NexTool Solutions

GLPI already knows how to notify the team; the alert just needs to reach where people are. The free NexTool Telegram Bot module delivers on Telegram the same notifications GLPI sends by email. This guide walks through the full setup of version 3.7.1, from BotFather to the first alert.

What you will have at the end

Each team member receives on Telegram the notifications GLPI already sends by email today: new ticket, followup, solution, approval request. The bot belongs to your company, and the messages go from your GLPI straight to Telegram.

Before you start

• GLPI 11 with NexTool 6.27.0 or later.
• GLPI reachable from the internet over HTTPS, with a valid certificate. Telegram must deliver to your GLPI the message in which each person links their own chat. Check in Setup > General that the “URL of the application” is filled in with the public address, starting with https://. A GLPI available only on the internal network cannot link users.
• GLPI automatic actions (cron) running on the server. The module uses them to check the bot connection every 5 minutes.
• A Telegram account to create the bot.

Step 1: create the bot on Telegram

1. On Telegram, open a chat with @BotFather and send /newbot.
2. Choose the display name (e.g. “My Company Support”).
3. Choose the username: it must end in bot (e.g. mycompany_support_bot).
4. BotFather replies with the API token, something like 123456789:AA…. Keep it safe: whoever has the token controls the bot.

Tip: use one bot for this GLPI only. The same bot on two GLPIs makes both compete for the messages.

Step 2: install and enable the module

1. Go to NexTool > Modules and find Telegram Bot.
2. Click “Download”, then “Install” and “Enable”. The module is free.

Step 3: grant rights to the profiles

In Administration > Profiles > [profile] > NexTool tab, on the Telegram Bot row:

• Administrators: “View the settings”, “Configure” and “View logs”, for troubleshooting.
• People who will receive notifications (technicians, and also the self-service profile if you want to notify requesters): “Link my own Telegram chat”.
• Optional, for people who help colleagues: “Link another user's Telegram chat”. It also requires permission to edit that user in GLPI. Even so, the person themselves sends the code, from their own Telegram.

On a new installation, these rights start unchecked.

Step 4: connect the bot to GLPI

1. Open NexTool > Telegram Bot and go to the Connectors tab.
2. In the “Bot API” card, fill in “API token” with the BotFather token. It is stored encrypted and never shown on screen again; to change it, just paste another one. In “Bot name”, enter the bot username, with or without @ (e.g. @mycompany_support_bot).
3. In “Operating mode”, leave “Automatic (follows the NexTool link)”.
4. Click “Save”. If everything is right, you see “Bot connected: messages sent to it are already arriving.”, and the “Bot connection” card shows “Connected”.

If the card shows “Problem”, the message gives the reason; see the If something does not work section. The check runs automatically every 5 minutes, and the “Check now” button checks right away.

Step 5: each person links their own Telegram

1. In GLPI, the person opens My settings (user menu) and goes to the Telegram section.
2. They click “Generate link code”.
3. They click “Open in Telegram”. Telegram opens the chat with the bot; tapping Start sends the code automatically. Without the link, they can send the bot the message /start followed by the code.
4. The bot replies: “Done! This chat has been linked to the GLPI account ….”
5. Reload the GLPI page: the section now shows “Linked (chat ending in …)”.

Code rules:

• Valid for 10 minutes and for a single use.
• Works only in a private chat with the bot. If sent in a group, the code is invalidated, so nobody receives another person’s notifications.

To unlink, use “Unlink” in the same section. An administrator can generate the code on behalf of someone else in Administration > Users > [user]. That person receives the link and opens it in their own Telegram.

Step 6: test

In the Connectors tab, “Test” card:

1. “Test connection” checks that the token works, without sending a message.
2. To send a test message, send /token to the bot, which replies “Your chat_id: …”. Paste that number into “Test recipient (chat_id)” and click “Send test message”. The GLPI Telegram Bot test message arrives: “If you received this message, the configuration is working!”

Step 7: choose what goes to Telegram

The Telegram Bot joins GLPI as a notification mode, just like email. You use the notifications you already have.

1. In Setup > Notifications, turn on “Enable notifications” and “Enable follow-ups via Telegram”. The latter is off after installation.

1. Open a notification (e.g. Tickets > “New ticket”) and go to the Templates tab.
2. Add a template with Mode “Telegram”. It can be the same template used for email.

1. The recipients are those in the notification’s own Recipients tab: requester, technician, group and so on.
2. Repeat for each notification you want on Telegram (followup, solution, approval request…).

People receive it on Telegram if they are among the recipients, have linked their chat and have an active account. The message uses the template text. To include the ticket link, the template must contain the URL (e.g. ##ticket.url##), which uses the “URL of the application”.

Step 8 (optional): approval alerts

1. In the Telegram Bot Settings tab, turn on “Approval with buttons” (off by default).
2. In free mode, the screen warns that the message goes without buttons: it carries the ticket link, and the approval is done in GLPI.
3. The approver receives “Ticket needs your approval.” with the ticket address, and “Open the ticket in GLPI to approve or refuse it.”
4. It applies to an individual approver, not to a group.

If something does not work

• “Bot connection” card showing “Problem”:
  • “Telegram rejected the bot token”: copy the token from BotFather again and save.
  • “This GLPI has no public address configured”: fill in the “URL of the application” in Setup > General, with https.
  • “This GLPI uses http. Telegram only delivers messages over https…”: publish GLPI with https and a valid certificate and adjust the “URL of the application”.
  • “The bot is not pointed to this GLPI” or “Telegram cannot deliver the bot messages”: check that GLPI opens from the internet with https and a valid certificate, and that the GLPI cron is running.
• The bot does not reply to the code: same case as above (Telegram cannot reach GLPI). Or the code expired: generate a new one.
• The person does not receive notifications: check that they are linked (Telegram section), that they are among the notification recipients and the “Telegram” mode was added, and that they have not blocked the bot on Telegram.
• Where to see what happened: the Telegram Bot Logs tab. For more detail, set “Log level” to Debug in the Settings tab and switch back to the default afterwards.

Compatibility

• GLPI: 11 (does not work on GLPI 10)
• Plan: free
• Plugin: NexTool 6.27.0 or later, Telegram Bot module 3.7.1

Next step

The Telegram Bot is part of NexTool, an ecosystem of modules that extends GLPI without code customizations. Any questions about the setup? Talk to the team.

Reviewed by the NexTool Solutions team. The screenshots come from a real GLPI environment with the NexTool plugin.