Systems overview

IBM® UrbanCode™ Deploy includes several systems, including a server and one or more agents. Descriptions of these systems are below the following diagrams.

Core topology

The core installation of IBM UrbanCode Deploy includes a server, agents, and a license server. Clients access the server through web browsers, the REST API, or the command-line client. For details of the components architecture, see Core architecture overview,

With this topology, the server can create environments on clouds that use virtual system patterns. (To create environments on other clouds such as OpenStack-based clouds, Amazon Web Services, SoftLayer, and VMware vCenter, you must install the blueprint design server and at least one engine, as described in the blueprint design topologies, in a later diagram.)

A simple topology that consists of the server, agents, a license server, a cloud, and the interfaces to the server, including web browsers, the command-line client, and the REST API

Multi-region topology

If your environment has multiple security zones that are divided by firewalls, you can use agent relays to connect agents to the server through the firewalls. For example, if your IBM UrbanCode Deploy server is within a firewall, but your target environments are outside the firewall, the agents on those target environments can not connect directly to the server. In this case, you install an agent relay to allow the agents to connect to the server through the firewall, as shown in the following diagram.

A topology that includes an agent relay; the relay allows agents to communicate with the server through firewalls

High-availability clustered topology

High-availability topologies use multiple servers. These servers can all be running at the same time to share the load (as in a clustered topology), or they can be waiting for another server to fail (as in a cold standby topology). The following diagram shows a clustered topology in which a load balancer distributes connections to three servers. Users connect directly to the load balancer, which sends them to an active server. Agents connect via HTTP and HTTPS to the load balancer; however, the agents connect via JMS directly to the servers. The servers store their files on a shared database and file system.

A clustered high-availability topology, in which most communication to the multiple servers goes through a load balancer

You can also cluster blueprint design servers and engines. In this case, you install one or more blueprint design servers and engines, and set them each to access the same database and shared file system. Similarly, a load balancer distributes traffic to the blueprint design servers and engines. The following diagram shows a clustered topology with three engines and three blueprint design servers.

A clustered high-availability topology with multiple blueprint design servers and engines

Blueprint design topologies

To work with blueprints on clouds via OpenStack Heat, including OpenStack-based clouds, Amazon Web Services, SoftLayer, and VMware vCenter, these topologies include the blueprint design server and engine. (In previous versions, these systems were part of IBM UrbanCode Deploy with Patterns.)

The following diagram shows a simple topology that includes the blueprint design server and an engine.

A topology that includes the blueprint design server and an engine for use with clouds via OpenStack Heat

For more information about ports, see System requirements and performance considerations.

Other topologies are possible. For example, instead of installing a separate engine, you can extend an existing Heat engine. In this case, the topology looks like the following diagram. In this case, the Heat engine includes extensions to work with IBM UrbanCode Deploy.

A topology in which an existing Heat engine is extended to work with the blueprint design server

Default ports

The following diagram shows the default port numbers that IBM UrbanCode Deploy uses for communication. Most of these ports can change depending on your choices at installation time. The following diagram is only a summary of the defaults.

A topology that shows the ports that each part of IBM UrbanCode Deploy uses for communication

Description of systems

IBM UrbanCode Deploy server: The IBM UrbanCode Deploy server stores components, processes, and other elements with which you model automated application deployments. You run automated deployments from the server.
Web browsers: Web browsers are the main way that users interact with the server and blueprint designer.
Command-line client: The command-line client provides access to the server through the command line. It can automate functions on the server, such as creating components and applications. See Command-line client (CLI) reference.
REST API: The REST API provides access to the server through HTTP. Like the command-line client, it can automate functions on the server, such as creating components and applications.; The server and the blueprint design server have separate REST APIs. Each command in the server REST API has an equivalent command in the command-line client; however, commands in the blueprint design server API do not have command-line equivalents. See Extending product function.
Agents: The agents run processes on target systems. Agents can run on physical computers, virtual systems, or cloud systems.
Agent relays: An agent relay is a communication proxy for agents that are located behind a firewall or in another network location.
Blueprint design server: This server hosts the blueprint designer and controls access to blueprints. It also hosts the cloud discovery service, which provides information about the available cloud resources to the blueprint designer. (In previous versions, this system was the IBM UrbanCode Deploy with Patterns design server.)
Engine: The engine is an installation of the OpenStack Heat orchestration engine with IBM extensions. The engine manages cloud infrastructure, provisioning resources from clouds, updating those resources, and deleting them. (In previous versions, this system was the IBM UrbanCode Deploy with Patterns engine.)
Rational® Common Licensing license server: The license server provides licenses to the server. For more information on the license server, see http://www-01.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSSTWP.
Keystone Identity Service: This service provides authentication tokens to the OpenStack system. The blueprint design server requires it.
Clouds: The clouds host virtual resources. When you create environments with blueprints, the server or engine provisions resources on the target clouds.

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