IBM Cúram Social Program Management on Kubernetes
You can build IBM® Cúram Social Program Management as a containerized application by using WebSphere® Application Server Liberty, IBM MQ Long Term Support (IBM MQ LTS), and Docker. You can then deploy the containerized application by using Helm charts and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service. The IBM Cúram Social Program Management on Kubernetes Runbook provides instructions about how to containerize IBM Cúram Social Program Management and is accompanied by an open source git repository that contains sample Helm charts, Docker files, and other assets.
As human services organizations adapt to meet citizens needs, the complexity of their IT systems can grow. This can be challenging, especially when trying to manage the addition of new features for case workers, enacting new changes in legislation, or preparing for increases in demand for Universal Access application renewals.
To support cloud native architectures, IBM Cúram Social Program Management has been enhanced to support the technologies that are described in the following list from version 7.0.10.0.
WebSphere Application Server Liberty
IBM Cúram Social Program Management supports WebSphere Application Server Liberty only when it is containerized and deployed on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service.
The architecture of WebSphere Application Server Liberty provides a low-overhead Java™ runtime environment that is suited for hosting cloud applications. WebSphere Application Server Liberty has been designed to optimize ease of development and the minimization of operational costs. From a development perspective, it supports many programming frameworks such as Sprint and Tapestry, and provides easy integration with Docker, Chef, Jenkins, Node.js, Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE), and Linux®.
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
IBM Cúram Social Program Management supports IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service only when containerized with WebSphere Application Server Liberty .
IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service is a managed container service that is built on the open source Kubernetes system for automating the deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications, while adding in IBM-specific capabilities. IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service provides scheduling capabilities, self-healing, horizontal scaling, service discovery and load balancing, automated rollouts and rollbacks, and secret and configuration management. The Kubernetes service also has advanced capabilities that are related to simplified cluster management, container security and isolation policies, the ability to design your own cluster, and integrated operational tools for consistency in deployment.
Docker
IBM Cúram Social Program Management supports Docker for packaging IBM Cúram Social Program Management for deployment on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service.
Docker is an open platform that enables organizations to package, develop, run, and ship applications in environments called containers. A container is a unit of software that includes the dependencies, libraries, and configuration files that are needed to run the application in a docker container image.
Developers can now package an IBM Cúram Social Program Management application in containers for deployment on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, and include all the dependencies, libraries, and configuration files that are needed to run the application in a container image. The newly created container images can be downloaded from the container registry and installed in all stages of your environment, therefore simplifying deployments.
Helm
Helm is a package manager that helps you to find, share, and use software that is built for Kubernetes . Helm streamlines the installation and management of Kubernetes applications.
Kubernetes can become complex, and developers need to consider services, ConfigMaps, pods, and persistent volumes, in addition to managing the number of releases. Helm provides an easier way to package everything into one application and to advertize what can be configured.
IBM Cúram Social Program Management supports Helm for deploying IBM Cúram Social Program Management containers on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service.
IBM MQ Long Term Support
IBM MQ LTS offers proven, enterprise-grade messaging capabilities that safely move information between applications.
IBM Cúram Social Program Management requires IBM MQ Long Term Support when containerized and deployed on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service .
Technology updates
WebSphere Application Server Liberty , IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, Docker, Helm, and IBM MQ Long Term Support updates occur throughout the year. IBM Cúram Social Program Management will be updated frequently to adopt newer versions of the previous technologies. For more information about the exact supported versions, see the system prerequisites report.
Up next...
In the subsequent topics in this section, you can read more about the architectural differences in WebSphere Application Server Liberty that impact IBM Cúram Social Program Management, and about how to deploy to WebSphere Application Server Liberty in a native, single-server environment.