Frequently asked questions about IBM App Connect

• What is IBM App Connect (on IBM Cloud)?

  IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud is a cloud service that is fully managed and hosted on IBM Cloud®.

  IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud provides a free Lite plan that includes the enterprise integration capabilities on IBM Cloud, Professional plans that charges you based on the number of flow runs you execute, and Enterprise plans (IBM App Connect Enterprise on IBM Cloud) that provide everything in the Professional plans in addition to running integration solutions in containers on IBM Cloud.

  IBM App Connect provides the Designer web user interface suitable for business users to quickly connect apps to automate tasks and boost productivity. Instead of manually performing high-touch, repetitive integration tasks, you can use a simple, business-oriented interface to create workflows and get notifications, sync data, track outcomes, and more. IT personnel can use the 'configuration no-coding' approach of App Connect Designer to create flows for APIs, add apps that expose in-house applications and systems, and more. For example:

  • You can connect apps like Salesforce, Marketo, and SAP, so that when an event occurs in one app the other connected apps are updated automatically.
  • You can create flows for an API, so that when the request is submitted (such as through a mobile or web application), the flow performs all its actions, and then returns a response that either confirms that the actions were successful, or returns the data that was requested.
  • Your IT department can expose in-house applications, such as OpenAPI apps, as custom apps in App Connect Designer, with the same look-and-feel, and ease of use, as other apps.

  IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud

  IBM App Connect Professional on Cloud provides powerful, highly-flexible integration solutions between hundreds of apps and systems. It provides the classic Studio development tool and web management console for development and management of integration solutions, and entitlement to Designer in IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud.

  IBM App Connect Professional on Cloud is available as a multi-tenant platform that runs in the IBM Cloud.

  This content is primarily about use of Designer in IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud. The product documentation for the App Connect Professional offering is provided in a separate collection in IBM Knowledge Center.

• Is there IBM App Connect software that I can download, install, and run outside IBM Cloud?

  IBM App Connect is offered as an executable package that you can deploy and run within containerized environments. This App Connect Enterprise package provides an App Connect image that can typically be deployed into a Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform cluster or from IBM Cloud Pak for Integration.

  For more information, see IBM App Connect in containers.

  IBM App Connect Enterprise software combines the existing industry-trusted IBM Integration Bus technology with new cloud native technologies and with IBM App Connect Professional software, to deliver a platform that supports the full breadth of integration needs across a modern digital enterprise. IBM App Connect Enterprise 11.0 software can be installed directly on a physical machine running in your own Data Center, in a VMWare virtual machine, in a Docker image, as part of an IBM Cloud Private installation, or installed by you into a public cloud such as IBM Cloud, AWS or Microsoft Azure.

  For more information, see IBM App Connect Enterprise.

  IBM App Connect Professional software provides Studio for a powerful configuration-based integration approach to developing integration solutions with a broad set of connectivity to the most popular software-as-a-service (SaaS) and on-premise applications. IBM App Connect Professional 7.5 software can be installed in one or more VMWare virtual machines or in a Docker image.

  For more information, see the IBM App Connect Professional v7.5.4 product documentation.

• What is a flow?

  There are two types of flow in IBM App Connect: an event-driven flow and a flow for an API.

  In an event-driven flow, you identify an event that can occur in your first application (the source application), and actions that can be performed in one or more target applications. The flow links the event to the actions so that, whenever the event occurs in the source application, the action is automatically triggered in the target applications.

  For example, you might create a flow so that whenever someone registers as a new attendee with Eventbrite (the event), App Connect automatically adds details of the attendee as a new contact in Salesforce and as a new task in Asana (the actions).

  

  You can also select a Scheduler application to trigger your flows at regular intervals or at specific dates and times.

  A flow for an API contains a request, one or more target application actions, and a response. The request uses a model that you define to request the creation, replacement, or retrieval of data objects in your applications. When the request is submitted, each target application performs its action, and then the flow returns a response that either confirms that the actions were successful, or returns the data that was requested.

  

  Each time your flow runs counts towards your monthly quota.

• What applications can I connect?

  For a list of all the applications that are currently supported by App Connect Designer, see the Applications tab on the App Connect Catalog page. Click an application to see more details about support for that application.

  For some applications, like Salesforce and Netsuite ERP, you can trigger flows by events in significantly more objects than listed on the Applications tab, by polling. This greatly increases the number of triggers available for your flows with these applications, allowing you to use IBM App Connect's event capabilities to react to additional business scenarios. You can learn about configuring polled events to trigger flows in this tutorial.

  We’re working hard to add support for more applications, so the list is growing from week to week. If there are other applications that you want to use with App Connect, let us know. You can add comments to the bottom of this page.

  IBM App Connect Professional Studio includes even more pre-built connectivity to hundreds of SaaS, packaged, and proprietary applications, both on cloud and on premises, which include Enterprise resource planning (ERP), Customer relationship management (CRM), Databases, web services, and flat files. This connectivity is established to endpoints by using native application protocols, with the advantage that no additional adapters are required and there is nothing to install or change at the endpoints.

  For more information about applications supported by IBM App Connect, see Extensive built-in connectivity using IBM App Connect.

• What devices and browsers can I use to access App Connect?

  IBM App Connect Designer has been tested with latest versions of the following web browsers on the devices listed:

  • PCs:
    • Google Chrome
    • Mozilla Firefox
  • Apple Macs:
    • Google Chrome
    • Safari
  • Apple iPads with i/OS 11 and above:
    • Safari
  • Android tablets:
    • Google Chrome

  To use App Connect Designer, you should use the latest version of one of these web browsers. But, if you’re having problems with a different browser, let us know by posting an entry in the discussion forum in the IBM Community site for the IBM App Connect group.

• How do I get started for free (I have an IBMid)?

  You can sign up for the free edition of App Connect (App Connect Lite) from this App Connect page. In the process of signing up for this you will either need to enter your IBM Cloud ID or create one of those.

  Result: Your IBM Cloud account is updated with your new IBM App Connect service. You can use your My IBM – Products and services page to open IBM Cloud, and then launch App Connect and start connecting your applications.

  For an example, see Get started with IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud.

• How do I get started for free (I don’t have an IBMid)?

  You can sign up for the free edition of App Connect (App Connect Lite) from this App Connect page. If you don’t have an IBMid, you’ll need to create one as part of the sign up process for App Connect.

  Result: Your IBM Cloud account is updated with your new IBM App Connect service. You can use your My IBM – Products and services page to open IBM Cloud, and then launch App Connect and start connecting your applications.

  For an example, see Get started with IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud.

• What permissions do I need to work with an App Connect instance?

  App Connect (on IBM Cloud) is a Cloud Foundry service instance. Therefore, you need to be assigned with a role of at least Developer in the space where the instance is provisioned. For more information, see Cloud Foundry Access.

• How do I add, update, or remove a connection to my application or API?

  You must connect App Connect to each application or API that you want to add to a flow. You can do so by providing account details for the applications and APIs either before you create a flow or while you are creating a flow. For information about connecting App Connect to an application or API, see Connecting to applications and APIs.

  You can also add multiple accounts so that you can access different instances of an application or use different rate limits or access levels for an API, rename your App Connect accounts to help you identify which instance you are using, update the credentials for your accounts when necessary, and remove redundant accounts. For more information, see Managing accounts in App Connect.

• What is the App Connect system status?

  Check the following page to see if there are any current known issues with App Connect, and if there are any planned maintenance windows during which App Connect will be unavailable: https://cloud.ibm.com/status?component=appconnect&selected=status

• I think I have a problem using App Connect. How do I get help?

  There are a few things that you can do to troubleshoot your flows in App Connect or to help you resolve a problem while using App Connect:

  • Check for messages on the tile for a running flow on the App Connect Dashboard.
  • Check the logs if you’re using App Connect on IBM Cloud.
  • Check the App Connect status page.
  • Browse this FAQ page for answers to some of the questions that you might have about App Connect.
  • Check the discussion forum in the IBM Community site for the IBM App Connect group, and maybe ask a question there.

  For more information, see Troubleshooting.

• How do I create an event-driven flow?

  A quick and easy way to create an event-driven flow is to use a pre-built template from the App Connect gallery of templates, or to import a flow definition file from supplied samples or from an exported flow.

  Alternatively, you can create your own flow from scratch by clicking New > Event-driven flow from the App Connect Dashboard, or by completing the steps in tutorials for specific use cases. You’ll need to select an event to trigger the flow, one or more actions to be performed in target applications or APIs, and optionally apply specialized processing to your input or output data.

  For more information, see Creating an event-driven flow from scratch or from a template.

• How do I create flows for an API?

  If you want a developer to be able to create an app that makes use of the data in your cloud-based applications, you can create flows that expose an API.

  You can create flows for an API by using a pre-built template from the App Connect Templates gallery, or by importing a flow definition file from another App Connect environment or user.

  Alternatively, you can create your own flows from scratch by clicking New > Flows for an API from the App Connect Dashboard, or by completing the steps in tutorials for specific use cases. You’ll need to create one or more models, choose the create, retrieve, or update operations to perform against each model, and then configure a flow that implements each operation. For each flow, add one or more actions to be performed in target applications or APIs, and optionally apply specialized processing to your input or output data.

  For more information, see Creating flows for an API from scratch or from a template.

• What type of actions can be performed on the applications or APIs in a flow?

  Most applications or APIs allow you to perform the standard set of create, retrieve, update, or delete (CRUD) actions on their objects. For example, if someone signs up to attend your event, you can create a record for that attendee in your CRM application, or you can retrieve the details of all attendees so you can contact them with personalized offers. For more information about using CRUD actions in App Connect, see How CRUD actions work in IBM App Connect.

  Other applications provide more specialized actions based on their function. For example, Microsoft Office 365 provides actions to copy, forward, or move messages.

• What data can I specify to pass to a target application or API?

  When you add an action for a target application or API in a flow, you need to specify data for any mandatory target fields. You can also specify data for any optional fields for that action.

  You can use the data from previous nodes as input for the target fields, and can map to fields from previous nodes to specify dynamic values, and even apply JSONata expressions to transform the data. You can also specify plain text or pass a response code from a previous action.

  For more information about specifying data in target fields, see Techniques for specifying data to be passed to a target application or API.

• What transform functions can I apply to customize my data?

  When completing a target field in a flow, you can add a transform function to customize the value of a source field that is to be passed to the target application. For example, you can convert text to upper or lower case, or calculate the count for the number of items returned. The syntax of the functions is JSONata, a lightweight query and transformation language. You can learn more about JSONata functions at http://jsonata.org.

  For more information about using JSONata in App Connect, see Applying JSONata functions to transform your data.

• What is advanced mode editing?

  When configuring an action in a flow, you can switch to advanced mode editing for additional capabilities. For example:

  • You can expose fields that are not needed for general use, and so are hidden in the default edit view for an action.
  • You can insert mapped fields (and optionally apply JSONata transform functions) to dynamically set the value of fields instead of selecting pre-populated static values from a drop-down list.

  For more information about using the advanced mode to complete the fields for an action, see Switching to advanced mode editing.

• How do I define my own data properties?

  Some applications require you to specify data in JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) format for the action you are trying to complete. For example, if you want to create a document in IBM Cloudant®, you need to specify the document data in JSON format because IBM Cloudant stores JSON-formatted documents. Or if you want to specify request headers for an HTTP "Invoke method" action, you need to define the headers as a JSON object.

  Rather than try to write this JSON by hand as a set of comma-separated key/value pairs enclosed within braces {}, you can construct the JSON structure by defining data properties from your flow. App Connect provides a built-in property editor that you can use to define data properties with assigned names and data types, before exposing the properties as fields so you can specify their values. For more information about defining your own data properties for an action in your flow, see Defining your own data properties.

  Other use cases for defining your own data properties include using the Set variable utility in the App Connect toolbox to create reusable mappings, and the Log utility to customize your log entries. For more information, see Using a Set variable node to create mappings that you can reuse within a flow and Enhancing logging with customized log messages.

• How do I use the toolbox utilities?

  In addition to events and actions, you can add utilities from the App Connect toolbox to your flows (as nodes) to enable you to apply logic or some other type of processing to your data.

  For example, you can add some conditional logic to your flow in the form of an ‘If’ node if you want your flow to do different things depending on the data that it receives from applications in your flow. Let’s suppose you've created several events in Eventbrite and you want to treat the data that’s submitted for particular events differently. When someone signs up for the first event, you want to add them to your CRM system as a lead. But when someone signs up for the second event, you want to add them to a mailing list. And if they sign up for any other event, you do not want to do anything with that data.

  To construct a flow with this logic, you can add an Eventbrite New attendee node as a trigger and then add an If node, as shown in the following image. The conditional logic says that if someone signs up to one of the events with the specified IDs, they're either added as a lead in Salesforce or a subscriber to a list in MailChimp. But if they sign up to any other event, the flow won’t process any data for that sign-up, and will exit with a success message, indicated by the HTTP status code "200".

  

  (Click image to view full size)

  Other examples of ways you can work with the toolbox utilities include:

  • Enhance logging by defining your own custom messages and fields that you want to display in the App Connect logs.
  • Create your own data properties with custom mappings that you can reuse as variables within a flow.
  • Generate notifications when certain conditions or situations occur within your flows and set up actions that you can trigger when these conditions occur.
  • Parse data returned by an event or action into an acceptable format for subsequent use in a flow.
  • Schedule your event-driven flows to trigger at specific times.

  The toolbox utilities are available from the Toolbox tab in the flow editor when you are creating or editing a flow. For detailed information about all the utilities that App Connect provides, and instructions about how to use them, see Adding special processing to a flow (Toolbox utilities).

• How is data validated in a flow and how do I resolve reported validation errors?

  App Connect automatically validates the nodes in your flow and displays a warning icon if it detects one or more validation errors on a node; for example, if a mandatory field is left blank. To start a flow, you must resolve the reported validation errors; you can check the error for guidance, and then fix any account-related issues for the app or API, or field selection issues for the node as required.

  For more information, see Validating your flow is ready to run.

• How do I start, stop, edit, view, sort, or delete my flows?

  When you create a flow, it is added to the App Connect Dashboard as a tile. Each flow tile contains an options menu [⋮] that you can use to manage the flow as follows:

  • Start or stop the flow. (You can also start or stop the flow from the flow editor’s options menu [⋮].)
  • Change the configuration of the flow or complete it if it’s in a draft state.
  • View the configuration of the flow while it’s running.
  • Delete the flow.

  From the Dashboard, you can also change the sort order of your flows and apply a filter to search for specific flows.

  For more information, see Managing flows.

• How do I export and import flows?

  You can share your flows across App Connect environments or with other App Connect users who want to configure identical or similar integrations by using the export/import functions on the App Connect Dashboard. You can also use the export/import functions as a way of cloning a flow so that you can tweak the imported cloned copy.

  When you export a flow, its configuration is saved in a .yaml file that can then be imported into the same environment or elsewhere.

  You’ll need to set up your own accounts for each application or API in the imported flow if you do not already have one. You’ll also need to make sure that any prerequisite conditions for the flow’s event and actions are met. To start and run the flow, you’ll also need to ensure that the configuration settings for the nodes are validated.

  For more information, see Exporting and importing flows.

• What are the operational limits for App Connect?

  App Connect is configured with the following built-in limits to help provide a stable experience during use:

  Number of flows

  A maximum of 100 flows is allowed in each App Connect instance.

  Flow running time

  • For an event-driven flow, a maximum of 5 minutes is configured for a flow run to complete. However, each node in a flow has a maximum of 120 seconds to complete. If the connector action triggered by a node takes longer than 120 seconds, that action will continue running but the flow will fail because the node is timed out after 120 seconds.
  • For an API flow, a maximum of 120 seconds is configured for a flow run to complete. In exceptional circumstances, it is possible for the API flow to continue running but the API gateway to timeout after 70 seconds and return a 504 gateway timeout response.

  If the running time of a flow is exceeded, you’ll receive a timeout error notification. For more information, see Help! My flow has received a timeout error.

  Flow memory

  A maximum of 100 MB of memory is reserved for a flow and all its data.

  Note: If a flow includes a For each node that is configured to process items in parallel, each branch is allocated an equal share of the total memory.

  Batch process running time

  A maximum of 30 days is configured for a batch process to complete execution.

  Batch process memory

  A maximum of 15 MB of memory is reserved for processing each record in a batch process.

  Callable flow memory

  A maximum of 10 MB of memory is reserved for a callable flow

  You’ll also see an error if the memory limit for a running a flow is exceeded. Consider modifying your flow to reduce the amount of memory used; for example, reduce the number of nodes in the flow, or modify the number of filters on a retrieve action.

  Note: Whenever data is received from an event, App Connect stores the data in the flow context. The size of the data in a flow is calculated on the serialized string of the flow context object. If you have non-string data in your flow, the size of the data will appear larger in the flow context than in its original format.

• What clock synchronisation does IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud use?

  IBM Cloud and by inference, App Connect on IBM Cloud uses the following NTP server for clock synchonisation: time.adn.networklayer.com, which resolves to IP address 161.26.0.6.

Generally, connecting applications in App Connect Designer uses the same straightforward exercise of creating an event-driven flow or creating flows for an API, as described in the general guide How to connect apps ; general use of App Connect Designer.

Some apps have special prerequisites, considerations, or example use cases; for these apps we are developing app-specific "How to" guides. For "How to" guides, see the main "How to" page.

For other information about connecting applications, see below:

• What should I know about connecting to applications that are on a private network?

  You use the IBM Secure Gateway to connect App Connect to applications that are available on a private network (for example, your company network or a private cloud). For more information about the IBM Secure Gateway, see IBM Secure Gateway.

  From App Connect, you can download and install the IBM Secure Gateway Client before you create a flow or while creating an account for an application that is on a private network.

  Note:

  • You cannot install the IBM Secure Gateway Client on a mobile phone or tablet.
  • You must set an access control list before you can connect to applications on a private network via the IBM Secure Gateway; see IBM Secure Gateway – Access control list.

  For a step-by-step example of how to configure a private network, see Configuring a private network.

• What can I do if my connection to an application is broken?

  When you configure App Connect to connect to an application like Gmail, a notification that you have authorized App Connect to use your account details is recorded in your account profile for that application. For example, if you provide App Connect with your Google credentials, so that App Connect can connect to your Gmail account, you can see this authorization specified in your Google account (under Sign in & security > Connected apps and sites). If you remove the authorization from your Google account, App Connect can no longer connect to your Gmail account and any flows that use Gmail as a target application will become inactive.

  To reconnect App Connect to an application where the authorization has been removed, go to the Applications tab on the Catalog page in App Connect. There, you can choose either to update the account, or to remove the account, and then add the account again (or add a new account).

• Which IP addresses for App Connect might I add to an allowlist?

  For event-driven flows and API flows running in App Connect on IBM Cloud that connect to apps behind a firewall, you may need to define inbound IP-based firewall rules (allowlist) to police the outbound connectivity of App Connect. The list of IP addresses can be found at: What are the possible network addresses that Cloud Foundry apps can be running on?.

  The list of IP addresses for message flows in a BAR file in IBM App Connect Enterprise on IBM Cloud can be found at: IP addresses that App Connect Enterprise on IBM Cloud flows use for outbound connectivity.

• I’ve forgotten my user ID. How do I find it?

  Your user ID is the email address that you used to register for App Connect. If you have forgotten the email address that you used, click >IBMid help desk, and locate the contact details for your country.

• I’ve forgotten my password. How do I reset it?

  Click >Forgot password to go to the IBMid registration page and reset your password.

• How do I change my password?

  Click Change password to go to the IBMid registration page and change your password.

• How do I change my email address?

  Click Profile to go to your IBMid profile. Log in and change your email address in your profile.

  Note: Your IBMid is still the same as the email address that you used when you registered for App Connect. Changing your email address does not change the name of your IBMid.

• What features are available on each pricing plan?

  For details of the different pricing plans and the features that are available, see the following:

  • App Connect on IBM Cloud: Pricing Plans section of the App Connect service page in the IBM Cloud Catalog.
  • App Connect (appconnect.ibmcloud.com): >Cloud Marketplace.

• What counts toward my monthly quota?

  With App Connect on IBM Cloud, your quota is a number of flow runs per month. When a flow is triggered it counts towards your quota (even if your flow fails after starting).

  If your flow invokes other flows when triggered, then the total flow run count towards your quota is 1 (original flow) + n (sub flow invocations)

  With App Connect obtained through the IBM Marketplace, your quota is a number of actions per month. For example, an action is the update of a Salesforce Lead or the sending of an email. Only successfully-completed actions count towards your monthly quota.

• How can I check my quota usage?

  From the App Connect header, click the account icon (). A panel displays the following information:

  • Your current pricing plan (with a link to where you can upgrade the plan if you are on the Free plan).
  • The number of flows that you have running.
  • If you are on the Free plan, the number of flows that you are entitled to run.

  

  For information about how to view usage details for your existing instances of the App Connect service, see Viewing usage details for your App Connect instances.

• How do I upgrade my IBM App Connect plan?

  If you want to do more than the Lite plan enables, you can choose to upgrade to a choice of Pay As You Go (PAYG) or Custom Subscription options for the Professional and Enterprise plans for IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud.

  Likewise, if you are on the Professional plan, you can choose to upgrade to a choice of PAYG or Custom Subscription options for the Enterprise plan for IBM App Connect on IBM Cloud.

  You can also choose to upgrade from a PAYG plan to a Custom Subscription plan.

  For more information about upgrading your IBM App Connect plan, see Choosing and upgrading IBM App Connect.

• How do I change my payment method or cancel my subscription?

  Contact IBM App Connect support by clicking Get Support in the help menu in the IBM App Connect header.