Installing workflow projects to an offline server by calling REST APIs

You can call REST APIs to export versions of workflow projects and then install them to an offline server.

Before you begin

Before you export projects ensure you have Read permission or are a repository administrator. For more information, see Managing access to the repository.

Complete the following steps:

1. If you don't already have an API key for the Business Automation Studio server and for the offline IBM Workflow Server you are installing on, you must create one. You need these keys to authenticate with Business Automation Studio on IBM Cloud Pak® for Business Automation. For the instructions to generate an API key, see Generating API keys for authentication.
2. Construct an authorization header containing your encoded API key by following the instructions in Refer to Authorizing HTTP requests by using the Zen API key. To save space, in the examples here, we'll assume that the variable $ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER is set to Authorization: ZenApiKey api_key_encoded_value, where api_key_encoded_value is the encoded value obtained for the appropriate server. Each API call requires this header.
3. Construct a BPMCSRFToken parameter for the Business Automation Studio sever and for the offline Workflow Server using POST/system/login to obtain it. Each subsequent API call requires this header, for example

   curl -X POST -H "${ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER}" -H 'Content-Type: application/json' -H 'Accept: 
   application/json' -d '{"refresh_groups": true, "requested_lifetime": 7200}'
   'https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/system/login'

   You will get a response such as this:

   {"expiration":7200,"csrf_token":"eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJleHAiOjE2NDI2MTA2NjcsInN1YiI6ImNwNGFkbWluIn0.8742sRV3CTHN_fY45W-29_CrqeuOqRlFWPFItCKnodI"}

   The response has a csrf_token value that you can set as the parameter value. We'll assume that the variable $CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER is set to BPMCSRFToken: <csrf_token_value> for the respective server.

4. On the Business Automation Studio server, create the installation package by using POST /std/bpm/containers/{container}/versions/{version}/offline_package. Ensure you are using the ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER and CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER for the Business Automation Studio server, for example

   curl -X POST -H "$ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER" -H "$CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER" -H 'Content-Type: 
   application/json' -H 'Accept: application/json' 
   'https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/std/bpm/containers/PA1/versions/1/offline_package?server=OffLn1'

   You will get a response such as this:

   {"description":"Your request to create and install an offline package from the specified snapshot on the specified server was submitted. You can check the progress of the operation by calling the returned url.","url":"https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/system/queue/7?key=8b09658ae4fdb42ccfe33a20122265f4"}
5. Check the status using the URL that was returned in the previous step using GET /system/queue/{id}, for example

   curl -X GET -H "$ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER" -H "$CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER" -H 'Accept: 
   application/json' 
   'https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/system/queue/7?key=8b09658ae4fdb42ccfe33a20122265f4'

   You will get a response such as this:

   {"state":"success","result":{"container":"PA1","server":"OffLn1","version":"SN03"},"last_modified":"2022-01-18T22:11:25.367Z"}
6. Export the installation package using GET /std/bpm/containers/{container}/versions/{version}/install_package, for example

   curl -X GET -H "$ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER" -H "$CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER" -H 'Accept: 
   application/octet-stream' 
   'https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/std/bpm/containers/PA1/versions/1/install_package?server=OffLn1' 
   -o /c/MyExportPkg.zip

   Note the location and name of the file you exported.

7. On the offline Workflow Server, install the application version that you just exported using POST /std/bpm/containers/install. Ensure you are using the ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER and CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER for the offline server, for example

   curl -X POST -H "$ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER" -H "$CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER" -H 'Content-Type: 
   multipart/form-data' -H 'Accept: application/json' -F 'install_file=@C:\MyFiles\PA1 - 1.zip' 
   {"type":"formData"}' 
   'https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/std/bpm/containers/install?inactive=false&caseOverwrite=false'

   You will get a response such as this:

   {"description":"Your request to import the specified file was submitted. You can check the progress of the import in the system log or by calling the returned url.","url":"https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/system/queue/9?key=d2772760f7bd30006e877164ba8a6ee9"}
8. As described in step 5, you can check the status using the URL in the response, for example

   curl -X GET -H "$ACCESS_TOKEN_HEADER" -H "$CSRF_TOKEN_HEADER" -H 'Accept: 
   application/json' 
   'https://zen-front-door-hostname/root/ops/system/queue/9?key=d2772760f7bd30006e877164ba8a6ee9'
   

   You will get a response such as this:

   {"state":"success","result":{"details":""},"last_modified":"2022-01-19T14:46:16.979Z"}

   Your project is now installed on the offline server.

What to do next

For detailed information on each operation, see the IBM Business Automation Workflow Operations REST Interface.

For more guidance, see Calling external REST services.