You can now manage Dashboard-owned integration runtimes that are running in App Connect in Containers in webMethods Hybrid Integration by creating one configuration. Using the switch server you can quickly allow a secure switch connection to be used to administer all your App Connect in Containers owned integration runtimes with one configuration in your webMethods Hybrid Integration control plane.

As detailed in this blog post, it is possible to connect and administer your integration runtimes in a variety of ways and in a variety of form factors, for example SaaS and on premises, all in one place. One of these mechanisms is to connect directly to an integration runtime running within a container environment (App Connect in Containers). This is currently possible but requires certificate and credential management and setup through Keycloak which can be error prone and needs to be done for every integration runtime the Dashboard manages. Using this new mechanism gives the switch user the equivalent of the keycloak integration admin role.

In the latest App Connect in Containers operator (12.15.0) it is now possible to attach a switch server Private Network Agent configuration to an App Connect in Containers Dashboard CR and this can then allow the webMethods Hybrid Integration control plane to connect to this Dashboard and administer all its owned integration runtimes.

Updating the App Connect in Containers Dashboard configurations

First you need to retrieve your Private Network Agent configuration for the switch you wish to connect to. Go to the App Connect capability of your webMethods Hybrid Integration instance and click Connect > Private networks. Open the Actions menu for the Private network agent for default-switch-server and click View setup instructions. 

Next, select Remote administration and Download the configuration.

This will have admin: 'enabled' set which enables the admin capability through the switch. One thing to note here is that even if you have callableFlows: 'enabled' this will have no effect on the Dashboard-managed integration runtimes. If you want to enable callable flows on an integration runtime you will need to attach the Private Network Agent configuration to the integration runtime directly as well.

Attach the configuration to the Dashboard in the spec.configurations section of the App Connect in Containers Dashboard CR. You can only attach one Private Network Agent configuration and it must have admin: 'enabled' otherwise it will be rejected by the Dashboard creation webhook. 

The Dashboard will then restart and will connect to your switch server. You can see when this is successful by looking at your Dashboard pod logs.

At this point all your Dashboard owned integration runtimes can be seen when you add them to the webMethods Hybrid Integration control plane.

Connecting webMethods Hybrid Integration to your App Connect in Containers Dashboard

Now that the App Connect in Containers Dashboard has registered with the webMethods Hybrid Integration default-switch-server switch you need to register your runtime so you can view and administer it.

In webMethods Hybrid Integration, open the main menu and select Integration runtime management. Then click Register runtime > App Connect runtimes and use the switch-deployment-location on your webMethods Hybrid Integration control plane.

Select your switch-deployment-location connection and click Next. 

After adding the runtimes they will be displayed in the Integration runtime management along with your other integrations, from here you can then start and stop integration runtimes as well as drill into them to see their contents as well as starting and stopping applications too.

You can also view these connected runtimes in the App Connect dedicated view which provides the ability to:

• Start and stop the integration runtimes.
• View the contents.
• Start and stop apps.

Conclusion

This mechanism allows you to connect your existing App Connect in Containers Dashboard-managed integration runtimes within the webMethods Hybrid Integration control plane easily with a single switch Private Network Agent configuration. As it is the Dashboard which connects outwards to the switch, this also means you do not need to setup any firewall rules as the registration and connection to the switch server is made outbound from the Dashboard keeping your network more secure.

To get more information on webMethods Hybrid Integration and its control plane you can follow this link.