App Connect

From ACE 12.0.8.0 the Toolkit palette now contains a set of 22 new Discovery Request Message Flow nodes:

• Amazon CloudWatch Request node: Use the Amazon CloudWatch Request node to connect to Amazon CloudWatch and issue requests to perform actions on objects such as composite alarms, log events, metrics, and export tasks. For more information, see Amazon CloudWatch Request node.
• Amazon EC2 Request node: Use the Amazon EC2 Request node to connect to Amazon EC2 and issue requests to perform actions on objects such as Amazon machine images, availability zones, instances, key pairs, launch templates, and security groups. For more information, see Amazon EC2 Request node.
• Anaplan Request node: Use the Anaplan Request node to connect to Anaplan and issue requests to perform actions on objects such as files, cell data, list items, processes, imports, and exports. For more information, see Anaplan Request node.
• Asana Request node: Use the Asana Request node to connect to Asana and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as projects, tasks, stories, and workspaces. For more information, see Asana Request node.
• AWS Lambda Request node: Use the AWS Lambda Request node to connect to AWS Lambda and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, delete, or invoke functions. For more information, see AWS Lambda Request node.
• Confluence Request node: Use the Confluence Request node to connect to Confluence and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, delete, download, or publish objects such as blog posts, pages, attachments, and comments. For more information, see Confluence Request node.
• Dropbox Request node: Use the Dropbox Request node to connect to Dropbox and issue requests to retrieve files, folders, and paper docs, create, retrieve or revoke shared links, or download file content. For more information, see Dropbox Request node.
• flexEngage Request node: Use the flexEngage Request node to connect to flexEngage and issue requests to create or retrieve order events. For more information, see flexEngage Request node.
• GitHub Request node: Use the GitHub Request node to connect to GitHub and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, delete, or merge objects such as branches, issues, organizations, pull requests, and repositories. For more information, see GitHub Request node.
• Gmail Request node: Use the Gmail Request node to connect to Gmail and issue requests to send, delete, or retrieve emails, or update email labels. For more information, see Gmail Request node.
• Google Cloud PubSub Request node: Use the Google Cloud PubSub Request node to connect to Google Cloud Pub/Sub and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as subscriptions, topics, and messages. For more information, see Google Cloud PubSub Request node.
• Google Cloud Storage Request node: Use the Google Cloud Storage Request node to connect to Google Cloud Storage and issue requests to perform actions on objects such as buckets, bucket ACLs, object ACLs, and object versioning. For more information, see Google Cloud Storage Request node.
• Google Drive Request node: Use the Google Drive Request node to connect to Google Drive and issue requests to retrieve objects such as files, folders, revisions, and comments. For more information, see Google Drive Request node.
• IBM OpenPages with Watson Request node: Use the IBM OpenPages with Watson Request node to connect to IBM OpenPages with Watson and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as business entities, controls, files, issues, and processes. For more information, see IBM OpenPages with Watson Request node.
• Jira Request node: Use the Jira Request node to connect to Jira and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as projects, issues, filters, and users. For more information, see Jira Request node.
• Marketo Request node: Use the Marketo Request node to connect to Marketo and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as campaigns, leads, lists, or opportunities. For more information, see Marketo Request node.
• monday.com Request node: Use the monday.com Request node to connect to monday.com and issue requests to perform actions on objects such as boards, item files, items, subitems, and users. For more information, see monday.com Request node.
• Oracle Human Capital Management Request node: Use the Oracle Human Capital Management Request node to connect to Oracle Human Capital Management and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as absence records, candidates, job requisitions, payrolls, and time records. For more information, see Oracle Human Capital Management Request node.
• Salesforce Marketing Cloud Request node: Use the Salesforce Marketing Cloud Request node to connect to Salesforce Marketing Cloud and issue requests to perform actions on objects such as assets, campaigns, contacts, event definitions, journeys, and locations. For more information, see Salesforce Marketing Cloud Request node.
• Trello Request node: Use the Trello Request node to connect to Trello and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as actions, boards, cards, checklists, and teams. For more information, see Trello Request node.
• UKG Request node: Use the UKG Request node to connect to UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group) and issue requests to retrieve, reset, or create objects such as attendance records, employee schedules, job preferences, people, and leave records. For more information, see UKG Request node.
• Zendesk Service Request node: Use the Zendesk Service Request node to connect to Zendesk Service and issue requests to create, retrieve, update, or delete objects such as articles, tickets, ticket attachments, and users. For more information, see Zendesk Service Request node.

From ACE 12.0.8.0 the Toolkit palette now contains a set of 4 new Discovery Input Message Flow nodes:

• GitHub Input node: Use the GitHub Input node in a message flow to accept input from GitHub. For example, you can use the GitHub Input node to monitor GitHub for new or updated objects such as issues, commits, comments, and review comments. For more information, see GitHub Input node.
• Google Cloud PubSub Input node: Use the Google Cloud PubSub Input node in a message flow to accept input from Google Cloud Pub/Sub. For example, you can use the Google Cloud PubSub Input node to monitor Google Cloud Pub/Sub for new messages. For more information, see Google Cloud PubSub Input node.
• Jira Input node: Use the Jira Input node in a message flow to accept input from Jira. For example, you can use the Jira Input node to monitor Jira for new or updated issues. For more information, see Jira Input node.
• monday.com Input node: Use the monday.com Input node in a message flow to accept input from monday.com. For example, you can use the monday.com Input node to monitor monday.com for new, updated, or deleted objects, such as items and subitems. For more information, see monday.com Input node.

The purpose of the Graphical Data Mapper transformation node is to facilitate the transformation of data between a source format and a target format using a simple no-code experience. As a developer, when a Map node has been placed in to a message flow, the next stage of development is to configure the map which includes defining the schema (XML schema, JSON schema or DFDL schema) for the source format and the schema (XML schema, JSON schema or DFDL schema) for the target format. This can be a straight forward choice, but if you have a large workspace with lots of options this step can sometimes be an inhibitor to an easy usability experience. To mitigate this situation, in App Connect Enterprise 12.0.8.0 a new feature has been added which takes the context of the Map node's position in a message flow to suggest to the user the likely source or target schema which they may wish to associate with the node. The example message flow shown below includes a Gmail Request node which has already been configured, and so a JSON schema representing the output message from the Gmail Request node is already available in the Toolkit workspace. The Map node which has just been placed into the message flow after the Gmail Request node, now needs to be configured with a source and target:

When you double click the Map node, the first page of the resulting wizard, where possible, will now suggest which schema you might wish to use:

Although this Gmail Request example relates to a Discovery connector node, the same feature can be useful in a variety of circumstances, including for example with DFDL models that have been configured on an input message flow node preceding a Map node.

IBM App Connect Enterprise stores a log of administration activity for each integration node and integration server. You can view the events that are held in memory by integration nodes or servers, either in the Admin Log tab of the web user interface or by using the administration REST API. You can also configure an integration node or server to write admin log entries to a file. This is a long-standing capability of the product. Earlier major versions of the product (IBM Integration Bus 10 and earlier) did not have this facility, but they were able to publish administrative events over MQTT which third party applications could then subscribe to, in order to be notified when administrative changes were made. In order to satisfy users who preferred to receive notifications using this method (as opposed to polling for administration log activity), App Connect Enterprise 12.0.8.0 introduces a new publication format for distributing administration information over MQTT and IBM MQ. The information that is published is identical to the information in the admin log files. However, the process differs slightly depending on whether you publish from an independent integration server or an integration node.

Publishing from an independent integration server:

• You can publish from an independent integration server by updating the server.conf.yaml file.
• You must specify an MQTT server to publish over MQTT.
• If you do not specify an MQEndpoint policy, either the default queue manager or the remote default queue manager is used for publishing.

Publishing from an integration node:

• You can publish from an integration node by updating the node.conf.yaml file.
• You do not have to specify an IBM MQ policy if the integration node has a specified default queue manager.
• You do not have to specify an MQTT policy. An integration node publishes to the built-in MQTT pub/sub broker, which is available by default when the integration node is started.

Applications can then subscribe to the relevant topics for MQTT and IBM MQ:

• The relevant topics for MQTT are in the form IBM/IntegrationBus/<nodeName>/AdminLog/JSON/<serverName>
• The relevant topics for MQ are in the form $SYS/Broker/<nodeName>/AdminLog/JSON/<serverName>

The conceptual diagram below shows how in App Connect Enterprise 12.0.8.0, the Connect:Direct message flow nodes can exploit TLS authentication when communicating with a Connect:Direct server. The Connect:Direct output node is associated with a Connect:Direct Server policy which carries various items of configuration, including a security identity which links to Connect:Direct credentials (that can either be stored using an ACE vault, or using the mqsisetdbparms command). A new property of the policy is named Connect:Direct protocol and this configures the protocol to use when connecting to the Connect:Direct server. Use the value TCPIP for insecure connections, or TLS12 (for example) for secure connections. For more information about the available values, check out the Connect:Direct documentation here: https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/connectdirect-application-interface-java-protocol-and-cipher-suite-syntax

The diagram also shows the keystore and truststore which must be used to provide a public key infrastructure, if you wish to exploit a secured connection to the Connect:Direct server using TLS. These stores must be configured at the level of the integration node or the integration server's JVM. The screenshot below highlights the new Connect:Direct protocol property of the Connect:Direct Server Policy:

Typically the developer of a message flow who is using the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit will have access to the source .msgflow file that represents the message flow. This message flow might be saved on the disk system of the developer's local machine as part of the eclipse Toolkit's workspace, or it might be kept remotely in a version control system. There are other circumstances where a developer (or a system administrator) might want to understand the flow layout for a message flow which they don't immediately have access to the source message flow file. This could be for a variety of reasons - perhaps because the user wants to quickly understand the behaviour of a message flow or infer the route that a message has travelled when passing through a flow. A new feature provided for the first time in App Connect Enterprise 12.0.8.0 enables a Toolkit user to view the active flow layout of a deployed message flow in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit by double-clicking a deployed flow or by using the Context menu to see a visualization of the deployed flow, in the Integration Explorer view of the Toolkit (which by default is shown in the bottom left corner of the Integration Development perspective.  The View message flow menu option is shown in the screenshot below - note that in this example there is no source for the application ExampleRoutingRouteToLabel in the workspace:

Selecting View message flow or double clicking on the message flow, causes the message flow to be displayed. Blue borders around both the picture of the flow and its live properties highlight that this is a live view of a deployed flow, as opposed to a standard editable source file stored in the Toolkit workspace:

The Toolkit also now lets you view the endpoints of a deployed message flow by accessing the Endpoints tab in the Properties view for a deployed message flow. The same information displayed here is also accessible using the Administration REST API, the IBM Integration API, or the IBM App Connect Enterprise web user interface. You can view the endpoints at various different hierarchical levels of the architecture: the endpoints of an Integration Server, an Application, or a message Flow. The example below is showing the message flow scope, and in this example there is a single HTTP Input node which listens on the URL fragment /RoutingRouteToLabel

The equivalent information is also available in the web user interface at the integration server level on a new tab named Endpoints, as shown below:

App Connect Enterprise 12.0.8.0 introduces a new BAR file option when importing projects into your Toolkit workspace. To retrieve deployed artifacts from a BAR file and import them into your workspace:

1. Right click in the Application Development view of the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit to open the menu.
2. From the menu, select Import to open the Import wizard.
3. From the Import Wizard, select Import projects from a BAR file.
4. Hit Next and select the project(s) you are interested in, in the same way as if you were importing from other import formats such as a Project Interchange file.

OpenTelemetry provides an open-source framework for tracking and correlating data as it passes between disparate applications. The OpenTelemetry feature of App Connect Enterprise originated in 12.0.7.0 which provided a light-weight method of instrumenting ACE message flows.  When OpenTelemetry is enabled for an integration server, for all the supported transports (MQ, HTTP, REST, SOAP and Callable Flows nodes), Open Telemetry spans are generated and data is exported to an OpenTelemetry collector. OpenTelemetry collectors can be thought of as vendor-agnostic proxies that receive data before sending it on to one or more observability back-ends. App Connect Enterprise 12.0.8.0 extends support for OpenTelemetry tracing to also include integration servers on zLinux and Windows platforms, in addition to the support for Linux x86-64 that was added in 12.0.7.0.