Resource management overview
IBM® Integration Bus provides several types of container project that you can use to organize your message flow development resources.
- An application is a container for the resources that are required to create a solution, and that should be deployed and managed together. Applications provide encapsulation, and resources within an application are packaged and deployed as a single unit, and can be managed as a single unit. For more information, see Applications.
- A service is a special type of application that has a defined interface and implementation. Services provide assisted development to provide web services in an integration node. Like applications, services provide encapsulation and are deployed and managed as a single unit. For more information, see Integration services.
- In IBM Integration Bus, a REST API is a specialized application that can be used to expose integrations as a RESTful web service that can be called by HTTP clients. For more information, see REST APIs.
- A library is a logical grouping of related code,
data, or both. A library typically contains reusable helper routines
and resources such as subflows, ESQL modules, message definitions,
maps, and Java™ utilities. A
library is useful to group resources of the same type or function,
for reuse or ease of management. A library is also packaged and deployed
as a single unit. You can use shared libraries and static libraries.
A shared library can be used by applications. A static library can
be used by applications or by independent message flows.
If you use a static library to contain resources, each application that references that static library is deployed with its own private copy of that library. If a static library is updated, each application that references it must be redeployed with the updated static library. A shared library is deployed directly to an integration server. Any application can reference the resources in that deployed shared library. If that shared library is updated, the changes are immediately visible to all referencing applications. For more information, see Libraries.
- An integration project is an unstructured container in which you can develop message flows and related resources. When resources from an integration project are packaged for deployment, you can choose exactly which resources should be packaged together. Integration projects cannot contain message models. For more information, see Integration projects.
Containers in the Application Development view
Applications, integration services, REST APIs, libraries, and integration projects are shown in the Application Development view. Resources that are contained in an application, integration service, REST API, or library are also shown, whether the container refers to them directly or indirectly.
Message flow projects were replaced by integration projects in WebSphere® Message Broker Version 8.0 (previously called Message Broker projects). Migrate message flow projects by following the instructions in Importing resources from previous versions.
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
 |
Application |
 |
Integration service |
 |
REST API |
 |
Shared library |
 |
Static library |
 |
Integration project |
 |
Java project |
 |
Message set project |
Applications and libraries that have been deployed to an integration server are displayed directly beneath the integration server in the IBM Integration Toolkit and the web user interface. You can also view deployed applications and libraries by using the IBM Integration API or the mqsilist command.
Libraries that are referenced by applications are displayed beneath the application. Shared libraries are contained in the Referenced Libraries folder, and static libraries are contained in the Included Libraries folder.
You can also specify how an application or message flow is started after it is deployed, or after the integration node, integration server, or containing application is restarted. You can choose to start an application or flow manually, or for it to be started automatically. You can also choose to maintain the existing state of an application or library. You can configure the run state by using the BAR File editor, as described in Editing configurable properties in a BAR file. You can also use the mqsiapplybaroverride command, as described in Setting the start mode of message flows and applications at run time.
If you focus on a library or application, the Application Development view shows only that library or application. When you are viewing projects, you can also filter resources by using working sets.
For detailed instructions about how to manage your resources by using applications and libraries, see Managing message flow resources.