Course Copy - Security parameters for the external tool <name> need to be set - What does this mean?

Jump to solution
WillGHampton
Community Explorer

I am an Canvas Administrator. When copying a course, what does the "Security parameters for external tool <name> need to be set" mean? I am having difficulty finding "Security parameters" in course settings. Is this instead referring to Settings->Apps->View External App Configurations?

These warnings are happening when copying courses with free tools that are installed at the course level. Is this message attempting to tell the person copying the course that a new course-level tool has been installed and to review the configuration?

Is there a way to prepare a course to be copied with similar external tools that will not give a warning like this?

Thank you

Labels (1)
0 Likes
1 Solution
greydon
Instructure
Instructure

Hello @WillGHampton 

Thank you for contacting the Canvas Community. We're sorry to hear you've been experiencing issues with importing LTIs from course to course.

This is likely related to the key or shared secret.

That error message shows up when either the key or secret is set to "fake". Here's the relevant portion of the source code: canvas-lms/context_external_tool_importer.rb​. Lines 20-22 do the check for "fake" and give the warning if it's "fake", but the real story is in lines 48 and 49. They set the value to 'fake' when not provided. This part of the code is handling an import from a migration. Was the course you imported these from done through a course copy or was it part of a migration from another LMS or possibly from a file?

It essentially is looking for something, even if it's anything, to be put into those consumer key and shared secret fields.  Backing up that assertion is the last line of How do I add an external app in a course? says (emphasis mine😞 "However, any app used by a vendor will require a key and secret provided by the vendor and need to be configured ..." The API documentation says the consumer key and shared secret are required fields. You can try entering some text in those boxes, even anything like "12345" or "none" and it should help with the error  you are  receiving. Hopefully this helps!

If after all that you still are  getting the error, it would be best if you contacted Canvas Support directly to pinpoint the source of the issue and provide a resolution:

https://community.canvaslms.com/t5/Canvas-Basics-Guide/How-do-I-contact-Canvas-Support/ta-p/389767  

View solution in original post