How to send sms from Ruby

The simplest way to send SMS from Ruby is to use the built in HTTP/Rest SMS api of Ozeki SMS Gateway. When you use this API, you will send SMS messages by issuing a HTTP Post request to the SMS gateway. The HTTP Post request will contain a message formatted in json format. The SMS gateway will send this SMS to the recipient's phone, and it will return a HTTP 200 OK response to your request.

how to send sms from ruby
Figure 1 - How to send SMS from Ruby

Ruby code to send sms to mobile

The Ruby sms code sample below demonstrates how you can send SMS using the http rest sms api of Ozeki SMS Gateway using the Ruby ozeki_libs_rest gem. This library is provided to you free of charge, and you may use it and modify it in any of your projects.

SendSms.rb 
require 'ozeki_libs_rest'

configuration = Configuration.new(
    "http_user",
    "qwe123",
    "http://127.0.0.1:9509/api"
);

msg = Message.new
msg.to_address = "+36201111111"
msg.text = "Hello world!"

api = MessageApi.new(configuration)

result = api.send(msg)

print(result)

Code 1 - SendSms.rb

How to use the Ruby sms example:

This Ruby sms example can be used in any ruby application. To use it, you must download the ozeki_libs_rest gem. After the gem is downloaded, you need to add a reference to it in your Ruby source code. This will allow you to use the classes provided by the ozeki_libs_rest gem. You can use the Message class to create the SMS. You can use the MessageApi class to send the SMS to the SMS gateway. The SMS gateway will forward your message to the mobile network either through a wireless connection or through the Internet.

Download SendSms.rb

The source code explained in this article can be downloaded and used and modified free of charge.
Download: SendSms.rb.zip (316B)

What is in the SendSms.rb.zip file?

In the SendSms.rb.zip you will find the SendSms.rb file, which contains the example code to show you how to send an SMS. This example code is listed below.

Figure 2 - What is inside SendSms.rb.zip

How to install the ozeki_libs_rest gem using Windows shell

gem install ozeki_libs_rest

Code 2 - Command to install the ozeki_libs_rest gem

Video 1 - How to install the ozeki_libs_rest gem (Video tutorial)

How to send SMS from Ruby (Simple guidelines)

To send SMS from Ruby:

  1. Install a HTTP API user
  2. Enable Log communication events on the Advanced tab
  3. Setup Visual Studio
  4. Download then extract the SendSms.rb.zip file
  5. Launch Ozeki SMS Gateway app
  6. Run SendSend.rb Ruby code using the command prompt
  7. Check the logs to see if the SMS sent

Install Ozeki SMS Gateway and create an HTTP API user

To be able to send SMS from Ruby, first you need to install Ozeki SMS Gateway. The SMS gateway can be installed on the same computer, where you develop your Ruby code in any text editor, such as windows notepad. After installation, the next step is to connect Ozeki SMS Gateway to the mobile network. You can send a test sms from the Ozeki GUI to verify, that your mobile network connection works. The final step to prepare your environment is to create a HTTP sms api user. Create a user with a username of "http_user", and with a password of "qwe123" to make the example work without modification.

After the environment is setup, you can run your Ruby code.

HTTP API url to use send sms from Ruby

To send SMS from Ruby, your Ruby will have to issue an HTTP request to the SMS gateway. The API url is shown below. Note that the IP address (127.0.0.1) should be replaced to the IP address of your SMS gateway. If Ozeki SMS Gateway is installed on the same computer where the Ruby sms application is running, this can be 127.0.0.1. If it is installed on a different computer, it should be the IP address of that computer. 

http://127.0.0.1:9509/api?action=rest

HTTP authentication to use send sms from Ruby

To authenticate the Ruby sms client, you need to send the username and password in a base64 encoded string to the server in a HTTP request. The format used is: base64(username+":"+password). In Ruby you can use the following code to do this encoding: 

username_password = username + ':' + password
username_password_encoded = Base64.encode64(username_password)
'Basic ' + username_password_encoded

For example, if you encode the username 'http_user' and the password 'qwe123', you will get the following base64 encoded string: aHR0cF91c2VyOnF3ZTEyMw==. To send

HTTP request header to send SMS from Ruby

To send the SMS messages, you need to include the following lines as headers in the HTTP request. Note that we include a content type and an Authorization header. 

Content-Type: application/json
Authorization: Basic QWxhZGRpbjpvcGVuIHNlc2FtZQ==

HTTP request to send SMS from Ruby

To submit the SMS, your Ruby application will send an HTTP request similar to the one below. Note, that this request contains a HTTP header part and a http body part. The HTTP body is a JSON encoded data string. It contains the recipient's number and the message's text. 

POST /api?action=sendmsg HTTP/1.1
Content-Length: 339
Content-Type: application/json
Accept: application/json
Accept-Encoding: gzip;q=1.0,deflate;q=0.6,identity;q=0.3
Authorization: Basic aHR0cF91c2VyOnF3ZTEyMw==
Host: 127.0.0.1:9509
User-Agent: Faraday v1.5.0

{
	"messages":	[
		{
			"message_id":	"2861551f-fddd-4b8e-9b06-eab9e1a0d179",
			"to_address":	"+36201111111",
			"text":	"Hello world!",
			"create_date":	"2021-07-06T09:09:44",
			"valid_until":	"2021-07-13T09:09:44",
			"time_to_send":	"2021-07-06T09:09:44",
			"is_submit_report_requested":	true,
			"is_delivery_report_requested":	true,
			"is_view_report_requested":	true,
			"tags":	[]
		}
	]
}

HTTP response received by the Ruby sms example

Once the SMS gateway receives this request, it will generate a HTTP response. The HTTP response will contain a status code, to indicate whether the SMS submit request was successful or not. It will also return a JSON encoded structure to provide you useful details about the message's submission. 

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
User-Agent: OZEKI 10.3.123 (www.myozeki.com)
Content-Type: application/json; charset=utf8
Last-Modified: Tue, 06 Jul 2021 08:52:02 GMT
Server: 10/10.3.123
Transfer-Encoding: chunked

{
	"http_code": 200,
	"response_code": "SUCCESS",
	"response_msg": "Messages queued for delivery.",
	"data": {
	  "total_count": 1,
	  "success_count": 1,
	  "failed_count": 0,
	  "messages": [
	    {
	      "message_id": "2861551f-fddd-4b8e-9b06-eab9e1a0d179",
	      "from_station": "%",
	      "to_address": "+36201111111",
	      "to_station": "%",
	      "text": "Hello world!",
	      "create_date": "2021-07-06 09:09:44",
	      "valid_until": "2021-07-13 09:09:44",
	      "time_to_send": "2021-07-06 09:09:44",
	      "submit_report_requested": true,
	      "delivery_report_requested": false,
	      "view_report_requested": false,
	      "tags": [
	        {
	          "name": "Type",
	          "value": "SMS:TEXT"
	        }
	      ],
	      "status": "SUCCESS"
	    }
	  ]
	}
}

Connect your SMS gateway to the mobile network and create an HTTP API user account

We assume, you have already installed Ozeki SMS Gateway, and you have connected it to the mobile network. In order to be able to send SMS to a mobile phone from Ruby, you need to setup an HTTP API user account in Ozeki SMS Gateway.

Video 2 - How to setup an HTTP API user account (Video tutorial)

How to send SMS from Ruby using the Ruby sms api (Video tutorial)

This video shows you how to download the SendSms.rb.zip file from this page. If watch the video, you will notice, that the contents of the SendSms.rb zip are placed into the Windows desktop. You will also see that we run the command prompt in order to send the SMS.

Ruby sms example: SendSms.rb

The example code below is part of the SendSms.rb.

Figure 3 - SendSms.rb file

How to check that the SMS has been accepted by the HTTP user

After the SMS has been submitted, it is a good idea to check your SMS gateway, to see what it has received. You can check the log by opening the HTTP user's details from the Ozeki SMS Gateway management console. The following video shows you what to look for.

Video 4 - How to send SMS with the Ruby code above (Video tutorial)

How to check that the SMS has been sent to the mobile network

The final step in verifying the procedure is to take a look at the logs of the mobile network connection. You might have to turn on logging in the configuration of the connection before you send the message to see the logs. If logging is enabled, you will see the phone number and the text of the message you have sent.

Video 5 - How to test if the request was accepted by the SMPP client (Video tutorial)

How receiving a message on Android looks like (Video tutorial)

In this video, you will see the process of receiving a message on Android, when the message was sent using the Ozeki SMS Gateway. The video will start with an ordinary Android main screen and will show the notification you get in case of an incoming SMS and then the opened Messages app with the 'Hello World' SMS. The video is only 18-seconds-long, but it shows the whole process.

Video 6 - How receiving a message on Android looks like (Video tutorial)

Conclusion

The main goal of this article was to show the steps of SMS sending in Ruby with the help of Ozeki SMS Gateway. With this innovation, you can send messages to your customers sitting behind a computer, using only Ozeki SMS Gateway and a Ruby code. This solution is a great example of how easy to control Ozeki SMS Gateway with Ruby codes. It also has to be mentioned that Ozeki SMS Gateway works in any country and can send and receive SMS through various mobile connections.

Continue the reading on Ozeki's tutorial page, where more information can be found about topics like multiple SMS sending and SMS scheduling in Ruby.

The only thing to do now is to download Ozeki SMS Gateway and let the work begin!

More information