Managing remote runtimes

You can connect the App Connect capability to remote deployment locations so that you can manage all your runtimes in one place.

About this task

One of the benefits of App Connect in IBM® webMethods Hybrid Integration is the ability to see and manage integrations across all forms of App Connect in one place. You can connect the App Connect capability to remote independent servers, integration nodes, containers, and managed services by configuring them as deployment locations. On the Manage page, you can then see and manage the runtimes that are created in those locations and the integrations that are deployed to those remote runtimes. You can also manage configurations and BAR files that are created in remote managed service and App Connect in containers instances.

When you're connected to multiple deployment locations, you can filter resources on the Manage page of App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration by deployment location. For example, when you select all deployment locations, all locally deployed and remote runtimes are listed on the Runtimes tab. A tile for a remote runtime includes the deployed location. You can use the tile menu The icon that represents the menu to manage the runtime to start, stop, or edit a runtime, whether it's local or remote. Similarly, locally deployed and remote integrations are listed on the Integrations tab, where a tile for a remote integration has a Remote label. Configurations and BAR files in remote managed service and App Connect in containers locations are also identified with the name of the deployment location.
The Runtimes tab of the Manage page shows tiles for two deployed runtimes. The tile for a locally deployed runtime shows the runtime name, number of replicas, and version. The tile for the remote runtime also contains the deployed location of the runtime.

Any changes that you make in App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration to remote resources are reflected in the remote managed service or App Connect in containers location. And changes that you make in the remote location are reflected in the App Connect capability. For example, you might connect to an instance of App Connect in containers, where an integration runtime is running. If you stop that runtime in App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration, the runtime is also stopped in the containers instance. Or if you create a configuration in the containers instance, you can also see the new configuration in App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration.

You can also use integration runtime management in IBM webMethods Hybrid Integration to manage App Connect runtimes in various deployment locations alongside webMethods Integration runtimes. Integration runtimes that you create in the App Connect capability of your webMethods Hybrid Integration instance are registered automatically for runtime management. For more information, see Managing integration runtimes in the webMethods Hybrid Integration documentation.

Tip: The following instructions describe how to connect your App Connect instance to a remote deployment location by providing connection settings in a form view. When you create a connection in the form view, you can export the connection settings as a YAML file by clicking Export. You can also connect to remote deployment locations by importing settings in a connections file. When you export connection settings, the connections file (with the name exportedConnections.yaml) is downloaded to your local file system. You can then share the connections file with other users or use it to restore connections. If your connections contain security credentials, such as passwords, you can use a password to encrypt the exported connections file. To import a password-protected connections file, you must enter the password.

Connecting to a managed service (IBM App Connect Enterprise as a Service)

Procedure

To connect your App Connect instance to a remote instance of App Connect Enterprise as a Service, complete the following steps.

  1. In the navigation pane of your App Connect capability, expand Connect, then click Deployment locations.
  2. Click Create connection and select the Managed service connection type.
  3. Enter a name to identify the deployment location.
    The name can contain up to 100 characters, including uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. This name identifies the deployment location for resources on the Manage page of App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration.
  4. Optional: Enter a description for the location.
    The table of deployment locations lists the name and type of the location but a description can help you to identify the location.
  5. Set the API endpoint to the URL of the API for the App Connect instance that you want to connect to. The format is https://api.region.appconnect.automation.ibm.com, where region is the region where your instance is hosted. You can find the region (such as p-vir-c1) in the URL for your instance. An example API endpoint is https://api.p-vir-c1.appconnect.automation.ibm.com.
  6. Set the instance ID to the nine-character identifier at the beginning of the URL for the instance that you want to connect to.
    The instance ID from the URL of your managed service instance (for example, 0abcd1efg).
  7. Enter the client ID and secret for the managed service that you want to connect to. To generate a client ID and secret, expand the Connect category The icon that represents the Connect category in the navigation pane in the navigation pane of the App Connect managed service instance, then click Public API credentials.
  8. Enter the API key for the managed service that you want to connect to. To generate an API key, click your initials in the header of the App Connect managed service instance, click Service IDs and API keys, then on the API keys tab, click Generate key.
    For more information, see Accessing the API in the App Connect Enterprise as a Service documentation.
  9. Click Connect.

Results

After you connect to a remote managed service, App Connect retrieves remote runtimes and integrations from that location. When you go to the Runtimes tab of the Manage page, a message indicates the number of deployment locations that remote integrations were retrieved from. Click More info to see the list of deployment locations, and expand each location to see how many remote runtimes were retrieved from that location. When you go to the Integrations tab of the Manage page, integrations that are deployed to remote runtimes have a Remote label.

You can use the Manage page to manage runtimes, integrations, configurations, and BAR files in the usual way for your remote instance of App Connect Enterprise as a Service.

Connecting to containers (IBM App Connect in containers)

About this task

To manage runtimes in an App Connect in containers instance in a private network, use a switch server to connect App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration to your containers instance. A switch server is a special type of integration server that enables remote administration and routes data securely. You download a switch configuration file from App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration and add it to your containers instance as a configuration.

Procedure

To connect your App Connect instance to a remote instance of App Connect in containers, complete the following steps.

  1. In App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration, create a private network connection and download the secure agent configuration file.
    1. In the navigation pane, expand Connect, then click Private networks.
      You can use an existing private network connection or click Create to create one.
    2. Open the Actions menu Icon that represents the Actions menu for a private network connection. for the private network connection and click View setup instructions.
    3. On the Remote administration tab, expand step 2 and click Download the configuration. The switchclient.json file is saved to your default download location.
  2. In App Connect in containers, create a Private network agent configuration and add the downloaded switchclient.json file.
    1. On the Configuration page Icon that represents the Configuration page in App Connect in containers. of your containers instance, click Create configuration.
    2. Select the Private network agent type and enter a name to identify the configuration.
    3. Either paste the contents of the downloaded switchclient.json file into the editor or click Import privatenetworkagent file and select the switchclient.json file, then click Create.
  3. Update the Dashboard custom resource (CR) and set spec.configurations to the name of the private network agent configuration that you created in the previous step.
    (For more information, see Updating the custom resource settings for an instance.) This step attaches the configuration to your Dashboard instance. You can attach just one private network agent configuration to a Dashboard. The configuration must have admin set to enabled.
    spec:
  license:
    accept: true
    license: L-ABCD-E1FGHI
    use: AppConnectEnterpriseProduction
  displayMode: IntegrationRuntimes
  configurations:
    - 'pna-name'
    After you save the updated CR, your Dashboard instance restarts and connects to the switch server, which the following pod log messages confirm.
    PNA_FILE_PATH has been found so starting AgentA...
Retrieving switch configuration
Server is fully initialized
acecc-dashboard UI server started on port 8300
acecc-dashboard API server started on port 8400
AgentA abc12def-g34h-567i-8jkl-m901234567n0 started:true

Results

After you connect to a remote App Connect in containers instance, App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration retrieves remote runtimes and integrations from that location. When you go to the Runtimes tab of the Manage page, a message indicates the number of deployment locations that remote integrations were retrieved from. Click More info to see the list of deployment locations, and expand each location to see how many remote runtimes were retrieved from that location. When you go to the Integrations tab of the Manage page, integrations that are deployed to remote runtimes have a Remote label. You can use the Manage page to manage runtimes, integrations, configurations, and BAR files in the usual way for your remote instance of App Connect in containers.
Restriction: The maximum size of a BAR file that you can upload to a remote App Connect Dashboard instance through App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration is 50 MB. If you need to upload a BAR file of 50-100 MB, upload it directly to your App Connect Dashboard instance.

Connecting to an independent server (IBM App Connect Enterprise)

Procedure

To connect your App Connect instance to a remote independent integration server in App Connect Enterprise, complete the following steps.

  1. In the navigation pane of your App Connect capability, expand Connect, then click Deployment locations.
  2. Click Create connection and select the Independent server connection type.
  3. Enter a name to identify the deployment location.
    The name can contain up to 100 characters, including uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. This name identifies the deployment location for resources on the Manage page of App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration.
  4. Optional: Enter a description for the location.
    The table of deployment locations lists the name and type of the location but a description can help you to identify the location.
  5. Enter the address of the independent server in the format protocol://hostname:port. The protocol can be http or https and the port is the port number of the admin REST API of the integration server, such as https://localhost:7600.
  6. If security is enabled for the integration server, enter the username and password that are used to access the independent server.
  7. If the integration server uses the HTTPS protocol, you can provide a PEM-formatted certificate authority (CA) file or a PKCS12 keystore file and passphrase. If the server certificate is from a nondefault certificate authority, provide a PEM-formatted CA file. To provide a client certificate for client authentication, provide a PKCS12 keystore file and passphrase.
  8. Click Connect.

Results

After you connect to a remote integration server, App Connect retrieves remote integrations from that location. When you go to the Runtimes tab of the Manage page, a message indicates the number of deployment locations that remote integrations were retrieved from. Click More info to see the list of deployment locations, and expand each location to see how many remote runtimes were retrieved from that location. When you go to the Integrations tab of the Manage page, integrations that are deployed to remote runtimes have a Remote label.

Connecting to an integration node (App Connect Enterprise)

Procedure

To connect your App Connect instance to a remote integration node in App Connect Enterprise, complete the following steps.

  1. In the navigation pane of your App Connect capability, expand Connect, then click Deployment locations.
  2. Click Create connection and select the Integration node connection type.
  3. Enter a name to identify the deployment location.
    The name can contain up to 100 characters, including uppercase and lowercase alphanumeric characters, hyphens, and underscores. This name identifies the deployment location for resources on the Manage page of App Connect in webMethods Hybrid Integration.
  4. Optional: Enter a description for the location.
    The table of deployment locations lists the name and type of the location but a description can help you to identify the location.
  5. Enter the address of the independent node in the format protocol://hostname:port. The protocol can be http or https and the port is the port number of the admin REST API of the integration node, such as https://localhost:7600.
  6. If security is enabled for the integration node, enter the username and password that are used to access the independent node.
  7. If the integration node uses the HTTPS protocol, you can provide a PEM-formatted certificate authority (CA) file or a PKCS12 keystore file and passphrase. If the certificate is from a nondefault certificate authority, provide a PEM-formatted CA file. To provide a client certificate for client authentication, provide a PKCS12 keystore file and passphrase.
  8. Click Connect.

Results

After you connect to a remote integration node, App Connect retrieves remote runtimes and integrations from that location.

When you go to the Runtimes tab of the Manage page, a message indicates the number of deployment locations that remote integrations were retrieved from. Click More info to see the list of deployment locations, and expand each location to see how many remote runtimes were retrieved from that location.

When you go to the Integrations tab of the Manage page, integrations that are deployed to remote runtimes have a Remote label.