OpenMeetings v6.2.0 - OpenAPI Swagger API, Node, PHP integration and Mobile version

 Mobile conference room improvements

OpenMeetings v6.2.0 improves the Mobile version of OpenMeetings: UI improvements around viewport and the ability to save OpenMeetings to the Mobile device home screen so it can be started similar to a native mobile app:

(1) Add to Home Screen / (2) Home screen icon / (3) iOS in landscape mode
  

The Mobile version of OpenMeetings uses only HTML5/webRTC and requires iOS/Safari v15.x (current version) in order to share webcam and microphone successfully. Android/Chrome works fine since earlier versions (v81), however best practise is to keep your browser up to date (as of this moment current is v95 for Chrome/Android). More detailed screenshots and description are at OpenMeetings Mobile wiki

OpenAPI v3 integration API and Node/NPM + PHP/Composer client modules

  
Additionally v6.2.0 of OpenMeetings introduces an OpenAPI v3 Rest API spec published in swagger format: https://openmeetings.apache.org/swagger/.

Examples of the integration are also updated at the RestAPISamples. Community contributed modules for using this API include for example:

• Node.js module for using API
• PHP composer module for using API

Via the integration API it enables integrating OpenMeetings conference rooms into any Node or PHP based website or API. Other community plugins using this API for Moodle, SugarCRM, Drupal, Joomla can be found in the Configuration>Plugins section at https://openmeetings.apache.org

Other issues fixed in v6.2.0 and downloads

Summary: UI improvements, stability fixes, mobile version and adds OpenAPI spec in 3.0.x format.

Stability and UI:

• UI fixes
• Modal PopUpFix
• Upgrade to Bootstrap5
• Fixes for Mobile Version and landscape mode
• Improve ability for starting from Home Screen on Mobile device

Integration:

• OpenAPI Spec in swagger format see https://openmeetings.apache.org/swagger/
• Improved Integration examples for Node and PHP

Some other fixes and improvements, 28 issues were addressed.
Full ChangeLog is available from ChangeLog on Github

Downloads of v6.2.0 are available from openmeetings.apache.org/downloads.html

OpenMeetings PHP integration with composer and Laravel Framework example use case

Add OpenMeetings and OM-hosting Elastic Private Cloud or Dedicated Servers to your PHP powered website via the integration API.

Below example is done via the openmeetings-php-client, a free PHP Composer Module that OM-Hosting.com publishes and updates. The plugin is based on the OpenMeetings Rest API.

How does it work

With the openmeetings-php-client you can wire up your Node.js based website with any OpenMeetings instance. 

In order to use Clustering and scaling for OpenMeetings you can use OM-hosting.com Elastic Private Cloud or you can use other ways of Clustering OpenMeetings.

Find more information at: https://om-hosting.com/openmeetings-integration-php-composer/

OpenMeetings NodeJS Integration and OpenAPI Swagger Spec

 Add OpenMeetings and OM-hosting Elastic Private Cloud or Dedicated Servers to your Node.js powered website via the integration API.

Below example is done via the openmeetings-node-client, a free Node.js Module that OM-Hosting.com publishes and updates. The plugin is based on the OpenMeetings Rest API.

Example use case

How does it work

With the openmeetings-node-client you can wire up your Node.js based website with any OpenMeetings instance. 

In order to use Clustering and scaling for OpenMeetings you can use OM-hosting.com Elastic Private Cloud or you can use other ways of Clustering OpenMeetings.

Find more information at https://om-hosting.com/openmeetings-integration-nodejs/

OpenMeetings v6.1.0 improves webRTC and stability - Available on om-hosting.com

v6.1.0 is a maintenance release and provides fixes to webRTC components for conference rooms. As well as fixes for UI and browser compatibility. OpenMeetings recently migrated all audio/video components to use HTML5 only (since v5.0.0), it is recommended to keep up to date with latest versions to keep up to date with improvements that browsers support for streaming video.

Stability

• Room is more stable
• Screen sharing on Safari is fixed
• Recording in interview room is fixed

UI

• OM theme can selected in Admin -> Configuration
• Configurable Extra menu is added to the rooms
• Date/time picker is better localized 
  

Both the Dedicated Server and the Elastic Private Cloud on om-hosting.com have been updated and by default now use v6.1.0, see om-hosting.com

Scale OpenMeetings to 800, 1600 or more concurrent users with Elastic Private Cloud

OM-hosting.com published their new clustering Elastic Private Cloud for OpenMeetings with two initial packages for:

• Medium Elastic Private Cloud - up to 800 concurrent users
• Large Elastic Private Cloud - up to 1600 concurrent users

It enhances OpenMeetings so it can dynamically register and scale Media Servers and separating services into different container instances: 

The Elastic Private Cloud enables:

• Ability to scale up and down with additional hardware to handle performance for Media Server connections across a single OpenMeetings instance
• All applications are in a separated virtual network
• Hardware can be swapped without any impact to your data
• Your data is secured in redundant storages, if the hardware or software fails, your data is still secure. This is for files like recordings and uploaded files as well as transactional (database) data like users and rooms
• Benefit from Platform Services like SSL, DNS and Secure Email Services

For more information and product offerings see: https://om-hosting.com/elastic-private-cloud-data-sheet/ 

Hosting for OpenMeetings and HTML5 Video-Conferencing on om.hosting.com

Om-hosting.com launched a new Cloud Hosting Service for HTML5 Open Source Video Conferencing OpenMeetings!

Om-hosting.com provides

• Fully automated setup and have your OpenMeetings server up in 20min
• Self-service portal to manage your server or switch OpenMeetings versions
• Secure and redundant storage of your files
• Host your server in different regions (Currently we offer Europe and North-America)

They also expand their offering with more server types and options soon!

With each server of OpenMeetings you get

• HTML5 Audio/Video Conferencing and screen sharing
• Whiteboard and document import as well as annotation
• Recording of conferences
• Document and user management
• Soap/Rest API to integrate into your website and ELearning platform
• Ready to run plugins to integrate your server, for example Moodle https://moodle.org/plugins/mod_openmeetings 

OpenMeetings 5.0.0 release - HTML5 and audio/video using webRTC

OpenMeetings v5.0.0 is the first main release of a HTML5 version of the Web-Conferencing software. All features are using native browser components. There are no plugins required and you can share your webcam and microphone as well as your screen just using HTML5 and JavaScript!

Main new features in 5.0.0

• Mic/Webcam sharing and viewing in HTML5 
• Screen sharing and conference room recording in HTML5 
• Playback of videos and recordings HTML5 
• Whiteboard in HTML5 
• Support for mobile and tablet clients using HTML5 enabled browsers 

The migration to HTML5 took 2-3 years and was done in several iterations of partially replacing elements with HTML5. There have been 4 beta releases of v5.0.0 and 200++ Jira tickets as part of version 5, probably 1000++ in the overall migration.

Screenshot from the main conference room:

 

Using latest release Apache Wicket 9.0.0 

OpenMeetings uses the latest release of Apache Wicket 9.0.0, especially it uses features around: 

• Real-Time messaging using WebSockets CSP Policy 
• Mic/Webcam and Screen access require more strict and reworked browser Content Security Policy (CSP) set via Wicket components 
• Wicket components for styling and forms for Admin functionality (User and Room management) 

Security in Web-Conferencing and HTML5 

In order to enable mic/webcam and screen access in HTML5 OpenMeetings needs to follow a strict browser security model as required by browsers and webRTC standards (see https://webrtc-security.github.io/). This includes implementing HTTPS for all connections and also some browser specific features. Overview about security and session initialisation at: OpenMeetings+HTML5+Session+Initialisation+and+Security 

Downloads for v5.0.0 are available their project website: https://openmeetings.apache.org/

Commercial support is for hosting or custom development is available from https://openmeetings.apache.org/commercial-support.html