As a system administrator, you have several options for installing IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions versioning

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions versions are designated with a numerical Major.Minor.Patch format, such as 8.0.4. In this example, the major release is 8.x.x, the minor release is 8.0.x, and the patch release is 8.0.4. Major releases often require data migration, while minor release upgrades and patch updates are typically managed with update tools provided with the IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions release artifacts.

The following are the general types of releases for IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions:

Major release migrations

Major releases of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions include substantial enhancements, security updates, bug fixes, and possibly redesigned features and functions. Data migration is typically required when an application is moved from one major release to another major release, such as from Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite 6.4.x to Red Hat Process Automation Manager 7.0. Automated migration tools are often provided with new major versions of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions to facilitate migration, but some manual effort is likely required for certain data and configurations. The supported migration paths are specified in product announcements and documentation.

For example migration instructions, see Migrating from Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite 6.4 to Red Hat Process Automation Manager 7.0.

Minor release upgrades

Minor releases of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions include enhancements, security updates, and bug fixes. Data migration may be required when an application is moved from one minor release to another minor release. Automated update tools are often provided with both patch updates and new minor versions of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions to facilitate updating certain components of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions, such as Business Central, KIE Server, and the headless IBM Business Automation Manager controller. Other IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions artifacts, such as the decision engine and standalone Business Central, are released as new artifacts with each minor release and you must reinstall them to apply the update.

Before you upgrade to a new minor release, apply the latest patch update to your current version of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions to ensure that the minor release upgrade is successful.

Patch updates

Patch updates of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions include the latest security updates and bug fixes. Scheduled patch updates contain all previously released patch updates for that minor version of the product, so you do not need to apply each patch update incrementally in order to apply the latest update. However, for optimal IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions performance, apply product updates as they become available. Occasionally, IBM might release unscheduled patch updates outside the normal update cycle of the existing product.

Automated update tools are often provided with both patch updates and new minor versions of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions to facilitate updating certain components of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions, such as Business Central, KIE Server, and the headless IBM Business Automation Manager controller. Other IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions artifacts, such as the decision engine and standalone Business Central, are released as new artifacts with each minor release and you must reinstall them to apply the update.

To ensure optimal transition between releases and to keep your IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions distribution current with the latest enhancements and fixes, apply new product releases and updates to IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions as they become available on the IBM Support page.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions components

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions is made up of Business Central and KIE Server.

  • Business Central is the graphical user interface where you create and manage business rules. You can install Business Central in a Red Hat JBoss EAP instance or on the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (OpenShift).

    Business Central is also available as a standalone JAR file. You can use the Business Central standalone JAR file to run Business Central without deploying it to an application server.

  • KIE Server is the server where rules and other artifacts are executed. It is used to instantiate and execute rules and solve planning problems. You can install KIE Server in a Red Hat JBoss EAP instance, in a Red Hat JBoss EAP cluster, on OpenShift, in an Oracle WebLogic server instance, in an IBM WebSphere Application Server instance, or as a part of Spring Boot application.

    You can configure KIE Server to run in managed or unmanaged mode. If KIE Server is unmanaged, you must manually create and maintain KIE containers (deployment units). A KIE container is a specific version of a project. If KIE Server is managed, the IBM Business Automation Manager controller manages the KIE Server configuration and you interact with the IBM Business Automation Manager controller to create and maintain KIE containers.

    The IBM Business Automation Manager controller is integrated with Business Central. If you install Business Central on Red Hat JBoss EAP, use the Execution Server page to create and maintain KIE containers. However, if you do not install Business Central, you can install the headless IBM Business Automation Manager controller and use the REST API or the KIE Server Java Client API to interact with it.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions installation platforms

Every IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions release is certified on a variety of operating systems, JVMs, web browsers, and database combinations. IBM provides both production and development support for supported and tested configurations in both physical and virtual environments, according to your subscription agreement.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions 8.0 is available for the following application platforms:

  • Red Hat JBoss EAP

  • Red Hat JBoss Web Server

  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform

  • Oracle WebLogic Server

  • IBM WebSphere Application Server

Red Hat JBoss EAP

Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform (Red Hat JBoss EAP) is a certified implementation of the Java Enterprise Edition 7 (Java EE 7) full and web profile specifications. Red Hat JBoss EAP provides preconfigured options for features such as high availability, clustering, messaging, and distributed caching. It also enables users to write, deploy, and run applications using the various APIs and services that Red Hat JBoss EAP provides.

You can install both Business Central and KIE Server in a single Red Hat JBoss EAP instance. However, in production environments you should install them in separate instances.

Red Hat JBoss Web Server

Red Hat JBoss Web Server is an enterprise-ready web server designed for medium and large applications, based on Tomcat. Red Hat JBoss Web Server provides organizations with a single deployment platform for Java Server Pages (JSP) and Java Servlet technologies, PHP, and CGI.

You can install KIE Server and the headless IBM Business Automation Manager controller on Red Hat JBoss Web Server.

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (OpenShift) uses Kubernetes and provides an API to manage these services. OpenShift enables you to create and manage containers.

In this solution, components of IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions are deployed as separate OpenShift pods. You can scale each of the pods up and down individually, providing as few or as many containers as necessary for a particular component. You can use standard OpenShift methods to manage the pods and balance the load.

You can install both Business Central and KIE Server on OpenShift.

Oracle WebLogic Server

Oracle WebLogic Server is a Java EE application server that provides a standard set of APIs for creating distributed Java applications that can access a wide variety of services, such as databases, messaging services, and connections to external enterprise systems. Users access these applications using web browser clients or Java clients.

You can install KIE Server in an Oracle WebLogic Server instance and then use the headless IBM Business Automation Manager controller and the REST API or the KIE Server Java Client API to interact with KIE Server. You can also use standalone Business Central to interact with KIE Server.

IBM WebSphere Application Server

IBM WebSphere Application Server is a flexible and secure web application server that hosts Java-based web applications and provides Java EE-certified run time environments. IBM WebSphere 9.0 supports Java SE 8 and is fully compliant with Java EE 7 since version 8.5.5.6.

You can install KIE Server in an IBM WebSphere Application Server instance and then use the headless IBM Business Automation Manager controller to interact with KIE Server. You can also use standalone Business Central to interact with KIE Server.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions supported repositories

You can use Git repositories and Apache Maven with IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions.

Git repositories

Git repositories are used internally within Business Central to store all processes, rules, and other artifacts that are created in the authoring environment. Git is a distributed version control system. It implements revisions as commit objects. When you commit your changes into a repository, a new commit object in the Git repository is created. When you create a project in Business Central, it is added to the Git repository that is connected to Business Central.

If you have projects in other Git repositories, you can import them into Business Central spaces. You can use Git hooks to synchronize the internal Git repositories with external repositories.

Apache Maven

Apache Maven is a distributed build automation tool used in Java application development to build and manage software projects. You can use Maven to build, publish, and deploy your IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions projects. Maven provides the following benefits:

  • The build process is easy and a uniform build system is implemented across projects.

  • All of the required JAR files for a project are made available at compile time.

  • A proper project structure is configured.

  • Dependencies and versions are well managed.

  • There is no need for additional build processing because Maven builds output into a number of predefined types, such as JAR and WAR.

Maven uses repositories to store Java libraries, plug-ins, and other build artifacts. These repositories can be local or remote. IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions maintains local and remote maven repositories that you can add to your project for accessing the rules, processes, events, and other project dependencies. When building projects and archetypes, Maven dynamically retrieves Java libraries and Maven plug-ins from local or remote repositories. Doing this promotes sharing and reuse of dependencies across projects.

Installation environment options for IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions

With IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions, you can set up a development environment to develop business applications, a runtime environment to run those applications to support decisions, or both.

  • Development environment: Typically consists of one Business Central installation and at least one KIE Server installation. You can use Business Central to design decisions and other artifacts, and you can use KIE Server to execute and test the artifacts that you created.

  • Runtime environment: Consists of one or more KIE Server instances with or without Business Central. Business Central has an embedded IBM Business Automation Manager controller. If you install Business Central, use the Menu → Deploy → Execution servers page to create and maintain containers. If you want to automate KIE Server management without Business Central, you can use the headless IBM Business Automation Manager controller.

You can also cluster both development and runtime environments. A clustered development or runtime environment consists of a unified group or cluster of two or more servers. The primary benefit of clustering IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions development environments is high availability and enhanced collaboration, while the primary benefit of clustering IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions runtime environments is high availability and load balancing. High availability decreases the chance of data loss when a single server fails. When a server fails, another server fills the gap by providing a copy of the data that was on the failed server. When the failed server comes online again, it resumes its place in the cluster.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions roles and users

To access Business Central or KIE Server, you must create users and assign them appropriate roles before the servers are started. You can create users and roles when you install Business Central or KIE Server.

If both Business Central and KIE Server are running on a single instance, a user who is authenticated for Business Central can also access KIE Server.

However, if Business Central and KIE Server are running on different instances, a user who is authenticated for Business Central must be authenticated separately to access KIE Server. For example, if a user who is authenticated on Business Central but not authenticated on KIE Server tries to view or manage process definitions in Business Central, a 401 error is logged in the log file and the Invalid credentials to load data from remote server. Contact your system administrator. message appears in Business Central.

This section describes IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions user roles.

Note

The admin, analyst, developer, manager, process-admin, user, and rest-all roles are reserved for Business Central. The kie-server role is reserved for KIE Server. For this reason, the available roles can differ depending on whether Business Central, KIE Server, or both are installed.

  • admin: Users with the admin role are the Business Central administrators. They can manage users and create, clone, and manage repositories. They have full access to make required changes in the application. Users with the admin role have access to all areas within IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions.

  • analyst: Users with the analyst role have access to all high-level features. They can model and execute their projects. However, these users cannot add contributors to spaces or delete spaces in the Design → Projects view. Access to the Deploy → Execution Servers view, which is intended for administrators, is not available to users with the analyst role. However, the Deploy button is available to these users when they access the Library perspective.

  • developer: Users with the developer role have access to almost all features and can manage rules, models, process flows, forms, and dashboards. They can manage the asset repository, they can create, build, and deploy projects. Only certain administrative functions such as creating and cloning a new repository are hidden from users with the developer role.

  • manager: Users with the manager role can view reports. These users are usually interested in statistics about the business processes and their performance, business indicators, and other business-related reporting. A user with this role has access only to process and task reports.

  • process-admin: Users with the process-admin role are business process administrators. They have full access to business processes, business tasks, and execution errors. These users can also view business reports and have access to the Task Inbox list.

  • user: Users with the user role can work on the Task Inbox list, which contains business tasks that are part of currently running processes. Users with this role can view process and task reports and manage processes.

  • rest-all: Users with the rest-all role can access Business Central REST capabilities.

  • kie-server: Users with the kie-server role can access KIE Server REST capabilities. This role is mandatory for users to have access to Manage and Track views in Business Central.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions reference implementations

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions provides reference implementations that you can use as starter applications. They are included in the IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions 8.0 - Reference Implementation download, available on the IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions 8.0 downloads page .

Employee Rostering reference implementation

The employee rostering reference implementation enables you to create an application that assigns employees to shifts on various positions in an organization. For example, you can use the application to distribute shifts in a hospital between nurses, guard duty shifts across a number of locations, or shifts on an assembly line between workers.

Vehicle route planning reference implementation

The vehicle route planning reference implementation enables you to create an application that solves a vehicle route planning problem with real-world maps, roads, and vehicles delivering goods to locations, each with a specific capacity. For more information, see the README file in the vehicle routing ZIP file, included in the reference implementation download.

School timetable reference implementation

The school timetable reference implementation enables you to build a REST application on Spring Boot that associates lessons with rooms and time slots and avoids conflicts by considering student and teacher constraints.

High available event-driven decisioning reference implementation

The high available event-driven decisioning reference implementation enables you to deploy Drools engine code that requires stateful processing, including rules developed with complex event processing, in an OpenShift environment. Doing this enables the decision engine to process complex event series with high availability.

Integrating with IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions

You can integrate IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions with other products and components, such as Spring Boot, Red Hat Fuse, and Red Hat Single Sign-On.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions Spring Boot business applications

Spring Framework is a Java platform that provides comprehensive infrastructure support for developing Java applications. Spring Boot is a lightweight framework based on Spring Boot starters. Spring Boot starters are pom.xml files that contain a set of dependency descriptors that you can include in your Spring Boot project. IBM offers support and maintenance for IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions Spring Boot projects as part of IBM Runtimes.

Integrating Red Hat Fuse

Fuse is a distributed, cloud-native integration platform that is part of an agile integration solution. Its distributed approach enables teams to deploy integrated services where required.

You can install Red Hat Fuse on the Apache Karaf container platform or Red Hat JBoss Enterprise Application Platform and then install and configure IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions in that container.

Integrating Red Hat Single Sign-On

Red Hat Single Sign-On (RH-SSO) is a single sign-on solution that you can use to secure your browser applications with your REST web services and Git access.

When you integrate IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions with RH-SSO, you create an SSO and identity management (IDM) environment for IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions. The session management feature of RH-SSO enables you to use a single authentication for different IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions environments on the internet.

IBM Business Automation Manager Open Editions supports RH-SSO 7.5 on Red Hat JBoss EAP 7.4.

Additional resources

Installation
Integration
OpenShift