This is a guide to setup a Blackboard Learn instance and use it with REST APIs. This process includes 3 steps.

• Setting up Blackboard AMI EC2 instance on AWS.
• Setting up Blackboard developer account.
• Linking Blackboard Learn instance and developer account.

1. Login to AWS console.
2. Make sure you select appropriate region and role (if you have one setup).
3. Search for and select EC2 service from search.
4. Navigate to Instances > Launch Instance.
   • Step 1: Choose an Amazon Machine Image (AMI)
     • Select AWS Marketplace from the left panel.
     • Search for "blackboard learn" and choose Blackboard Learn for REST and LTI Developers from the results.
     • Hit Continue.
   • Step 2: Choose an Instance Type
     • As of January 29, 2021, only t2.large and t2.xlarge instance types are supported. Select t2.large. Hit Next: Configure Instance Details.
   • Step 3: Configure Instance Details
   • Step 4: Add Storage
   • Step 5: Add Tags
   • Step 6: Configure Security Groups
   • Step 7: Review Instance Launch
     • Hit Launch.
     • Select an existing key pair or create a new key pair
       • Note that if you select Choose an existing key pair, make sure you already have the private key or select Create a new key pair and download the private key and save it in a secure location since this will be used to SSH into the instance.
     • Hit `Launch Instances.
5. Your Blackboard instance should be up and running in few minutes.

1. Go to https://developer.blackboard.com/
2. Signup and Create New Account.

1. Go to https://developer.blackboard.com/
2. Login with your account details from previous step.
3. Under Manage Your Applications, choose Register.
4. Register a New Application
   • Application Name: blackboard-learn-test
   • Description: Blackboard Learn Test
   • Domain: <- Private IP from your EC2 instance ->
   • Group: Select default one.
   • Hit Register application and generate API key.
   • IMPORTANT: Make sure to save Application Key, Secret Key, and Application ID in a secure location. We need this information for the next step.

1. Go to https://<-Private IP from your EC2 instance ->/
2. Accept risk and continue
3. Login with
   • USERNAME: Administrator
   • PASSWORD: <- Your EC2's Instance ID ->
4. Navigate to System Admin > Integrations > REST API Integrations > Create Integration
5. Create Integrations
   • Application ID: <- Application ID from Registration above ->
   • Learn User: <- Choose a user. Preferably not Administrator. ->
   • Leave everything else as is.
   • Hit Submit
6. Now, everything is set to start making API calls. See below how to.

In order to make calls to the Blackboard Learn REST API, we need to authenticate.

1. Base 64 encode <Application ID>:<Applciation Secret>
2. The encoded string is your Basic Token.

1. POST https://<- Private IP from your EC2 instance ->/learn/api/public/v1/oauth2/token
2. Headers
   • Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
   • Authorization: Basic <- Basic Token from previous step ->
3. Form body
   • grant_type=client_credentials
4. Expected response: json { "access_token": "2fcz5vM1123456789MQqKQ4YEBd6yFdy3", "token_type": "bearer", "expires_in": 3599 }

Now, we use this Bearer Token to make requests. See below how to.

1. GET https://<- Private IP from your EC2 instance ->/learn/api/public/v1/announcements
2. Headers
   • Content-Type: application/json
   • Authorization: Bearer <- Bearer Token from above ->
3. Expected response: json { "results": [] }

See Blackboard REST API Docs for more information.

1. You may face with invalid certificate issue. You can avoid this by setting up a load balancer for your EC2 instance and attaching a certificate to it.

1. You can setup a custom domain using Route 53 on AWS so you don't have to use your EC2 instance's Private IP every time.
2. Infrastructure as code - Make this setup a CloudFormation stack (EC2 + ALB + SG) so it is easier to manage the instance including launching on demand.