Registering, viewing, managing and monitoring edge runtimes

Learn how to register, view and manage edge runtimes.

Before you begin

  • You must have administrator access to complete the steps in this tutorial.
  • You must have basic working knowledge of the capability for which you want to use runtime. For example, if you want to use an edge runtime, then you must know how to work with webMethods Integration.
  • Make sure that a container runtime, such as Docker or Rancher, is installed on your workstation. For local development, use Docker to be compatible with the Docker commands that are provided in this tutorial.
  • Throughout this tutorial, you are using a single instance of an edge runtime.

About this tutorial

In this tutorial, a new edge runtime is registered with the Hybrid Control Plane. After registration, you can manage and monitor the runtime from the centralized control plane to ensure secure and efficient operations.

This tutorial takes you through the following steps:
  1. Registering edge runtimes
  2. Viewing edge runtimes
  3. Managing edge runtimes
  4. Monitoring edge runtimes

Registering edge runtimes

  1. From IBM® webMethods Hybrid Integration, click Main menu > Hybrid Control Plane > Integration runtime management. The Integration runtime management page is displayed.
  2. On the home page, click Register Runtime > Edge runtime. The Register Runtime wizard is displayed.
  3. On the Select page, sign in to the Container Registry to authenticate your identity. Without successful authentication, you cannot retrieve the edge runtime image that is needed for registration. This is a one-time activity that must be done when you are registering an edge runtime for the first time. Otherwise, skip this step and proceed to the next step for pulling the edge runtime image.
    1. From the Container registry authentication drop-down menu, click Generate Credentials. A docker command is generated with the username and access token details.
    2. Copy the command and save it for later reference.
    3. Open Command Prompt and paste the copied command.
    4. Press Enter to run the command. After successful validation, the success message is displayed.
    5. Return to the Register Runtime wizard.
  4. On the Select page, pull the edge runtime image needed for registration. If you have pulled the image already, then you can ignore the step. It is always better to retrieve the most up-to-date image version.
    1. From the Get Edge runtimeiImage section, copy the provided URL.
    2. Paste the command on the terminal screen where you want to run the container.
    3. Press Enter to run the command. The edge runtime image is downloaded and the message Downloaded newer image for <runtime> is displayed.
  5. Return to the Register Runtime wizard and click Next. The Define page is displayed.
  6. On the Define page, provide the details for registration.
    1. Enter a name and description for the edge runtime identification.
      Note: The Access option is displayed for administrators only. Runtimes are registered in private mode by default. If you are an administrator, you can set the runtime access to public, but a better option is to set the runtime to private and share it with specific users.
  7. Click Next. The Add metadata page is displayed.
  8. On the Add metadata page, update the details and click Next. The Connect page is displayed.
  9. On the Connect page generate the pairing command and register the runtime.
    1. Click Start Pairing. A Docker command along with the pairing code, cloud URL and a registration token is generated. The Docker command uses a temporary pairing code to connect the runtime to your cloud environment securely without sharing your credentials.
    2. Copy the pairing code and paste it on the terminal screen where you want to run the container.
    3. Verify that the port number on which the edge runtime communicates is not in use. Else, update the port number.
    4. Press Enter to run the command. If the pairing process is not completed within the designated time, a connection time out message is displayed. You can rerun the pairing command. Upon successful pairing, the edge runtime is registered, and the success message is displayed.
  10. Go to the Register runtime wizard and click Close. On the home page, you can see that the runtime card status changes to Ready. The registration process is completed.

Viewing edge runtimes

To view the edge runtime that you recently registered in the home page, complete the following steps:

  1. Go to the Integration runtime management page and check the edge runtime card. The status on the card must be Ready.
    Note: If the runtime is private, then the lock icon appears on the runtime card instead of the globe icon.

Managing edge runtimes

You can manage the runtime by enabling, disabling, editing settings, or restarting them to ensure smooth and secure operations.

On the runtime card, click the Overflow menu icon and select an action. Some actions are as follows:
Edit

Update the details of a runtime.

Enable or disable hybrid connectivity
Enable the edge runtime to deploy and run services from your tenant by using the hybrid messaging-based connectivity. Alternatively, disable the edge runtime to stop all operations.
Restart
Restarts a runtime.
Deregister
Deregisters a runtime from the control plane. On successful deregistration, the runtime card is no longer visible on the home page. You cannot deregister a default runtime.

Monitoring edge runtimes

  1. Click the edge runtime card. The dashboard provides various details about the runtime and are grouped into various categories. You can access all categories from the navigation menu on the dashboard.
  2. Expand each category to view more details about that category. Some categories are,
    • Overview - Provides the summary of potential security risks and weaknesses within the selected runtime.
    • Service usage - Provides the list of all services that are associated with the runtime in a tabular format.
    • Projects - Provides the list of all projects that are associated with the runtime.
    • Connections - Lists all outbound connections that let the runtime to communicate with external systems, such as databases, messaging systems, cloud services, or other applications.
    • Global variables - Lists the global variables that are part of the imported packages.
    • Messaging - Enables applications to exchange messages asynchronously that use predefined JMS/JNDI connections.
    • Logs - Capture runtime activity and errors, which can help in monitoring and issue resolution.

What you did in this tutorial

You learned how to register, view, manage, and monitor an edge runtime in the Hybrid Control Plane.