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Integrating with Brightspace

Prerequisites

  1. At least one course must be created within the LMS

  2. The accounts the administrators/students are using should be configured with SIS IDs containing their LDAP directory or SAML usernames

    • The LDAP directory used for lookup is taken from the Embed configured in AppsAnywhere

    • The corresponding directory user must also been given access to AppsAnywhere.

Creating the embed in AppsAnywhere

To ensure you have the details required for the Brightspace configuration you must first create the embed entry in AppsAnywhere.

  1. Log in to your AppsAnywhere instance as administrator and visit the admin pages

  2. Click Connectors → Embeds

  3. Click Add embed

  4. Create the embed record ensuring;

    1. Embed type is set to D2L Brightspace,

    2. The Select connection to authorize against references the expected authorization connection

    3. A Custom username field is defined where required (a sensible default will be used if not)

      brightspace-add-embed.png

  5. Press Save

  6. You will be redirect to the Embeds page and details of the newly created embed will now be visible. The Consumer Key and Consumer Secret will be used when connecting AppsAnywhere to your Brightspace instance.

Connecting Brightspace to AppsAnywhere

The section below will guide you through the process of connecting AppsAnywhere to your Brightspace instance.

Adding AppsAnywhere as a Brightspace Tool Provider

To link AppsAnywhere and Brightspace, AppsAnywhere must be configured as a Tool Provider.

  1. Log in to Brightspace as an administrator

  2. Click the External Learning Tools links in the settings menu

  3. Click the Manage Tool Providers (Legacy) tab on the External Learning Tools Page

  4. Click the New Tool Provider button

  5. Create the Tool Provider ensuring;

    1. Launch point is defined as <domain>/lti/application/embed.

      1. Replacing <domain> with the AppsAnywhere Base URL as configured in AppsAnywhere’s general settings page. For example https://myappsanywhere.com/lti/application/embed.

      2. Noting that, if Brightspace is configured on a different domain to your AppsAnywhere instance, there are known issues when using either Firefox or Safari

    2. Version is set to 1.1 (explicitly or via Inherit Global assuming 1.1 is globally configured version)

    3. OAuth Signature Method is set to HMAC-SHA1

    4. Secret is set to the Consumer Secret of the previously created embed record in AppsAnywhere

    5. Use custom tool consumer information instead of default is check (allowing us to enter the Key etc.)

    6. Key is set to the Consumer Key of the previously created embed record in AppsAnywhere

    7. Security Settings has the below options checked

      1. Send tool consumer information to tool provider

      2. Send context information to tool provider

      3. Send LTI user ID and LTI role list to tool provider

      4. Send system Org Defined ID to tool provider

    8. Make tool provider available to has been configured depending on your organisation structure so that this tool provider is available to course you expect.

    9. All fields not explicitly mentioned can use the default value or values specific to your Brightspace instance.

  6. Press Save and Close

To embed AppsAnywhere within your Brightspace courses you must configure a Tool Link.

  1. Log in to Brightspace as an administrator

  2. Click the External Learning Tools links in the settings menu

  3. Click the Manage Tool Links (Legacy) tab on the External Learning Tools Page

  4. Click New Link

  5. Create the Tool Link ensuring;

    1. Title is defined. This will be the name of the tool as it appears on a course. (For example, AppsAnywhere)

    2. URL is set to the same value as the Launch Point when configuring the Tool Provider

    3. Key/Secret settings have the below options checked

      1. Sign messages with key/secret with

      2. Tool consumer key/secret

    4. Security Settings has the below options checked

      1. Use tool provider security settings

    5. Make link available to has been configured depending on your organisation structure so that this tool provider is available to course you expect.

    6. All fields not explicitly mentioned can use the default value or values specific to your Brightspace instance.

  6. Press Save and Close

Embedding AppsAnywhere in a Brightspace course

Once an AppsAnywhere Provider Tool and Provider Link have been configured, AppsAnywhere can be added to a Brightspace course as content.

  1. Log in to Brightspace as an administrator

  2. Open the Course you want to add AppsAnywhere to

  3. Click the Content menu link

  4. Click Add Existing

  5. Click External Tool Activity

    brightspace-add-external-learning-tool.png

  6. Select the LTI Link from the displayed table (by clicking its name) to add it to the Course

Configuring Brightspace course App Lists

Once AppsAnywhere has been added to a course, the App List for that course can be configured, making those Apps available to course users.

For further documentation on configuring App Lists please view the article App List Administration.














Setting up a Tool Provider in Brightspace

To add a new tool, firstly log in to your Brightspace instance as an administrator.

  1. Click the External Learning Tools links in the settings menu

  2. Click the Manage Tool Providers (Legacy) tab on the External Learning Tools Page

  3. Click the New Tool Provider button

  4. Enter the AppsAnywhere domain you wish to connect to in Launch Point (e.g. myappsanywhere.com)

    image-20260512-142211.png


If Brightspace is configured on a different domain to your AppsAnywhere instance, there are known issues when using either Firefox or Safari

3. When filling in the form fields, you will need to copy the values from AppsAnywhere and paste them into their corresponding fields on the form.
a. Firstly you will want to navigate to Embeds in AppsAnywhere in a new tab (see: Viewing Embeds) and determine which Embed you wish to use

image-20260512-143135.png

4. The Key (Consumer key) and Secret (Consumer secret) should be copied and pasted from Embeds in AppsAnywhere
a. To enter configuration here, select Use custom tool consumer information instead of default, which allows you to add the Key
5. Ensure that the required security settings are in place to support the default fields that provide the user’s information to AppsAnywhere:

  • Send tool consumer information to tool provider

  • Send context information to tool provider

  • Send LTI user ID and LTI role list to tool provider

  • Send system Org Defined ID to tool provider

image-20260512-142329.png

6. Click Save and Close

Now that the Tool Provider has been created, you can create a Tool Link, found besides the Tool Provider tab

  1. First enter a Title. This will be the name of the tool as it appears on a course (e.g. AppsAnywhere).

  2. You will also need to enter the URL for the link (e.g. https://appsanywhere.example.edu/lti/application/embed), where https://appsanywhere.example.edu is the URL for your AppsAnywhere instance.

    image-20260512-142439.png


  3. Ensure the same security settings are used as the Tool Provider

  4. image-20260512-142449.png

    The AppsAnywhere Embed should now appear in the relevant course when adding an External Tool Activity

    image-20260515-131245.png

Configuring

To confirm the Embed is functional and for instructions on how course administrators can manage App Lists, head to the following article:  App List Administration

Note that we recommend managing App Lists for use with Brightspace in the Edit Activity Brightspace configuration page within a specific course to avoid unexpected errors.