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Integrating Web Author with Git (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket)

Oxygen XML Web Author includes a built-in Git Plugin that allows you to edit files stored in a Git repository. While it provides the ability to connect to any Git repository, it has better support for GitHub, GitLab, and Bitbucket integrations. The Git Plugin allows you to access repositories simply by using your login credentials.

GitHub Integration

You can configure your Git plugin to allow OAuth 2.0 authentication for GitHub integrations to access files stored in a public or private repository. Your team will then have access to a Login with GitHub button when logging in. You can configure your integration either by using github.com or with a GitHub Enterprise deployment.

Figure 1. GitHub Login

Configuring a Git Integration with github.com

To configure your Git integration using github.com, follow this procedure:
  1. Log in to GitHub and register a new OAuth application at https://github.com/settings/applications/new.
    1. Complete the form.
    2. The Authorization callback URL field should include the following path: [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL]/plugins-dispatcher/github-oauth/callback, where [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL] is the location where Web Author is deployed (for example, http://Your-Domain:8077/apps/webauthor).
  2. Click on Register application to obtain the Client ID and Client Secret credentials (they are displayed at the top-right section of the resulting page).
  3. Set your Client ID and Client Secret credentials in your plugin configuration by doing the following:
    1. Go to the Administration Page.

    2. In the Plugins section, click on the Configure icon for the Git plugin and select the GitHub tab.

      Figure 2. GitHub Plugin Configuration Dialog Box
    3. Enter the Client ID and Client Secret in the Plugin configuration dialog box.
    4. Click Apply.
  4. Restart Oxygen XML Web Author.

Result: You now have access to the Login with GitHub button.

Tip: It is possible to control which GitHub teams are allowed to edit a part of a document when the users that belong to that team load the document. For details, see Customizing the UI Based on the GitHub Team for the Current User.

Configuring a Git Integration with a GitHub Enterprise Deployment

To configure your Git integration using a GitHub Enterprise deployment, follow this procedure:
  1. Log in to GitHub Enterprise and register a new developer application. The URL is: [GithubEnterpriseUrl]/settings/applications/new.
    1. Complete the form.
    2. The Authorization callback URL field should include the following path: [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL]/plugins-dispatcher/github-oauth/callback, where [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL] is the location where Web Author is deployed (for example, http://Your-Domain:8077/apps/webauthor).
  2. Obtain the Client ID and Client Secret credentials at: [GithubEnterpriseUrl]/settings/developers.
  3. Set the Client ID, Client Secret, and the API URL in your plugin configuration by doing the following:
    1. Go to the Administration Page.

    2. In the Plugins section, click on the Configure icon for the Git plugin, select the GitHub tab, and select the Use GitHub Enterprise option.

      Figure 3. GitHub Enterprise Plugin Configuration Dialog Box
    3. Enter the API URL, Client ID, and Client Secret in the Plugin configuration dialog box. The API URL is the URL of your GitHub Enterprise deployment ([GithubEnterpriseUrl]).
    4. Click Apply.
  4. Restart Oxygen XML Web Author.
Result: You now have access to the Login with GitHub button.
Note: If your GitHub Enterprise deployment uses self-signed HTTPS certificates, Oxygen XML Web Author must be configured to automatically accept the security certificate.

GitLab Integration

You can configure your Git plugin to allow OAuth 2.0 authentication for GitLab integrations to access files stored in a public or private repository. Your team will then have access to a Login with GitLab button when logging in.

Attention: Oxygen XML Web Author only supports GitLab version 9.5.10 or later.

You can configure your integration either by using a GitLab or GitLab On-Premise deployment.

Figure 4. GitLab Login

Configuring a Git Integration with GitLab

To configure your Git integration using GitLab, follow this procedure:
  1. Sign in or register at https://gitlab.com/profile/applications.
  2. Go to Applications and authorize Web Author to obtain the configuration parameters.
    1. The Redirect URI should be set as: [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL]/plugins-dispatcher/gitlab-oauth/callback, where [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL] is the location where Web Author is deployed (for example, http://Your-Domain:8077/apps/webauthor).
    2. For the Scopes, select: api, and read_user.
  3. Set your credentials and redirect URI in your plugin configuration by doing the following:
    1. Go to the Administration Page.

    2. In the Plugins section, click on the Configure icon for the Git plugin and select the GitLab tab.

      Figure 5. GitLab Plugin Configuration Dialog Box
    3. Enter the Application ID and Secret credentials.
    4. The Redirect URI must be set to: [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL]/plugins-dispatcher/gitlab-oauth/callback, where [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL] is the location where Web Author is deployed (for example, http://Your-Domain:8077/apps/webauthor).
    5. Click Apply.
  4. Restart Oxygen XML Web Author.

Result: You now have access to the Login with GitLab button.

Configuring a Git Integration with a GitLab On-Premise Deployment

To configure your Git integration using a GitLab On-Premise deployment, follow this procedure:
  1. Sign in to GitLab ([GitLabOnPremiseUrl]/profile/applications).
  2. Go to Applications and authorize Web Author to obtain the configuration parameters.
    1. The Redirect URI should be set as: [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL]/plugins-dispatcher/gitlab-e-oauth/callback, where [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL] is the location where Web Author is deployed (for example, http://Your-Domain:8077/apps/webauthor).
    2. For the Scopes, select: api, and read_user.
  3. Set your credentials, API URI, and redirect URI in your plugin configuration by doing the following:
    1. Go to the Administration Page.

    2. In the Plugins section, click on the Configure icon for the Git plugin and select the GitLab on-premise tab.

      Figure 6. GitLab On-Premise Plugin Configuration Dialog Box
    3. Enter the Application ID and Secret credentials.
    4. Set the API URI to match the location where your GitLab instance is deployed.
    5. The Redirect URI must be set to: [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL]/plugins-dispatcher/gitlab-e-oauth/callback, where [OXYGEN_WEBAUTHOR_URL] is the location where Web Author is deployed (for example, http://Your-Domain:8077/apps/webauthor).
    6. Click Apply.
  4. Restart Oxygen XML Web Author.
Result: You now have access to the Login with GitLab button.
Important: Oxygen XML Web Author uses the GitLab web API to edit repositories and Git over HTTPS for actions that are not available using the web API. Therefore, your GitLab On-Premise deployment will not work with Oxygen XML Web Author if you disable Git over HTTPS in your deployment.
Note: If your GitLab On-Premise deployment uses self-signed HTTPS certificates, Oxygen XML Web Author must be configured to automatically accept the security certificate.

GitLab On-Premise Known Issues

Reverse Proxy Server in Front of GitLab On-Premise

If you have a reverse proxy in front of your GitLab On-Premise instance, make sure that requests are forwarded to the GitLab instance exactly as they are received.

A common problem occurs when using Apache as a reverse proxy in front of GitLab when it is configured to not allow encoded slashes in URLs. Apache decodes the encoded slashes and sends the malformed request to GitLab.

External URL Configured Incorrectly for GitLab On-Premise

GitLab On-Premise needs to know the URL that is used to reach it. Make sure this URL is the same as the URL written in the API URI field of the GitLab Plugin Configuration dialog box.

Bitbucket Integration

You can configure your Git plugin to allow OAuth 2.0 authentication for Bitbucket integrations to access files stored in a public or private repository. You can configure your integration either by using a Bitbucket or Bitbucket Server deployment.

Configuring a Git Integration with Bitbucket

To configure your Git integration using Bitbucket, follow this procedure:
  1. Log in to Bitbucket and go to the user settings page ( https://bitbucket.org/account).
  2. Go to go to the OAuth page and click Add consumer to obtain the Key and Secret credentials.
  3. Set your credentials in your plugin configuration by doing the following:
    1. Go to the Administration Page.

    2. In the Plugins section, click on the Configure icon for the Git plugin and select the Bitbucket tab.

      Figure 7. Bitbucket Plugin Configuration Dialog Box
    3. Enter the Key and Secret credentials.
    4. Click Apply.
  4. Restart Oxygen XML Web Author.

Result: You now have access to the Login with Bitbucket button.

Figure 8. Bitbucket Login

Bitbucket Server Integration

To configure your Git integration using Bitbucket Server, follow this procedure:
  1. Set your credentials in your plugin configuration by doing the following:
    1. Go to the Administration Page.

    2. In the Plugins section, click on the Configure icon for the Git plugin and select the Bitbucket Server tab.

      Figure 9. Bitbucket Server Plugin Configuration Dialog Box
    3. Follow the on-screen instructions in the Bitbucket Server plugin configuration dialog box.
    4. Click Apply.
  2. Restart Oxygen XML Web Author.

Result: You now have access to the Login with Bitbucket Server button.

Figure 10. Bitbucket Server Login

General Git Support

While Oxygen XML Web Author has more advanced support for GitHub, Gitlab, and Bitbucket, you can connect to any other Git repository. This support is enabled by default. Your team can log in to your Git repository by clicking the generic Git icon in the Web Author Dashboard.

Administrators do have some options that are available for generic Git integrations and they can be found in the Git tab of the plugin configuration.

  1. Go to the Administration Page.

  2. In the Plugins section, click on the Configure icon for the Git plugin and select the Git tab.

    Figure 11. General Git Options

    The Git tab includes the following options:

    Enable Git submodules support
    When this option is enabled Oxygen XML Web Author will be able to browse or edit files from Git submodules.
    Allow users to commit on a new branch
    When this option is selected, users will be able to create new Git branches and commit on them.
    Allow users to add a Signed-off-by trailer to commit messages
    When this option is selected, users will have the option to specify a person who signed off on the commit and it will be added to the commit message.
    Disable Generic Git
    When this option is selected, the generic Git button will not be present on the Oxygen XML Web Author Dashboard.
    Default generic Git repositories
    To enable users to connect to specific generic Git repositories, you can provide a list of default Git repositories (one URI per line) that will be displayed on the Oxygen XML Web Author Dashboard.

    Custom Options for the Git Plugin

    It is possible to configure a service account for the Git connector so that users do not have to log in to edit documents. The following options can be set in the Oxygen XML Web Author options.xml file.
    • PLUGIN_CUSTOM_OPTIONS.git.enforced_user
    • PLUGIN_CUSTOM_OPTIONS.git.enforced_pass
    • PLUGIN_CUSTOM_OPTIONS.git.enforced_mail
    Example: The options.xml file would look like this:
    <entry>
  <String>PLUGIN_CUSTOM_OPTIONS.git.enforced_user</String>
  <String>example_username</String>
</entry>
<entry>
  <String>PLUGIN_CUSTOM_OPTIONS.git.enforced_pass</String>
  <String>example_password</String>
</entry>
<entry>
  <String>PLUGIN_CUSTOM_OPTIONS.git.enforced_mail</String>
  <String>mail@example.com</String>
</entry>