Send instant messages from ALM

This task describes how to send Microsoft Teams messages to users associated with a specific ALM entity. For example, users working on the same defect, test, or a requirement.

Prerequisites

Before sending Teams chat, complete the following configuration tasks:

Microsoft Azure App Service configurations

Complete the following tasks in Microsoft Azure App Service:

  1. Create your application in Microsoft Azure App Service.

  2. Open the application. In the Authentication tab, Mobile and desktop applications section, add the following redirect URI:

    https://login.microsoftonline.com/common/oauth2/nativeclient

  3. In the API permissions tab, add the following permissions of the Microsoft Graph API:

    • Chat.Create

    • Chat.Read

    • Chat.ReadBasic

    • Chat.ReadWrite

    • ChatMember.Read

    • ChatMessage.Send

    • offline_access

    • Presence.Read

    • Presence.Read.All

    • Team.ReadBasic.All

    • User.Read

    • User.ReadBasic.All

    Note: By granting these permissions, you are consenting that all data, including chat messages, user properties, and organization information, is transmitted to Microsoft Azure using the Microsoft Graph API. None of the data is stored in the ALM server.

  4. Click the Grant admin consent for <your tenant name> button.

For details about creating and configuring applications, refer to the Microsoft Azure App Service documentation.

ALM Site Administration configurations

Complete the following tasks in ALM Site Administration:

Set site parameters

Set the following site parameters:

  • Set ENABLE_TEAMS_INTEGRATION to Y.

  • Set TEAMS_APP_CLIENT_ID to the Application (client) ID of your application.

  • Set TEAMS_APP_TENANT_ID to the Directory (tenant) ID of your application.

For information about your application's client ID and tenant ID, go to the Overview tab of your application in Microsoft Azure App Service.

For details on setting site parameters, see Set configuration parameters.
Define ALM account email Both message senders and receivers must have their email addresses defined in their ALM accounts. For details on setting up users, see Set user properties.

Add URLs in your firewall

If your organization is secured with a firewall or proxy server, add the following URLs to the allow list to ensure that the ALM client can access the Microsoft Teams resources:

  • https://aadcdn.msftauth.net

  • https://login.microsoftonline.com/

  • https://graph.microsoft.com/

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Send Teams message

From an entity's form, you can send the entity's link as a Microsoft Teams message to a user.

To send a Microsoft Teams message from an entity form:

  1. Open the entity form.

  2. Locate the user field where the user you want to chat with is defined.

  3. Click the Microsoft Teams presence indicator on the left side of the user's name.

    The indicator is gray and does not reflect the user's real-time Teams status until you sign in to Microsoft Teams with your ALM account's email address. The Teams status is synchronized every 10 seconds.

    If this is the first time you are clicking the indicator in the current ALM session, the Microsoft login window opens and prompts you to log in to Microsoft.

    For ALM 17.0.1 and later

    A message is automatically sent to the user in Teams, without opening Teams. The message includes the entity's link and general information, such as name, ID, and summary.

    If you click the Teams indicator when creating an entity, the message is not sent.
    For ALM 17.0

    The Teams chat window with the user opens, with a message that includes the entity's link and general information waiting to be sent. Click the Send button. The message becomes a link.

    If you click the Teams indicator when creating an entity, the message is not displayed in the chat window.

    Known issue:

    Due to the API changes in Microsoft Teams, the entity's link is displayed in plain text. To open the entity in ALM, do either of the following:

    • Copy the entity address (enclosed in the parentheses) and paste it into your browser.

    • Delete the closing parenthesis ")" at the end of the message and manually add a closing parenthesis. The plain text becomes a clickable link.

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See also: