Deploying the sample external data service for containers

When you use IBM Content Navigator (ICN) in a containerized environment or use Business Automation Navigator (BAN) in an IBM Cloud Pak for Business Automation environment, the containers are immutable. They are not to be updated with the customized REST service or data source definitions. Instead, you must build a separate container in which you can define the necessary data sources and to which you can deploy your custom REST service. Modify the sample external data service (EDS) to work with your content classes and then deploy the service to your custom REST service container. When the new container is running, verify that all the end points are working as you expect. Then, update the EDS plug-in in ICN or BAN to point to the REST service URL.

Procedure

Register and configure the external data service support plug-in, which is called edsPlugin, to use the sample external data service.

  1. Log in to the IBM Content Navigator Administration Desktop.
  2. Select Settings on the menu.
  3. Click the General tab.
  4. Set the Upload File Path on the Server: value to /opt/ibm.
  5. Click Save and Close.
  6. Refresh your browser.
  7. Select Plug-ins on the menu.
  8. Next to JAR file on client:, click Choose Files.
  9. Choose the local edsPlugin.jar file and click Upload.

    You can find the edsPlugin.jar in any on-premises IBM Content Navigator installation under the ECMClient\plugins directory.

    The JAR file path is set to /opt/ibm/plugins/edsPlugin.jar and an External Data Service section gets appended at the bottom of the page.

  10. Select and enter the External Data Service URL where the customized REST service is deployed.
    For example, you can specify: http://host_name:port_number/sampleEDSService.
  11. Click Save and Close.
  12. Refresh your browser.
  13. Log out of the IBM Content Navigator Administration Desktop.