Deploying integrations

To deploy integrations that you develop in App Connect or IBM® App Connect Enterprise Toolkit, create a runtime to host your workload.

Before you begin

About this task

To run your integrations, deploy them to an integration runtime. You can create a runtime first, then deploy your integrations to it later. Or you can select the integrations that you want to deploy first, then create the runtime. You can also deploy integrations as you develop your flows.
  • You can deploy your Designer or Toolkit flows from the Manage page Icon that represents the Manage page. You can either create the runtime first on the Runtimes tab, or choose the integration to deploy first on the Integrations tab.
    Figure 1. Creating a runtime from the Runtimes tab on the Manage page
    The Runtimes tab is selected on the Manage page. The tab has a Create button.
  • You can deploy Designer flows from the flow editor where you develop and test them if the status is Draft (Ready to deploy).
    Figure 2. Deploying a ready-to-deploy event-driven flow in App Connect Designer
    An event-driven flow with a status of Draft (Ready to deploy) and a Deploy flow button.
    Figure 3. Deploying a ready-to-deploy API flow in App Connect Designer
    An API flow with a status of Draft (Ready to deploy) and a Deploy API button.
  • You can also deploy a Designer flow from its tile on the dashboard if the status is Draft (Ready to deploy).
    Figure 4. Deploying a ready-to-deploy flow on the App Connect Designer dashboard
    A tile on the Designer dashboard that represents an API flow with a status of Draft (Ready to deploy). The tile menu contains a Deploy option.
  • To deploy a Toolkit integration, you can import one or more BAR files that were developed in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit. You can then deploy them from the BAR files tab.
    Figure 5. Deploying an imported BAR file from the BAR files tab of the Manage page
    The BAR files tab lists BAR files for all deployment locations. The menu for a BAR file contains a Deploy option.
Note: On a trial subscription, you can create a maximum of two local integration runtimes in App Connect. On a paid subscription, you can create up to 50 runtimes and you can import up to 500 BAR files. When you deploy a flow that you created in the App Connect flow editor, it is automatically added to a BAR file. These system-generated BAR files are listed on the BAR files page and contribute to the limit of 500 BAR files.

The following steps describe how to create a runtime and deploy integrations to a runtime.

Creating a runtime

Procedure

  1. Go to the Manage page and open the Runtimes tab.
  2. Click Create and select the deployment location for your runtime.
    The default deployment location is your current instance of App Connect. To connect to another deployment location, expand Connect in the navigation pane, then click Deployment locations. For more information, see Managing remote runtimes.
  3. Enter a name that uniquely identifies this integration runtime.
    You can use lowercase alphanumeric characters and hyphens (-) for the name, and it must start and end with a lowercase alphanumeric character. You can't change the name of a runtime after you create it.
    To customize your runtime, either complete the form fields in Form view or use the YAML editor in Code view.
    The switch that you use to choose either Form view or Code view.
  4. Optional: Add an integration to deploy to this runtime.
    You can select an integration to deploy to the runtime at this stage, or you can create the runtime first, then later select the runtime when you deploy an integration. You can add a single integration when you create a runtime, but after the runtime is created, you can add more integrations to it.
    1. To deploy an integration to this runtime, click Add integration.
    2. Select an existing Designer flow or BAR file or click Add file to import a BAR file that was created in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit. If you're deploying to a remote deployment location, you can deploy a BAR file only. You can import BAR files that are a maximum of 100 MB.

      You can deploy a Designer flow to one runtime only. To deploy a Designer flow to a different runtime, you must first undeploy it from the first runtime.

    3. After you select an integration, click Add.
  5. Optional: Add one or more configurations to the runtime.
    You can select or create one or more configurations to add to the runtime. The list of configurations that you see are specific to the deployment location. The configurations that you add apply to all the integrations that are deployed to this runtime.

    Configurations provide environment-specific information that your integrations need to work, like account credentials or secrets. If the configurations are compatible with each other, you can apply more than one configuration to an integration. Click Add configurations, then either select the appropriate configurations from the table, or click Create configuration to create one. For more information, see Providing credentials and secrets in configurations.

    The configurations that you add to the runtime override existing configurations that are applied to the integrations. The following examples describe a few of the available configuration types.
    • Add the Accounts configuration to provide account credentials for your connectors. You can apply only one Accounts configuration to a runtime, but you can use it to provide credentials for multiple connectors. The accounts that you connect to in the catalog or flow editor are used to develop and test your flows. When you deploy your flow, you must provide the credentials for these accounts in the Accounts configuration.
    • Use an Agentx configuration if the deployed flow contains a Callable flow node that needs to use a switch server to connect to a callable flow in your network. You can apply only one Agentx configuration to an integration runtime.
    • Use a Private network agent configuration when the deployed integration needs to interact with an application in a private network. This configuration provides secure connectivity details to establish a connection. These details enable port forwarding from a local listening port for the deployed integration to the remote port and host of the application in the private network. You can apply only one private network agent configuration to a runtime.
    • If you're deploying one or more BAR files that are stored in an external repository, use a BarAuth configuration to provide the credentials to connect to the repository.
  6. Optional: Set the version of the runtime.
    You can select a major version, such as 13.0, or a specific fix pack version, such as 13.0.1. The major version is the default value and resolves automatically to the most recent fix pack version when it becomes available. For more information, see Updating the version of your integration runtime.
  7. Optional: Select the number of replicas to run for this runtime to allow for high availability of the integrations in your runtime.
    To allow for high availability, select Multiple. All replicas of a runtime share an HTTP hostname, and HTTP traffic is spread between the replicas. If one runtime replica fails or is restarted, the other replica runtimes continue to work. When App Connect receives a system update, only one of the replicas is restarted at a time so that the other replicas can continue to handle requests.

    When you select multiple replicas, you proportionally increase the resource requirements and the running cost. During times when you don't need deployed flows to run, avoid running costs for the runtime by selecting None. The runtime doesn't run your integrations and no cost is incurred. When you're ready to run your integrations again, select Single or Multiple.

    To set the number of replicas in the Code view, set the replicas property to 0, 1, or 2.

  8. Optional: Enable basic authentication for all HTTP input flows.
    Basic authentication provides secure access to HTTP and SOAP input nodes in your deployed flows. If you enable basic authentication, HTTP requests to any HTTP or SOAP nodes on that runtime must specify the correct URL, a username, and a password. If you disable basic authentication, HTTP requests can access any of the HTTP or SOAP nodes on that runtime by using only the correct URL and no username or password.

    To view the basic authentication credentials for the deployed runtime, go to the Runtimes tab of the Manage page Icon that represents the Manage page and open the tile for the runtime. You can find the basic authentication credentials on the Security tab. You can also regenerate the credentials for all integrations that are running in that runtime.

  9. Optional: Specify the name of the default application that is used for independent resources.
    If your integration contains independent resources that aren't in an application, they're added to the runtime default application during deployment. If you enter a name in this field, a default application is created with this name. If you don't enter a name, the default application is called DefaultApplication.
  10. Click Create.

Results

A tile is added to the Runtimes tab of the Manage page that shows the properties of the runtime and a status of Creating. It can take a few minutes to create a runtime. To update the status, click Refresh The icon that refreshes the view. When the status is Ready, your runtime is ready to host your integrations.
The Runtimes tab of the Manage page shows a tile for the new runtime, which has a status of Creating. A message indicates that the runtime is being created and that you must refresh the browser to update the status.

When the runtime is ready, use the menu on the tile to open, edit, or delete it. You can also change the version (see Updating the version of your integration runtime) and manage user and service trace (see Collecting trace for deployed flows).

What to do next

Deploying integrations to a runtime

Procedure

  1. Select an integration to deploy in one of the following ways.
    Note: You can deploy a Designer flow to one runtime only. To deploy a Designer flow to a different runtime, you must first undeploy it from the first runtime.
    Select an integration from the Manage page
    1. Go to the Manage page Icon that represents the Manage page and open the Integrations tab.
    2. Click Deploy integration and select the deployment location for your integration.

      The default deployment location is your current instance of App Connect. To connect to another deployment location, expand Connect in the navigation pane, then click Deployment locations. For more information, see Managing remote runtimes.

    3. Select a flow or an imported BAR file. You can also import a BAR file of up to 100 MB by clicking Add file and selecting a BAR file from your local file system.
    4. Click Next.
    Deploy an integration from the Designer flow editor
    1. On the Designer dashboard, open an event-driven or API flow with a status of Draft (Ready to deploy).
    2. In the flow editor, click Deploy flow or Deploy API.
      An event-driven flow is open in the Designer flow editor. The status of the flow is Draft (Ready to deploy), and the Deploy flow button is available.
    Select an integration from the Designer dashboard
    1. On the Designer dashboard The icon that represents the Designer dashboard, open the menu for an event-driven or API flow with a status of Draft (Ready to deploy).
    2. Click Deploy.
      The menu for a flow on the Designer dashboard that is ready to deploy contains the Deploy option.
      Tip: To list just the flows that are ready to deploy, set the filter on the dashboard to Complete.
      The filter on the Designer dashboard is set to Complete.
    Select a BAR file from the BAR files page
    1. Go to the Manage page and click BAR files.
    2. Select the deployment location where your BAR file is stored. If you choose All deployment locations, you can see all the BAR files that you have access to.
    3. Open the menu for a BAR file and click Deploy.
      The BAR files tab lists BAR files for all deployment locations. The menu for a BAR file contains a Deploy option.
    4. Select the location where you want to deploy the BAR file, then click Next. To create another location, click Create connection. (For more information, see Managing remote runtimes.)

      If a BAR file of the same name exists in the selected deployment location but the content is different, you can replace it with the BAR file in the default deployment location. To replace and deploy the BAR file in the selected deployment location, Sync and deploy. Any integration runtime in the selected deployment location that is running the BAR file restarts, which might affect active integrations.

    BAR file synchronization:
    You can deploy the same BAR file to your default deployment location and a remote runtime in another deployment location. If you update the BAR file in one location, an information icon The information icon that indicates that your BAR files are out of sync. against the remote deployment location indicates that the BAR file is out of sync. When you import or update a BAR file, a unique value is stored in the metadata of the BAR file. This value is based on the content of the BAR file and is used to determine whether BAR files are out of sync. Out of sync doesn't imply that one version is more recent than another, just that their contents are different. You can't see what the differences are between the files.
    A BAR file is imported to the default deployment location and is imported and deployed to a managed service. An information icon against the managed service indicates that the deployed BAR file is out of sync with the BAR file in the default deployment location.

    To synchronize the BAR file in the remote deployment location with the BAR file in the default deployment location, click the information icon, then click Sync. The BAR file in the default deployment location is always considered to be the correct version. When you click Sync, the BAR file is downloaded from the default deployment location, then uploaded and deployed to the remote deployment location to replace the previous version. This action restarts any runtimes in the remote deployment location where the BAR file is deployed.

    The Last modified column of the BAR files table indicates when a BAR file was last imported or updated. By default, timestamps are shown in local time. To change to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) timestamps, click Settings The icon to switch the last modified timestamp between local and UTC time. and select UTC.

  2. Select an existing runtime to deploy your integration to, then click Next.
    The list of runtimes that you see is specific to the deployment location. Alternatively, to create a runtime for this integration, click Create runtime, then follow the instructions in Creating a runtime.
  3. If you need to provide environment-specific settings that your flows need, select or create one or more configurations to add to the runtime, then click Next.
    Configurations can contain information such as account credentials and secrets or data that you can't check into a source control system. Either select the appropriate configurations from the table, or click Create configuration to create one. The list of configurations that you see is specific to the deployment location. For more information, see Configuration types. The configurations that you add to this runtime are available to all integrations that are deployed to the runtime. The following examples describe a few of the available configuration types.
    • Add the Accounts configuration to provide account credentials for your connectors. You can apply only one Accounts configuration to a runtime, but you can use it to provide credentials for multiple connectors. The accounts that you connect to in the catalog or flow editor are used to develop and test your flows. When you deploy your flow, you must provide the credentials for these accounts in the Accounts configuration.
    • Use an Agentx configuration if the deployed flow contains a Callable flow node that needs to use a switch server to connect to a callable flow in your network. You can apply only one Agentx configuration to an integration runtime.
    • Use a Private network agent configuration when the deployed integration needs to interact with an application in a private network. This configuration provides secure connectivity details to establish a connection. These details enable port forwarding from a local listening port for the deployed integration to the remote port and host of the application in the private network. You can apply only one private network agent configuration to a runtime.
    • If you're deploying one or more BAR files that are stored in an external repository, use a BarAuth configuration to provide the credentials to connect to the repository.
  4. View the summary of the integrations and configurations that you're deploying, and the runtime that you're deploying them to. If the details are correct, click Deploy.

Results

It can take a few minutes to deploy an integration. To update the status, click Refresh The icon that refreshes the view. When the integration is deployed, you can see your deployed integration in several places.
  • A tile is added to the Integrations tab of the Manage page with a status of Active, which means that your integration is ready to be triggered. The tile shows a summary of the integration and which runtime it is deployed to. If the integration is deployed to a remote runtime in another deployment location, the tile has a Remote label.
    The Integrations tab contains tiles for five deployed integrations. Three of the tiles have a Remote label, which indicates that they're deployed to a remote runtime. The runtime names are included on the tiles.
  • After you deploy a flow that you created in the App Connect flow editor of your default deployment location, the flow tile on the dashboard has a status of Active. You can use the tile menu to manage the deployed flow. For more information, see Managing flows during development.
    The tile for a deployed API flow on the Designer dashboard
  • If you deploy a Toolkit integration as a BAR file, you can see it on the BAR files tab of the Manage page with the deployment location and runtime that it is deployed to. If you deploy an event-driven or API flow that you created in App Connect, a BAR file is created automatically to contain the flow and resources.
    Note: System-generated BAR files that contain deployed Designer flows contribute toward the limit of 500 BAR files.

    You can't undeploy a system-generated BAR file from the BAR files tab. To undeploy a Designer flow, go to the Designer dashboard and use the flow tile menu to undeploy it. When you undeploy an App Connect flow in this way, the BAR file is deleted automatically from the BAR files page.

What to do next