Migrate IBM App Connect Enterprise configuration from an on-premises to a containerized environment

Alongside a BAR file, an integration server might require a number of configuration files for its setup. The configuration files can define environment-specific settings, or contain secrets or data that should not be checked into a source control system. This method of separating BAR file artifacts from configuration files eliminates the need to edit a BAR file before its deployment to different environments such as development and production.

An integration server that you deploy to a containerized environment by using the IBM App Connect Operator uses the same configuration files that are used in App Connect Enterprise on premises, but there is a difference in how the files are set up. In an on-premises installation, you are required to create and add configuration objects to the file system, but in a containerized environment, you create configuration objects (which contain the configuration files) and then associate them with an integration server. When the integration server container starts, it pulls these configuration files from the cluster and configures the file system with the correct files. The integration server container also runs some commands to set up secrets that the integrations use. The resulting running integration server then uses these files in the same way as an on-premises installation in which files are added directly to the file system.