Assigning roles

i am trying to create user through API then assign it auditor ,so the chat will be read only for him
i gave user permission to assign Roles but when i run the API i got 400 Bad Request
{
“success”: false,
“error”: “Accessing permissions is not allowed [error-action-not-allowed]”,
“errorType”: “error-action-not-allowed”,
“details”: {
“method”: “authorization:addUserToRole”,
“action”: “Accessing_permissions”
}
}

What version of Rocket.Chat do you have? What is your setup?

You really need to read ALL this and learn to provide some proper information.

We just can’t help you without some basics.

Also read all this:

https://developer.rocket.chat/apidocs/assign-role-to-user

then assign it auditor

Auditor? No idea what you mean?

Also note:

By default, the three major room roles are available in Rocket.Chat are Owner , Leader , and Moderator . Creating custom roles is exclusively available on the Enterprise plan.

When did this change happen? It is causing a problem for the community I run in that we have custom roles which we previously edited which we are now unable to edit. It is disappointing to see a hitherto ‘properly open source’ application start to creep towards a model which cripples the app for all except Enterprise users. This is antithetical to the spirit of open source.

When did this change happen?

As per the linked page:

For Rocket.Chat workspaces on version 6.x.x and above, creating new roles and editing custom role permissions are exclusively accessible to workspaces subscribed to the Enterprise plan.

Open Source

It is disappointing to see a hitherto ‘properly open source’ application start to creep towards a model which cripples the app for all except Enterprise users. This is antithetical to the spirit of open source.

We can debate this one at length… However, I am not going to spend too much time as I have done so many times before.

First, how many users do you support?

Are you in business making profit or supporting open source development?

Interested to know - hard to get facts like this.


So, Rocket.Chat can do what it like with it’s own code. They build it, and they have to make enough money to stay in business. Unsurprisingly, voluntary donations or ‘support’ only etc don’t raise anywhere near enough to keep them in business. They have - rightly or wrong - chosen to make some features ‘paid for’ so they stay in business and continue to develop code - the corollary being if they go bust you get nothing…

What does open source really mean? The source code is published and is open for anyone to view it. It is not the same as ‘libre source’ that people confuse it with.

Some code is published with a MIT licence - take it and do whatever you want with it - and some with a restricted licence where you can view it, but not use or modify it. (Many companies do not publish the source code for their restricted code)

In a perfect world we would have ‘free beer’ ie ‘libre source’, but we don’t live in that world and there are some who are quite happy to use code and contribute absolutely zero back. Open source is meant to be a two way street. Both take the code, and give back be that community support, Docs, PRs, or whatever.

I know a number of developers recently who have either shut up shop, or closed source because their open source code was being taken by VC funded cloud providers and sold to their clients, and they didn’t contribute back a single cent or line of code, but still expected free support and bug fixes…

How can Rocket.Chat (or any open source organisation) survive when you have ‘for profit’ organisations with literally hundreds of thousands of users using it, and who pay zero?

Yes, I’d love to see a ‘libre’ world too with organisations who can afford too voluntarily helping Rocket.Chat to stay in business. But having been in open source for 30 odd years (and having worked a short period for Rocket where I saw some of the problems they were having) I have had to become more pragmatic in my point of view.

I have personally tried to ensure that some features are still ‘free’ in CE, and you can use the full flavoured version for up to 25 users, which is pretty generous for a lot of small organisations.

You can still use the Community Edition completely free of any charge but with limited features and do whatever you want with it. For many organisations that is sufficient.

Rocket.Chat have tried to find a balance between “giving away” as much as they can whilst still staying in business. There is no simple solution to this problem, though if you have one then they’d be pleased to hear it!!

Approximately 300 nontechnical users, who are the service-users of a charity. We used RC because it allowed them to obtain something fit for purpose, which satisfied their stringent Information Governance requirements because it could be self-hosted.

Both. As you quite rightly point out, businesses need to make profit to survive.

Is there a donation link? Has this approch demonstrably failed? I searched the web for ‘rocket chat donation’; and found the press release about $19million Series A VC funding… yeah sure donations might not be able to keep up with this. But incredibly, after taking the VC funds in 2021 the software fairly quickly started to change significantly.

Discourse has a model which seems to work.

Approximately 300 nontechnical users, who are the service-users of a charity. We used RC because it allowed them to obtain something fit for purpose, which satisfied their stringent Information Governance requirements because it could be self-hosted.

OK. Technical or not doesn’t really enter into it. They are users.

Having worked with a few charities (I was a RNLI helm for 15 years…), as far as I am aware charities don’t operate with no money?

Your software is an operational expense, particularly if it is vital to the running of the organisation?

Do you run entirely on open source eg Linux desktops, Libre Office etc or a mixture of open and closed source?

Both. As you quite rightly point out, businesses need to make profit to survive.

Yup…

Is there a donation link? Has this approach demonstrably failed?

No not now. Yes, and Rocket are not alone in this as I previously described.

And hence we are where we are.

I searched the web for ‘rocket chat donation’; and found the press release about $19million Series A VC funding… yeah sure donations might not be able to keep up with this. But incredibly, after taking the VC funds in 2021 the software fairly quickly started to change significantly.

Donations and offering paid support etc just didn’t work. I remember the debates about it at the time.

Eventually they got funding which enabled them to continue. That money is not a free lunch. It is effectively a repayable loan. As such Rocket.Chat had to decide how to start raising more funds to continue their existence or you would have had no software at all…

They’d tried the carrot, but it didn’t work. They are open to suggestions.

Discourse are also VC funded - I’d check their plans and see if what you want is actually free or not. You can self host but it is a lot trickier than Rocket.Chat I have only used it for forums - and hate it :slight_smile: I have never tried real time chat with it.

Most open source systems out there with ‘corporate’ type functionality eg LDAP sync, role management etc have some form of restriction unless you subscribe and pay in some way. If that part of ‘free’ there will be either other restrictions, or less functionality.

For your own situation it might be worth a call to sales and discuss your situation with them. They are not inflexible.

Thanks, and we may try this.

I understand the frustration. I don’t actually work for the charity, I am an independent freelancer offering technical services although I mainly work within NHS (healthcare) IT and the situation there is even worse. Maybe computers was a bad idea in the first place. People knew where they were with a piece of paper.

Let me know. You can get me on https://open.rocket.chat if you have questions and may be able to help more there. You’ll find me in #support

I understand the frustration

NP - I really don’t want to sound too much like an ogre as I really am not - I am open source through and through. But having worked on the other side I know how difficult it is. Regrettably a few greedy people ruin it for many.

Rocket.Chat really do care about OS, but caring doesn’t put food on the table!

Oh yes - despite living in Spain for 17 years we still have a small biz in the UK and I am well aware of the mess that is the UK, and NHS, and IT there :wink:

Indeed. :rofl:

But it wasn’t easy to remote work with it :wink: