Moving Assets

Introduction to Moving Assets

Move assets from one instance to another in two ways:

After you select the source as zip file:

Points to remember:

For details on exporting assets, see Exporting Assets. In the target environment, exported assets reside in the Available deployment list after you publish them to an instance.

Registering an Environment

Depending on your business use case, you can register to any number of existing IBM webMethods iPaaS environments for asset movement.

To register an environment:

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Settings icon > Environments.

  2. Click Register environment. On the Register environment dialog box, specify the following information:

    Fields Description
    Name Specify a name for the environment.
    Description Provide a description stating the scope of the environment that you are about to create.

Exporting Assets

Export assets from one IBM webMethods B2B product environment, or from a on-premise Trading Networks instance, and import them in another IBM webMethods B2B product environment. For example, from a test environment to a production environment.

And search for an asset across asset types such as partner profiles, business documents, processing rules, document attributes, trading partner agreements, and field groups.

Note
The size of each IBM webMethods B2B export file cannot exceed 4 MB. If the export file exceeds the 4 MB limit, then create another export file to export the remaining assets.

To export IBM webMethods B2B assets

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Asset movement icon > Export.

  2. On the Export assets page, select the assets to export from all the asset type tabs.
    Each asset specifies the number of dependent assets it has.

  3. After you select the assets, click Add to export list.
    The Include dependencies option is selected by default. Clear this option if you do not want the dependent assets to be included in the export file. To view all the dependent assets, click on the count in the Dependencies column.

    Note
    The Include dependencies option is disabled for Field groups. You can view the selected assets in the export cart icon.

  4. Click Next. On the Export assets page, verify the final export set.

  5. Click Next.

    On the Export Assets page, select the export action:

    Action Description
    Export as a zip file Specify a name for the export file. IBM webMethods B2B either downloads the exported assets in the form of a ZIP file or displays the file browser. The location of the downloaded file depends on your browser configuration.
    Create deployment Specify a name and optionally provide a description. The deployment you create appears on the Deployments page. See Viewing the Details of a Deployment for details.
    Publish deployment to an environment Select the environment to which you want to quickly publish the deployment. If you notice environments other than the ones you created, it could be because there is more than one administrator creating and managing environments for your product instance. If you wish to publish the assets later, do not select this option.
    Important
    You are required to provide your credentials before publishing the deployments.
    If there are multiple environments mapping to the same IBM webMethods iPaaS environment, IBM webMethods B2B publishes the deployments to the last created target environment.

  6. Click Finish.

    IBM webMethods B2B either downloads the exported assets in the form of a ZIP file, or displays the file browser, or allows you to create a deployment. The location of the downloaded file depends on your browser’s configuration. However, if there are errors during the asset deployment, you can track them in the Deployment logs page.

Next Steps

You must perform the following actions after you export the assets:

Importing Assets

You can move assets from one instance to another in one of the following ways:

Before you Begin

Note the following points before you import assets into your product instance:

Points to Note:

Note
You can search for an asset across all asset types.

Importing Assets from an On-Premise Trading Networks Instance

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Asset movement icon > Import.
  2. In the Step 1 of 3, select Import from a .zip file.

  3. Select the assets to import from all the asset type tabs.
    The assets types that are not supported in IBM webMethods B2B are skipped when you import them from an on-premise Trading Networks instance.

    Referred by shows the list of assets where the current asset is being used.
    Refers to shows the list of dependent assets.

    Refer to the following table for the asset categories:

    Asset Category Description
    Skipped If you export assets from an on-premise Trading Networks instance, the assets that are not supported in IBM webMethods B2B as yet, are listed as Skipped assets. For example, data-level permissions cannot be moved to the cloud instance because it is not supported.
    Added If you import assets that are not present in the target instance, it gets added to the instance with the status as Added.
    Updated If you import assets which are existing in the target instance and when you perform a force import, then the status will be Updated.
    Ignored System assets or any of the asset properties of on-premise Trading Networks instance that are not supported in IBM webMethods B2B as yet, are categorized as Ignored.
    Missing dependencies Some assets require other assets. For example, the processing rule depends on partner profiles and document types, and document type depends on document attributes. For moved assets to work properly, the dependent assets must also move to the target instance, if they are not already present.
    When you select an asset to import it, the system scans the target instance for the presence of the dependent assets. If the dependent assets are not present in both the target instance or in the assets you selected, then those are listed as Missing dependencies.
    For example, if a processing rule refer to a partner profile that does not exist in both the target instance or the import file, it is a Missing dependency.
    Click Include dependencies to include all the dependent assets. This option is enabled only when the dependent asset is present in the import file, but you did not select it during the Step1 of 3.
    Conflicts When an asset already exists in the target instance, and is imported again with force as false, it causes conflicts without overwriting the asset. Conflicts can occur with warnings if assets are present on the target instance with different ID.
    For example, if a partner profile already exists in the target system and is also available in the import file, it is a conflict.
    To avoid such conflicts, ensure you import the assets, using the Force import option.
    Click Clear conflicts to remove the conflicted assets from import.
    Critical Assets not imported for any other miscellaneous reasons are termed as Critical. For example, importing a different enterprise when the enterprise is already present in the target instance.

  4. To download the analysis report, click Download analysis report.

    The analysis report contains information on the statuses with their respective severity. The three categories of severities are Error, Warning, and Info.

    Resolve the errors in the analysis report to import assets successfully.

  5. Click Import.

    Select the following options before importing the assets:

    Option Description
    Force import To overwrite assets that might already exist in the target instance. For details, see here
    Attach import summary with activity log To view the import activity in the activity logs.

  6. Click Proceed.

    On the Import assets page, review the asset list that you have imported.

  7. Click Download import summary to view the list of success, warning, and error messages. Use the relevant message detail to rectify each error or warning depending on the severity in the downloaded file.
    If you have more assets to import, click Start new import.

Importing Assets from Another IBM webMethods B2B Instance

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Asset movement icon > Import.
  2. On the Import assets page, there are two ways in which you can import assets:
    • Import from a .zip file. You can import assets from a .zip file.
    • Import from available deployments. You can import assets from available deployment if some other environment has Published deployments to the current environment.
  3. Follow steps 3-7 in Importing Assets from an On-Premise Trading Networks Instance

Next Steps

Important
Assets that are native to the environment such as channels, partner users, purge or archive schedules, and runtime transaction data (tasks, and the entries recorded in the Course of transaction).

The following table lists the actions you must take after you complete the import activity:

Asset Type Action to take
Archival and purge schedules Update the default archival schedule and create the relevant purge schedules. See How Can I Update the Archival Schedule?.
Functional permissions Create the relevant users and permissions for each user. See Managing User Roles and Permissions.
Partner profiles As the Delivery Settings are ignored while importing partner profiles from an on-premises Trading Networks instance, create outbound channels and associate them with the partner profiles. See Associating an Outbound Channel with a Partner.
Processing rule Execute a Service action while importing processing rule from an on-premises Trading Networks instance is ignored. You must create an integration on IBM webMethods Integration and associate it in the Call an integration action. See Adding a Processing Rule
Partner users for each partner profile Recreate the partner users in the partner profiles. See Adding a Partner User and Associating a User with a Partner.

To see the complete list of skipped assets, ignored asset properties, and system-generated assets, see Reference Information For Asset Movement

You must perform the following actions after you import the assets into your target instance:

Note
If any EDI document is dependent on other assets, and during import if the dependent assets not present in the target instance or import file, then the document import fails in IBM webMethods B2B, but the document schema gets created on IBM webMethods Integration.
Subsequently, if you try to import the same document again, the instance would have the document already.

How to Create Deployments

Deployment is a group of IBM webMethods B2B assets that you can export and import from one environment to another. Unlike ZIP files, deployments reside inside the database of the source or target environment.

To create a deployment

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Asset movement icon > Deployments.

  2. Click New deployment to navigate to the Export assets page. For further steps, see Exporting Assets.

Applying a Deployment from Available Deployments Page

When assets from a different environment are pushed to your current environment, you can either apply or reject the assets that are pushed to your environment.

To apply a deployment and apply assets from Available Deployments page

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Asset movement icon > Deployments and click Available deployments.

  2. Select the assets to apply from the Partner profiles, Business documents, Processing rules, Document attributes, and Field groups tabs.

    Note
    To reject a deployment, click Reject. Rejecting a deployment permanently removes the deployment from the target environment and from the Available deployments page.

  3. Click Add to list. If you want to apply assets with dependencies, select the Include dependencies check box. You can view the selected assets in the cart icon.

  4. Click Next. Verify the final list of assets to apply.

    Tip
    To remove assets that you no longer wish to apply, click icon.

  5. Click Apply. On the Apply selected assets dialog box, select the Force apply option to overwrite assets that may already exist in your environment, and click Proceed.

  6. If you wish to apply more deployments, click Apply another deployment.

    A list of success, warning, and error messages appear on the Summary of applied assets page. Use the relevant message detail to rectify each error or warning depending on the severity.

    Note
    If the apply action fails, then IBM webMethods B2B does not delete the deployment. It is available in the Available deployments page. However, after the apply action is completed successfully, IBM webMethods B2B deletes the deployment from the Available deployments page.

Viewing the Details of a Deployment

View the details of all the deployments you create on the Deployments and Export page.

To view the details of a deployment

  1. In IBM webMethods B2B, go to Asset movement icon > Deployments.

  2. Select the deployment to view details such as number and type of assets in the deployment. You can edit the name and description of the environment. On this page, you can also perform the following activities:

    Action Description
    Remove deleted assets Removes references to assets that were deleted from IBM webMethods B2B. Using this action, IBM webMethods B2B allows you to clean up the deployment before publishing.
    Important
    This option appears only if the selected deployment contains assets that no longer exist. Additionally, until you remove the deleted assets from the deployment, IBM webMethods B2B does not allow you to publish the deployment.
    Publish deployment Publishes assets to an environment you select.
    Important
    You are required to provide your credentials before publishing the deployment.
    Delete deployment Deletes the deployment. Only the deployment is deleted. The assets applied to other environments remain intact.

How Do I Monitor the Deployment Logs?

The deployments you create in one environment can either be accepted or rejected in another environment. Monitor the status of these deployments across all the users and roles that create them, on the Logs > Deployment logs page.

You can search for specific deployment logs by deployment set name, associated environment name, user, action, or status.

Tip
To view all the error logs, type error in the search bar. Similarly, type success in the search bar to view all the successful events.

The Deployment logs page displays the following details:

Field Description
Date received Timestamp when the action was performed on the deployment.
Deployment name Name of the deployments.
Event Action performed on the deployments. Some of the possible events are:
  • Available. Deployment is available in the Available deployment page of target environment.
  • Applied. Deployment is applied in the target environment.
  • Deleted. Deployment is deleted after it was applied in the target environment.
  • Rejected. Deployment is rejected in the target environment.
  • Published. Deployment is published to the target environment.
  • Added. Deployment is created.
  • Renamed. Deployment name or description was changed.
Performed by Name of the user who performed the action.
Source environment Name of the environment from where the deployment set was published.
Note
If you see (current) in the Source environment column, it indicates that the source environment is the environment to which you have currently logged-in to.
Target environment Name of the environment to which the deployment was published.
Note
If you see (current) in the Target environment column, it indicates that the target environment is the environment to which you have currently logged-in to.

Switching Environments

Prerequisite: You must have at least two environments so you can switch between them.

Every instance displays the environment it represents at the top-right corner of the welcome screen.

  1. As an Administrator, perform the following steps to switch between environments.

  2. In IBM webMethods B2B, click next to the current environment name.

  3. Select the environment to which you wish to switch. You are in your chosen environment.

How Does IBM webMethods B2B Overwrite Existing Assets?

When you import an asset, IBM webMethods B2B checks whether another asset with the same name already exists in the target instance. Only for partner profiles, IBM webMethods B2B checks for the same combination of partner profile name and organization unit name. For all the other assets, IBM webMethods B2B checks only if the same name exists in the target instance.

If you select Force Import option while importing assets, IBM webMethods B2B overwrites the assets that may exist in the target instance during the import operation.

When you import processing rules, IBM webMethods B2B does the following:

  • If you import a previously non-existent rule into a target instance, the processing rule retains the same sequence number in the target instance.

  • When an existing processing rule is imported again to a target instance with the force import option, the rule in the target instance is updated, but the sequence number is not retained, and therefore rule gets appended to the end of the rule list. Ensure that you manually change the sequence number after you import all the processing rules. The following graphic illustrates the state of the target instance after the import operation:

    • icon