This guide describes how to obtain and install binary packages for the Microsoft Azure Bot Service (ABS) plugin to the UniMRCP server on Debian-based Linux distributions. The document is intended for system administrators and developers.

1.1 Applicable Versions

Instructions provided in this guide are applicable to the following versions.

UniMRCP 1.7.0 and above

UniMRCP ABS Plugin 1.0.0 and above

1.2 Supported APIs

The following Azure APIs are supported by the plugin.

API	Availability
LUIS	ABS 1.0.0 and above
Service Bot (Direct Line Speech)	ABS 1.1.0 and above

1.3 Supported Distributions

UniMRCP deb packages are currently available for x86_64 (64-bit) architecture only.

Operating System	Released	End of Support
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (xenial)	May 2020	March 2021
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (bionic)	May 2020	TBA
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS (focal)	March 2021	TBA

Note: packages for other distributions can be made available upon request. For more information, contact services@unimrcp.org.

1.4 Authentication

UniMRCP binary packages are available to authenticated users only. In order to register a free account with UniMRCP, please visit the following page.

https://www.unimrcp.org/profile-registration

Note: a new account needs to be verified and activated prior further proceeding.

2 Installing Deb Packages Using Apt-Get

Using the APT package handling utility (apt-get) is recommended for installation of UniMRCP binary packages.

2.1 Repository Configuration

Supply login information by creating a file /etc/apt/auth.conf.d/unimrcp.conf containing the following entry.

machine unimrcp.org

password password

Note: the username and password fields must be replaced with the corresponding account credentials.

Configure a repository by creating a file /etc/apt/sources.list.d/unimrcp.list containing the following entry.

deb [arch=amd64] https://unimrcp.org/repo/apt/ distr main

Note: the distr field must be replaced with the corresponding distribution code name such as xenial, bionic, focal, etc. To determine the distribution code, use `lsb_release -cs`.

2.2 GnuPG Key

For verification of binary packages, UniMRCP provides a public GnuPG key, which can be retrieved and installed as follows.

wget -O - https://unimrcp.org/keys/unimrcp-gpg-key.public | sudo apt-key add -

2.3 Repository Update

In order to check for updates and apply the changes in the APT configuration, use the following command.

sudo apt-get update

2.4 Azure Bot Plugin Installation

In order to install the Azure Bot plugin, including all the dependencies, use the following command.

sudo apt-get install unimrcp-azure-bot

As a result, apt-get will check and prompt to download all the required packages by installing them in the directory /opt/unimrcp.

In order to install the additional data files for the sample client application umc, the following command can be used.

sudo apt-get install umc-addons

Note: this package is optional and provides additional data which can be used for validation of basic setup.

3 Installing Deb Packages Manually

UniMRCP deb packages can be installed manually using the dpkg utility. Note, however, that the system administrator should take care of package dependencies and install all the packages in appropriate order.

The deb packages have the following naming convention:

$packagename_$universion-$distr_$arch.deb

where

· packagename is the name of a package

· universion is the UniMRCP version

· distr is the distribution code name (trusty, xenial, …)

· arch is the architecture (amd64, i386, all, …)

3.1 Package List

The following is a list of UniMRCP deb packages required for the installation of the Azure SR plugin.

Package Name	Description
unimrcp-azure-bot	Azure Bot plugin to the server.
uniazuresdk	UniMRCP edition of the Azure Speech SDK library.
umc-addons	Sample en-US data files used with umc. [Optional]
unilicnodegen	Node information retrieval tool, required for license deployment.
unimrcp-server	Shared library and application of the server.
unimrcp-client	Shared libraries and sample applications of the client. [Optional]
unimrcp-demo-plugins	Set of demo plugins to the server. [Optional]
unimrcp-common	Data common for the client and the server.
uniapr	UniMRCP edition of the Apache Portable Runtime (APR) library.
uniapr-util	UniMRCP edition of the Apache Portable Runtime Utility (APR-Util) library.
unisofia-sip	UniMRCP edition of the Sofia SIP library.

3.2 Package Installation Order

Packages for APR, APR-Util and Sofia-SIP libraries must be installed first.

sudo dpkg --install uniapr_$aprversion-$distr_$arch.deb

sudo dpkg --install uniapr-util_$apuversion-$distr_$arch.deb

sudo dpkg --install unisofia-sip_$sofiaversion-$distr_$arch.deb

Then, a package containing common data for the client and the server, and a package for the server should follow.

sudo dpkg --install unimrcp-common_$universion-$distr_$arch.deb

sudo dpkg --install unimrcp-server_$universion-$distr_$arch.deb

Next, a package containing the utility tool unilicnodegen, required for license deployment.

sudo dpkg --install unilicnodegen_$toolversion-$distr_$arch.deb

Next, a package containing the AWS SDK library.

sudo dpkg --install uniazuresdk_$azuresdkversion-$distr_$arch.deb

Finally, a package containing the Azure Bot plugin should follow.

sudo dpkg --install unimrcp-azure-bot_$universion-$distr_all.deb

4 Obtaining License

The Azure Bot plugin to the UniMRCP server is a commercial product, which requires a license file to be installed.

4.1 License Type

The following license types are available:

· Trial

· Production

· Test and Development

4.2 Node Information

The license files are bound to a node the product is installed on. In order to obtain a license, the corresponding node information needs to be retrieved and submitted for generation of a license file.

Use the installed tool unilicnodegen to retrieve the node information.

sudo /opt/unimrcp/bin/unilicnodegen

As a result, a text file uninode.info will be saved in the current directory. Submit the file uninode.info for license generation to services@unimrcp.org by mentioning the product name in the subject.

4.3 License Installation

The license file needs to be placed into the directory /opt/unimrcp/data.

sudo cp umsazurebot_*.lic /opt/unimrcp/data

5 Obtaining Service Credentials

In order to utilize either the LUIS API and/or the Bot Service API, corresponding service subscription key and region need to be retrieved from the Microsoft Azure portal and further installed to the UniMRCP server.

5.1 Service Subscription

Navigate to the Microsoft Azure dashboard and create a new resource.

1. Navigate to the Dashboard.

https://portal.azure.com

2. Create a LUIS app for intent recognition

and/or

Create a bot with the Direct Line Speech channel

3. Collect one of the two keys (1) and the region (2).

5.2 Installation of Credentials

Create a text file azbot.subscription.key in the directory /opt/unimrcp/data.

sudo nano /opt/unimrcp/data/azbot.subscription.key

Place the collected key and the region in the following JSON format.

{

"subscription-key": "*******************************",

"region": "westus",

"service-endpoint": "",

"api": ""

}

Note that if the credentials are supposed to be used with a LUIS app, then the api token must be set to luis. Otherwise, for a bot service, the api token shall remain empty or be set to dsc (Direct Service Connector).

6 Configuring Server and Plugin

6.1 Plugin Factory Configuration

In order to load the Azure SR plugin into the UniMRCP server, open the file unimrcpserver.xml, located in the directory /opt/unimrcp/conf, and add the following entry under the XML element <plugin-factory>. Disable other recognition plugins, if available. The remaining demo plugins might also be disabled, if not installed.

<plugin-factory>

<engine id="Azure-Bot-1" name="umsazurebot" enable="true"/>

</plugin-factory>

6.2 Logger Configuration

In order to enable log output from the plugin and set filtering rules, open the configuration file logger.xml, located in the directory /opt/unimrcp/conf, and add the following entry under the element <sources>.

6.3 Azure Bot Plugin Configuration

The configuration file of the plugin is located in /opt/unimrcp/conf/umsazurebot.xml. Default settings should be sufficient for general use.

Refer to the Usage Guide for more information.

7 Validating Setup

Validate your setup by using the sample UniMRCP client and server applications on the same host. The default configuration and data files should be sufficient for a basic test.

7.1 Setting up Sample LUIS App

This step is required if a LUIS app is used and can be skipped for bot service.

Create a new or use an existing LUIS application.

In order to reference the LUIS application, the corresponding App ID must be specified in the configuration file of the plugin, located in /opt/unimrcp/conf/umsazurebot.xml.

<streaming-recognition

language="en-US"

appid="********-****-****-****-************ "

Note that the application identifier can also be specified per recognition request. See the Usage Guide for more information.

7.2 Launching Server

Launch the UniMRCP server application as a service

sudo systemctl start unimrcp

Open the current log file located in /opt/unimrcp/log/unimrcpserver_current.log, and check whether the plugin is normally loaded.

[INFO] Load Plugin [Azure-Bot-1] [/opt/unimrcp/plugin/umsazurebot.so]

Next, check for the license information.

[NOTICE] UniMRCP AZUREBOT License

-product name: umsazurebot

-product version: 1.0.0

-license owner: -

-license type: trial

-issue date: 2020-04-25

-exp date: 2020-05-25

-channel count: 2

-feature set: 0

7.3 Launching Client

Note: the optional package umc-addons must be installed for this test to work.

Launch the sample UniMRCP client application umc.

cd /opt/unimrcp/bin

./umc

Run a typical speech recognition scenario by issuing the command run gdf1 from the console of the umc client application.

run gdf1

This command sends a RECOGNIZE request to the server and then starts streaming a sample audio input file bookroom.pcm to recognize.

Check for the NLSML results. Note that deepening on the referenced LUIS mode, the content may differ.

<?xml version="1.0"?>

<string name="intent">RoomReservation.Reserve</string>

</object>

</object>

</instance><input mode="speech">book a room</input>

</interpretation>

</result>

Visually inspect the log output for any possible warnings or errors.

Note that utterances are stored in the var directory, if the corresponding parameter is enabled in the configuration file umsazurebot.xml and/or requested by the client.