least one modification failed.**

inProgress

event.isInProgress()

At least one modification is in progress.***

The operation is in progress.

The result of request is not known.

(*) The result is either SUCCESS, WARNING, or NOT_APPLICABLE.

(**) The result is either FATAL_ERROR, PARTIAL_ERROR or NOT_APPLICABLE.

(***) The result is IN_PROGRESS.

Please note that we take into account only user (i.e. focus) modifications, not modifications of user’s accounts.

(****) Alternatively, it is possible to use the following expressions for workflow events: event.isApproved(), event.isRejected(), event.isResultKnown().

operation filter

Filters events based on operation that was executed (or attempted to execute).

Name Expression Description for user and account events. Description for workflow events.

add

event.isAdd()

User/account is created.

Work item or process instance is started.

modify

event.isModify()

User/account is modified.

N/A

delete

event.isDelete()

User/account is deleted.

Work item or process instance has been competed.

expression filter

Passes events based on arbitrary expression. Some examples:

<!-- passes 'new account' events requested by user named "security-admin" -->
<expressionFilter>
    <script><code>event.isAccountRelated() &amp;&amp; event.isAdd() &amp;&amp; "security-admin".equals(requester?.getName()?.getOrig())</code></script>
</expressionFilter>

Expressions

Any expressions supported by midPoint can be used.

Variables that are available are:

Name Type Description

event

com.evolveum.midpoint.notifications.events.Event

The event that is being processed.

requester

UserType

The user who requested the operation (if known).

requestee

ObjectType

The object (typically a user) that is modified by the operation, or the owner of an account that is modified by the operation (if known).

assignee

UserType

The user who is assigned the work item (only for WorkItemEvent).

transportName

String

Name of transport (e.g. "mail", "sms", etc.). Available in expressions for getting recipient(s), message subject and body. Not available in expressionFilters.

Troubleshooting configuration

If the configuration doesn’t do what is expected, or seemingly does nothing at all, it may be the right time to add some debug log messages for notifications and transport components. In the System Configuration, add the logers for NOTIFICATION and TRANSPORT (predefined LoggingComponentType-s) and set them to the DEBUG level. This should provide additional information if the notification is skipped and why.

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