Dependencies¶

This page covers the setup and configuration of external dependencies required by the Notification Server module.

Required Dependencies

This module is a client for the external Notification Server and cannot function without it. The notification server requires Redis for data persistence and storage.

External Notification Server¶

The notification server provides:

WebSocket server for real-time communication
HTTP API for publishing notifications
Channel and client management
Access control and security features

Setup Options¶

Option A: DDEV (Recommended for Development)¶

For Drupal developers using DDEV, the notification server can be easily added using the DDEV addon:

Bash

# Add the notification server to your DDEV project
ddev add-on get d34dman/ddev-notification-server
ddev restart

Benefits: - Automatic Redis setup - Pre-configured networking - Easy integration with existing DDEV projects - No manual configuration required

More information: DDEV Notification Server Addon

Support DDEV

Please consider supporting DDEV if you appreciate the service.

Option B: Docker Compose (Recommended for Production)¶

Create a docker-compose.yml file:

YAML

version: "3.8"

services:
  notification-server:
    image: ghcr.io/d34dman/notification-server:main
    ports:
      - "3000:3000"  # HTTP API
      - "8080:8080"  # WebSocket for real-time notifications
    environment:
      - REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379
      - WS_PORT=8080
      - CORS_ORIGIN=*
      - PORT=3000
    networks:
      - notification-network
    depends_on:
      - redis

  redis:
    image: redis:alpine
    ports:
      - "6379:6379"
    networks:
      - notification-network

networks:
  notification-network:
    driver: bridge

Then run:

Bash

docker-compose up -d

Benefits: - Production-ready setup - Automatic Redis integration - Easy scaling and management - Isolated network environment

Option C: Docker¶

Simple Docker setup without compose:

Bash

# Start Redis
docker run -d --name redis -p 6379:6379 redis:alpine

# Start notification server (link to Redis)
docker run -d --name notification-server \
  --link redis:redis \
  -p 3000:3000 -p 8080:8080 \
  -e REDIS_URL=redis://redis:6379 \
  ghcr.io/d34dman/notification-server:main

Option D: Manual Installation¶

If you prefer to install and run components manually:

1. Install and Setup Redis¶

macOS with Homebrew:

Bash

brew install redis
brew services start redis

Ubuntu/Debian:

Bash

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install redis-server
sudo systemctl start redis-server
sudo systemctl enable redis-server

CentOS/RHEL:

Bash

sudo yum install epel-release
sudo yum install redis
sudo systemctl start redis
sudo systemctl enable redis

Docker (Alternative):

Bash

docker run -d -p 6379:6379 --name redis redis:alpine

2. Install and Setup Notification Server¶

Bash

# Clone the notification server repository
git clone https://github.com/d34dman/notification-server.git
cd notification-server

# Install Node.js dependencies
npm install

# Configure environment
cp .env.example .env

Edit the .env file with your configuration:

Text Only

# Server configuration
PORT=3000
WS_PORT=8080

# Redis configuration
REDIS_URL=redis://localhost:6379

# CORS configuration (adjust for production)
CORS_ORIGIN=*

# Optional: Authentication settings
# JWT_SECRET=your-secret-key

Start the server:

Bash

# Development mode
npm run dev

# Production mode
npm start

Benefits: - Full control over configuration - Ability to modify source code - Custom deployment options - Integration with existing infrastructure

Configuration¶

Drupal Module Configuration¶

After setting up the notification server, configure the Drupal module:

Navigate to configuration: Visit /admin/config/system/notification-server
Configure server URLs:

For DDEV: - Server URL: http://notification-server:3000 - WebSocket URL: ws://notification-server:8080

For Docker/Docker Compose (local): - Server URL: http://localhost:3000 - WebSocket URL: ws://localhost:8080

!!! note "Port Configuration" The ports 3000 (HTTP) and 8080 (WebSocket) are the default ports used by the notification server. The original settings form examples may show different ports (like 3111) but the actual notification server defaults to 3000 for HTTP.

For production: - Server URL: https://your-notification-server.com:3000 - WebSocket URL: wss://your-notification-server.com:8080

Save configuration

Environment Variables¶

The notification server supports various environment variables:

Variable	Default	Description
`PORT`	3000	HTTP API port
`WS_PORT`	8080	WebSocket port
`REDIS_URL`	`redis://localhost:6379`	Redis connection URL
`CORS_ORIGIN`	`*`	CORS allowed origins
`JWT_SECRET`	(none)	JWT secret for authentication
`LOG_LEVEL`	`info`	Logging level
`MAX_CONNECTIONS`	1000	Maximum WebSocket connections
`MESSAGE_TTL`	3600	Message time-to-live in seconds

Redis Configuration¶

For production environments, consider Redis configuration optimization:

Memory Management:

Text Only

# Set memory policy
maxmemory 256mb
maxmemory-policy allkeys-lru

Persistence:

Text Only

# Enable AOF persistence
appendonly yes
appendfsync everysec

Performance:

Text Only

# Optimize for performance
tcp-keepalive 300
timeout 0

Security Considerations¶

Production Security¶

TLS/SSL Configuration: - Use wss:// for WebSocket connections in production - Use https:// for HTTP API calls - Implement proper certificate management

Network Security: - Restrict Redis access to notification server only - Use firewall rules to limit port access - Consider VPN for server-to-server communication

Application Security: - Set strong JWT_SECRET if using authentication - Implement rate limiting - Monitor for suspicious activity

Authentication Setup¶

For secured environments, configure JWT authentication:

Text Only

JWT_SECRET=your-very-secure-secret-key-here
AUTH_ENABLED=true
TOKEN_EXPIRY=3600

Monitoring and Health Checks¶

Health Check Endpoints¶

The notification server provides health check endpoints:

HTTP Health Check: GET /health
WebSocket Status: GET /ws/status
Redis Connection: GET /health/redis

Monitoring Setup¶

Docker Health Checks:

YAML

notification-server:
  image: ghcr.io/d34dman/notification-server:main
  healthcheck:
    test: ["CMD", "curl", "-f", "http://localhost:3000/health"]
    interval: 30s
    timeout: 10s
    retries: 3

Log Monitoring:

Bash

# View notification server logs
docker logs -f notification-server

# View Redis logs
docker logs -f redis

Scaling Considerations¶

Horizontal Scaling¶

For high-traffic applications:

Multiple notification server instances
Redis clustering for data distribution
Load balancer for WebSocket connections
Session affinity for WebSocket persistence

Performance Optimization¶

Redis Optimization: - Use Redis Cluster for large datasets - Implement connection pooling - Monitor memory usage and performance

Notification Server Optimization: - Increase MAX_CONNECTIONS based on server capacity - Optimize MESSAGE_TTL for your use case - Monitor CPU and memory usage

Troubleshooting Dependencies¶

Common Issues¶

Redis Connection Issues:

Bash

# Test Redis connectivity
redis-cli ping

# Check Redis logs
docker logs redis

Notification Server Issues:

Bash

# Check server logs
docker logs notification-server

# Test HTTP API
curl http://localhost:3000/health

# Test WebSocket (using wscat)
npm install -g wscat
wscat -c ws://localhost:8080

Network Issues:

Bash

# Test port accessibility
telnet localhost 3000
telnet localhost 8080
telnet localhost 6379

Debugging Steps¶

Verify all services are running
Check port accessibility
Validate environment variables
Review application logs
Test connectivity between components

Backup and Recovery¶

Redis Backup¶

Automated Backup:

Bash

# Create Redis backup
redis-cli BGSAVE

# Copy backup file
cp /var/lib/redis/dump.rdb /backup/location/

Recovery:

Bash

# Stop Redis
sudo systemctl stop redis

# Restore backup
cp /backup/location/dump.rdb /var/lib/redis/

# Start Redis
sudo systemctl start redis

Configuration Backup¶

Backup important configuration files: - Notification server .env file - Redis configuration - Docker Compose files - Drupal module configuration

Version Compatibility¶

Supported Versions¶

Component	Minimum	Recommended
Notification Server	1.0.0	Latest
Redis	6.0	7.0+
Node.js	16.0	18.0+
Docker	20.0	Latest
Docker Compose	1.29	Latest

Update Procedures¶

Notification Server Updates:

Bash

# Pull latest image
docker pull ghcr.io/d34dman/notification-server:main

# Restart with new image
docker-compose down
docker-compose up -d

Redis Updates:

Bash

# Backup data first
redis-cli BGSAVE

# Update Redis image
docker pull redis:alpine
docker-compose up -d redis