The installation roadmap is a description of the high-level steps for installing IBM® UrbanCode Velocity.
IBM UrbanCode Velocity is provided in several editions.
The Standard Edition (SE) is full-featured and comes with 24/7 customer support. You can use the
Standard Edition for free for 60 days. You can also use the free-to-use Community Edition. The
Community Edition is full featured but does not provide customer support and limits users to two
concurrent sessions.
Technology overview
IBM UrbanCode Velocity consists of services and other tools that are stored in Docker containers. A Docker container is
a single unit that contains a software application, often called a service, and the environment
needed to run it. Containers can be created and destroyed as needed.
IBM UrbanCode Velocity consists or over 10 containers. Because of the number of containers, another application, called
a container orchestrator, is used to manage the containers. Which orchestrator you use is up to you.
Docker Compose is often used for trials and tests. For production environments, Kubernetes or
another Kubernetes-based orchestrator, such as OpenShift, is preferred.
Kubernetes installations are managed with resources called templates. Each template describes a
separate resource. If you perform an OpenShift installation, the templates are stored in the
/templates folder in your installation directory. If you use Kubernetes to install
IBM UrbanCode Velocity, the resources are combined into a single file called a Helm chart. For Kubernetes-based
installations, you can change a resource by modifying the affected template file or the
corresponding resource in the Helm chart. For Docker Compose installations, resources are defined in
a file named docker-compose.yml that is found in the installation folder.
Table 1. Container technology overviewTechnology |
Docker |
Kubernetes |
Product core configuration |
15 containers |
43 resources, 1 Helm chart |
External communication |
13 exposed ports |
Ingress for communication. NodePort exposed for external communication. |
Storage |
4 volumes |
Persistent volume claims |
Preparing your installation
Both editions require an access key. You apply the free access key during installation. When you
license the SE version, in addition to your access key, you receive a permanent license key.
Download the installation files for your environment:
If you are evaluating IBM UrbanCode Velocity and are unsure about which versions to install, many users find the Docker Compose installation
process to be easiest because it is the most automated.
In outline, the installation process consists of the following general steps:
- Review the system requirements
The ID that you use to install the
product must be able to make changes to the host environment. The tools required by all installation
scenarios include the following items:
- Docker installed on the host system.
Note: If you use Docker for Windows, make sure Docker is
using Linux-type containers. IBM UrbanCode Velocity does not support Windows-type containers.
- Internet connection. During installation, files and container images are retrieved from remote
locations. If you are unable to access the internet during installation, you can download the files
beforehand and perform an offline installation. IBM UrbanCode Velocity supports the following browsers: Chrome, Firefox, and Edge.
Note: Steps to retrieve the container
images from public repository to your private repository:
Use pull command to
pull the container images from public repository.
$ docker pull public repo
Use tag command to tag the public and private repository.
$ docker tag public repo private repo
Use push command to push container images to private repository.
$ docker push private repo
All the container images are retrieved from public to private repository.
Note: The installation files used for offline installation are not the same as those used for
internet-connected installation. Ensure that you download the right file for you installation
environment.
You can dynamically generate a system requirements report using the
Software Product Compatibility Reports (SPCR) tool.
- Optionally configure IBM UrbanCode™ Deploy for integrating with IBM UrbanCode Velocity:
IBM UrbanCode Velocity supports IBM UrbanCode Deploy Version 6.2.3 and later. Although not required, many IBM UrbanCode Velocity features assume integration with IBM UrbanCode Velocity. It doesn't matter which product you install first.
If you are using an IBM UrbanCode Velocity version prior to V6.2.5, you must install the patch located at the following website: http://public.dhe.ibm.com/software/products/UrbanCode/plugins/ucsync/patches/ibmucd/. Select from the index the appropriate version that is installed on your
computer.
IBM UrbanCode Velocity can connect to an IBM UrbanCode Velocity server on the same network. If you install IBM UrbanCode Velocity with Kubernetes, the Kubernetes cluster must be on the same network as the IBM UrbanCode Velocity server.
- Install IBM UrbanCode Velocity for your target environment using the links provided earlier.
- Integrate with external tools
After the installation is complete, you can access the
configuration pages to integrate with IBM UrbanCode Velocity and other external tools, such as Jenkins. Only sample report data is
available until the integration process is complete.
- Authenticate users
After the installation is complete, you can authenticate users. Authenticating users to access reports
is not required. However; until users are authenticated, only the administrator user has access to
reports and product features.
Additional installation details are included in the following topics: