Integration BigBlueButton into self hosted Canvas

[a_baisarin]

We installed Canvas from Bitnami. But there the Conference (bigbluebutton) is not enabled by default.

I tried to install BigBlueButton app from the EduAppCenter as in the picture below:

where "Config URL" is: https://www.eduappcenter.com/configurations/2z5qc8kzl02lme69.xml?launch_url=http%3A%2F%2Ftest-instal... (from EduAppCenter instructions).

"Consumer Key" and "Shared Secret" I left empty, because I could not find where to get them.

After that I opened the courses, but the "Conference" tab did not appear there, there are no hidden tab in navigation either:

I tried to insert this line

<lticm:options name="course_navigation">‍

in the application settings:

But this did not produce any results.

Please help install this tool, we need to conduct video conferencing.

[ericwerth]

Hi  @a_baisarin .  You posted some good information that hopefully will help identify the issue you are encountering.  I I thought that I would let you know that I am going to share this question with the Canvas Admins‌ and Canvas Developers‌ user groups to increase its visibility.  Hopefully someone reading the post will have some useful insight.

All the best!

[ffdixon · Accepted solution]

Hi Admin Admin,

I am product manager for BigBlueButton, the open source web conferencing system behind Canvas Conferences.  While I work at Blindside Networks and can't speak on behalf of Instructure, I can answer your question.

BigBlueButton has a native integration with Canvas -- there is no LTI configuration.  Instead, you enable Canvas Conferences from the Site.

First, go to Admin -> Plugins, and then click the gear icon for BigBlueButton.

You'll see the plugin settings for BigBlueButton.  Uncheck "Disable this Plugin" and you'll be prompted to enter the Domain and Shared Secret for your BigBlueButton server.

To quickly setup a BigBlueButton server, check out the 15 minute install script at GitHub - bigbluebutton/bbb-install: BASH script to install BigBlueButton in 15 minutes.  

The Domain is the hostname of the BigBlueButton server (such as bbb.example.com) and the Secret is obtained by using the command `bbb-conf --secret` on your BigBlueButton server, see BigBlueButton : bbb-conf .

Regards,... Fred

-

BigBlueButton Developer

(I also moonlight as the CEO of Blindside Networks)

[a_baisarin]

Hi  @ffdixon ‌,

Thank you very much for your reply.

Can I do without installing a local BigBlueButton server?
Using the BigBlueButton server.

For example, my colleagues use Moodle and integrated BigBlueButoon there, but they did not install a local server, they did everything according to the instructions.

Best regards.

[ffdixon]

Hi Admin Admin,

The Canvas integrations and Moodle integrations are different.  The Moodle integration comes with a default BigBlueButton server (test-install) that you can try out for testing.  When installing from open source, the Canvas integration does not come with a default BigBlueButton server.

Just as you need to setup your own server for Canvas, it's the same for BigBlueButton: you'll need to have the Canvas integration for BigBlueButton run your virtual classes and store your recordings on a BigBlueButton server.

Again, the bbb-install.sh script should get you going in about 15 minutes with the setup.

Regards,... Fred

[a_baisarin]

Hi  @ffdixon ‌,

Thanks for support.

I install local BBB by script with an IP address only(local address on the same network as Сanvas) and installation was successful.

Then I turned on the plugin, entering the following data there (but did not install the BBB application):

But I can't start a conference. When I click "start" or "join" then error message:

This is homepage of BBB:

What am I doing wrong?

[ffdixon]

Hi Admin Admin,

We're going to get down into the details here a bit.  

> I install local BBB by script with an IP address only(local address on the same network as Сanvas) and installation was successful.

You can setup a BigBlueButton server to only use an IP address (no SSL certificate), but I'm going to bet that Canvas expects to call the BigBlueButton server via HTTPS (which requires a valid SSL certificate configured on the server).

You actually need to configure your BigBlueButton server with a valid DNS hostname + SSL certificate to enable a browser, such as FireFox or Chrome, to send/receive web real-time communication (WebRTC) audio, video, and screen.  All browsers today will deny, for good security reasons, any web-based application loaded from an IP address access to the user's media.

The bbb-install.sh script can automate the setup of an SSL certificate via Let's Encrypt, but it requires that your server have (a) an external (publicly facing on the internet) IP address, and (b) a public DNS hostname that resolves to this IP.  

With (a) and (b), the bbb-install.sh script can automate the steps covered in BigBlueButton : Install.

If either (a) or (b) are false, such as you have the BigBlueButton server behind a firewall and you intend your users to only access the BigBlueButton server locally (there is no public IP that will reach the server), you'll need to obtain a SSL certificate and manually install it.  It's beyond the scope here to help you obtain a SSL certificate (Google will give you many Certificate Authorities, such as GoDaddy, that you can reach out to), but once you have it the above link should walk you through the install.  It has to be a valid SSL certificate (a self-signed certificate won't work).

One you have your BigBlueButton server configured with a SLL certificate, and can access it in the browser via HTTPS, as in https://demo.bigbluebutton.org/, I think you'll find the Canvas integration will work *and* your users will be able to share their audio, videos, and webcams in Canvas Conferences (BigBlueButton) sessions.

Regards,... Fred

[danielasiegbuna]

hello, 

I am having this exact same issue and I have met all the requirements

for setting up bbb with an ssl, 

it still gives me errors when trying to setup and join confrences.

regards, 

daniel

[secretreal]

Same problem here danielasiegbunam‌

regards,

[shashank_xxx]

Hi @a_baisarin 

For Moodle and BigBlueButton integration, I can refer to connect with the service provider for BBB. They could be a great help in integrating and providing a solution plus support for the platform.

I have come across a post on LinkedIn which I would like to share with you. Hope this would be helpful.

Link - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/software3e_virtualclassroom-edtech-virtualclasses-activity-6709443034...

Thanks

[nhmduc]

I got the same error. We are successfully connecting to our hosted BBB server from hosted Moodle site, but not from Canvas LMS.