Solutions

Overview

A Solution consists of packages bundled together into one coherent service. It is a logical combination of webMethods Integration Server packages, Adapter packages, Services, webMethods CloudStreams packages, and webMethods Integration Server and Universal Messaging configuration assets or configurations.

webMethods Cloud Integrations can invoke IBM webMethods Cloud Container Integration Server services for the same tenant. Using the predefined IBM webMethods Cloud Container application, you can select the solution webMethods Integration Server services that you want to invoke from IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

The following figure provides a high-level overview of the process involved in deploying on-premises webMethods Integration Server packages and configuration assets to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

With native asset deployment, you can deploy the webMethods Integration Server configuration assets that you have created, verified, and tested on on-premises webMethods Integration Server or Universal Messaging to IBM webMethods Cloud Container without using Command Central.

User Interface elements

The following table describes the various user interface elements that appear on the IBM webMethods Cloud Container workspace:

Page Elements	Icon	Description
IBM webMethods Cloud Container		Access the home page.
Solutions		View and create solutions, pull assets from a solution of another environment, view the Asset Repository, and manage webMethods Integration Server instances.
Monitoring		View the overall status of the solutions, landscapes, system and runtime alerts, KPI graphs of the runtimes, service executions of the webMethods Integration Server instances, availability of the run times, alert status of the solutions, and logs.
Runtime availability		View the overall run-time availability for all the solutions in the last 24 hours.
Usage Statistics		The usage statistics shows the CPU and Memory usage for all solutions in environments. The CPU bar shows the maximum CPU that is licensed for the tenant. The colored part of the bar shows how much of the allowed CPU is currently used by the tenant. The Memory bar shows the memory in Gb that is licensed for the tenant. The colored part of the bar shows how much of the allowed memory is currently used by the tenant.
Database		Add a database to your IBM webMethods Cloud Container subscription. This enables you to configure, store, and monitor your database directly in the cloud instead of using external systems.
Solutions section		Total number of solutions created. View the Solution List page by clicking the Details link and the Monitoring Dashboard by clicking the Monitoring link.
Service Executions section		Number of service executions and their status in the last 24 hours for all the solutions that are currently available in the selected environment. To view the Services page under Monitoring, click the service execution link.
Active Alerts section		Number of currently open alerts and their severity. Click on the links to go to the Alerts page.
Environment		Click to view and link environments.
Help		Access Help topics, IBM TECHcommunity, Licensing capabilities, and the About page. The About page displays the version information, Global Support information, Copyright information, Impressum and Privacy Policy, and the release readme.
Profile		Name of the logged in user, profile information of the logged in user, and Logout option.
Last Login, Notifications, and Help topics		When was the last login, important and other notifications, what is new in this release, and context-sensitive help topics.

Creating Solutions

The Solution List page displays the solutions created in IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

To create a solution

1. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

2. Click Solutions > Solution List. The Solution List page appears.

3. From the Solution List page, click Create New Solution to create a solution.

   Note

   Solutions created using a trial account are deactivated daily at UTC +01:00 AM. After logging in, you need to reactivate the solutions. All assets will become available after a short delay.

4. Select the landscape model that best represents your environment. The supported landscapes are:
   (a) webMethods Integration Server with a BigMemory Max server
   (b) webMethods Integration Server with Universal Messaging and a BigMemory Max server
   (c) webMethods Integration Servers with Universal Messaging, and BigMemory Max servers
   (d) Universal Messaging
   

   

   When you create a solution using one of the existing landscape templates, you can choose between 1, 2, and 4 CPU cores and 2, 4, 6, 8, and 16 GB of memory. Note that the allocated configurations (CPU and Memory) of Integration Server node is shared by processes other than Integration Server runtime as well. For example, if a user is configuring 4 GB memory when creating a solution using the landscape template with Integration Server connected to Universal Messaging, then an approximate of 3.6 GB configuration is used for Integration Server and the rest would be shared by other processes.
   

   Minimum Core and Memory Requirements for Universal Messaging It is recommended that the Universal Messaging pod has a minimum configuration of 2 cores for the processor and 4 GB of memory. These recommendations are tailored to the production system. Depending on the projected load, you may need additional cores or memory to ensure optimal performance.

5. Click OK.

6. In the New Solution page, fill in the solution Name, the solution Description, the name of the webMethods Integration Server and Universal Messaging instances, number of CPU Cores, and Memory characteristics of the hardware to support each service in the solution landscape. You can also select the webMethods Integration Server and Universal Messaging icons to highlight the sections in the New Solution page.

   

   Only when webMethods Integration Server is running in stateful clustered mode is BigMemory Max available. You can choose between 1, 2, and 4 CPU cores, as well as 6 and 8 GB of memory.

   The Version list box lists all the available major versions. The solution will be created based on the available Fix version.

   Manage Additional Packages
   

   Note

   Manage Additional Packages component is not applicable for Universal Messaging only solution.
   
   To select system packages, click Manage Additional Packages. A pop-up window will appear on the screen where you see the supported packages list that you want to enable based on the available fix versions. The supported system packages are sorted as groups in IBM webMethods Cloud Container. Select a group to select the packages that has dependencies. You can select an individual package in a group only for packages that does not have dependencies.

   

   Dependencies
   Some packages require other packages to function properly after deployment. For the deployed packages to work properly, the packages that has dependencies must be explicitly selected while adding the packages for webMethods.io B2B.

   The following table shows the package dependencies of each type of package in webMethods.io B2B:

   Packages	Dependencies
   WmEDIForTNStub	WmEDI, WmFlatfile, WmTNStub
   WmEDIINTStub	WmTNStub
   WmEDI	WmFlatfile

   Note

   The initial version of IBM webMethods B2B support on IBM webMethods Cloud Container is limited to basic EDI, EDIINT and Trading Networks Services. For a complete list of Trading Networks, EDI, and EDIINT Built-In Services supported on Cloud Container, see sections: Working with Trading Networks Built-In Services on IBM webMethods Cloud Container and Working with EDI and EDIINT Built-In Services on IBM webMethods Cloud Container here.

   On the Landscape page, select the Cluster Type as Stateless if the group of webMethods Integration Servers function in a manner similar to a cluster but are not part of a configured cluster. A stateless cluster of webMethods Integration Servers does not use a BigMemory Max Server Array. Select Stateful to add the BigMemory Max section. The BigMemory Max icons will be activated.

   The Hot Fix list box lists all available fixes that include enhancements to versions. Hot fix field is optional. Selecting None option will remove the hotfixes applied on the solution, and the solution will point to the base fix version. Typically, hotfixes are created for specific tenants.

   Note

   After creating a solution, if you modify the package list options in the Packages group box and save the solution, due to webMethods Integration Server restart, the assets will appear after a short delay.

View Used memory and Cores
On the Solution List page, you can view the horizontal linear gauge for total cores and memory utilization for the run-time instances from all the solutions.

The example image shows the information for the used cores and memory. The information alerts are displayed in green, the warning alerts are in amber, and the critical alerts are in red.

Deactivate, Activate, and Delete a solution

Click the icon and select Deactivate to deactivate a solution. Click the icon and select Activate to activate an inactive solution.

Click the icon and select Delete to permanently delete the solution. All packages and assets will be permanently deleted and cannot be recovered.

Copying Solutions

The Solution List page allows you to copy solutions. Copying solutions allows you to have a back up of your solution before you make any changes and deploy your solution to production. This reduces the risk of not having a back up in case you want to revert to the original solution.

Note

If you have the required permission under Settings > Access Profiles > Administrative Permissions > Functional Controls > Solution, you can copy, update, and delete solutions.

To copy a solution

1. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

2. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List. The Solution List page appears.

3. On a solution, click > Create a copy.

   

4. On the Create a copy page, fill in the new solution Name. You can choose to copy solutions using the same configuration and services in the solution landscape by clicking the Create with original configuration option or modify the configuration and services in the solution landscape by clicking the Create with modified configuration option.

   

5. Select Create with modified configuration and specify additional configuration of the solution, if necessary. Then click Configure to save the configuration details. The new solution is created and appears on the Solution List page.

Exploring Solutions

The solution details page allows you to view the packages, assets, unit tests, configurations and services for different runtimes in the solution, pull assets from a solution of another environment, view the Asset Repository and manage the solution, that is, view the landscape, configure webMethods Integration Server service access settings, administer the webMethods Integration Server, or restart the webMethods Integration Server instances.

To view the Solution Explorer

1. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

2. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List. The Solution List page appears listing all the solutions.

3. Click on an existing solution. The Solution Explorer page appears.

   

   The following table provides a high-level overview of the Solution Explorer page:

   Component	Description
   Assets	View the Packages, Folders, Assets, and Services for webMethods Integration Server, Adapters, webMethods CloudStreams packages, and configurations for the Universal Messaging runtime.
   Unit Tests	Allows you to create and run unit tests for services in IBM webMethods Cloud Container. Note This component is not applicable for Universal Messaging (Type 4) solution.
   Deploy	Pull assets from a solution of another environment.
   Asset Repository	View the Asset Repository which displays the contents of the on-premises packages published to Cloud Container.
   Manage	View the landscape, configure webMethods Integration Server service access settings, administer the webMethods Integration Server, or restart the webMethods Integration Server instances.

Assets

A package is a container that is used to bundle services and related elements, such as specifications, webMethods Integration Server document types, webMethods Integration Server schemas, and triggers. When you create a folder, service, webMethods Integration Server document type, or any element, you save it in a package.

Packages are designed to hold all of the components of a logical unit in an integration solution. For example, you might group all the services and files specific to a particular marketplace in a single package. All the components that belong to a package reside in the subdirectory of the package.

Once you deploy the packages in IBM webMethods Cloud Container, you can view the packages and its assets under Assets Explorer. Assets Explorer provides you with two layout options to view packages in a solution, namely List view and Card view. The default view is the Card view, which allows you to see the packages in solutions as blocks. However, you can switch to the List view by clicking on the List icon located on the upper-right corner of the Solutions page.

You will now see all the information related to solutions, including description, nodes, and version numbers used in a solution, in a block display.

The following figure depicts the package structure in a solution.

The following figure depicts the messaging assets structure in a Universal Messaging only solution. All the messaging assets such as queues and channels that resides in the package’s subdirectory can be viewed by clicking respective folders.

You can search or filter the results in the following ways by type or by keyword. as shown in the following image.

To search for an item, type a string in the search box in the search navigation bar. The search result list is displayed below the search box. If you want to see all the search results, select All in the drop-down list

In a clustered solution, the Asset Explorer always connects to the first node of the webMethods Integration Server instance. If the first instance of the webMethods Integration Server node fails, the Asset browser displays the assets of the next processing node.

In the Administration page of IBM webMethods Cloud Container, Cloud Container connects to the same Integration Server instance that is currently connected to the Asset Explorer. To change the default instance of the Integration Server node, navigate to the Administration page and select a different Integration node from the drop-down list. For more information, see the Administration page. Note that when you change the Integration Server instance node in the Administration page, the Asset Explorer displays the assets available for the newly assigned node. However, if you use the Shut down or Restart functionality to schedule a complete shutdown of the server, the Asset Explorer will not display the assets of the next available node. Once you log off from the existing solution, the Asset Explorer displays the assets of the next available node.

The following video provides you the overview on accessing services on IBM webMethods Cloud Container:

Downloading assets

You can download user deployed packages and configurations from the Asset page. To download assets, point to an asset, click the icon, and then click Download. The assets will be zipped and downloaded to your local storage space.

Services

Services are method-like units of logic that operate on documents. You build services to carry out work such as extracting data from documents, interacting with back-end resources (for example, submitting a query to a database or executing a transaction on a mainframe computer), and publishing documents. Adapters and other add-on packages provide additional services that you use to interact with specific resources or applications. The service editor allows you to view and run the services.

Service Signature

Input and output parameters are the names and types of fields that the service requires as input and generates as output. These parameters are also collectively referred to as a signature. You declare a signature for all types of services: flow services, Java services, and services written in other supported programming languages.

For a flow service, the input side describes the initial contents of the pipeline. In other words, it specifies the variables that this flow service expects to find in the pipeline at run time. The output side identifies the variables produced by the flow service and returned to the pipeline. An webMethods Integration Server document type can also be used to define the input or output parameters for a service.

Click Run once to run the service after providing the data to pass into the service.

Service Editor

Use the service editor to view the services. The source code, properties, inputs, and outputs are read only. The editor has the following tabs:
- Source tab contains the code or flow for the service.
- Input/Output tab contains the input and output signature of the service.
- Logged Fields tab indicates the input and output parameters for which the data is logged. You define the data to pass into the service by defining the input parameters on the lower panel of the editor.
- API Details After deploying assets, on the Asset explorer page, click the API Details option to view the API details of the service such as the HTTP Method, URL, Input structure, and the parameters that are required to invoke this service from an external system, for example, a REST client. You can copy the required API details to execute the service from the external system.

Key Points to Consider for Services

• The API Details option appears only for executable services. Some examples of executable services are Adapter services, Flow services, Java services, Flat File Schema, and Map services.

• You will be able to execute a Flat File Schema by using only the SoapUI tool. You must specify the following settings in the SoapUI tool:
  Set the following query parameters in the Request section:

  • skipWhiteSpace = true
  • encoding = UTF8
  • file = file:file1
    

• In the Attachments section, browse for the source file and update the following column values:

  • Name = file1
  • ContentID = file

• While invoking a service using external API calls, if the file size exceeds the 100 MB limit, the application will throw an error.

Load pipeline for testing services

The pipeline is the general term used to refer to the data structure in which input and output values are maintained for a service in Designer. The pipeline holds the input and output for a service. The pipeline starts with the input to the service and collects inputs and outputs from subsequent services. When a service runs, it has access to all data in the pipeline at that point.

When you run a service in Designer, you can click Save and save the pipeline data as an XML document to your local file system. After you deploy the service, you can click the Load Data option in the service editor to select the XML file, and load or update the pipeline data to test the service.

See the Service Development Help, webMethods Integration Server Administrators Guide, and the webMethods Adapter for JDBC Installation and User Guide for detailed descriptions of all the services and document types including Adapter services.

Generating a Test Case Using Services

Generate test case allows you to generate a test from service run results. A successful run result generates a test which asserts the pipeline, and a result with error generates a test which asserts the exception.

To generate a test case for services

1. In IBM webMethods Cloud Container, open any service.

   

2. In service editor, click Run Once. The Run Service dialog box appears.

3. Specify input values in the fields for the service and click Run.

   

   Include empty values for string types: If you do not provide an input value for a string field, the value will be null by default. If you select this option, the empty value will be considered. If this option is unchecked, then during the service execution, the value for the empty field will be derived from a global variable, if defined.

   If the run service is successful, a service execution message appears.

   

4. In the Run service window, click Generate test case.

   

   The Generate test case page appears.

   

5. In the Properties panel, do the following:
   

   • In the Name field, type the test case name.
   • In the Test suite field, select a test suite by clicking the drop-down list box.
     -Or
   • Create a new test suite by clicking the Create new test suite option.

   The Input values and Expected output values will be auto populated for the selected test case.

   

6. Click Generate.
   If the validation is successful, a successful test run message appears and the generated test case will be added to the selected test suite.

Asset Repository

Designer deploys the assets and configurations to the Asset Repository in IBM webMethods Cloud Container. The Asset Repository page (IBM webMethods Cloud Container > Solutions > Asset Repository) displays the list of all solutions and the user-created assets. You also view the asset type, version of the assets, and services in the Asset Repository page. Before deploying packages and configurations from Designer, you must create a solution in IBM webMethods Cloud Container to which you want to deploy the configuration assets.

Asset Repository for all solutions

The following snapshot depicts the Asset Repository structure for all solutions.

Asset Repository for a selected solution

The Asset Repository page for a solution (IBM webMethods Cloud Container > Solutions > Select a Solution > Asset Repository) displays the assets for the selected solution, including the asset type and version of the assets.

The following snapshot depicts the Asset Repository structure for a selected solution.

Downloading packages and assets

You can download user deployed packages and configurations from the Asset Repository page. You can either download individual packages or the whole repository for each product. To download assets, point to an asset or product and click the icon. The assets including ACDL files will be zipped and downloaded to your local storage.

Unit Tests

Overview

Unit Tests feature lets you test Integration Server services hosted on Cloud. A test suite is one or more test cases grouped together. Each test case defines a service to be tested, the type of test to be performed, and provides a user interface to define input data and expected output data. When the service execution is completed, the output is validated against the expected output defined in the test case.

The following video provides you the overview on Unit Test functionality in IBM webMethods Cloud Container:

The following figure depicts the unit test structure in a solution.

Actors

• Integration developers who develop and expose the integrations over HTTPS in IBM webMethods Cloud Container.
• Integration executors who runs integrations.
  

Before you begin

• You must have a fully functional Integration Server product instance that contain services and related files.
• You must have the permissions to create and delete unit tests in IBM webMethods Cloud Container under Settings > Access Profiles > Administrative Permissions > Functional Controls > Unit Tests.
  

Basic Flow

1. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.
2. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List. The Solution List page appears.
3. From the Solution List page, click any existing solution. The Solution Explorer page appears.
4. Select Unit Tests.
   

Creating a Test Suite

In this tutorial, we will see how to create a test suite for public services of the Integration Server and then execute the test case and test suite. To achieve this, follow the instructions given below:

1. Go to Unit Tests screen.

2. Click Add test suite.

   

   A New Test Suite screen will appear where you will be prompted to provide the following details:

   

   • Name: Provide a unique name, say Public_services for the new test suite.
   • Description: Provide a description for the new test suite.
   • Runtime instance: Select a runtime instance.
   • Click Save.

   This creates the new test suite (Public_services). You will be redirected to the test suite editor.

   

Creating a Test Case

After you create a test suite, let’s see how to create a test case.

1. On the test suite editor, select the newly created (public_services) test suite.

2. Click Add test case.

   

   A new test case editor appears. Provide the following details:

   

   • Test Case Details: Provide the test case name.
   • Description: Add the description for the test case.
   • Service asset: Enter the qualified name of the service or click Select Service.
     

   

   For example, pub.math:addInts.

   

   The screen loads Input and Expected output details as shown below:

   

   • Input: Provide the required input details, so that whenever this service is invoked for addInts, it will take the input provided here.
   • Include empty values for string types: If you do not provide an input value for a string field, the value will be null by default. If you select this option, the empty value will be considered. If this option is unchecked, then during the service execution, the value for the empty field will be derived from a global variable, if defined.

   • Expected output: By default, the values of all fields of the expected output will be asserted with the actual values of the service run. If you want certain fields to be asserted, then select the check boxes for these fields. In the Expected output panel, complete the following details:

     Field	Description
     Assertion type	Select the Assertion type depending on your requirement.
     Pipeline	Allows you to assert output data returned by the service for the provided input. The output that the service is expected to return.
     Exception	Allows you to assert service exception thrown by the service. You can either assert an exception class name by providing a value in the Exception class name, or assert an error message by specifying the error message in the Error message field. You can provide values for both the fields in which case both of them will be asserted when a test case runs.

     The screen loads Input and Expected output details as shown below:

   

   • Load Data: Click this option to load existing input or output data captured from Integration Server or Designer.

   • Mocks: Mocks are used when other services that a service may require to properly execute may not be available when a test case or test suite is developed or executed. Mocks provide a means of simulating execution of such services that are unavailable.
     

     Note

     Service mocking functionality is supported in Unit Tests only if the solution has Integration Server 10.3 with Fix 10 and above, or Integration Server 10.5 with Fix 4 and above.

   Field	Description
   Add Mock	In the New mock page, enter the qualified name of the service in the Service to mock field or click Select Service to add the list of services to mock.
   Mock details
   Action type	Following are the valid selections:
   	- Send fixed response: Intercepts the service and returns the data specified in Output. For examle,
   	- Call another service: Intercepts the service and use another service and send its response as response of the mocked service. For example,
   	- Throw Exception: Intercepts the service and returns an exception with specific message. For example, whenever an addInts service is invoked, throw an exception with this message.

   • Click Add.
     The defined mocks will be added to the test case. Similarly you can have multiple defined mocks for executing the test case.

   After adding the expected output, click Save. This will create the test case addIntsCase1 in the test suite public_services.

Deactivate and Delete a defined mock
- To deactivate a particular defined mock, hover the cursor on the service name, select the check box next to the service and select Deactivate.
- To delete a particular defined mock, hover the cursor on the service name, and select the check box next to each service and select Delete.

Executing Test Cases

To run the test case created, click the Run Once option in the editor.

A list of success and failure messages appear on the Test case result window. For the above test case the result is success, so the success message appears as shown below.

When a test case encounters an error, the error reports appear in a stack trace which contains a sequence of stack trace elements which can be useful for debugging purposes.

Executing Single Test Suite

Let’s say, you want to execute a single test suite with multiple test cases in it. To do this, follow the steps given below:

1. Open the test suite list.

   

2. Click Run once.

   

   Note

   To run specific test cases inside the test suite, select test cases from the list, and then click Run once option above the test cases list.

   

   The execution is considered to be successful if all the test cases in the test suite is successfully executed.

Executing Multiple Test Suites

To execute multiple test suites, follow the steps given below:

1. Select the Name check box to select all test suites.

2. Click the Run once option to execute the test suites.

   

   This executes all test suites.

   You may use the icon, to view the last run results of the test suites or test cases.

Displaying the API Details of a Test Suite

Navigate to API Details option to view the API details of the test suite such as the HTTP Method, URL, and the parameters that are required to invoke this test suite from an external system, for example, Postman.

In the API Details window, copy the API endpoint.

Now, append the same details to execute the test suite from the external system.

Viewing Test Suites Execution Results

To view the list of test suites that were executed in the solution along with the status, click Test results view.

Deploy

After publishing the assets and configurations that reside within on-premises runtimes or repositories to IBM webMethods Cloud Container, you can pull assets from the given solution residing in an environment to the current solution for the same runtime type.

During the deployment of Integration Server or Universal Messaging assets and configurations, the latest version of assets and configurations stored in Git repository will take precedence. In order to retain the older assets and configurations, you must select those assets and configurations during deployment. Additionally, assets and configurations that have already been deployed are automatically selected by default for subsequent deployments. However, this guidance does not apply to packages.

The following video provides you the overview of deployments with variable substitution, rollbacks and deletion of assets in IBM webMethods Cloud Container:

Select a solution and then click Deploy. Select a runtime instance. All active solutions of the instance will list all the assets of the selected solution in the environment for the selected runtime instance.

Click on a solution and select the runtime package folder. Then click on the runtime instance. The assets of the solution corresponding to the selected runtime instance will appear. Select the assets and then click Promote to promote the assets to the current solution (right panel).

After you click Promote, the Promote Assets dialog box appears for the selected asset.

Select an asset and change the values for the variable substitution properties, if needed.

The variable substitution properties appear for the selected asset, only if the asset has properties. If there are any similar type of assets for which you want the same values, then select the Show similar assets to apply values option. Then select the assets in the lower panel. Click Apply to apply the property values to the selected assets. The changed values will be applied to all the selected similar assets during promotion.

On the Promote dialog box, you can type a message to describe the promotion. The promotion message will appear on the History page. For Unit Test the promotion message will not appear.

Click Check Dependencies to check the consistency of the assets and unit test and their dependencies. If there are dependencies, then for a successful promotion, you have to select all the dependent assets. Select Save and Promote to save the variable substitution and promote the assets to the next environment.

On the Deploy page, click Rollback to rollback all promoted assets to their previous state. For Unit Tests rollback is not available.

You can type a message to describe the rollback. The rollback message will appear on the History page.

When promoting assets, due to webMethods Integration Server restart, IBM webMethods Cloud Container notifies you a confirm restart message to continue the promotion of assets. Click OK to continue with the promotion of assets. Once Integration Server restarts, you will see the assets promoted to the other environment.

Rollback

Rollback is the process of restoring the deployed assets in the target repository to their previous state.

Rollback Deployed Assets

Pre-requisites

• You must have the required permissions under Settings > Access Profiles > Administrative Permissions > Functional Controls > Assets > Deploy to rollback and delete assets.

• You can rollback the deployed assets that are already available in the target repository at any time.

To rollback deployed assets

1. On the Deploy page, click Rollback.

   Information regarding each rollback is previewd on the Confirm Rollback page
   

   • Assets: Displays the name of the asset that was deployed from the source instance.
     
   • Last modified: Displays the date and time when the information record was last updated.
     
   • Last status: Displays the last modified status of the assets.
     
   • Change status: Displays the assets updated state after the rollback is complete.
     

2. Enter a description of the rollback in the text box.
   The promotion message will appear on the History page.

3. Click Rollback.

Viewing Rollback Details

The rollbacks are listed in the History tab. You can also examine the details of a rollback in the History tab. For more information, see History.

Deleting assets

On the Deploy page, you can delete an asset from the current solution (right panel). The asset will be deleted from the asset repository in that solution as well as from the runtime.

History

The History page shows the Trace ID, that is, the tracking ID, which is automatically generated on every successful status of activities such as promotion, rollback, and deletion of the assets in a solution.

From the Filters dialog box, you can choose the following filters to view a custom set of transactions.

• Trace ID: Distinct identifier for the transaction generated internally by the system.

• Action: Specific action of the activity. For example, Deployment, Rollback, and Deletion.

• Created Start Date: Time at which the transaction started.

• Created End Date: Time at which the transaction ended.

• User: User who performed the action.

• Message: The committed message for the selected instance.

The applied filters show up on the top of the page as shown in the following example:

Key Points to Consider for History

• If a solution pod restarts, the packages will be automatically deployed to the new pod. As a result, the dates of the deployment logs contained in the Trace ID and the actual deployment date will differ.

• Promotion, rollback, or deletion details appear only for the current environment.

Viewing the trace details

To view the trace details

1. On the History page, click the Trace ID for which you want to view the trace logs details.

   

   A list of all the trace ID logs appears by default in the Deployment Details page.

   

2. From the filters dialog box, you can choose the following filters to view the logs.

   

   • Product: The name of the product(s) involved in the deployment.
     
   • Log Level: The severity of the messages to be logged. The possible values are ERROR, INFO, DEBUG, TRACE, WARN, and FATAL.
   • Message: The status message. For example, Changes are detected in the asset repository.
     
     
   Note

   For any asset deployment the trace view details show the message as Changes are detected in the asset repository.

   The applied filters show up on the top of the page as shown in the following example.

   

   Note

   The retention period for asset deployment history has a maximum limit of 30 days. Entries older than this period will be automatically deleted.

Usage

The Usage page allows you to view the current usage of CPU cores and Memory (GB) for all the active solutions.

To access this page, from the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click and select Licensing > Usage.

Managing Solutions

The Manage options allow you to view the solution landscape, configure webMethods Integration Server service access settings, administer the webMethods Integration Server, or restart the webMethods Integration Server instances.

Landscape

The Landscape page displays the landscape configuration for the selected solution.

To view the landscape configuration for a solution

1. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

2. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List > Select a solution > Manage > Landscape.

3. On the Landscape page, you can view the landscape configuration design, landscape solution name and description, and the landscape components. For each landscape component, you can view the landscape component name, product type, whether the landscape component is in a ready state, and the number of CPU cores and memory characteristics of the hardware to support each service in the solution.

4. BigMemory Max is available only when webMethods Integration Server runs in a stateful clustered mode. On the Landscape page, select the Cluster Type as Stateless if the group of webMethods Integration Servers function in a manner similar to a cluster but are not part of a configured cluster. A stateless cluster of webMethods Integration Servers does not use a BigMemory Max Server Array. Select Stateful to add the BigMemory Max section. The BigMemory Max icons will be activated.

Messaging Access Settings

IBM webMethods Cloud Container uses Universal Messaging as the messaging provider, which supports the Publish/Subscribe messaging paradigm. The Publish/Subscribe model is a specific type of message-based solution in which applications exchange messages (or called documents) through a third entity called Universal Messaging. In solutions based on this model, applications that produce information (referred as publishers) send the information to the Universal Messaging entity and applications that require the information (referred as subscribers) connect to Universal Messaging and retrieve the information they need.

In IBM webMethods Cloud Container, the Messaging Access Settings alias defines the configuration needed to establish a connection between Integration Server and a webMethods messaging provider. For each messaging provider that you want to use, you need to create a messaging connection alias. Integration Server can have multiple messaging connection aliases that connect to Universal Messaging servers.

IBM webMethods Cloud Container supports both modes of Universal Messaging client connectivity; webMethods out of the box connectivity support, and JNDI and JMS support. As a result, you can easily consume data from your on-premises applications, and use the data in your integration.

Let us now see the high-level steps to create a Publish/Subscribe solution for IBM webMethods Cloud Container:

1. Enable the messaging capability in IBM webMethods Cloud Container.
2. Create publisher and subscriber services and manage destiantions (Queue/Topic) in Designer
3. Create JNDI provider alias to on-premises Integration Server using Cloud Universal Messaging
4. Create a JMS connection alias to establish an active connection between Integration Server and JMS provider
5. Configure the truststore and client keystore properties in the Admin_Tools_Common.conf file of the server
   
6. Connect to Enterprise Manager for management of your Universal Messaging environment

1. Enable messaging capability in IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

   To enable the Universal Messaging connection alias, complete the following steps:

   a. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.
   

   b. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List > Select a solution > Manage > Messaging Access Settings.
   

   

   c. On the Messaging Access Settings page, turn on the Allow External Access to Messaging button to enable messaging access.
   

   Note

   For Universal Messaging solution (Type 4 landscape model), Allow External Access to Messaging field is enabled by default.

   You see URLs enabled for Acess URL and Two-way SSL URL that allows you to create a connection factory in Universal Messaging Enterprise Manager.

   

   The Messaging Access Settings typically uses port 4443 for one-way-SSL communication and 7443 for two-way SSL communication. These ports are configurable.

2. Create publisher and subscriber services and manage destinations (Queue/Topic) in Designer
   Using Designer, you create publishable document types and edit services, document types, and other elements directly on an Integration Server. You connect Designer to Integration Server through server definitions.

   For more information about how to create publishable document types, see Working with Publishable Document Types in Service Development Help.

3. Create JNDI provider alias to on-premises Integration Server using Cloud Universal Messaging.

   To configure Integration Server for JMS messaging, you need to create one or more JNDI provider aliases to specify where Integration Server can look up administered objects when it needs to create a connection to the JMS provider or specify a destination for sending or receiving messages.

   

   For information on how to create an alias to a JNDI provider, see webMethods Integration Server Administrator’s Guide.

   If Integration Server uses the Universal Messaging connection alias to connect to a secure socket protocol port on the Universal Messaging server, you must configure the connection alias to use SSL. A messaging connection alias defines the configuration needed to establish a connection between Integration Server and a webMethods messaging provider.

4. Create a JMS connection alias to establish an active connection between Integration Server and JMS provider

   A JMS connection alias specifies the information that Integration Server needs to establish an active connection between Integration Server and the JMS provider. Integration Server uses a JMS connection alias to send messages to and receive messages from the JMS provider.

   For more information on how to enable a messaging connection alias, see Enabling a Messaging Connection Alias in IBM webMethods Microservices Runtime and IBM webMethods Integration Server Administrator’s guide.

5. Configure the truststore and client keystore properties in the Admin_Tools_Common.conf file of the server. To connect to an nhps interface on a Universal Messaging server in the Enterprise Manager, you configure the following truststore and client keystore properties in the Software AG_directory\UniversalMessaging\java\instance_name\bin\Admin_Tools_Common.conf file of the server.
   

   • set.default.KEYSTORE=<path_to_keystore> - Required
   • set.default.KEYSTOREPASSWD=<keystore_pwd> - Required
   • set.default.CAKEYSTORE=<path_to_cakeystore> - Required
   • set.default.CAKEYSTOREPASSWD=<cakeystore_password> - Required
   • set.default.CKEYSTORE=<path_to_client_ckeystore>
   • set.default.CKEYSTOREPASSWORD=<ckeystore_password>
     

   The certificates must be in .jks or PKCS12 format.

   If you are using 10.7 version Enterprise Manager and Cloud Universal Messaging, then configure the environment variables as shown in the figure below.

   • Add the below two environment variables under the User variable section and save the CA certificates as shown below:
     • CAKEYSTORE=<path_to_cakeystore>
     • CAKEYSTOREPASSWD=<cakeystore_pwd>

   

6. Connect to Enterprise Manager for management of your Universal Messaging environment.
   

   a. Start the Enterprise Manager. Once the Enterprise Manager is up and running, select the Connect to Realm option from the Connections menu.
   

   b. Provide the IBM webMethods Cloud Container URL in RNAME. For example, nhps://<domain-name>:4443//<path>/ along with IBM webMethods Cloud Container credentials, as shown in the figure below:

   

   If the connection is successful, a new realm node is rendered on the tree with the unique name of that realm. You can manage and monitor the new realm by selecting that newly rendered tree node.

   Payload restriction in pub-sub calls
   In the current configuration where the size of the disk file of Universal Messaging pod is 5GB with the spindle size value set to 3000, it is observed that you can execute the Universal Messaging pub-sub calls with 200KB of payload with a single thread at a time and in a sleep time of 1 second between each message call. Changing these parameters might impact the long-running of the pub-sub scenario. A bigger payload can be handled operationally.

Two-Way SSL communication for Messaging

If you want more secure communication between two business applications, you can set up two-way SSL communication. webMethods Integration Server supports two-way SSL communication between the on-premises webMethods Integration Server and IBM webMethods Cloud Container. webMethods Integration Server, by default, supports one-way SSL communication in which the on-premises webMethods Integration Server acts as a client and validates the certificate issued by IBM webMethods Cloud Container that acts as a server.

In two-way SSL communication, both the on-premises webMethods Integration Server and IBM webMethods Cloud Container validate each other’s certificate using private keys.

To set up two-way SSL Communication

1. Go to the Manage Certificate page in IBM webMethods Cloud Container and download the webMethods signed certificate file in jks or p12 format, which contains the private key and the certificate. You can also upload your own CA signed certificate. webMethods Integration Server does not support self signed certificates.

2. Go to webMethods Integration Server Administrator and add the JKS file in the Security > Keystore > Create Keystore Alias page. Provide the keystore or JKS file path in the Location field and specify the keystore password. By default it is changeit. Click Submit.

3. In webMethods Integration Server Administrator, click Settings and specify the details.

   Field	Description
   User Name	User name for an account on IBM webMethods Cloud Container.
   Password	Password identified in the user account for User Name.
   webMethods Cloud URL	The URL of IBM webMethods Cloud Container with which to share accounts and applications created on the on-premise webMethods Integration Server.
   	For example, the URL would be of the following format:
   	https://<sub-domain>.<domain-name> For example, https://softwareag-education.webmethodscloud.com
   	Note To set up a two-way SSL communication, add port 7443 in the URL. For example, https://<sub-domain>.<domain-name>:7443. These ports are configurable.

   Under Certificate Settings (optional), complete the fields if you want to set up a two-way SSL communication with IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

   Field	Description
   Keystore Alias	A user-specified, text identifier for the webMethods Integration Server keystore.
   	The alias for the keystore that contains the client certificates that you want webMethods Integration Server to use when connecting to IBM webMethods Cloud Container. Select the same keystore alias.
   Key Alias	The alias for the private key, which must be stored in the keystore specified by the above keystore alias. This value is automatically selected.
   Truststore Alias	The alias for the truststore.
   	The truststore must contain the trusted root certificate for the CA that signed IBM webMethods Cloud Container certificate associated with the key alias. The truststore also contains the list of CA certificates that IBM webMethods Cloud Container uses to validate the trust relationship. Select Default_JVM_Truststore.

4. Click Update Settings.
   webMethods Integration Server connects to IBM webMethods Cloud Container specified in the webMethods Cloud URL field and downloads the configuration information that is required to receive any incoming requests.

Example - Messaging as a Service

Summary

In this tutorial, we will see how to use messaging as a service to pass data from your cloud using the IBM webMethods Cloud Container platform and in return get processed data back to your service from on-premises Integration Server and check if both the publishers and subscribers services have executed successfully in cloud Universal Messaging.

Before you begin

• You need an active IBM webMethods Cloud Container tenant.
• Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container and create a new solution using Type 2, Type 3 or Type 4 landscape models, for example, Demo.
• You need an on-premise Integration Server.
• You need the Universal Messaging as the messaging provider in this integration solution.
• The Enterprise Manager and cloud Universal Messaging must be of the same version.
• Configure the truststore and client keystore properties in the Admin_Tools_Common.conf file of the Enterprise Manager server. For more information on configuring the truststore and client keystore settings, see Messages Access Settings page.
• When configuring a JMS connection alias from an on-premise Integration Server to a Universal Messaging server in the cloud, you need to modify the custom_wrapper.conf configuration file to include Dcom.softwareag.um.jndi.cf.url.override=true from the installation_directory\profiles\IS_instance_name\configuration directory.
  
  Note

  Restart the server for the changes to take effect and then create a JMS connection by passing cloud Universal Messaging details using Username and Password.

Basic Flow

1. In Designer on the publishing side, create:

   • Publishable document types for the documents that are to be published.
   • Services that publish the documents.

   

2. In Designer on the subscribing side, create:

   • Services to process the incoming documents that are published by the publishing side.

   • Triggers that associate the incoming documents with services that process the documents.

     • In the Destination Type, select Topic to send the message to a topic or use Queue to send the message to a particular queue. In this example, we will use durable subscriber for Topic and specify this is JMS trigger.
       

     

     • Use pub.flow:debugLog to write an arbitrary message to the server log. Also, use pub.string:concat service to concatenate to inString2.

     

     For more information about how to create publishable document types, see Working with Publishable Document Types in Service Development Help.

3. Click Save.

4. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container and select a solution, for example, Demo.

   

5. On the Messaging Access Settings page, turn on the Allow External Access to Messaging option to enable messaging access.

   

6. Copy the Access URL.

   

7. On on-premises Integration Server, create a JNDI Provider Alias.

   Specify the following information for the JNDI provider alias.

   Note

   You need to paste the access URL you copied from the Messaging Access Settings page into the Provider URL field. Additionally, provide the principal name and credentials or password to access the JNDI directory.

   

   For more information on how to create an alias to a JNDI provider, see webMethods Integration Server Administrators Guide.

8. Perform a Test lookup to verify that the URLs are valid.

   

   Note

   If you want more secure communication between two business applications, you can set up two-way SSL communication. For more information on setting up a two-way SSL communication, see Two-Way SSL communication for Messaging.

9. Create a JMS Connection Alias.

   Set the following General Settings for the JMS connection alias:

   

10. Make the Publishable Document Types available in IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

    Using Designer, you can deploy your publishable document types available in Designer. Before you configure a connection to IBM webMethods Cloud Container, ensure that the following criteria are met:

    • A valid URL exists to connect to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

    • A valid user account is created on IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

      

    • After the Designer is configured to connect to IBM webMethods Cloud Container using the IBM webMethods Cloud Container preference page, right-click the package and click Deploy to Cloud.

      

    • Once the deployment is successful, you can verify the deployment on IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

      

11. Open the service and click Run Once. The Run service dialog box appears.

    

12. Specify input values in the fields for the service and click Run.

    

13. Now you can see the Hello message in the server log.

    

14. The on-premises Integration Server log will now display the concatenate message `Hello World`.

    

15. To see if the document has been consumed, go to the Cloud Universal Messaging Channels page, and verify the total published and total consumed services.

    

Service Access Settings

The Service Access Settings page allows you to configure the webMethods Integration Server services to be called externally over HTTPS. The services will be available to consumers based on the Allow All and Deny All access modes.

To configure service access settings

1. Log in to the IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

2. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List > Select a solution > Manage > Service Access Settings.

3. On the Service Access Settings page, configure the webMethods Integration Server services to be called externally over HTTPS. Required fields are marked with an asterisk on the screen.

Administration

Use this page to manage a solution webMethods Integration Server Administrator instance

The webMethods Integration Server Administrator is an HTML-based utility you use to administer the webMethods Integration Server. It allows you to monitor server activity, manage user accounts, make performance adjustments, and set operating parameters. You can run the webMethods Integration Server from any browser-equipped workstation on your network. When you click Administration, your browser displays the Statistics screen.

The Title bar displays the name of the host machine where webMethods Integration Server is running, the name of the webMethods Integration Server instance, and the name of the user currently logged into the webMethods Integration Server instance.

The Navigation panel on the left side of the page displays the names of menus from which you can select a task. To start a task, click a subject in the Navigation panel. The server displays a screen that corresponds to the task you select.

To view the Administration page

1. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

2. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List > Select a solution > Manage > Administration.
   The webMethods Integration Server Administrator page appears.

In a cluster solution, you can select an individual webMethods Integration Server node from the Select Integration Server drop-down list. The drop-down list has the capability to show up to four Integration Server instances. The pattern for identifying an individual Integration Server cluster is <solutionName>-<Integration Server application name>-<instance number>. Here <instance number> is the identifier for the Integration Server instance. For example, solution1-IS1-0.271075547.

Restart

Restart the server when you need to stop and reload the server. You should restart the server when:

• You make certain configuration changes. Some configuration changes require the server to be restarted before they take effect.

• You experience an operational problem or if the server is in an inconsistent state.

To restart the server

1. Log in to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

2. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Solutions > Solution List > Select a solution > Manage > Restart.

   Note

   webMethods Integration Servers running in a clustered mode cannot be restarted. Further, restarting servers will terminate all active sessions.

3. Click Restart.

   In a cluster solution, you can select a webMethods Integration Server node from the Integration Server drop-down list. The drop-down list has the capability to show up to four instances. By default, the Assets browser always connects to the first node of the webMethods Integration Server.

   

About Dynamic Server Pages

A Dynamic Server Page (DSP) is a document embedded with special codes (tags) instructing IBM webMethods Cloud Container to perform certain actions. DSPs are used to build browser-based clients and allow you to construct a more secure and flexible user interface. The DSP URL within a custom package in IBM webMethods Cloud Container can now be shared upon request to external clients.

Create a Dynamic Server Page

Creation of DSPs include the following steps:

1. Verify that all the Integration Server’s pre-requisites have been met
2. Create a user for DSP activities in the IBM webMethods iPaaS
3. Create an access profile in IBM webMethods Cloud Container
4. Assign the access profile to the user
5. Generate the DSP URL

Pre-requisites

1. Assign a new user group and ACLs to determine the server resources that a client is allowed to access when performing DSP services.
   

   Note

   Users who are assigned the Administrators role can configure user groups and ACLs in Integration Server. However, make sure you add the Administrators role in the list of permitted actions. For more information about creating and managing user groups in Integration Server, see Managing Users and Groups in IBM webMethods Microservices Runtime and IBM webMethods Integration Server Administrator’s guide.

2. Create the custom packages for DSP services and add the DSP file in the pub directory of the package. For example, to deploy a DSP in the orders package you copy it to:

   Integration Server_directory\packages\orders\pub

3. Add .access file in the pub directory.
   For each file in the directory that you want to protect, add a line in the .access file to identify the file and the ACL you want to use to protect the file. For example, assume you have a directory that contains index.html file. You want to protect the index.html file with the dspacl (custom ACLs created for DSP services) so that only defined users can access this file. To accomplish this, you would place the following lines in the .access file:
   

   Index.html dspacl
   * Administrators

   For more information on assigning ACLs, see Assigning ACLs to Files the Server Can Serve in IBM webMethods Microservices Runtime and IBM webMethods Integration Server Administrator’s guide.

4. Deploy Integration Server custom packages and configuration assets created for DSP services to IBM webMethods Cloud Container.
   

   Note

   When you deploy a package to IBM webMethods Cloud Container from Integration Server, make sure you use the Properties dialog box to view information about packages and to assign permissions.

   To open the Properties dialog box, right click on the package in the Package Navigator of Designer and select File > Properties.

   

   Note

   Make sure you select the Include runtime configurations check box when deploying assets to webMethods to Cloud Container.

   

   After you ensure the above steps are completed, you are now ready to proceed with creating IBM webMethods iPaaS user in IBM webMethods Cloud Container.

Create a user for DSP activities in the IBM webMethods iPaaS

You can manage a user for DSP services from the Administration page in IBM webMethods iPaaS. The user will then be added to the Users page. An email to update the password is sent to the user at the specified work email address.

Create access profiles in IBM webMethods Cloud Container

You create access profile to grant global permission that enables all administrative actions or individual administrative permission to the user.

Before you begin

• Ensure you verify that the package list has the right ACL assigned.
  To achieve this, navigate to <Solution-name> > Manage > Administration > Package List ACL and verify that the package list has the right ACL assigned.

To create an access profile

1. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, go to Settings > Access Profiles.

   

2. Click Add Access profile to add a new access profile.

   

3. On the Add New Access Profile > Access Profile Information tab, complete the following fields.

   • Name : Provide a name for the access profile.
     You can reference the profile by name when assigning it to a user.

   • Description: Provide a general description for the access profile.

   

4. On the Solution Permission page, select a solution and an Integration Server instance and then map webMethods Integration Server user groups to an access profile.
   IBM webMethods Cloud Container users who are assigned to this access profile will then be a part of the webMethods Integration Server user group(s) and can perform tasks allowed for those user groups. For complete information about user groups, see Managing Users and Groups in IBM webMethods Microservices Runtime and IBM webMethods Integration Server Administrator’s guide.

   

5. On the Available Custom Packages, select the custom packages.

   

6. On the Administrative Permissions page, under Global Permission, enable Allow Package Home Access and Allow User Interface Access options to provide access for DSP activities to the user.

   

7. Click Add.

The new access profile appears on the Access Profiles page.

Assign the access profile to the user

To assign access profile to the user

1. From the IBM webMethods Cloud Container navigation bar, click Settings > Users.

2. Select a user from the list, and then click Edit.

   

3. On the Basic tab for the Access Profile field, assign the access profile created for DSP services.

   

4. Click Apply.

This authorizes access to the user to individual custom packages by user groups, through the use of ACLs.

Generate a DSP URL for a package

To generate a DSP URL

1. Navigate to the Assets Explorer page.
   Assets Explorer provides you with two layout options to view packages in a solution, namely List view and Card view.

2. Select the custom package from the server instance
   

3. Click the (ellipses icon) on the relevant card, and then click Home URL.

   

4. Click to copy.

   

5. Open a new browser window and paste the URL

Updating Products

Updating products to a higher fix version in a solution

You can update any product in a solution to the available higher fix version after you create the solution. The Update Available option appears if a higher fix version is available for any of the products in the solution. The latest fix version appears in the Fix drop-down list. For example, if you have selected Fix 3 of webMethods Integration Server while creating a solution, and if Fix 4 is now available, you can select Fix 4 and save the solution.

Updating products to a higher version in a solution

You can update any product in a solution to the available higher version after you create the solution. The Update Available option appears if a higher version is available for any of the products in the solution. The latest version appears in the Version drop-down list. For example, if you have selected 10.11 of webMethods Integration Server while creating a solution, and if 10.15 is now available, you can select version 10.15 and save the solution. The latest available fix for v10.15 will be automatically selected.

If a higher version is available for a product in a solution, you can click Update Available, and in the Edit Solution screen, you can select the higher version for the product in the solution.

The Schedule option appears if you select a higher version available for any of the products in the solution. Click Schedule to schedule the update process by specifying the date and time on which you want the update process to execute. Once the solution is scheduled for update, you can click Cancel Schedule to cancel the schedule or click Modify Schedule to modify the schedule. If the update process is scheduled, the status of the solution on the Solution List page displays Update scheduled. The status of the solution on the Solution List page displays Update in progress if the scheduled update process is under way.