Getting started with IBM Cloud Orchestrator content
IBM® Cloud Orchestrator can be extended by providing different types of content packages to enable IBM Cloud Orchestrator to use the features that are delivered by external software and infrastructure devices.
The different types of IBM Cloud Orchestrator content that you can create and deploy in the cloud are explained here.
Content packs
Content Packs provide the building blocks for orchestrations that run on the integrated Business Process Manager platform in IBM Cloud Orchestrator.
Content Packs typically consist of a set of process applications and toolkits. Process applications contain ready-to-use orchestrations and share library items from one or more toolkits. Toolkits typically contain building blocks to be used by process applications and other toolkits. They also provide sample processes and human services to demonstrate the usage of those building blocks.
IBM Cloud Orchestrator ships with a number of toolkits that provide building blocks that are related to pattern and image deployment, scripting support, and offerings. These building blocks can be used to create new toolkits or process applications. Refer to Developing toolkit and application content.
You can download extra content packs from the IBM Cloud Orchestrator Catalog.
- Self-service offerings
A self-service offering is a process that is not related to any pattern or instance. For example, add a user. To understand how to create a self-service operation, see the self-service offerings scenario. The offerings are grouped into categories.
For more information about self-service offerings, see the following topics:
Virtual images
Virtual images provide the operating system and product binary files that are required to create a virtual system instance. Images can be extended to customize the virtual images and the operating systems by adding script packages that provide extra functions during provisioning time and software bundles that enhance the content of the image.
- Software bundles
Software bundles contain and describe the software that is available for use within a virtual image. They include information about how to install the software, prerequisites of the software, and parameters that are available for customizing the software. They combine the operating system definition and custom software bundles to create virtual bundles that can be provisioned in the cloud.