Frequently asked questions about IBM App Connect Enterprise

Browse this page for answers to some of the frequently asked questions you might have about IBM® App Connect Enterprise software.

If you have a question that is not answered here, check the discussion forum, where you can also ask questions for support or general topics.

  • Typically the term IBM App Connect Enterprise is used to refer to the latest release of the long-standing software technology that was previously known as IBM Integration Bus, or before that WebSphere® Message Broker. This existing, industry-trusted software technology helps deliver a platform of capabilities that support the full breadth of integration needs across a modern digital enterprise. The IBM App Connect Enterprise technology is also surfaced in a Certified Container delivery and IBM Cloud Pak deliveries, which provide easy ways to get the same software capabilities deployed into a Red Hat OpenShift or Kubernetes environments. IBM also has a managed App Connect offering on our public cloud, and part of this platform relies on the IBM App Connect Enterprise software technology as well.

    • IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 software release was announced on April 27, 2021.
    • For more information about what was new in IBM App Connect Enterprise, see What's new in Version 12.0?.

  • It’s both!

  • IBM Integration Bus (IIB) 10 was first released in March 2015, and since then it has been constantly enhanced with new features delivered alongside maintenance as part of quarterly fix packs. IBM App Connect Enterprise is the official successor to IBM Integration Bus and is the follow on offering that Integration Bus customers should upgrade to.

    At its initial release IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 focused on changes to the IIB runtime architecture which make it even better for running inside containers such as:

    • Integration servers which exist independently and do not need an integration node definition
    • "Unzip and go" deployment including support for generating pre-compiled BAR files carrying maps and message model schemas
    • A new administrative REST APIv2 for configuring IBM App Connect Enterprise servers
    • Replacement of IIB configurable services with policies. Policies provide configuration information as environment-specific overrides, which can be placed directly on the runtime filesystem, or which can be deployed in a BAR file.

    Other major enhancements in IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 included:

    • A new administrative web user interface for interacting with independent integration servers
    • Entitlement to deploy the Salesforce Request node to IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 without the need for purchase of an Application Integration Suite license.

    At its initial release in May 2021, IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 focused on carrying forward all of the benefits of App Connect Enterprise 11, in addition to the following further major enhancements:

    • A new tutorials gallery that provides an updated intuitive user interface with built-in tag and search capabilities. The gallery provides over 100 tutorials with step-by-step guidance and sample files covering existing scenarios and new features.
    • A new testing framework that lets you to create and manage test cases within the integration experience. This framework automates much of the test creation process by capturing test scenarios and related data as a developer works. This greatly speeds up project delivery and helps to improve overall quality by enabling broader test case coverage earlier in your development cycle. Features include a new wizard that provides a simple interface for interactive test generation, and a new message assembly editor for changing test data. Command-line tools for bulk message recording and automated test generation and playback facilitate an organization's adoption of agile development practices that decrease risk and speed delivery of updates and upgrades.
    • API authoring experience enhancements with new tools to support OpenAPI 3.0 through a common user experience shared with IBM API Connect.
    • A new validating JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) parser capable of checking inbound and outbound data for compliance against JSON schema (Draft 4) and OpenAPI 3 specification documents.
    • Enhanced operations support through a centralized dashboard that manages App Connect integrations across any deployment topology, cloud, containers, and on premises.
    • An improved development experience with updated user interfaces that uses the latest Eclipse release, restyled message flow node development palette, new icons for core product concepts and a reworked testing experience with the Flow Exerciser.
    • A new simplified command-line interface for scripting administrative actions in the area of create, delete, start, stop, package, and deploy. This includes options for going from source-to-server as part of a build pipeline.
    • A new platform deployment option for App Connect Enterprise integration runtime on Linux on IBM Power Systems (ppc64le) architecture.
    • Updates to existing integration artifacts and release-to-release product upgrades

  • IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 provides quarterly releases. From 2018-2020, typically these releases would contain both new function as well as maintenance, and the version numbering was 11.0.0.1, 11.0.0.2, 11.0.0.3 ... and so on. At the time of writing the latest fix pack release is 11.0.0.12 (release March 2021). We intend to continue quarterly version 11 fix pack releases, although primarily these will be for providing maintenance rather than new functions moving forward.

    IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 will also provide quarterly releases. We expect these releases will contain both new function as well as maintenance. The version numbering for IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 is slightly different to IBM App Connect Enterprise 11. The initial release of IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 was in May 2021 and was numbered version 12.0.1.0. The next release of IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 is expected in about August/September 2021, and will likely be numbered 12.0.2.0. We expect to continue this pattern with further quarterly releases numbered 12.0.3.0, 12.0.4.0 ... and so on.

    You can find a summary of what was new in each IBM App Connect Enterprise fix pack, with links for more information, in New function added in Version 11.0 fix packs.

  • IBM App Connect Enterprise currently offers support for the following hardware and operating system combinations:

    Linux on x86-64

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 and above
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0 and above
    • SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 12 SP3 and above
    • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
    • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

    Microsoft Windows x86-64

    • Windows 8.1 Basic, Professional, and Enterprise Editions
    • Windows Server 2012 R2, Datacenter and Standard Edition
    • Windows 10 Basic, Professional, and Enterprise Editions
    • Windows Server 2016
    • Windows Server 2019

    Linux on IBM Z® / LinuxONE (ACE 11.0.0.4 and above)

    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.0
    • Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
    • Ubuntu 18.04 LTS

    Linux on IBM Power Systems (ppc64le) architecture

    IBM Power® System – Big Endian (ACE 11.0.0.5 and above)

    • AIX 7.2

  • There is a Developer edition of IBM App Connect Enterprise, which is free for users to download and use to try out the software and in non-production circumstances. The download for the IBM App Connect Enterprise Developer edition is available to download from the following page: https://www-01.ibm.com/marketing/iwm/iwm/web/pickUrxNew.do?source=swg-wmbfd.

    Tip: If the download page does not show the options for IBM App Connect Enterprise such as ACE-WIN64-DEVELOPER.exe, it is probably due to an issue with your browser cache for the page; either opening the page link in a private/incognito window or clearing your browser cache should get you the correct page and options.

  • The Developer Edition of IBM App Connect Enterprise software is available for Linux x86-64, Windows x86-64, and macOS. Integrations and BAR files which are created using the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit on macOS, can be deployed to the full set of operating systems supported by IBM App Connect Enterprise. Delivering IBM App Connect Enterprise for Mac users in this way lets us provide the Toolkit as a development platform whilst excluding from support a few runtime features which we know will not work (those based upon the need for MQ support on the Mac, and pattern authoring). With our single package installation, Mac users still have the benefits of the product runtime installation, which assists easy local development and unit testing.

  • You should migrate from IBM Integration Bus 10 to IBM App Connect Enterprise when you are ready, but noting that IBM has announced the end of support date for IIB 10 as 30 April 2022 (with an offer of extended support for 3 years beyond that date). Given these timeframes, there is a strong reason to move on to IBM App Connect Enterprise.

    Users are encouraged to move to IBM App Connect Enterprise to take advantage of the many new features which have been released. IBM App Connect Enterprise re-architected the core IBM Integration Bus technology, to make it amenable for deployment in container-based architectures, whilst also continuing support for older design paradigms such as the Enterprise Service Bus pattern. This makes IBM App Connect Enterprise an excellent choice for production systems both for users wishing to embrace the benefits of containers as part of an Agile Integration Architecture, and also users looking to make minimal changes to their IBM Integration Bus architecture yet benefit from the new features and product lifespan of IBM App Connect Enterprise.

    In IBM App Connect Enterprise software, integration servers can be deployed in one of two ways: one or more integration servers under the management of an integration node, or as independent integration servers. Independent integration servers are started directly as operating system processes, either using the IntegrationServer command in the IBM App Connect Enterprise command console, or through an external framework such as within a Docker container. The integration server process can be pointed directly at previously generated integrations in a working directory on the file system, delivering a truly cloud-native ‘unzip and go’ style of operation. Configurable services have been replaced with policies, to enable environment specific overrides. Policies can also be deployed within BAR files making configuration of IBM App Connect Enterprise much more flexible than its IIB 10 predecessor. If you are considering a change to your IT architecture to embrace 12-Factor applications and cloud-native principles, then you should consider these new capabilities of IBM App Connect Enterprise. In this circumstance you can take advantage of your past investments on the IIB platform by re-using your message flows and deploying then to a new IBM App Connect Enterprise architecture built upon independent integration server processes. For customers who are not yet ready to embrace containers, IBM App Connect Enterprise still provides the concept of an integration node for controlling server processes.

    IBM has not yet announced an end of support date for IBM App Connect Enterprise 11, but for planning purposes it can be noted that this will not occur before April 2023 at the earliest (this is 5 years after the initial date when version 11 was released in March 2018).

    IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 and IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 have very similar product architectures, so the time and effort to migrate to either of these options from IBM Integration Bus 10 is very similar. Given this, it is expected that the superior features of IBM App Connect Enterprise 12, and its support lifecycle, will be seen as good reasons to prefer version 12 over version 11 for anyone who is currently on version 10.

    For users already on IBM App Connect Enterprise 11, it is expected that the time and effort to migrate to IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 will be much smaller than previous experiences moving between major engineering releases. Also looking to the future, the new unit testing features available in version 12 should mean future migrations are easier too!

  • As normal with a major new version of the software, there are a few lesser used features which IBM has decided not to carry forward.

    • The SCA message flow nodes (SCAInput, SCAReply, SCARequest, SCAAsyncRequest and SCAAsyncResponse) are not available in ACE
    • The WebSphere Application Server console plugin. IIB 9 and IIB 10 provided this plugin for WebSphere Application Server to enable WAS administrators to control IIB integration node. IBM has no plans to carry forward this feature into ACE.
    • There will be no direct equivalent of the IBM Decision Server Rules Edition for Integration Bus moving forward, so the DecisionService message flow node (and its associated configurable service) is not present in ACE. ACE 11.0.0.8 added a new ODM Rules node and associated policy. This was initially classified as a Technology Preview feature until ACE 11.0.0.9 when this status was changed and production usage became fully supported. It is also still possible to integrate ACE message flows with Operational Decision Manager using its SOAP or REST interfaces.
    • There are a few IIB 10 commands which are not available in ACE. Also please note the later specific question on this topic.
    • The Business Transaction Monitoring feature which was present in IIB 10, is not available in ACE 11. Whilst no time-line can be guaranteed, IBM does intend to provide a similar feature in a future release of ACE 12.

    If you are concerned about any of the above items, or about any aspect of migration, then please do not hesitate to get in direct contact with us by emailing AskAppIn@uk.ibm.com and we will be happy to discuss the right way to move you forward.

  • IBM App Connect Enterprise 12 maintains the full set of commands provided by IBM App Connect Enterprise 11. Additionally, a new style of command named ibmint (short for ibm integration!) has been introduced with improved usability that helps users wanting to go from "source to server" and achieve simple tasks of creation / start / stop / package / deploy. In the future IBM intends this style of command syntax to be strategic for all product uses, so over time you will see further enhancements in this command as opposed to the "mqsi" commands of the past. IBM has no current plans to remove the existing "mqsi" commands so there is no need for current action in this regard.

    For long-standing users who are currently most familiar with the contents of IBM Integration Bus 10, the vast majority of command options from that product version remain unchanged in IBM App Connect Enterprise. However, existing experienced users may wish to take note of the following:

    • IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 provided 5 new commands which were not available in IBM Integration Bus 10: ace, IntegrationServer, mqsicreateworkdir, mqsibar, and mqsiextractcomponents
    • Given the re-architecture of the product to follow an unzip-and-go style which is more amenable for deployment in containers, many low-level configuration tasks which previously would have required a user to script commands on the IBM Integration Bus runtime environment, can now be more easily controlled by editing the node.conf.yaml and server.conf.yaml files which configure the properties of integration nodes and integration servers respectively. It is for this reason that IBM App Connect Enterprise does not include the mqsichangebroker and mqsireportbroker commands.
    • Given architectural changes in IBM App Connect Enterprise, we never expect to bring back the following commands which are no longer required: mqsiformatlog, mqsireadlog, mqsimigratecomponents, mqsideleteconfigurableservice.
    • IBM App Connect Enterprise offers a simplified administrative model by unifying two similar IBM Integration Bus concepts – configurable services and policies. As a result, the App Connect Enterprise product has no immediate need for several commands in this area: mqsicreatepolicy, mqsideletepolicy, mqsireportpolicy, mqsiattachpolicy, mqsidetachpolicy, and mqsichangepolicy. In the long term IBM is open to re-introducing similar commands to assist users with the creation of policy artifacts on disk, if sufficient user demand materialises.
    • IBM App Connect Enterprise also provides an expanded administrative REST API which presents another programmatic alternative for integration with third party applications which may have previously relied upon the execution of commands.

  • There are no changes in this area of the product between IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 and IBM App Connect Enterprise 12. However, consider the following items:

    The Java™ IBM Integration API in IBM App Connect Enterprise 11 is smaller than its IBM Integration Bus 10 equivalent. Methods are provided to allow for the creation and edit of message flows, but we have reduced the number of configuration methods which started life in earlier WebSphere Message Broker versions known as the Configuration Manager Proxy API or CMP. In IBM App Connect Enterprise, the integration API is now structured as follows:

    • com.ibm.integration.admin.proxy This package has new classes to use for administering an Integration Node, Integration Server and deployed resources.
    • com.ibm.integration.admin.model This package has classes which provide a model representation of resources. Use get methods to access specific properties.
    • com.ibm.integration.admin.http This package has classes which allow you to send direct requests and receive responses to/from a local or remote Integration Node or Integration Server.
    • com.ibm.broker.config.* This package contains deprecated classes and the limited capabilities were provided here simply to help make migration from IIB 10 easier. Moving forward, at the earliest opportunity, users are encouraged to use classes from com.ibm.integration.admin.proxy instead.

  • From IBM App Connect Enterprise (ACE) 11, IBM altered the policy for “warm standby” HA configurations so that they no longer require entitlement. In IBM Integration Bus (IIB), this entitlement had been covered by the IIB Idle Standby parts. Going forward, you do not need to include IIB Idle Standby Parts in an ACE renewal unless you plan to continue to use IIB 10 or earlier (for IIB 10 use after April 2022 purchase extended support).

    From ACE 11 onwards the program is now governed by the standard policy for HA, which can be found here: https://www-03.ibm.com/software/sla/sladb.nsf/pdf/policies/$file/Feb-2003-IPLA-backup.pdf.

    In summary:
    • “hot” - otherwise known as Active/Active. Customers are required to license all servers.
    • “warm” - otherwise known as active/passive or Active/Idle. Customers do not need to pay for the standby/idle server.
      Note: This definition doesn't cover the MQ Multi-instance HA set up which is why parts are required for IIB 10. In the ACE 11 license, there is an addition which essentially states that Multi-instance HA is classified as Idle and additional parts are not required.
    • “cold” – otherwise known as Active/Cold. No license required for cold servers.

    If you invested in a license for IIB Idle Standby, you can retain this investment when upgrading to ACE 11 or later through several options:

    1. Trade up IIB Idle Standby to ICP4i - exchange investment in Idle Standby license to reach the required VPC capacity needs to deploy on Cloud Pak. Extra capacity can be used to deploy ACE, or any other capability.
    2. Trade up IIB Idle Standby to ACE Production - gives extra capacity for deploying new applications.
    3. Trade up IIB Idle Standby to ACE non-production - gives extra capacity for testing new applications or expand testing of existing applications.
    4. Stay on IIB 10 and continue to deploy Idle Standby, and after April 2022 purchase extended support.

    Trade-up from IIB Idle Standby to ACE 12.0 to unlock these benefits:

    1. You retain your original license investment
    2. Trade-up is more cost effective for you than purchasing net new entitlement.
    3. You get all the benefits of the new offering (ACE) and all its new features.
    4. Free to use PVUs in any infrastructure and not just restricted to the back-up machine
    5. Free to run the Integration Servers for as long as they want rather than only for the temporary failover period.

    If you want to learn more, or have any questions about any aspect of migration, then please do not hesitate to get in direct contact with us by emailing AskAppIn@uk.ibm.com and we will be happy to discuss the right way to move you forward.

  • This FAQ is in the main source of product documentation at https://www.ibm.com/docs/app-connect/12.0, which is also accessible from the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit with an internet connection.