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Connected workspaces (Beta)#
Available on Enterprise plans
Cloud and self-hosted deployments
Communicate across organizations, as well as external partners and vendors using Mattermost by synchronizing messages, emoji reactions, and file sharing in real-time through secured, connected Mattermost workspaces.
Connected workspaces in Mattermost behave like regular public and private channels and offer the same user experience and functionality. All members using secure connections, including local members and remote members, can send and receive channel messages, use emojis to react to messages, share files, and search message history. Content is synchronized across all participating Mattermost instances.
Important
The ability to create a direct or group message with remote users through connected workspaces isn’t supported. However, to maintain backwards compatibility with experimental shared channels functionality available prior to Mattermost v10.2, system admins must enable the EnableSharedChannelsDMs feature flag to continue creating direct messages with remote users across connected workspaces.
A channel’s permissions and access continues to be governed by each server separately. Advanced access control permissions can be applied to a shared channel, and be in effect on the local Mattermost server while not being in effect on a remote Mattermost server.
Set up connected workspaces#
The process of connecting Mattermost workspaces involves the following 4 steps:
Each system admin of a Mattermost instance who wants to connect to another Mattermost workspaces must enable the connected workflows functionality.
Using the System Console or slash commands, system admins create a secure and trusted connection with other Mattermost Enterprise instances. This process involves creating a password-protected, encrypted invitation, creating a strong decryption password, then sending the invitation and password to the system admin of a remote Mattermost instance.
Using the System Console or slash commands, a remote system admin receives the invitation and accepts the invitation.
Once a trusted relationship is established between 2 Mattermost servers, system admins can share specific public or private channels with secure connections.
Note
System admins can only create secure connections with other Mattermost Enterprise instances, and can only share channels with secured connections.
System admins must use Mattermost to generate a password-protected encrypted invitation code. However, sending secure connection invitations is not completed using Mattermost. System admins must have an independent way to extend the secure connection invitation, such as by email.
A channel shared by a host organization cannot be shared from the receiving organization to another organization. Organizations can’t share a channel originating from another organization.
Enable connected workflows#
System admins must enable connected workspaces functionality for their Mattermost instance. Ensure the following configuration settings are set to true in config.json:
ConnectedWorkspacesSettings.EnableRemoteClusterService = trueConnectedWorkspacesSettings.EnableSharedChannels = true
See the Site Configuration Settings documentation for details.
Note
Following an upgrade to Mattermost v10.2 or later, existing configuration values for shared channels, including EnableSharedChannels and EnableRemoteClusterService are automatically converted to connected workspace configuration settings in the config.json file. The deprecated shared channels experimental settings remain in the config.json file to support backwards compatibility.
Create a secure connection#
Only system admins can create workspace connections using the System Console.
Go to Site Configuration > Connected Workspaces (Beta).
Under Connected Workspaces, select Add a connection, and then select Create a connection.
Specify the Organization Name for this connection. The remote system admin must specify this name when accepting a connection invitation.
Select the Destination Team as the default team where shared channels will be added.
Select Save.
An invitation consisting of a password-protected AES 256-bit encrypted code blob is generated. The connection is labeled as Connection Pending until the remote system admin accepts the invitation.
By default, only system admins can use slash commands to create workspace connections. You can grant the ability to Manage Shared Channels and Managed Secure Connections to Mattermost users by modifying permissions of the system scheme or team override scheme.
System admins can run the following slash command to create a secure connection invitation:
/secure-connection create --name <--displayname> --password
For example:
/secure-connection create --name AcmeUS --displayname “AcmeUSA” --password examplepassword
This slash command creates an invitation consisting of a password-protected AES 256-bit encrypted code blob for a remote Mattermost entity known locally as AcmeUS with a password of examplepassword. Within Mattermost, this shared connection displays to the local system admin based on the name and displayname provided.
Extend the invitation#
Important
You must use a system, other than Mattermost, to share invitation codes and passwords. We strongly recommend sharing invitation codes separately from passwords to ensure that no one has all of the data necessary to take action if the message were compromised.
Ensure the remote Mattermost instance can access your Mattermost workspace URL.
Once you’ve created a connection in the System Console, you’re prompted to share the invitation code and password with the system admin of the remote Mattermost server you want to connect with. Copy both the invitation code and password to a safe location, then select Done.
Copy the invitation code blob in the System message, then share the code blob and the decryption password to the remote Mattermost system admin you want to securely connect with.
Accept a connection invitation#
Go to Site Configuration > Connected Workspaces (Beta).
Under Connected Workspaces, select Add a connection, and then select Accept an invitation.
Specify the Organization Name for this invitation. This must be the same name specified when creating the connection.
Select the team where shared channels will be added.
Paste the encrypted invitation code and password you’ve been provided to connect with the remote workspace.
Select Accept.
The system admin who accepts the connection invitation is automatically added to all shared channels.
Run the following slash command to accept a secure connection invitation from a remote Mattermost instance:
/secure-connection accept --name --displayname --password --invite [code blob]
For example:
/secure-connection accept --name AcmeUS --displayname “AcmeUSA” --password examplepassword --invite [code-blob]
This slash command accepts a secure connection invitation from AcmeUS.
Share channels with secure connections#
Once a connection is established between two Mattermost servers, system admins can share channels across secured workspaces.
Under Shared Channels, select Add channels.
Specify the channels you want to share between Mattermost servers.
Shared channels and members of those shared channels display a shared 
icon to distinguish them from channels and channel members of the local server.
Run the following slash command to specify the public or private channels to share:
/share-channel invite --connectionID <--readonly>
You can extend an invitation that permits remote members to participate in the channel based on their channel and member permissions.
Alternatively, you can extend a read-only invitation to a secure connection by appending the optional --readonly parameter to this command. Remote members can’t post or reply to messages within shared read-only channels.
Tip
To convert a read-only shared channel to a participation channel, remove the original secured connection from the channel, then re-extend an invitation to that secure connection while omitting the optional --readonly parameter. For example:
/share-channel invite --connectionID
This slash command invites the shared connection to the current channel based on its connectionID.
See Reviewing Secure Connection Status to find the connectionID for a shared connection.
Manage connections and invitations#
System admins can edit or delete a connected workspace, and review connection status, and regenerate invitation codes and passwords for pending connections.
Edit a connected workspace#
In the System Console, system admins can change the Organization Name, the Destination Team, or channels shared with a remote Mattermost instance as well as channels shared with your local Mattermost instance.
Under Connected Workspaces, identify the connected workspace you want to change.
Select the More
icon to the right of the connected workspace, and then select Edit.
Run the following slash command to remove all secure connections from the current channel:
/share-channel unshare
This slash command removes all secure connections from the current channel. A System message notifies you that the channel is no longer shared. Secure connections may continue to be invited to other shared channels.
Unsharing a shared channel stops synchronizing the channel with the remote Mattermost server; however, the channel continues to function for local users as expected.
Delete a connected workspace#
Deleting a connected server severs the trust relationship between the local Mattermost server and the remote Mattermost server.
Under Connected Workspaces, identify the connected workspace you want to remove.
Select the More
icon to the right of the connected workspace, and then select Delete.
Using slash commands, you can uninvite or delete a secure connection from your Mattermost instance.
Run the following slash command to uninvite a secure connection:
/share-channel uninvite --connectionID
This slash command removes a secure connection from the current channel based on its connectionID. The channel continues to function for local users as expected, and the secure connection may continue to be invited to other shared channels.
Run the following slash command to delete a secure connection:
/secure-connection remove --connectionID
For example:
/secure-connection remove --connectionID
This slash command severs the trust relationship between the local Mattermost server and a remote Mattermost server based on its connectionID and removes the secure connection from all shared Mattermost channels.
Review connection status#
Under Connected Workspaces, you can review all connected workspaces and their current status as one of: Connected, Offline, or Connection Pending.
Run the following slash command to review the current status of all secure connections established for your Mattermost instance:
/secure-connection status
Status details include:
Connection ID
Connection URL
Description
Invite accepted (Yes/No)
Online (Yes/No)
Last ping timestamp (UTC)
Deleted
Regenerate invitation codes for pending connections#
When using the System Console to manage connected workspaces, system admins can re-generate invitation codes and passwords for pending connections.
Under Connected Workspaces, identify the pending connection whose invitation and password you want to regenerate.
Select the More
icon to the right of the connected workspace, and then select Regenerate invitation code.
Note
Regenerating doesn’t invalidate the existing password, and the existing password can continue to be used in addition to the newly-generated password. Once a connection invitation is accepted and the workspace displays a status of Connected, invitation codes and passwords can’t be regenerated.
Frequently Asked Questions#
Why is this feature in beta?#
This feature is considered beta while we recruit customer testing partners. Mattermost QA has tested this feature, but we want to work with system admins to iterate on the most optimal connected workspace experience.
Are special characters supported in secure connection names?#
No. When using slash commands, --name can include periods, hyphens, and/or underscores. You must surround --name using quotation marks (“ “) when the value contains spaces.
What happens if two Mattermost instances contain different emojis?#
In cases where one Mattermost instance has different emojis than another instance, emoji text displays in place of a missing emoji image.
Is a Display Name required for all secure connections?#
No. When using slash commands, --displayname is optional. When omitted, --name is displayed and used instead.
What information is synchronized between connected workspaces?#
By default, member status and availability for all members of shared channels is synchronized between connected workspaces.
When a user is added to a shared channel, member status is synchronized within a few seconds of the member’s status changing. Status updates aren’t immediate and don’t necessarily display in real-time.
When using Mattermost in a web browser, Mattermost polls the server every minute. Refreshing the browser page triggers immediate synchronization.
By default, a maximum of 50 messages are synchronized at a time, and this value is configurable.
Channel as well as member status and availability synchronization can be disabled.
Do connection interruptions affect message synchronization?#
Yes. A System message is posted in the channel visible to all channel members when message synchronization is interrupted for more than 5 minutes. Once connectivity is restored, a full synchronization will happen for all missed messages, including direct messages and channel links.