RSS- and Atom-Feed Integration Service for Mattermost

This integration service posts RSS feeds into specific Mattermost channels by formatting output from html to text via Mattermost's incoming webhooks.

Requirements

To run this integration you need:

1. A network connected device running python like Raspberry Pi or any other Linux device which supports python and the required packages
2. A Mattermost account where incoming webhooks are enabled

Linux/Ubuntu 14.04 Install

The following procedure shows how to install this project on a Linux device running Ubuntu 14.04. The following instructions work behind a firewall as long as the device has access to your Mattermost instance.

To install this project using a Linux-based device, you will need Python 2.7 or a compatible version. Other compatible operating systems and Python versions should also work.

Here's how to start:

1. Set up your Mattermost instance to receive incoming webhooks

   1. Log in to your Mattermost account. Click the three dot menu at the top of the left-hand side and go to
      Account Settings > Integrations > Incoming Webhooks.
   2. Under Add a new incoming webhook select the channel in which you want Feed notifications to appear, then click Add to create a new entry.
   3. Copy the contents next to URL of the new webhook you just created (we'll refer to this as https://<your-mattermost-webhook-URL>).

2. Set up this project to run on your Linux device

   1. Set up a Linux Ubuntu 14.04 server either on your own machine or on a hosted service, like AWS.
   2. SSH into the machine, or just open your terminal if you're installing locally.
   3. Confirm Python 2.7 or a compatible version is installed by running:
      python --version If it's not installed you can find it here
   4. Install pip and git:
      sudo apt-get install python-pip supervisor git python-virtualenv
   5. Clone this GitHub repository:
      git clone https://github.com/bitbackofen/Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost.git
cd Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost
   6. Copy sample file settings.py.sample:
      cp settings.py.sample settings.py
   7. Edit settings.py to suit your requirements:
      nano settings.py
      Save your changes (F2) and exit nano (CRTL-X)
   8. Setup virtual environment:
      virtualenv -p python2 env
source env/bin/activate
(env) $ pip install -r requirements.txt
      Leave virtual environment: (env) $ deactivate
   9. Test the the feed fetcher:
      ./env/bin/python ./feedfetcher.py
      You should see your feeds scrolling through. Check your configured Mattermost channel for the new feeds.
      If everything works fine:
   10. a) Start feedfetcher with nuhup:
       nohup ./env/bin/python ./feedfetcher.py &
       b) Alternatively: Start feedfetcher with Supervisor:
       • sudo cp Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost.conf.sample /etc/supervisor/conf.d/mRss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost.conf
       • Edit the supervisor configuration file: sudo nano /etc/supervisor/conf.d/Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost.conf and change paths in command= and directory= to suit your environment.
       • Tell Supervisor to look for any new or changed program configurations:
         sudo supervisorctl reread
       • Followed by telling it to enact any changes with:
         sudo supervisorctl update
         Refer to this tutorial for more information about Supervisor.

Microsoft Windows Install

This integration also works with Microsoft Windows:

• Download Python 2.7 from Python.org and install it
• Download mattermost_integration_rss from Github or get it using git clone https://github.com/bitbackofen/Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost.git
• Extract the archive to a directory of your choice if you downloaded archive.zip.
• Start a command prompt and cd into your Python installation directory: e.g. cd c:\python27
• Install requirements using Scripts\pip.exe install -r \path\to\Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost\requirements.txt
• cd \path\to\Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost\
• Start the Script:
  C:\Python27\python.exe feedfetcher.py (change C:\Python27\ if you installed Python elsewhere).

Linux/Ubuntu 14.04 Update

1. cd into your mattermost_integration_rss directory:
   cd /path/to/Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost
2. Stop feedfetcher:
   sudo supervisorctl
supervisor> stop Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost
   Exit supervisor (CRTL-c)
3. Update mattermost_integration_rss
   git pull origin master
4. Have a look at settings.py.sample for changes.
5. Start the feedfetcher:
   sudo supervisorctl
supervisor> start Rss-Atom-Feed-Integration-for-Mattermost