Evoko Get A Room App – Biamp | Evoko Support

With the Evoko Get A Room app, working on the go is super easy! Book, share and invite colleagues to the meeting too. With easy to use filters like time, capacity & equipment, you’ll see best matches first, along with suggestions if your preferred room isn’t available. Quick and simple. Efficiency at it’s best!

To use the Get A Room App you need to setup the server component we call the "Appconnector". The Appconnector is written as a separate Node.js application from Evoko Home and runs on it's own dedicated port. To communicate with Evoko Home it utilizes the Evoko Home API to relay requests made by users in the app.

Since the Appconnector is separate from Evoko Home you get to decide if you want it installed on the same server as Evoko Home or on a separate server.

Install the Evoko Get A Room Appconnector on Windows
Install the Evoko Get A Room Appconnector on Linux
How do I use the Evoko Get A Room App?

Install the Get A Room Appconnector on Windows

Windows server prerequisites

A server running Windows server 2008 R2 (or later).
A free and accessible application port (default 8443).
A domain name (e.g. server.domain.tld).
An SSL/TLS certificate issued by a globally trusted certificate authority for the used domain.
Access to the Evoko Home server running v2.X on the application port (default 3000 / 3002).
Access to an SMTP server that can be used by the Appconnector to send authentication emails to all Get A Room App users.

Important note on certificates and domains!
The Get A Room App will not connect to the Appconnector if

using the server IP address as the host name
using a self-signed SSL/TLS certificate
using a non-trusted CA.

The Appconnector server needs to be accessible using a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) over HTTPS with a valid certificate (chain) signed by a globally trusted certificate authority for the Get A Room App to connect.

Windows installation steps

Download the latest version of Get A Room Appconnector for Windows to the server.
Run the executable evoko-getaroom-appconnector-v2.x.y.exe.
Select where to install.
Install the Appconnector as a service so it will run in the background and start automatically.
Once complete, press "Finish" and open the configuration file.

Edit the configuration file (C:\ProgramData\Evoko\config.toml) according to your environment and then save. See below table for more details.

[evokohome]
# If Evoko Home is installed on another host, replace localhost with
# the address of your Evoko Home installation. Note that you may
# need to change the protocol as well: use "wss://" for encrypted
# and "ws://" for unencrypted communication.
uri = "ws://localhost:3000/websocket"

# Replace email/pass with a valid admin user in Evoko Home
email = "evoko-home-admin@domain.tld"
password = "evoko-home-admin-password"

[appconnector]
# Replace with your external hostname
domain = "server.domain.tld"

# Appconnector server port
port = 8443

[overview]
# Overview server port
port = 4000

[ssl]
# Path to private key and certificate. These are required to enable
# encrypted HTTP (HTTPS). If left empty (default) an attempt is made
# to locate and use the certificates of Evoko Home on the same host.
# If no usable certificates was found, overview and get-a-room will
# fall back to using unencrypted HTTP, which is not recommended for
# real use.
key = "C:\path\to\private.key"
cert = "C:\path\to\public.crt"

[smtp]
# The adress used in the from field in sent emails
from = "Service account <service-account@domain.tld>"
host = "smtp.office365.com"
port = 587
# ssl = true
tls = true
user = "service-account@domain.tld"
password = "o365-password"
# timeout = 5000
# domain = "evoko.test.org"
# authentication = ["PLAIN", "LOGIN", "CRAM-MD5", "XOAUTH2"]

Value	Description
`uri`	URL for the Evoko Home server. Use `"ws://localhost:3000/websocket"` if Evoko Home runs on the same host. Use `"wss://evokohomeserver.tld:3002/websocket"` if Evoko Home runs on another host.
`email`	Email address of an Evoko Home admin account to use for API authentication.
`password`	Password for the Evoko Home admin account.
`domain`	The Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) pointing to the Appconnector server.
`port`	The Appconnector listen port (default `8443`).
`key`	Path to SSL/TLS key. Both `.pem` and `.key` formats are valid. If left empty the Appconnector will check for a key in the default Evoko Home install folder `C:\Program Files\EVOKO\EvokoHome\liso_files\certificates\server.key`.
`cert`	Path to SSL/TLS certificate. Both `.pem` and `.crt` format should be accepted. If left empty the Appconnector will check for a certificate in the default Evoko Home install folder `C:\Program Files\EVOKO\EvokoHome\liso_files\certificates\server.crt`. For compatibility make sure the public certificate file includes the full certificate chain.
`[smtp]`	Uncomment the lines for the relevant SMTP settings and add the credentials which applies for the SMTP server you wish to use.

Tip! If copying the password from the credentials email sent by Evoko Home, make sure not to include the period at the end. If unsure, please verify the credentials by logging on to Evoko Home.

Next, open services.msc to check the status of the Appconnector service.
Look for a service named Evoko App Connector and make sure it's running.
If there are no errors in the configuration nor any firewall blocking you should be able to access the Appconnector via a web browser (e.g. https://server.domain.tld:8443/) and see the following:
```
{"code":"UnauthorizedError","message":""}
```

Install the Get A Room Appconnector on Linux

Linux server prerequisites

A server running a Debian based distribution (Ubuntu Server 18.04 LTS recommended).
A user with sudo permission.
Internet access during installation to download dependencies.
Node.js (v8.x) (already installed with Evoko Home if using the same server).
A free and accessible application port (default 8443).
A domain name (e.g. server.domain.tld).
An SSL/TLS certificate issued by a globally trusted certificate authority for the used domain.
Access to the Evoko Home server running v2.X on the application port (default 3000 / 3002).
Access to an SMTP server that can be used by the Appconnector to send authentication emails to all Get A Room App users.

Important note on certificates and domains!
The Get A Room App will not connect to an Appconnector if using the server IP address as the host name, using a self-signed SSL/TLS certificate or using a non-trusted CA. The Appconnector server needs to be accessible using a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) over HTTPS with a valid certificate (chain) signed by a globally trusted certificate authority for the Get A Room App to connect.

Linux installation steps

Download the latest version of the Get A Room Appconnector for Linux to the server.
Make sure that Node.js and npm is installed, you can do this by checking the version:
```
nodejs -v && npm -v
```
If not, then you can install Node.js/npm using the below command:
```
curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_8.x | sudo -E bash -
sudo apt install -y nodejs
```
Install the Appconnector using npm with the below command:
```
sudo npm install -g evoko-getaroom-appconnector-v2.*.tgz
```
Once the installation is finished, to test that it was successful and to view available commands run:
```
appconnector --help
```
To proceed, generate a configuration file using:
```
sudo appconnector config
```
Note! The Overview Screen server and Get A Room Appconnector share the same configuration file so no need to run the above command if you already have a configuration file generated.
Open the configuration file with a text editor (we're going to use nano):
```
sudo nano /etc/evoko/config.toml
```

Edit the configuration file according to your environment and save (ctrl + x > y > enter).

[evokohome]
# If Evoko Home is installed on another host, replace localhost with
# the address of your Evoko Home installation. Note that you may
# need to change the protocol as well: use "wss://" for encrypted
# and "ws://" for unencrypted communication.
uri = "ws://localhost:3000/websocket"

# Replace email/pass with a valid admin user in Evoko Home
email = "evoko-home-admin@domain.tld"
password = "evoko-home-admin-password"

[appconnector]
# Replace with your external hostname
domain = "server.domain.tld"

# Appconnector server port
port = 8443

[overview]
# Overview server port
port = 4000

[ssl]
# Path to private key and certificate. These are required to enable
# encrypted HTTP (HTTPS). If left empty (default) an attempt is made
# to locate and use the certificates of Evoko Home on the same host.
# If no usable certificates was found, overview and get-a-room will
# fall back to using unencrypted HTTP, which is not recommended for
# real use.
key = "/path/to/private.key"
cert = "/path/to/public.crt"

[smtp]
# The adress used in the from field in sent emails
from = "Service account <service-account@domain.tld>"
host = "smtp.office365.com"
port = 587
# ssl = true
tls = true
user = "service-account@domain.tld"
password = "o365-password"
# timeout = 5000
# domain = "evoko.test.org"
# authentication = ["PLAIN", "LOGIN", "CRAM-MD5", "XOAUTH2"]

Value	Description
`uri`	URL for the Evoko Home server. Use `"ws://localhost:3000/websocket"` if Evoko Home runs on the same host. Use `"wss://evokohomeserver.tld:3002/websocket"` if Evoko Home runs on another host.
`email`	Email for an Evoko Home admin account to use for API authentication.
`password`	Password for the Evoko Home admin account.
`domain`	The Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) pointing to the Appconnector server.
`port`	The Appconnector listen port (default `8443`).
`key`	Path to SSL/TLS key, both `.pem` and `.key` format should be accepted. If left empty the Appconnector will check for key in the default Evoko Home install folder `/home/$USER/Evoko Home/liso_files//certificates/server.key`.
`cert`	Path to SSL/TLS certificate, both `.pem` and `.crt` format should be accepted. If left empty the Appconnector will check for certificate in the default Evoko Home install folder `/home/$USER/Evoko Home/liso_files//certificates/server.crt`. For compatibility make sure the public certificate file includes the full certificate chain.
`[smtp]`	Uncomment the lines for the relevant SMTP settings and add the credentials which applies for the SMTP server you wish to use.

To make sure the configuration checks out, temporarily start the overview server by running:

sudo appconnector start

If started successfully you should get a similar output to below:

 * Loading config from /etc/evoko/config.toml: OK
 * Opening database: OK
 * Initializing Evoko Home client (ws://localhost:3000/websocket): OK
Found Evoko Home certificates in /home/$USER/Evoko Home/liso_files/certificates
 - REST server listening at https://[::]:8443

If successful you should also be able to access the Appconnector via a web browser (e.g. https://server.domain.tld:8443/) and see the following:

{"code":"UnauthorizedError","message":""}

Press Ctrl + C in the shell once done with the temporary test to stop the Appconnector.
We want the Appconnector to run as a service so it will continue running even after we close our shell, we can accomplish this using systemd by running:
```
sudo appconnector install
```

Enable the Get A Room Appconnector to start on boot and start it by running:

sudo systemctl enable evoko-appconnector && sudo systemctl start evoko-appconnector

Now that the installation is finished you may remove the installation package:
```
sudo rm evoko-getaroom-appconnector-v2.*.tgz
```

How do I use the Evoko Get A Room App?

Connect the Get A Room App to your Appconnector

The setup process for the app is simple and the same for both iOS and Android. The app can be downloaded for iOS on the Apple App Store and Android on the Google Play store.

When you open up the Get A Room App for the first time you will be prompted to enter some credentials in order to connect the App to your Appconnector which in turn connects to your Evoko Home server.

email - (e.g. bob.andersson@domain.tld) for your user in Evoko Home.
hostname - (e.g. server.domain.tld) enter the domain for your Appconnector.
port - (default 8443) enter the port for your Appconnector.

If you're able to connect the App successfully to your Appconnector you should get a prompt to authenticate and a timer counting down from 10 minutes to let you know how long the email is valid.

An email should have been generated by your Appconnector and sent using your SMTP server. Open up the email in your email client and and press "Activate".

If successful you should be forwarded to a web page displaying the below message.

Now after a few seconds when you navigate back to the App it should be activated and ready to use! 🎉

Set a home base (Optional)

If you have a lot of rooms in different locations then you might get a lot of irrelevant meeting room results when searching. To address this you can set a "home base" to narrow down the scope of your meeting room searches based on your room structures (Country/City/Building/Floor) setup in Evoko Home.

To configure your home base press the settings icon in the top right corner and press Set home base, then select the structure you wish to apply to your search scope (you can reconfigure this any time you want).

Note! For a room to show up in the App there needs to be an online Liso attached to the room.

Success! Now that we've gone through the setup you've hopefully learned a thing or two how it works. If you wish to leave feedback then we suggest you do so by submitting a request.