Cloud Transformation using webMethods Cloud Container

[system]

1. Introduction:

webMethods Cloud Container offers Lift and Shift capabilities to deploy webMethods Integrations to the Cloud. You can use the same set of tools to develop, debug and test integrations for the cloud as you do for on-premises integration using this offering. fix, patch management and scheduled upgrades, and CI/CD support in the cloud are few highlights for this offering. Existing integration can be deployed to webMethods Cloud Container for Cloud Transformation.

This article explains about the transformation of the on-premises assets (Integration Server, Universal Messaging) to Cloud Container.

1. Pre-requisites:

• An active subscription of Cloud Container, you can subscribe to new offerings on Software AG Cloud. Please look at the documentation here https://documentation.softwareag.com/cloudcontainer/quickstart/quickstart/#gsc.tab=0.
• On-premise installation for Cloud Transformation. Please refer http://techcommunity.softwareag.com/pwiki/-/wiki/Main/webMethods%20Cloud%20Container%20-%20Introduction.

1. Integration Server Assets:

Below catalogue provides the transformation/approach for migrating the on-premises Integration Server assets to webMethods Cloud Container.

 

Asset Type	On-Premise Integration Server	Cloud Transformation with Cloud Container	Comments/Links
Package(s)	Packages on Integration Server	Packages can be deployed from either from Designer or using the CI/CD process.	Designer Deployment CLI Deployment
Access Control List (ACLs)	Associated with the Packages and the assets with in the packages	Can be deployed as individual configurations but is recommended to deploy along with the packages	Deploy with Configurations
Adapter Connections & Pooling Notifications	Would be packaged within the Integration Server package	During the deployment to cloud it is recommended to use Variable substitution to replace the values. Providing the values on Cloud Container manually is not recommended. Cloud Container runs on Kubernetes platform managed by Software AG and the values entered manually would be lost if the servers are restarted/upgraded. Cloud Container is certified with JDBC Adapter, MQ Adapter till now. Certification of remaining adapters are in progress.	Deploy with Variable Substitution.
webMethods Cloud Configurations	Integration with webMethods.io Integration is driven by WmCloud package	Cloud Container and webMethods.io Integration can interact with each other using Cloud Container connector on webMethods.io Integration. Cloud Container can invoke webMethods.io Integration directly with REST/SOAP endpoints	Addressed by Connector on webMethods.io Integration
Client Certificates	Client certificates generally store the client's public key to user mapping information.	Client certificates should be configured on the platform and can be mapped to users and solutions	Client Certificates
CSRF Guard	CSRF guard is applicable only in condition when user is accessing IS admin pages directly	This is provided and handled by Cloud Container UI	Not Applicable
Enterprise Gateway Rules	Used for configuring Threat Protection Rules	This is offered by webMethods.io API	Threat Protection Rules
External Authorization Server	Integration with JWT, Kerberos, SAML, OAuth, OpenID providers	This is offered by webMethods.io API	JWT OAuth SAML Kerberos OpenID
Keystores, Truststores	Keystores and Truststores used for SSL interactions	These assets can be deployed to individual solutions packaged within any package	Deploying Certificates
Ports – HTTP(s), FTP(s), Email, WebSocket(s), Enterprise Gateway, Internal	Creating ports are possible with Integration Server/Microservices Runtime	HTTP Ports are cannot be deployed on Cloud Container. Ports are not exposed on Cloud Container. APIs can be accessed through Cloud Container naming conventions. FTP, Email, WebSocket capabilities are not yet certified on Cloud Container. Enterprise Gateway capabilities can be leveraged from API Gateway.	Accessing APIs
Users and Groups	Custom Users, Groups can be associated with Access Control Lists. Authentication/Authorization can be driven by the same	Users and Groups can be deployed as configurations to Cloud Container. But it is recommended to use Access Profiles on Cloud Container for Authentication and Authorization.	Access Profiles
Cache Managers	Distributed and Local Caching is supported by Integration Server on on-premise	webMethods Cloud Container does not offer Terracotta Caching for solutioning. Only clustering is supported at this moment.	Not Applicable
Clustering	Clustering was manual on on-premises	This is supported out of the box. Both Stateless and Stateful Clustering is supported.	Not Applicable
Enhanced XML Parsing	This is enabled on on-premises when Big Memory is enabled	This is not supported as Big Memory is not offered on Cloud Container	Not Applicable
Global Variables	Global Configuration framework that can store key, value pairs	It is recommended to deploy the Global variables are configurations.	Similar approach to SFTP Configurations
Hot Deployment, JDBC Pools, Licensing, Logging	These can be configured for on-premises	These are handled and managed by Cloud Container platform	Not Applicable
Messaging Configurations	On-premises Integration Server can have webMethods Messaging, JMS configurations with Universal Messaging/webMethods Broker/External Messaging servers	When Solutions are created on Cloud Container with UM as an option platform by default creates the webMethods Messaging and JMS Configurations by default. However, deploying additional messaging configurations are also supported and the same can connect to external messaging servers.	Deploying Messaging Configurations
Metadata, Proxy Servers, Quiesce, Remote Servers	Some of these configurations are required for on-premises	Most of these configurations are managed by Cloud Container Platform	Not Applicable
Resource Configurations	Thread Pools, SMTP configurations are the most important configurations	During the cloud transformation these configurations are often ignored but these are one of the important configurations that needs to be deployed. These should be deployed as configurations.	Deploying Resource Configurations
SFTP configurations	Remote SFTP Server and User Alias configurations	These configurations can be deployed as configurations to Cloud Container.	Deploying SFTP Configurations
URL Aliases	Used for simplification and masking the actual API end-point.	These configurations are packaged within the custom packages. It is recommended to save these configurations with the same package that the actual API. These configurations would be deployed along with the packages.	Deployed with the Package
Web Service End point configurations	SOAP webservice end-point details – both for provider and consumer on Integration Server	These configurations can be deployed as configurations to Cloud Container	Deployed as configurations – Similar to SFTP
Extended Settings	One of the important configurations – can be used to change the product behavior or to add custom key-value pairs	These configurations can be deployed as configurations to Cloud Container	Deployed as configurations – Similar to SFTP
Custom Libraries	Custom/External libraries are often used to connect to a database using database drivers, implement a custom framework using custom libraries etc.	Custom libraries can be deployed packaged within the custom packages	Deploying libraries
File Access Controls	File Access Controls are saved within config directory of WmPublic. These are used for CRUD operations on the files.	It is recommended to use external storage while working with Cloud Container. Amazon S3 buckets, Google Cloud Storage, etc. are few examples. However if there is a need to perform CRUD to use as a transient store, the configurations can be deployed.	Deploying File Access Controls

4. Universal Messaging Assets:

When Universal Messaging (UM) is used for native webMethods messaging, the required assets on UM would be created by Integration Server connected. Assets needs to be deployed to UM on when it is used as JMS provider. Connection Factories, Queues and Topics fall under this category.

Asset Type	On-Premise Integration Server	Cloud Transformation with Cloud Container	Comments/Links
JNDI Objects	Connection Factories, Queues and Topics	These can be deployed as configurations to Cloud Container	Deploying Messaging Configurations
Other Properties	Realm tuning configurations	These can be deployed as configurations templates	Same as above.

[Prerna_Ramteke]

webMethods Cloud Container is a cloud-native integration platform that can help organizations transform their legacy systems and migrate them to the cloud. It offers a range of tools and services that can help organizations modernize their infrastructure, streamline their operations, and improve their agility.

Here are some ways in which webMethods Cloud Container can be used to transform legacy systems to the cloud:

1. Migration of legacy applications: webMethods cloud container can help organizations migrate their legacy applications to the cloud. It offers a container-based deployment model that allows organizations to run their legacy applications on modern cloud infrastructure.
2. Integration of on-premise and cloud systems: webMethods Cloud Container offers a range of integration capabilities that can help organizations connect their on-premise systems with their cloud systems. This can help organizations leverage their existing investments in legacy systems while taking advantage of the benefits of cloud infrastructure.
3. Streamlining operations: webMethods Cloud Container offers a range of tools and services that can help organizations streamline their operations. For example, it offers monitoring and management tools that can help organizations identify and resolve issues in real-time.
4. Improving agility: webMethods Cloud Container can help organizations improve their agility by enabling them to quickly spin up new environments and test new applications. This can help organizations accelerate their innovation and respond more quickly to changing market conditions.
5. Reducing costs: webMethods Cloud Container can help organizations reduce their infrastructure costs by providing a more efficient and scalable deployment model. By leveraging cloud infrastructure, organizations can avoid the upfront costs of purchasing and maintaining their own hardware.

Overall, webMethods Cloud Container can help organizations transform their legacy systems and migrate them to the cloud. By leveraging container-based deployment models, integration capabilities, and operational tools, organizations can improve their agility, streamline their operations, and reduce their costs.