Installing IBM App Connect in containers

5.1.0 5.1.1 5.1.2 This task applies only to IBM Software Hub Version 5.1.0, Version 5.1.1, and Version 5.1.2.

If you are installing IBM Software Hub Version 5.1.3, skip this task.

If you plan to install IBM watsonx™ Orchestrate, you must have IBM App Connect in containers on the cluster.

Installation phase
  • You are not here. Setting up a client workstation
  • You are not here. Setting up a cluster
  • You are not here. Collecting required information
  • You are not here. Preparing to run installs in a restricted network
  • You are not here. Preparing to run installs from a private container registry
  • You are here icon. Preparing the cluster for IBM Software Hub
  • You are not here. Preparing to install an instance of IBM Software Hub
  • You are not here. Installing an instance of IBM Software Hub
  • You are not here. Setting up the control plane
  • You are not here. Installing solutions and services
Who needs to complete this task?

Cluster administrator A cluster administrator must install this software.

When do you need to complete this task?
Complete this task only if you plan to install the watsonx Orchestrate service on IBM Software Hub Version 5.1.0, Version 5.1.1, or Version 5.1.2.

Repeat as needed

Each instance of watsonx Orchestrate requires a dedicated instance of App Connect. You must install an instance of App Connect for each instance of watsonx Orchestrate that you plan to install.

Before you begin

Best practice: You can run the commands in this task exactly as written if you use your installation environment variables script.

Ensure that you source the environment variables before you run the commands in this task.

Before you install App Connect, ensure that you have the App Connect CASE package on your client workstation.

If you completed Downloading CASE packages before running IBM Software Hub installation commands in a restricted network you should already have the ibm-appconnect-${AC_CASE_VERSION}.tgz file on your workstation. However, make sure that you still have the AC_CASE_VERSION environment variable set on your workstation.

Check the version of the environment variable

Run the following command to check the version that is set for the AC_CASE_VERSION environment variable:

echo ${AC_CASE_VERSION}

Use the following table to ensure that the environment variable is set to the correct version for the release of IBM Software Hub you plan to install:

IBM Software Hub version CASE package version
5.1.3 Not applicable. Prerequisite removed.
5.1.2 12.5.0
5.1.1 12.5.0
5.1.0 12.5.0
Download the App Connect CASE package 
curl -sSLO https://github.com/IBM/cloud-pak/raw/master/repo/case/ibm-appconnect/${AC_CASE_VERSION}/ibm-appconnect-${AC_CASE_VERSION}.tgz

The CASE is downloaded to the current working directory.

Note: Move the CASE package to the work directory.

About this task

App Connect enables the watsonx Orchestrate service to connect to the applications where you want to automate work, such as email applications and customer relationship management (CRM) applications.

Procedure

To install App Connect:

  1. Log in to Red Hat® OpenShift® Container Platform as a user with sufficient permissions to complete the task. 
    ${OC_LOGIN}
    Remember: OC_LOGIN is an alias for the oc login command.
  2. Change to the directory where the App Connect CASE package is stored and extract the file: 
    tar -xf ibm-appconnect-${AC_CASE_VERSION}.tgz
  3. Create the catalog source for the App Connect operator: 
    oc patch \
--filename=ibm-appconnect/inventory/ibmAppconnect/files/op-olm/catalog_source.yaml \
--type=merge \
-o yaml \
--patch="{\"metadata\":{\"namespace\":\"${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT}\"}}" \
--dry-run=client \
| oc apply -n ${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT} -f -

    The command returns the following response:

    catalogsource.operators.coreos.com/appconnect-operator-catalogsource created
  4. Create the operator group for the App Connect operator: 
    cat <<EOF | oc apply -f -
  apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1
  kind: OperatorGroup
  metadata:
    name: appconnect-og
    namespace: ${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT}
  spec:
    targetNamespaces:
    - ${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT}
    upgradeStrategy: Default
EOF

    The command returns the following response:

    operatorgroup.operators.coreos.com/appconnect-og created
  5. Create the subscription for the App Connect operator: 
    cat <<EOF | oc apply -f -
  apiVersion: operators.coreos.com/v1alpha1
  kind: Subscription
  metadata:
    name: ibm-appconnect-operator
    namespace: ${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT}
  spec:
    channel: ${AC_CHANNEL_VERSION}
    config:
      env:
      - name: ACECC_ENABLE_PUBLIC_API
        value: "true"
    installPlanApproval: Automatic
    name: ibm-appconnect
    source: appconnect-operator-catalogsource
    sourceNamespace: ${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT}
EOF

    The command returns the following response:

    subscription.operators.coreos.com/ibm-appconnect-operator created
  6. Wait for the App Connect operator to be ready: 
    oc wait csv \
--namespace=${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT} \
--selector=operators.coreos.com/ibm-appconnect.${PROJECT_IBM_APP_CONNECT}='' \
--for='jsonpath={.status.phase}'=Succeeded

What to do next

Now that you've installed App Connect, you're ready to complete Preparing to install an instance of IBM Software Hub.