Managing BAR files

You can use the BAR file management functions to maintain the set of BAR files that are stored in the content server that is associated with your App Connect Dashboard instance.

About this task

The BAR file management functions are available from the BAR files page in the App Connect Dashboard. This page displays all the BAR files that are stored in the content server and offers the following functions:

You can collectively export all the BAR files in the content server to an archive file and subsequently use that archive to restore all the BAR files to your Dashboard instance. This backup and restore function provides a recovery mechanism, and also enables you to transfer BAR files across Dashboard instances.
When you create an integration server from the Servers page or create an integration runtime from the Runtimes page, you can upload one or more BAR files to the content server as part of the deployment process. From the BAR files page, you can alternatively import BAR files for storage, and then deploy them whenever you choose.
You can view the URL of the location where a BAR file is stored in the content server.
You can update an existing BAR file by overwriting the existing file with an updated one, and can also delete a BAR file if you no longer need it.

Note: If you are importing or updating a BAR file that was exported from an App Connect Designer authoring environment, you must ensure that the BAR file fulfilled the conditions for export within the authoring environment. For more information, see Exporting and importing flows from an App Connect Designer instance in your cluster and Exporting a flow to a BAR file from an App Connect Designer authoring environment.

Restriction: The content server imposes a limit of 100 MB on the size of a BAR file that you can upload or import. This limit also applies to the size of an archive backup (.tar.gz) that can be restored.

Procedure

To manage your BAR files in the content server, complete the following steps:

From the navigation pane in the App Connect Dashboard, click the BAR files icon to open the BAR files page.

This page displays a list of BAR files that are currently deployed as integrations, and also displays any BAR files that are not currently deployed. You can view the deployment status in the Deployed to column.

Complete any of the following tasks:

Task	Instructions
Back up the collection of BAR files	Click the Backup icon . An archive (named ACE-BAR-Backup.tar.gz) of all the files is downloaded to your browser's configured location. You can subsequently use this archive to restore the files to the same or a different App Connect Dashboard instance.
Restore the BAR files that were backed up to an archive	Click the Restore icon . Then, add the ACE-BAR-Backup.tar.gz file to the Restore panel, and click Restore. The BAR files are added with a `Not deployed` status, and you can deploy them as integrations from the Home page () or the Dashboard page (). If an existing BAR file in the content server has the same name as a BAR file in the ACE-BAR-Backup.tar.gz archive, the BAR file in the content server is overwritten.
Import a BAR file	Click Import BAR. Then, add the file to the Drag and drop a BAR file or click to upload panel, and click Import. The BAR file is added with a `Not deployed` status, and you can deploy it as an integration from the Home page () or the Dashboard page (). Note: You cannot import a BAR file if a file with the same name already exists in the content server.
View the URL of the location where a BAR file is stored in the content server	Open the options menu for the file and click Display BAR URL. From the Display BAR URL panel, you can, if required, copy the supplied URL to a text file and then use this URL to deploy an integration as follows: If you want to use the Red Hat® OpenShift® web console to deploy this BAR file as an integration server or integration runtime, you can paste the URL into the BAR URL field while in the Form view. For more information, see Integration server: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift web console or Integration runtime: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift web console. You can similarly specify this URL as the spec.barURL value while using the YAML view in the Red Hat OpenShift web console, or the Red Hat OpenShift or Kubernetes CLI to deploy an integration. For more information, see Integration server: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift CLI or Kubernetes CLI or Integration runtime: Creating an instance from the Red Hat OpenShift CLI or Kubernetes CLI. If you are using the Dashboard, and want to deploy multiple BAR files to a single integration runtime, you can specify this URL while completing the steps to deploy the integration. After you use the Integrations view to specify the first BAR file and then proceed to the Properties view, you can click Add another under the BAR URLs section. Then, paste the URL into the BAR URL field that is displayed. For more information, see Creating an integration runtime to run your BAR file resources.
Replace an existing BAR file with an updated file of the same name	Open the options menu for the file and click Update BAR. Then, add the updated file to the Update BAR panel and click Update. If the existing version of the BAR file is already deployed, any integrations that are using that file are restarted. If an integration runs on multiple replica pods, the pods are restarted on a rolling basis to avoid downtime.
Delete a BAR file	Open the options menu for the file and click Delete BAR. Confirm the deletion by clicking Delete. Note: You can delete a BAR file only if its Deployed to status is set to `Not deployed`.