Managing BAR files

You can use the BAR file management functions to maintain the set of BAR files that are stored in the content server that is associated with your App Connect Dashboard instance.

About this task

The BAR file management functions are available from the BAR files page in the App Connect Dashboard. This page displays all the BAR files that are stored in the content server and offers the following functions:

You can collectively export all the BAR files in the content server to an archive file and subsequently use that archive to restore all the BAR files to your Dashboard instance. This backup and restore function provides a recovery mechanism, and also enables you to transfer BAR files across Dashboard instances.
When you create an integration server from the Servers page or create an integration runtime from the Runtimes page, you can upload one or more BAR files to the content server as part of the deployment process. From the BAR files page, you can alternatively import BAR files for storage, and then deploy them whenever you choose.
You can view and copy the URL of the location where a BAR file is stored in the content server. You can then specify the URL either in the BAR URL field (in the Form view) or as the spec.barURL value (in the YAML view) when you deploy an integration.
You can download individual BAR files.
You can update an existing BAR file by overwriting the existing file with an updated one, and can also delete a BAR file if you no longer need it.

Note:

If your App Connect Dashboard instance was deployed with no attached storage (by setting the spec.storage.type parameter to none), a content server is not available for storing BAR files. Consequently, the BAR files icon is not shown in the Dashboard's navigation pane and a corresponding BAR files page is also not available. The ability to deploy a Dashboard instance with no attached storage is available for Dashboard instances at version 13.0.1.0-r1 or later only. For more information, see App Connect Dashboard reference: Storage and Creating an instance.

If you are importing or updating a BAR file that was exported from an App Connect Designer authoring environment, you must ensure that the BAR file fulfilled the conditions for export within the authoring environment. For more information, see Exporting and importing flows from an App Connect Designer instance in your cluster and Exporting a flow to a BAR file from an App Connect Designer authoring environment.

Restriction: The content server imposes a limit of 100 MB on the size of a BAR file that you can upload or import. This limit also applies to the size of an archive backup (.tar.gz) that can be restored.

Procedure

To manage your BAR files in the content server, complete the following steps:

From the navigation pane in the App Connect Dashboard, click the BAR files icon to open the BAR files page.

This page displays a list of BAR files that are currently deployed as integrations, and also displays any BAR files that are not currently deployed. You can view the deployment status in the Deployed in column.

Tip: Any BAR files on the BAR files page, which are named in the format mcpServerName-generatedID-MCP are system-generated BAR files that are deployed to integration runtimes that host Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers. For more information, see Creating and managing Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers.

Complete any of the following tasks:

Task	Instructions
Back up the collection of BAR files	Click the Backup icon . An archive (named ACE-BAR-Backup.tar.gz) of all the files is downloaded to your browser's configured location. You can subsequently use this archive to restore the files to the same or a different App Connect Dashboard instance.
Restore the BAR files that were backed up to an archive	Click the Restore icon . Then, add the ACE-BAR-Backup.tar.gz file to the Restore panel, and click Restore. The BAR files are added with a `Not deployed` status, and you can deploy them as integrations from the Home page () or the Dashboard page (). If an existing BAR file in the content server has the same name as a BAR file in the ACE-BAR-Backup.tar.gz archive, the BAR file in the content server is overwritten.
Import a BAR file	Click Import BAR file. Then, add the file to the Drag and drop a BAR file or click to upload panel, and click Import. The BAR file is added with a `Not deployed` status, and you can deploy it as an integration from the Home page () or the Dashboard page (). Note: You cannot import a BAR file if a file with the same name already exists in the content server.
View the URL of the location where a BAR file is stored in the content server	Open the options menu for the file and click Display BAR URL. From the Display BAR URL panel, you might find it useful to copy the supplied URL to a text file and then use this URL to deploy an integration as follows: If you want to use the Red Hat® OpenShift® web console to deploy this BAR file as an integration server or integration runtime, you can paste the URL into the BAR URL field while in the Form view. For more information, see Integration server: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift web console or Integration runtime: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift web console. You can similarly specify this URL as the spec.barURL value while using the YAML view in the Red Hat OpenShift web console, or the Red Hat OpenShift or Kubernetes CLI to deploy an integration. For more information, see Integration server: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift or Kubernetes CLI or Integration runtime: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift or Kubernetes CLI. If you are using the Dashboard, and want to deploy multiple BAR files to a single integration runtime, you can specify this URL while completing the steps to deploy the integration. After you use the Integrations view to specify the first BAR file and then proceed to the Properties view, you can click Add another under the BAR URLs section. Then, paste the URL into the BAR URL field that is displayed. For more information, see Creating an integration runtime to run your BAR file resources.
Download a BAR file	Open the options menu for the file and click Download BAR. Save the file to your browser's configured download location or another preferred location. You can subsequently upload or import this BAR file to a different App Connect Dashboard instance, or share the file with other users. The ability to download individual BAR files is available only for Dashboard instances at version 13.0.2.2-r2 or later.
Replace an existing BAR file with an updated file of the same name	Open the options menu for the file and click Update. Then, add the updated file to the Update BAR panel and click Update. If the existing version of the BAR file is already deployed, any integrations that are using that file are restarted. If an integration runs on multiple replica pods, the pods are restarted on a rolling basis to avoid downtime.
Delete a BAR file	Open the options menu for the file and click Delete. Confirm the deletion by clicking Delete. Note: You can delete a BAR file only if its Deployed in status is set to `Not deployed`.