Microsoft Bot Framework on Ubuntu

In this article we will learn to implement Microsoft Bot Framework on Ubuntu. First we will learn to setup the Bot Framework and see a working example.

 

To run your first chat bot using Microsoft’s Bot Framework, we need to install the following:

• Node JS
• Bot Framework Emulator

 

Installing and Testing Node JS on Ubuntu (Linux)

Open terminal and type or copy-paste the following commands one by one:

sudo apt-get install python-software-properties

curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_7.x | sudo -E bash -

sudo apt-get install nodejs

 

That’s it! You have installed Node JS.

 

To check the version of node.js you can type the following command:

node -v

 

You will see 7.4.6 (This might change for you).

 

Now to test whether node.js is working or not, open a file named hello.js using an editor (like gedit) and type the following line:

console.log("Hello, World!")

 

Save the file.

 

In the terminal window, to execute the above .js file, type the following command:

node hello.js

 

If you see Hello, World! Node JS is running without any problems. 😀

 

Building Our Chat Bot

Create a folder called bot by typing the following command:

mkdir bot

 

Change the current directory to above bot directory by typing the following command:

cd bot

 

Type the following command:

npm init

 

Keeping hitting enter key until it asks you to type yes. Finally type yes and hit enter.

 

Now, we will install two node.js packages named botbuilder and restify by typing the following commands:

npm install --save botbuilder
npm install --save restify

 

Create a file app.js using any editor (like gedit) and copy-paste the following code in that file:

var restify = require('restify');
var builder = require('botbuilder');

//=========================================================
// Bot Setup
//=========================================================

// Setup Restify Server
var server = restify.createServer();
server.listen(process.env.port || process.env.PORT || 3978, function () {
   console.log('%s listening to %s', server.name, server.url); 
});
  
// Create chat bot
var connector = new builder.ChatConnector({
    appId: '',
    appPassword: ''
});
var bot = new builder.UniversalBot(connector);
server.post('/api/messages', connector.listen());

//=========================================================
// Bots Dialogs
//=========================================================

bot.dialog('/', function (session) {
    session.send("Hello World");
});

 

You can run the above file to create a server (bot) which listens to clients by typing the following command:

node app.js

 

Now its time to test out our bot. To do that we will download and install Bot Framework Emulator.

 

Installing Bot Framework Emulator on Ubuntu (Linux)

Open the following Github URL in browser:

https://github.com/Microsoft/BotFramework-Emulator/releases

 

In terminal verify the architecture of your machine by typing the following command:

arch

 

Based on the architecture, download appropriate file from the Github page which was opened above. In my case I downloaded following file:

botframework-emulator-3.5.25-ia32.AppImage

 

After downloading right click the file, select properties, go to permissions tab and check the option Allow executing file as a program and close the dialog box.

 

Now double-click the file botframework-emulator-3.5.25-ia32.AppImage and click yes.

 

Now you can open the prompt and click the botframework emulator icon to open the emulator.

 

Select the URL (like http://localhost:3978….) at the top in the emulator.

 

Type hi in the emulator and click on send button. Server (bot) will send you the response Hello World.

 

That’s it. You have run your very own first chat bot using Microsoft Bot Framework and Node JS on Ubuntu (Linux). 🙂