Plug-in development reference

You must consider the entire pattern lifecycle as you develop your plug-ins.

Kernel services
Transformers are kernel services that convert the application model from a logical description into a topology document that is used to deploy the pattern.
Shared services
A shared service is a predefined pattern that is deployed and shared by multiple client application deployments, such as virtual applications and virtual systems, in the cloud. A shared service provides certain runtime services to multiple applications or services to the user on behalf of multiple applications.
Application modeling
The appmodel/metadata.json file describes the components, links, and policies that are implemented by the plug-in.
Deployment
Consider these aspects of deployment when you design your plug-in.
Defining plug-in variables
You can define name and value pairs in config.json file to reuse as variables in several areas of the plug-in.
Developing lifecycle scripts
There are some guidelines for developing lifecycle scripts to consider as you develop your plug-ins.
Application model and topology document examples
The application model and topology documents are core pieces of the Cloud Pak System Software for Power® modeling and deployment.
Plug-in troubleshooting
Plug-ins provide operations that enable users to troubleshoot their virtual application patterns. As a part of your troubleshooting, you can also connect directly to virtual machines to run and test lifecycle scripts.
Monitoring service for plug-ins
Plug-ins provide monitoring operations that collect and display deployment metrics for resource use and performance at the virtual machine, middleware, and application level.
Pattern type packaging reference
Several virtual application pattern types are included with Cloud Pak System Software for Power.
Plug-in validation
When you build or import a plug-in, a validation check runs to verify the contents of the plug-in.

Parent topic: Plug-in development guide

Related tasks

Installing the Plug-in Development Kit

Related reference

Samples for the Plug-in Development Kit

Related information

Elastic load balancing (ELB) proxy service