Release notes for the latest release

This release relates to IBM® App Connect Operator 12.11.0.

The support requirements for the IBM App Connect Operator 12.11.0 are as follows:

This documentation relates to the release for these listed versions. Documentation for the previous releases of the Operator is available in PDF format at Documentation for previous releases.

Support for a new IBM App Connect Operator channel, and custom resource (or operand) channels or versions

IBM App Connect Operator 12.11.0 is delivered on a new v12.11 Operator channel, which you must select to install 12.11.0 versions of the Operator, or to initialize an upgrade from a 12.10.1 or earlier Operator.

Accompanying versions and licenses are provided for the App Connect Dashboard, App Connect Designer Authoring, Switch Server, Integration Server, and Integration Runtime custom resources (or operands). To create an instance or upgrade to a 12.11.0-specific version of a custom resource (CR), you must choose both of these options:

• Subscribe to the 13.0 or 13.0.3 channel for custom resources, or specify a fully qualified version of 13.0.3.0-r1.
• Select a 12.11.0-specific license for approval.

More information:

• Release models, packaging, and versions for the IBM App Connect Operator
• Installing IBM App Connect on Red Hat OpenShift or Kubernetes environments
• Upgrading Operator releases
• Licensing reference for IBM App Connect Operator
• spec.version values

Ongoing support for Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.12, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16, 4.17, and 4.18

IBM App Connect Operator 12.11.0 supports Red Hat OpenShift 4.12, 4.14, 4.15, 4.16, 4.17, and 4.18, but on a 4.18 cluster, you can create App Connect Dashboard, App Connect Designer, switch server, integration server, and integration runtime instances at version 13.0.2.2-r2 or later only. Similarly, if you upgrade your cluster to Red Hat OpenShift 4.18, you must upgrade all your existing instances to version 13.0.2.2-r2 or later.

If you upgrade your cluster to Red Hat OpenShift 4.18, you must upgrade all your existing instances to version 13.0.2.2-r2.

More information:

• spec.version values
• Upgrading Operator releases

Out-of-the-box ingress creation for switch servers on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service

IBM App Connect Operator 12.11.0 introduces the ability to automatically create and manage ingress resources for switch servers in an IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service cluster. These ingress resources are used to route external traffic to the switch servers in your cluster.

You can enable ingress for a switch server by setting spec.ingress.enabled to true in the switch server CR. The switch server then creates and manages the required ingress resource. To enable ingress for an upgraded switch server that uses an ingress resource that you previously created manually, you must first delete that ingress resource.

Out-of-the-box ingress creation is supported only for 13.0.3.0-r1 or later switch servers that are deployed with AppConnectEnterprise* style licenses on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service.

More information: Automatically creating ingress definitions for external access to your IBM App Connect instances on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service

Support for new configuration types for integration servers and integration runtimes

The following configuration types have been added, which you can apply to integration servers and integration runtimes during deployment.

Configuration type	spec.type CR value	Description
Vault archive	vaultarchive	Use the Vault archive type to create configurations that supply a prepopulated vault archive, which contains encrypted credentials that were exported from an integration server vault or external directory vault in IBM App Connect Enterprise. The encrypted credentials can be used to access secured resources that are referenced in the message flows in an IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit integration.
Vault archive key	vaultarchivekey	Use the Vault archive key type to create configurations that supply a vault archive key, which decrypts an IBM App Connect Enterprise vault archive that stores credentials for connecting to secured resources.

The Vault and Vault key configuration types are deprecated in IBM App Connect Operator 12.11.0.

More information:

• Vault archive type
• Vault archive key type
• Configuration reference

Deprecated operand versions and channels

A number of operand versions and channels are deprecated for the IBM App Connect Operator 12.11.0 and might no longer be reconciled by future versions of the Operator. A deprecation notice is displayed if you try to save a new or existing Dashboard, Designer, switch server, integration server, or integration runtime custom resource if its spec.version value resolves to a deprecated version.

More information: spec.version values

Removed operand channels and versions

The following operand version, which was deprecated in IBM App Connect Operator 12.10.0, is removed from IBM App Connect Operator 12.11.0:

• 12.0.12-r10

After you upgrade to version 12.11.0 of the Operator, existing App Connect Designer, App Connect Dashboard, switch server, integration server, or integration runtime instances that resolve to a removed version are no longer supported and cannot be reconciled by the Operator.

• You can upgrade the instance to a supported version by updating the spec.version value and accepting the appropriate license.
• You can delete the instance if it's no longer required.
• You cannot save modifications to the custom resource settings if the instance is at an unsupported version. If you require an instance at a version that is unsupported in Operator 12.11.0, you must install an Operator version from the v12.10 or earlier channel, and then create an instance at the version that you require.

More information:

• spec.version values
• Licensing reference for IBM App Connect Operator