---
title: "Push notification service"
sidebar_position: 3
---

Now that the app can receive push notifications, we need to make sure that the Mattermost Push Notification Service is able to send the notification to the device. This guide will focus on installing and configuring the push notification service.

### Requirements

- A Linux or FreeBSD box server with at least 1GB of memory.
- A copy of the [Mattermost Push Notification Service](https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-push-proxy/releases).
- [Custom Android and/or iOS](/developers/contribute/more-info/mobile/build-your-own) Mattermost mobile apps.
- An APNs Auth Key (`.p8`) obtained by following the [iOS Push Notifications guide](/developers/contribute/more-info/mobile/push-notifications/ios).
- A Firebase Cloud Messaging Server key obtained by following the [Android Push Notifications guide](/developers/contribute/more-info/mobile/push-notifications/android).

## Install and upgrade

For the sake of making this guide simple we located the files at `/home/ubuntu/mattermost-push-proxy`. We've also elected to run the Push Notification Service as the `ubuntu` account for simplicity. We **recommend** setting up and running the service under a `mattermost-push-proxy` user account with limited permissions.

1. Download the latest Mattermost Push Notification Service:

    `wget https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-push-proxy/releases/download/vX.X.X/mattermost-push-proxy-linux-amd64.tar.gz`  
    or  
    `wget https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-push-proxy/releases/download/vX.X.X/mattermost-push-proxy-freebsd-amd64.tar.gz` 

```text
In this command, `vX.X.X` refers to the release version you want to download. See [Mattermost Push Notification Service releases](https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost-push-proxy/releases).
```

2. If you're upgrading a previous version of the Mattermost Push Notification Service make sure to back up your `mattermost-push-proxy.json` file before continuing.

3. Unzip the downloaded Mattermost Push Notification Service using:  
    `tar -xvzf mattermost-push-proxy-linux-amd64.tar.gz`  
    or   
    `tar -xvzf mattermost-push-proxy-freebsd-amd64.tar.gz`

4. Configure the Mattermost Push Notification service by editing the `mattermost-push-proxy.json` file at `/home/ubuntu/mattermost-push-proxy/config`. Follow the steps in the [Android](#set-up-mattermost-push-notification-service-to-send-android-push-notifications)
    and [iOS](#set-up-mattermost-push-notification-service-to-send-ios-push-notifications) sections to replace the values in the config file.

5. Create a systemd unit file to manage the Mattermost Push Notification Services with systemd and log all output of the service to `/var/log/syslog` by running this command as root.
    ```bash
    echo "[Unit]
    Description=Mattermost Push Notification Service

    [Service]
    Type=oneshot
    ExecStart=/bin/sh -c '/home/ubuntu/mattermost-push-proxy/bin/mattermost-push-proxy | logger'
    WorkingDirectory=/home/ubuntu/mattermost-push-proxy

    [Install]
    WantedBy=multi-user.target" >> /etc/systemd/system/mattermost-push-proxy.service
    ```

   To route the traffic through a separate proxy server, add `Environment="HTTP_PROXY=<http://server>"` under the `[Service]` section of the file. If you have an HTTPS server, then use `HTTPS_PROXY`. If you set both then `HTTPS_PROXY` will take higher priority than `HTTP_PROXY`.

6. Start the service with `sudo systemctl start mattermost-push-proxy` or restart with `sudo systemctl restart mattermost-push-proxy`. Use `sudo systemctl enable mattermost-push-proxy` to have systemd start the service on boot.

### Set up Mattermost push notification service to send Android push notifications

- Go to the [Firebase Console](https://console.firebase.google.com) and select the project you've created. Once in the dashboard, go to the project settings and select **Service Accounts**.
![image](/img/mobile/firebase_settings.png)
![image](/img/mobile/firebase_cloud_messaging.png)

- Click on **Generate new private key** and store the downloaded file.
![image](/img/mobile/firebase_server_key.png)

- Open the **mattermost-push-proxy.json** file in the `mattermost-push-proxy/config` directory and look for the "ServiceFileLocation" entry under "AndroidPushSettings". Paste the location of the file as its value.
  ```
  "ServiceFileLocation": "/path/to/downloaded_file"
  ```

### Set up Mattermost push notification service to send iOS push notifications

Instead of certificates, we now recommend using an **APNs Auth Key (`.p8`)** to authenticate with Apple Push Notification service (APNs).  
If you haven’t generated your key yet, see [Generate an APNs Auth Key](/developers/contribute/more-info/mobile/push-notifications/ios).

- Open the **mattermost-push-proxy.json** file under the `mattermost-push-proxy/config` directory and configure it with your key details:

  ```json
  "ApplePushSettings":[
      {
          "Type":"apple_rn",
          "ApplePushUseDevelopment":true,
          "ApplePushTopic":"your.bundle.id",
          "AppleAuthKeyFile":"./config/beta/YourAuthKeyFile.p8",
          "AppleAuthKeyID":"YourAuthKeyID",
          "AppleTeamID":"YourAppleTeamID"
      }
  ],
  ```
- **ApplePushTopic**: Your app’s bundle ID (APNs topic).  
- **AppleAuthKeyFile**: Path to the `.p8` file.  
- **AppleAuthKeyID**: Key ID from Apple Developer portal.  
- **AppleTeamID**: Team ID from Apple Developer Membership.  
- **ApplePushUseDevelopment**: `true` for sandbox APNs, `false` for production.


<Note>
If you are migrating from certificate-based authentication, you can remove the `ApplePushCertPrivate` field and replace it with the new `AppleAuthKeyFile`, `AppleAuthKeyID`, and `AppleTeamID` values.
</Note>


### Configure the Mattermost Server to use the Mattermost push notification service

- In your Mattermost instance, enable mobile push notifications.
    * Go to **System Console > Notifications > Mobile Push**.
    * Under **Send Push Notifications**, select **Manually enter Push Notification Service location**.
    * Enter the location of your Mattermost Push Notification Service in the **Push Notification Server** field.

      ![image](/img/mobile/manual_mpns.png)

- (Optional) Customize mobile push notification contents.
    * Go to **System Console > Notifications > Mobile Push**.
    * Select an option for **Push Notification Contents** to specify what type of information to include in the push notifications.
    * Most deployments choose to include the full message snippet in push notifications unless they have policies against it to protect confidential information.

      ![image](/img/mobile/push_contents.png)

- Finally, start your Mattermost Push Notification Service, and your app should start receiving push notifications.

### Test the Mattermost push notification service

* Verify that the server is functioning normally and test the push notification using curl:
  `curl http://127.0.0.1:8066/api/v1/send_push -X POST -H "Content-Type: application/json" -d '{"type": "message", "message": "test", "badge": 1, "platform": "PLATFORM", "server_id": "MATTERMOST_DIAG_ID", "device_id": "DEVICE_ID", "channel_id": "CHANNEL_ID"}'`

  * Replace `MATTERMOST_DIAG_ID` with the value found by running the SQL query:
    ```sql
    SELECT * FROM Systems WHERE Name = 'DiagnosticId';
    ```
  * Replace `DEVICE_ID` with your device ID, which can be found using (where `your_email@example.com` is the email address of the user you are logged in as):
    ```sql
    SELECT
       Email, DeviceId
    FROM
       Sessions,
       Users
    WHERE
       Sessions.UserId = Users.Id
          AND DeviceId != ''
          AND Email = 'your_email@example.com';
    ```
  * Replace `CHANNEL_ID` with the Town Square channel ID, which can be found using:
    ```sql
    SELECT Id FROM Channels WHERE DisplayName = 'Town Square';
    ```
  
<Note title="Migration">
Remove the `apple:`, `apple_rn`, `android:` or `android_rn:` prefix from your device ID before replacing `DEVICE_ID`. Use that prefix as the `PLATFORM` (make sure to remove the ":").
</Note>

* You can also verify push notifications are working by opening your Mattermost site and mentioning a user who has push notifications enabled in **Settings > Notifications > Mobile Push Notifications**.

To view the log file, use:

```bash
$ sudo tail -n 1000 /var/log/upstart/mattermost-push-proxy.log
```

<Note title="Note">
Note that device IDs can change somewhat frequently, as they are tied to a device session. If you're having trouble, double-check the latest device IDs by re-running the above queries.
</Note>


### Troubleshooting

##### DeviceTokenNotForTopic

**For iOS / Apple Push Notifications**: If the logs are reflecting DeviceTokenNotForTopic (error 400) this may be because you're using an older / previous Device ID. Re-run the queries you need to get device IDs and test.

This could also be because you generated a key for the wrong bundle ID. The bundle ID used in `mattermost-push-proxy.json` should be the same one as the app, and should be for the same app it was generated for.

### Reporting issues

For issues with repro steps, please report to https://github.com/mattermost/mattermost/issues