- Automatically upload data to a CAST Imaging instance
- Prerequisites
- Configuring AIP Console to interface with your CAST Imaging instance
- Saving the settings
- Editing existing settings
- Ensuring AIP Console uploads data during the next analysis/snapshot
- What happens when the Application data already exists in CAST Imaging?
- What happens if you delete an Application or a snapshot?
- Where is the exported data stored?
- Additional options when adding/cloning/editing a version
- Extension origin priority change
- Architecture Studio - Library Components
Automatically upload data to a CAST Imaging instance
The process of exporting and importing data into a CAST Imaging instance has previously been a manual process that must be actioned following the completion of either a snapshot or an analysis. AIP Console 1.21.0-beta1 introduces the ability to automate this data export and import as part of the standard onboarding and rescan processes so that when these processes are complete, all data is ready to use in CAST Imaging without having to perform any additional manual actions.
Prerequisites
| CAST Imaging up and running |  | Your designated CAST Imaging instance must be up and running in order to accept data from AIP Console. Only one CAST Imaging instance can be configured in AIP Console to accept data. |
|---|---|---|
| CAST Imaging user with the ADMIN role | | At least one CAST Imaging user must be configured with the CAST Imaging ADMIN role (see Admin Center - Users panel) - this user should be specified in AIP Console as explained below. |
| CAST Imaging license must be valid | | You must ensure that the license applied in CAST Imaging is valid. |
Configuring AIP Console to interface with your CAST Imaging instance
A new set of CAST Imaging specific settings has been implemented in Administration Center - System Settings. These settings are global to AIP Console, i.e they are valid for all AIP Nodes managed in AIP Console (this means that only one CAST Imaging instance can be configured in AIP Console to accept data):
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| Imaging URL | Enter the URL to your CAST Imaging instance, including the port number if appropriate, for example: http://my_imaging_instance:8083 http://192.168.200.20:8083 https://my_imaging_instance https://192.168.200.20 If the CAST Imaging instance is remote to the AIP Console host server as recommended, then you may need to configure the firewall on the CAST Imaging instance instance to accept incoming TCP connections on the specific port you are using (8083 by default). |
|---|---|
| Imaging username | Enter a CAST Imaging user name that has the ADMIN role (see Admin Center - Users panel). |
| Imaging password | Enter the password that corresponds to the user name you have entered. |
| ETL Host | Enter the host name or IP address of the server hosting the CAST Imaging ETL component. This should be the host name/IP address on which the CAST Imaging instance is running - in other words it should match the hostname or IP address used in the Imaging URL field above: my_imaging_instance 192.168.200.20 |
| ETL Port | Enter the ETL port number for your CAST Imaging instance. By default the ETL service on your CAST Imaging instance (which is responsible for accepting the data from AIP Console) runs on port 9001, so you should enter this number unless you have customized your internal services. If the CAST Imaging instance is remote to the AIP Console host server as recommended, then you may need to configure the firewall on the CAST Imaging instance instance to accept incoming TCP connections on port 9001. |
| ETL Token | Enter the ETL token. The token can be found in the following file on the server hosting your CAST Imaging instance: Microsoft Windows traditional installer: %APPDATA%\CAST\ImagingSystem\login\application.properties Docker Installer extension (located in the folder created when unzipping the extension): login/application.properties For example (in the example below, the token that should be used is D5ED6A406775FC71B8D2A978883E8ED4): proxy.config.token.values=D5ED6A406775FC71B8D2A978883E8ED4,D5ED6A406775FC71B8D2A978883E8ED4,D5ED6A406775FC71B8D2A978883E8ED4,D5ED6A406775FC71B8D2A978883E8ED4 |
Saving the settings
Use the Save button to save the settings you have entered - AIP Console will check that the settings are correct at this point. If AIP Console can successfully access the CAST Imaging instance using the settings you have entered, a "success" message will be shown, otherwise a "failure" message will be shown in which you will need to check the settings you have entered:
When the settings are saved:
The Publish to CAST Imaging option will be enabled in the Add version wizard (for onboarding new applications and rescanning existing applications): Click to enlarge
When the options in Imaging Settings described above do not exist or are incorrect, the option is unticked and disabled:
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The Publish to CAST Imaging option will be enabled in the run analysis/snapshot wizard: Click to enlarge
When the options in Imaging Settings described above do not exist or are incorrect, the option is unticked and disabled: Click to enlarge
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When the Publish to CAST Imaging option is selected when adding a new version, a new corresponding step will be visible in the analysis/snapshot process:
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The CAST Imaging icon will be visible in the AIP Console - Application Management screen for both new Applications and rescan of existing Applications:
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Editing existing settings
When you have entered settings you can edit them but you cannot remove them.
Ensuring AIP Console uploads data during the next analysis/snapshot
To ensure that your data is uploaded to your CAST Imaging instance, tick the Publish to CAST Imaging option when adding a new version, or running a new snapshot/analysis:
What happens when the Application data already exists in CAST Imaging?
When the current application already exists in your designated CAST Imaging instance, whether from a manual export/import, or from a previous automated upload from AIP Console, when you choose data to be uploaded again in a new snapshot/analysis (known as a refresh) the application data will be merged with existing data already imported into CAST Imaging - so new objects may be visible and existing objects may be removed or updated.
What happens if you delete an Application or a snapshot?
If you delete an Application or a snapshot using AIP Console, no corresponding data will be removed from your designated CAST Imaging instance. If you need to remove the data from CAST Imaging, please see Admin Center - Application management panel.
Where is the exported data stored?
When the Publish to CAST Imaging option is ticked, the data export/import process will be performed during the analysis/snapshot as explained previously. This process generates a ZIP file containing the data exported from the Analysis schema for your Application and this ZIP file is stored in the following location on the relevant AIP Node (i.e. the AIP Node that is responsible for the analysis/snapshot process for your Application):
%PROGRAMDATA%\CAST\AipConsole\AipNode\imaging-etl\<APP_NAME>_YYYYMMDD-HHMMSS\<APP_NAME>.zip
This ZIP file can be retained and manually imported into CAST Imaging if required. Alongside the ZIP file, the config.json file used to perform the export/import process is also retained:
Additional options when adding/cloning/editing a version
Two new options have been added to improve workflow flexibility when adding/cloning/editing a version:
Click to enlarge
These two options are already available when choosing to run an analysis/take a new snapshot, whether for a new application/version or an existing application with a new version, although they have been renamed in this beta release:
Run analysis
The Run Analysis option has been added to provide more flexibility when adding/cloning/editing a version:
- The option is ticked by default, meaning that an analysis will automatically be run.
- unticking the option will also hide the following options:
- Add modules
- Take a snapshot
- Publish to Health Dashboard
- Publish to CAST Imaging
Technically the Run analysis option will now also include an internal step called "Prepare analysis data" step, which allows:
- Source code to be viewed when validating Dynamic Links
- Architecture Models results to be checked before generating a snapshot
Previously the Run analysis option (available only when choosing to run an analysis/take a new snapshot, whether for a new application/version or an existing application with a new version) did not include this step, therefore a full snapshot was required to be generated in order to correctly validate dynamic links or view Architecture Models results.
Publish to Health Dashboard
The Publish to Health Dashboard option has been added to allow a choice to be made when adding/cloning/editing a version:
- The option is ticked by default, meaning that data will be automatically uploaded to the defined Measurement schema and therefore made available in the embedded Health Dashboard or a standalone Health Dashboard configured to function with the defined Measurement schema.
- unticking the option will prevent the data from automatically being uploaded to the defined Measurement schema.
This option requires that a snapshot is also generated.
Extension origin priority change
AIP Console obtains details about which extensions to use from several different sources - these are known as the extension "origin":
- extensions that are already installed for the version
- extensions that have been discovered for a new version
- settings defined in the extension strategy settings
When an extension has multiple "origins", AIP Console uses a priority system to determine which "origin" should be used to include the extension in a given Application version. Up until this release of AIP Console, the priority used was as follows:
- CUSTOM are overwritten by DISCOVERED which are overwritten by FORCE_INSTALL which are overwritten by SHIPPED
From 1.21.0-beta1, the priority has been changed and is now:
- CUSTOM are overwritten by SHIPPED which are overwritten by DISCOVERED which are overwritten by FORCE_INSTALL
- CUSTOM = Extensions that are manually "included" in a given version of an Application using the AIP Console interface
- SHIPPED = Extensions that are shipped with AIP Core on the relevant AIP Node
- DISCOVERED = Extensions that AIP Console automatically determines (during the source code delivery) must be installed for a given version of an Application
- FORCE_INSTALL = Extensions selected by a user with the ADMIN role for use during an Application analysis (see Administration Center - Settings - Extensions Strategy for more information)
Architecture Studio - Library Components
Software architecture is becoming more and more complex and can involve various components and patterns. The library provides a means to store frequently used Layers and Sets than can be inserted (with their definition) into Architecture Models/Quality Models or Templates, so that you do not need to define the same Sets and Layers again and again. Take the following example:
- Any Layer or Set that exists in an Architecture Model/Quality Model or in a Template can be saved and stored in the Library.
- When subsequently building a new Architecture Model/Quality Model (either to use in an analysis/snapshot or as a basis for a template), Layers and Sets stored in the Library can be re-used therefore reducing the time needed to build the Model.
Thus, like Architecture/Quality Templates, they can facilitate the creation of Architecture Models/Quality Models:
- Some elements are supplied with AIP Console (standard library elements)
- Elements can be created manually from existing Architecture Models (custom library elements)
You can manage library components using the following menu:
