IBM Integration Bus is a
compatible evolution of WebSphere® Message Broker that
is designed to incorporate features that are found in WebSphere Enterprise
Service Bus. IBM Integration Bus provides a universal integration
capability that addresses a wide range of integration scenarios. These
scenarios include web services such as SOAP and REST, messaging, database,
file, ERP systems, mobile, physical devices, email, custom systems
and more. To reflect these new capabilities, the product name
and some of the resource names have changed. For more information,
see Name changes in IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0.
For details of the new features in
IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0, see the following sections.
If you are migrating from WebSphere Message Broker Version 7.0.
also see What else is new if you are migrating from WebSphere Message Broker Version 7.0 ?.
If you are migrating from WebSphere Message Broker Version
6.1,
also see What else is new if you are migrating from WebSphere Message Broker Version 6.1?.
If you are migrating from WebSphere Enterprise
Service Bus,
also see What's new in IBM Integration Bus for WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus users?.
Simplicity and productivity
- Business rules
- You can use IBM Integration Bus to write
business rules by using natural language, so that they can be read
easily by business users (for example, a business analyst). In IBM Integration Bus, you create a decision
service, which is a collection of rules that are used to process
a message. A DecisionService node
executes those business rules to provide operations like routing,
validation, and transformation. You can either write rules in the IBM Integration Toolkit, or import rules from IBM Operational
Decision Manager. You can also retrieve rules
from an external IBM Operational
Decision Manager repository.
The DecisionService node allows IBM Integration Bus to call business rules that
run on a component of IBM Decision
Server that is provided with IBM Integration Bus.
The IBM Integration Bus license entitles you
to use this component only through the DecisionService node and only
for development and functional test. To use the IBM Decision Server component beyond development
and functional test, you must purchase a separate license entitlement
for either IBM Decision Server
or IBM Decision Server Rules
Edition for Integration Bus.
For more information, see Business rules.
- Discovery of services
- Use IBM Integration Toolkit to discover
services that you can use to connect to a database or to WebSphere MQ.
- Database Service
- Use the Database Service to
make database operations accessible both within a message flow, and
to external applications calling a message flow.
- MQ Service
- Use the MQ Service to
connect to a WebSphere MQ application
by discovering resources from existing WebSphere MQ Queue Managers.
For more information, see Database Service and MQ Service.
- Message flow statistics in the web user interface
- You can use the IBM Integration web
user interface to start and stop the collection of message flow statistics,
and to display snapshot statistical data in graphical and tabular
formats. For more information, see Analyzing message flow performance.
- Statistics multiple output formats
- You can specify one or more of the following output formats for message flow accounting and statistics data:
- m
- XML
- JSON
- SMF
- User trace
For more information, see Output formats for message flow accounting and statistics data.
Support for .NET
- New patterns to rapidly integrate Microsoft applications
- IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0 delivers additional
productivity aids, enabling Microsoft applications
to be rapidly integrated as part of a heterogeneous integration solution.
Prebuilt patterns for Microsoft Dynamics
CRM allow transformation and synchronization of client data with another
CRM application. This facilitates sharing of the state of business
relationships and transactions consistently across an organization,
while preserving data quality.
- .NETInput node
- The .NETInput node
provides an easy way to drive message flows that can receive data
from other applications that have Microsoft .NET
or Component Object Model (COM) interfaces. This feature builds upon
the Microsoft .NET Framework
support that is introduced in WebSphere Message
Broker Version 8.0,
that you can use to host and run .NET applications and code inside
a broker. The .NETInput node
provides C#, Visual Basic, and Visual F# templates for Microsoft Visual Studio, which when implemented,
connect and retrieve the data for the node. For example, the .NETInput node can be used
to retrieve messages from MSMQ.
For information about configuring
and using the .NETInput node,
see .NETInput node and Using .NET.
- You can also create a template from an instance of a .NETInput node in a message
flow. The result is a Cloned node
that has its own icon, properties and runtime implementation, which
can be easily exported and shared with other IBM Integration Toolkit developers. For more information,
see Cloning a .NETInput node.
- .NETInput node sample
- A sample is provided to demonstrate how to use the .NETInput node. For more information,
see .NETInput node to MSMQ. You can view information about samples only when you use the product documentation that is integrated with the IBM Integration Toolkit or the online product documentation. You can run samples only when you use the product documentation that is integrated with the IBM Integration Toolkit.
Graphical mapping
- Database Routine transform
The Database Routine transform is provided to enable calling
a stored procedurefrom
a graphical data map. You can then create mappings from the output
parameters, return values, and result sets from your Database Routine
by using the Return transform.
For more information, see Database routine and Calling a stored procedure.
Web services
Web services enhancements
improve security and reliability.
- Internationalized Domain Names (IDNs)
- Non-English host names can be used in web browsers to accommodate
non-native English speakers as a significant group of Internet users.
- SSL client authentication selection key
- SSL-based nodes can specify a key alias for use by the JSSE layer
for a key in the keystore to be used for a specified connection.
- Inbound and Outbound support for multiple personal certificates
- As a sender, you can dynamically specify which certificate is
used to identify IBM Integration Bus to an
external application. As a listener, you can dynamically select the
certificate to apply to an incoming request.
- HTTP BasicAuth support
- HTTP BasicAuth support is enhanced to more closely adhere to the
BasicAuth specification.
- Support for multiple Kerberos Service Principals in a single broker
- The previous restriction of one Kerberos Service Principal per
broker host is removed. You can now define a Kerberos Service Principal
per broker and per integration server.
- Support for Certificate Revocation Lists (CRLs) on SSL requests
- You can configure IBM Integration Bus to
check CRLs when it is acting as an HTTP provider. For more information,
see Working with certificate revocation lists
Universal connectivity for SOA
- Integration with IBM Business Process Manager Standard Edition
- You can use IBM Business Process Manager with IBM Integration Bus. You can make use of patterns
and samples from IBM Integration Bus to
implement IBM Business Process Manager (BPM) Integration
services.
For more information, see Working with IBM Business Process Manager.
- IBM Integration administration
for WebSphere Application
Server
- An administrator for WebSphere Application
Server can
start or stop integration
servers, applications, integration services, and message flows by using the WebSphere Integrated Solutions Console.
The role-based security model that IBM Integration provides determines
whether the actions are authorized.
- Coordinated transactions for CICS® requests
- CICSRequest nodes support
one-phase commit coordinated transactions, which means that multiple
requests to a CICS server can
be handled as part of the same transaction and will be committed or
rolled back together depending on the outcome of the message flow.
For more information, see CICSRequest node and Message flow transactions.
- CICS activity log
- The CICS activity log provides
a high-level overview of the recent interactions between IBM Integration Bus and CICS. For more information, see CICS Activity log.
- Application-to-application integration
- IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0 can receive events
that are emitted from WebSphere Application
Server when Web Service client requests are intercepted by a Local
Mapping Service. See Record and replay.
- IBM MessageSight integration
- IBM MessageSight provides a
high-volume, high-capacity messaging capability for mobile and enterprise
applications and is designed for use on the edge of an enterprise
network. IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0 can connect to IBM MessageSight by using the existing
JMS nodes. You can then use IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0 to
route data between large numbers of external devices and enterprise
applications. IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0 includes
a pattern that demonstrates how you can use this integration capability.
For information about the pattern, see IBM MessageSight:
Inbound event filter
Dynamic operation management
- Workload management
- Allows system administrators to monitor and adjust the speed that
messages are processed, as well as controlling the actions taken on
unresponsive flows and threads.
For more information, see Workload management.
- Integration Registry
- The IBM Integration Bus provides an Integration Registry, which can store Workload
Management Policies and MQ Service definitions.
For more information,
see Integration Registry.
- Integration server user IDs on z/OS
- On z/OS, you can specify
an alternative user ID to run an integration server so that it accesses
resources according to the permissions assigned to it, rather than
the permissions assigned to the main broker user ID. For more information,
see Integration server user IDs on z/OS.
High performance and scalability
- Host WebSphere eXtreme
Scale container servers
in multi-instance brokers
- When you require high availability, you can host multiple container
servers in a multi-instance broker. If the active instance of the
broker fails, the global cache switches to use the container servers
in the standby instance of the broker. A new XML policy file is provided
that demonstrates this configuration. You can now specify multiple
listener hosts for a multi-instance broker.
For more information,
see Configuring the global cache for multi-instance brokers.
- Scale mode in Standard Edition
If you purchase the Standard
Edition license,
you are entitled to run brokers in either Standard mode or Scale mode. For more information
about these modes, see Operation modes.
Platforms and environments
Additional
features that detail improved control over message processing, updated
ODBC database driver support, and support for Standard
Edition on z/OS.
- Conversion of WebSphere Enterprise
Service Bus resources
- You can develop IBM Integration Bus applications
and integration services by using WebSphere Enterprise
Service Bus development resources. You
can use the WebSphere ESB
conversion tool to help
you convert WebSphere Enterprise
Service Bus development
resources.
For more information, see Developing integration solutions by using WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus resources.
The WebSphere ESB
conversion tool accelerates
the conversion of WebSphere Enterprise
Service Bus resources
to IBM Integration Bus resources while
reducing administration overhead and extending the reusability
of service components.
For more information, see The WebSphere ESB conversion tool.
- Aggregation sub-second timeouts
- Aggregated message processing now allows the setting of the timeout
property to one decimal place, resulting in timeout intervals of less
than one second if required.
For more information, see Setting timeout values for aggregation.
- Developer Edition is restricted
to processing one message per second
- Developer Edition is limited to
one message (transaction) per second at the message flow level.
For more information,
see Operation modes.
- DataDirect V7.0 driver support
- On Windows, Linux and UNIX systems, IBM Integration Bus Version 9.0 ships with the DataDirect
V7.0 ODBC drivers.
For more information, see Enabling ODBC connections to the databases.
- Standard
Edition now supported
on z/OS
- IBM Integration Bus for z/OS is now available in Standard
Edition.
For more information,
see License requirements.
Troubleshooting and support
- Verify the ODBC environment on Linux and UNIX systems
- The mqsicvp command
is run automatically when you start a broker by using the mqsistart command. The command
checks that the broker environment is set up correctly. This checking
has been enhanced to verify that the ODBC environment is configured
correctly on Linux and UNIX systems. When you run this
command from the command line on Linux and UNIX systems, it also validates
the connection to all data sources that are listed in the odbc.ini file
that have been associated with the broker by using the mqsisetdbparms command.
For
more information, see mqsicvp command.