Decision Management (ODM, ADS)

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How do I install my ODM Silver topology with CP4BA 21.0.3?

By NICOLAS PEULVAST posted Fri July 22, 2022 03:17 AM

  

Target audience:
ODM user with ODM Administrator role 
Estimated duration: 240 minutes

A downloadable version of this Blog Post is available here.

This article is part of an article series around Operational Decision Manager (ODM) topologies in context of Cloud Pak for Business Automation (CP4BA).

For more information about ODM environments and the topologies, see CP4BA ODM topologies on OpenShift.

This document aims at describing how to make an ODM Silver topology deployment on OpenShift for Container Platform (OCP) as a component of CP4BA 21.0.3.

The ODM Silver topology is a deployment of several ODM environments, each in an individual namespace, within a single cluster. 

Minimum Silver topology consists of an Authoring, a Sand box, and a Production environment. 
Full Silver topology consists of an Authoring,  Sandboxes, a Pre-prod and a Production environment.


There is one Decision Center to govern all Decision Servers.
All environments use the same
Identity Access Management (IAM) for authentication and the databases are externalized. 
 
Silver topology is best suited for applications with medium production constraints.
 
For more information about ODM environments and the topologies, see CP4BA ODM topologies on OpenShift.

Summary

Silver topology is based on default bronze topology with additional customizations to allow several ODM environments within the same cluster.
To install ODM Silver topology, it is recommended to start with the ODM Bronze topology article and obtain a baseline CP4BA deployment Custom Resource (CR) YAML file.
Use this CR file and customize it per ODM environment.
Other settings such as IAM configuration and certificates management are discussed in the later part of this article.

Procedure

  1. Generate a CR file for ODM Bronze topology.  See ODM Bronze topology for more information;
  2. Copy the CR file and rename it as <your_odm_env>.yaml;
  3. Assign a value to the metadata.name parameter in the CR. For example, metadata.name: sandbox
  4. Set spec.shared_configuration.sc_deployment_profile_size to medium for Cloud Pak deployment profile.  The deployment profile of CP4BA is small by default It is recommended to set to medium for Silver topology environments and set the IBM Cloud Platform UI (Zen) service to the same size as Cloud Pak. For more information, see https://ibmdocs-test.mybluemix.net/docs/en/cloud-paks/cp-biz-automation/21.0.3?topic=ppd-system-requirements
  5. Remove the following unwanted parameters: 
    • sc_deployment_fncm_license: "<Required>"
    • sc_deployment_baw_license: "<Required>" 
    • sc_ingress_enable: false
    • sc_ingress_tls_secret_name: <Required>
    • sc_cpe_limited_storage: false
  6. Fill in image_pull_secrets per your specific shared image pull secrets (if not so).
  7. Fill in ldap_configuration per your LDAP configuration.
  8. In datasource_configuration section, fill in dc_odm_datasource per your database configuration. 
    • An example for DB2 with SSL enabled:
      datasource_configuration:
      dc_odm_datasource:
         database_servername: <db2_hostname>
         dc_common_database_instance_secret: <db2_credentials>
         dc_common_database_name: <odm_db_name>
         dc_common_database_port: '60001'
         dc_common_ssl_enabled: true
         dc_database_type: db2
         dc_ssl_secret_name: <db2_ssl_cert> 
      dc_ssl_enabled: true
    • If SSL is used to secure the database connection, specify the name of the SSL secret by running the following command:
      oc create secret generic odm-db-ssl-secret --from-file=db2-server-certificate=server.crt
      Where server.crt is the DB2 SSL certificate public key in ASCII format:
      -----BEGIN CERTIFICATE----- 
      MIIHDzCCBfegAwIBAgIQCKZtYygfn9pg13D0uAX YzANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQsFADBg ... 3R7IrdK8aS1WUGlKulqEDiV4TJ 1XpcoUq8wtmBSw1fyV7g= 
      -----END CERTIFICATE-----
      For more details on how to generate the DB2 SSL certificate, see Self-signing digital certificates.
  9. Move the parameter spec.odm_configuration.deployment_profile_size to custom.
    odm_configuration:
      deployment_profile_size: custom
  10. Modify spec.odm_configuration and spec.olm_production_option.decisions sections according to your specific ODM environment.

      Authoring environment

      Authoring environment consists of :

      • Decision Server Console;
      • 2 Decision Center;
      • 2 Decision Runner;

      Edit your Authoring CR file to install these components.

      For example:

      odm_configuration:
        deployment_profile_size: custom
        decisionCenter:
          enabled: true
          replicaCount: 2
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 8Gi
            requests:
              cpu: '1'
              memory: 4Gi
        decisionServerRuntime:
          enabled: false
        decisionRunner:
          enabled: true
          replicaCount: 2
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 2Gi
            requests:
              cpu: 500m
              memory: 2Gi
        decisionServerConsole:
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 1Gi
            requests:
              cpu: 500m
              memory: 512Mi
      ...
      olm_production_option:
        decisions:
          bai: false
          decisionCenter: true
          decisionRunner: true
          decisionServerRuntime: false

      Sandbox environment

      Sandbox environment consists of :

      • Decision Server Console;
      • Decision Server Runtime;

      Edit your sandbox CR file to only install Decision Server Console and Decision Server Runtime.

      For example:
      odm_configuration:
        deployment_profile_size: custom
        decisionCenter:
          enabled: false
        decisionServerRuntime:
          enabled: true
          replicaCount: 1
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 2Gi
            requests:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 2Gi
        decisionRunner:
          enabled: false
        decisionServerConsole:
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 1Gi
            requests:
              cpu: 500m
              memory: 512Mi
      ...
      olm_production_option:
      ...
        decisions:
          bai: false
          decisionCenter: false
          decisionRunner: false
          decisionServerRuntime: true

      Production & Pre-Production environment

      Production environment consists of :

      • Decision Server Console;
      • 3 Decision Server Runtime;

      Edit your Production CR file to install these components.

      For example:

      odm_configuration:
        deployment_profile_size: custom
        decisionCenter:
          enabled: false
        decisionServerRuntime:
          enabled: true
          replicaCount: 3
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 2Gi
            requests:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 2Gi
        decisionRunner:
          enabled: false
        decisionServerConsole:
          resources:
            limits:
              cpu: '2'
              memory: 1Gi
            requests:
              cpu: 500m
              memory: 512Mi
      ...
      olm_production_option:
        decisions:
          bai: false
          decisionCenter: false
          decisionRunner: false
          decisionServerRuntime: true
      Perform some additional tuning to this Production or Pre-Production environment: See Performance Check List of OCP for CP4BA.

      Cluster Configuration

      IAM config

      You have several authentication mechanisms available by default in the Cloud Pak.
      You can configure your Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) connection to use the service that provides authentication, role-based access control, and user management.
      Along with the LDAP enterprise-wide authentication system, you can also choose to register additional users that will use a simpler but faster authentication system.
      As the LDAP mechanism has a small (but not null) overhead, you can use the Basic Authentication system as a replacement, especially for the Runtime part, which is supposed to be used at a higher rate usage.

      LDAP

      To avoid SSL error when connecting to LDAP, you have to manually configure the LDAP certificate following instructions from this page: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cpfs?topic=ldap-configuring-over-ssl
      Once connected, you can refine your user management role.
      Use the "spec.odm_configuration.customization.authSecretRef" parameter of the CR file to specify your own custom secret and change the webSecurity.xml file section.
      As an example:
      [...]
        <group name="Business User" roles="rtsUser,resDeployerDev,resDeployerTest"/>
        <group name="Release Manager" roles="resDeployerTest,resDeployerProd,resDeployerDev,rtsConfigManager"/>
        <group name="Rule Developer" roles="rtsUser,resDeployerDev"/>
        <group name="Integrator" roles="resDeployerDev,resDeployerTest,resMonitorProd,rtsUser"/>
        <group name="Permission Manager" roles="rtsAdministrator,resDeployerDev,resDeployerTest,resDeployerProd"/>
      
        <variable name="odm.resExecutors.group1" value="group:odm-ldap/cn=resDeployerProd,{{ ldap_groups_dn }},{{ ldap_basedn_upper }}"/>
        <variable name="odm.resExecutors.group2" value="group:odm-ldap/cn=resMonitorProd<,{{ ldap_groups_dn }},{{ ldap_basedn_upper }}"/>
      [...]
      


      Basic Authentication

      You must override the default user registry configuration and include it in a secret that you pass to ODM Configuration on CP4BA through the CR file.
      Use the spec.odm_configuration.customization.authSecretRef parameter of the CR file.
      You must adapt the group mapping on the resExecutors group that is inside webSecurity.xml file section.
      To execute with resExecutor for example, you need something like :
      <variable name="odm.resExecutors.group1" value="group:basic/basicResExecutors"/>
      If you want to execute with odmAdmin, you need :
      <variable name="odm.resExecutors.group2" value="group:basic/basicRtsAdministrators"/> 
      and so on ...
      As an example, the newly created my-company-odm-oidc-auth-operator-secret of prod namespace, the webSecurity.xml file contains:
      <server>
           <basicRegistry id="basic" realm="basic">
               <user name="dbauser" password="dbauser"/>
               <user name="odmAdmin" password="odmAdmin"/>
               <group name="resExecutors">
                   <member name="dbauser"/>
                   <member name="odmAdmin"/>
               </group>
           </basicRegistry>
      
           <variable name="odm.resExecutors.group2" value="group:basic/resExecutors"/>
           <variable name="odm.resAdministrators.group2" value="group:basic/resExecutors"/>
           <variable name="odm.rtsAdministrators.group2" value="group:basic/resExecutors"/>
      </server>
      
      For more information about this customization, please read the following documentation: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/odm/8.11.0?topic=access-configuring-user-without-openid

      Other Customizations

      In addition to the webSecurity.xml file in which you define the users allowed to access the application server, you have the option to specify up to four additional files to configure the access to an ODM instance. These customizations are implemented with "spec.odm_configuration.customization.authSecretRef" parameter of the CR file.
      See: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cloud-paks/cp-biz-automation/21.0.3?topic=access-optional-user-configurations


      Certificate management

      Along with the LDAP connection issue that you can meet in secured connection context, the secured connection to other namespaces is not configured by default and needs to manually push the certificate.

      LDAP

      As mentioned in the IAM Configuration above, you must manually configure the LDAP certificate to avoid SSL error connecting to LDAP, using this page: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cpfs?topic=ldap-configuring-over-ssl


      Namespace

      By default, a secured connection between Decision Center to another namespace (let's say a Decision Server Console as an example), leads to an error like the following one:
      javax.net.ssl.SSLHandshakeException: java.security.cert.CertificateException: Path does not chain with any of the trust anchors
      To overcome this issue, you need to import cert Production environment to Authoring environment:
      • Extract the RES certificate, downloaded from the RES console prod environment using a browser.
      • Create a new secret in authoring namespace (key=tls.crt with cert content);
        oc create secret generic my-prod-namespace-secret --from-file=tls.crt=your_cert_path/server-cert
      • Specify this secret as your custom one in the list of secrets registered in the spec.shared_configuration.trusted_certificate_list parameter of the CR file.
        shared_configuration:
           trusted_certificate_list:
             - my-prod-namespace-secret
      • Wait for some minutes while the ODM Pods restart

      Rule Designer

      To be able to securely connect your Rule Designer to the Decision Server and Decision Center components that are running in an OCP cluster, you need to establish a Transport Layer Security (TLS) connection through a security certificate.


      Reaching out external services

      As a conclusion, to integrate with an external service in general, you must first import its TLS certificate into the operator trust list. 
      These certificates are added to the truststore of each component in the Cloud Pak.
      The procedure is described in the following documentation part: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/cloud-paks/cp-biz-automation/21.0.3?topic=services-importing-certificate-external-service

      .

      Once everything is well deployed, you can perform the verification described in the last section of your generated installation playbook (see the Bronze Topology Article). Further additional validations can be made at ODM level which are described here:
      validate your ODM topology.
      .


      #businessrules
      #CloudPakforBusinessAutomation
      #OperationalDecisionManager(ODM)
      #RedHatOpenShift
      #topology
      1 comment
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      Comments

      Tue February 28, 2023 05:09 PM

      fyi I don't think the custom values work (like CPU and MEM) on 21.0.3

      https://github.com/DecisionsDev/odm-docker-kubernetes/issues/136