Alfresco integration

ARender integrates with Alfresco Content Services (ACS) through two components: a CMIS repository connector deployed inside the ARender viewer, and an Alfresco Share plugin that replaces the default document preview with an ARender iframe.

1. Overview

The CMIS connector is a Java JAR bundled on the arender-ui-springboot classpath. It implements the DocumentAccessor interface and authenticates to Alfresco using the ticket passed in the URL query parameters. The Share plugin obtains the Alfresco ticket and nodeRef from the user session, then opens an iframe pointing at ARender with those values.

Figure: Request flow from Alfresco Share to ARender Classic viewer.

2. Prerequisites

• ARender Classic viewer (arender-ui-springboot) running
• Alfresco Content Services 5.x or later with CMIS 1.1 AtomPub endpoint active
• Alfresco Share 5.x or later (for the Share plugin integration)
• Network connectivity from the ARender viewer host to the Alfresco CMIS endpoint

3. Connector installation

The CMIS connector is included in the -alfresco image variant of the ARender viewer. No separate JAR deployment is required when using that image.

docker-compose.yml

services:
  ui:
    image: artifactory.arondor.cloud:5001/arender-ui-springboot:2026.0.0-alfresco
    environment:
      - "ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_RENDITION_HOSTS=http://service-broker:8761/"
      - "ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ATOM_PUB_URL=http://alfresco:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/cmis/versions/1.1/atom"
    ports:
      - "8080:8080"

note

This excerpt shows only the ui service configuration. The full rendition stack (service-broker, converter, renderer, text-handler) is also required. See Docker Compose for the complete configuration.

To deploy a custom JAR variant, place the fat JAR in /home/arender/lib/ inside the container and use a base arender-ui-springboot image.

Install the Alfresco Share plugin

The integration requires two JAR files:

• arender-for-alfresco-share-plugin-2026.0.0.jar — integrates the ARender viewer within Share
• arender-for-alfresco-ACS-plugin-2026.0.0.jar — extends the ACS REST API used by ARender

If Alfresco and Share run on separate Tomcat instances, drop each JAR into the lib/ folder of its respective application.

If Alfresco and Share share the same Tomcat instance, drop both JARs into:

{alfresco_tomcat}/shared/lib/

Then add the following to {alfresco_tomcat}/shared/classes/alfresco/web-extension/share-config-custom.xml, inside the <alfresco-config> root element:

<config evaluator="string-compare" condition="Arender">
    <url>http://{arender_host}:{arender_port}/{arender_context}</url>
    <!-- Example: <url>http://192.168.1.8:8080/ARenderHMI</url> -->
</config>

Restart the Alfresco Share server after deploying the JARs and updating the configuration. The plugin replaces the default document preview component with an ARender iframe for all supported document types.

4. Configuration

All CMIS connector properties are set on the ui service via environment variables or arender-server.properties.

Core connection

Environment variable	Property	Default	Description
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ATOM_PUB_URL	arender.server.alfresco.atom.pub.url	http://localhost:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/cmis/versions/1.1/atom	CMIS AtomPub endpoint URL
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_CONTEXT	arender.server.alfresco.context	alfresco	Alfresco context path

Authentication

By default, the connector authenticates using the alf_ticket URL parameter (user-delegated). To use a technical service account instead, set user and password. When a service account is configured, all access to Alfresco uses that account regardless of the user's own ticket.

Environment variable	Property	Default	Description
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_USER	arender.server.alfresco.user	(empty)	Service account login. Leave empty to use user-delegated authentication
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_PASSWORD	arender.server.alfresco.password	(empty)	Service account password

Annotation storage

Annotations are stored as XFDF files in Alfresco. The recommended mode stores them as CMIS child documents of the annotated document.

Environment variable	Property	Default	Description
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ANNOTATION_PATH	arender.server.alfresco.annotation.path	/Dictionnaire de données	Alfresco path where annotation folders are created (legacy mode)
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ANNOTATION_FOLDER_NAME	arender.server.alfresco.annotation.folder.name	SuperAnnotations	Name of the annotation folder
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ANNOTATION_USE_CHILD_API	arender.server.alfresco.annotation.use.child.api	true	Store annotations as CMIS child documents (recommended)

To migrate from the legacy folder-based storage to child document storage, set:

arender.server.alfresco.annotation.migrate.to.new.child.api=true

Role-based annotation access

When arender.server.alfresco.use.roles=true, annotation operations are restricted by Alfresco site role.

Environment variable	Property	Default	Description
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_USE_ROLES	arender.server.alfresco.use.roles	false	Enforce annotation permissions based on Alfresco site roles
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_USE_PERMISSIONS	arender.server.alfresco.use.permissions	false	Use Alfresco node permissions for annotation access

Default role permissions when use.roles=true:

Role	Create	Modify any	Modify own	Create redactions	Delete redactions
SiteManager	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
SiteCollaborator	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
SiteContributor	yes	no	yes	yes	no
SiteConsumer	no	no	no	no	no

Override specific role assignments:

ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ROLE_CREATE_ANNOTATION=SiteManager,SiteCollaborator,SiteContributor
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ROLE_MODIFY_ANNOTATION=SiteManager,SiteCollaborator
ARENDERSRV_ARENDER_SERVER_ALFRESCO_ROLE_MODIFY_OWN_ANNOTATION=SiteContributor

URL parameters used by the connector

Parameter	Source	Description
nodeRef	Share plugin	Alfresco nodeRef (e.g. workspace://SpacesStore/...)
alf_ticket	Share plugin	Alfresco authentication ticket
user	Share plugin	Alfresco username
versionLabel	Share plugin	Document version label
docs	Share plugin (multi-document)	Comma-separated nodeRef;versionLabel pairs
folder	Share plugin (folder)	Set to any non-null value to open the nodeRef as a folder

Document Builder configuration

Property	Default	Description
arender.server.alfresco.document.builder.document.type	(empty)	Force a specific Alfresco content type on new documents
arender.server.alfresco.document.builder.aspects.to.propagate	(empty)	Comma-separated aspect names to copy from parent
arender.server.alfresco.document.builder.properties.to.propagate	(empty)	Comma-separated property names to copy from parent
arender.server.alfresco.document.builder.transfer.annotations	false	Copy annotations when creating or updating a document
arender.server.alfresco.document.builder.number.try.rename.document	5	Rename attempt count when a document with the same name already exists

5. Verification

1. Verify the CMIS endpoint is reachable from the ARender container:

curl http://alfresco:8080/alfresco/api/-default-/cmis/versions/1.1/atom

Expected: an XML Atom service document listing CMIS workspaces.

2. Open a document from Alfresco Share. The ARender iframe should load within the Share document preview panel.

3. Create an annotation in the viewer. Confirm it persists across page reloads by reopening the document.

6. Common issues

Error	Cause	Solution
Document does not load, viewer shows an error	CMIS endpoint unreachable	Run curl http://alfresco:8080/.../atom from the viewer container. Check viewer logs for authentication errors
Annotations are not saved	Insufficient write access	The authenticated user needs write access to the document or to the annotation path folder
Share shows the default preview instead of ARender	JARs not deployed or Share not restarted	Verify both JARs are present in lib/ or shared/lib/ and that Share was restarted after deployment
Viewer loads but shows "Cannot view document"	Missing URL parameters	Check that the Share plugin is passing nodeRef, alf_ticket, and user parameters in the iframe URL