Infrastructure prerequisites

The Integration Designer service requires the following components to be set up before it can be started:

  • PostgreSQL - version 13 or higher for managing advancing data source
  • MongoDB - version 4.4 or higher for managing integration and runtime data
  • Kafka - version 2.8 or higher for event-driven communication between services
  • OAuth2 Authentication - Ensure a Keycloak server or compatible OAuth2 authorization server is configured

Dependencies

Configuration

Database configuration

Integration Designer uses both PostgreSQL and MongoDB for managing advancing data and integration information. Configure these database connections with the following environment variables:

PostgreSQL (Advancing data source)

  • ADVANCING_DATASOURCE_URL - Database URL for the advancing data source in PostgreSQL
  • ADVANCING_DATASOURCE_USERNAME - Username for the advancing data source in PostgreSQL

MongoDB (Integration data and runtime data)

Integration Designer requires two MongoDB databases for managing integration-specific data and runtime data. The integration-designer database is dedicated to Integration Designer, while the shared app-runtime database supports multiple services.

  • Integration Designer Database (integration-designer) - Stores data specific to Integration Designer, such as integration configurations and metadata.
  • Shared Runtime Database (app-runtime) - Used across multiple services for runtime data.

Set up these MongoDB connections with the following environment variables:

  • SPRING_DATA_MONGODB_URI- URI for connecting to the Integration Designer MongoDB instance
    • Format: mongodb://${DB_USERNAME}:${DB_PASSWORD}@<host1>,<host2>,<arbiter-host>:<port>/<database>?retryWrites=false
  • DB_USERNAME: integration-designer
  • SPRING_DATA_MONGODB_STORAGE - Specifies the storage type used for the Runtime MongoDB instance (Azure environments only)
    • Possible Values: mongodb, cosmosdb
    • Default Value: mongodb
  • SPRING_DATA_MONGODB_RUNTIME_ENABLED - Enables runtime MongoDB usage
    • Default Value: true
  • SPRING_DATA_MONGODB_RUNTIME_URI - URI for connecting to MongoDB for Runtime MongoDB (app-runtime)
    • Format: SPRING_DATA_MONGODB_RUNTIME_URI : mongodb://${DB_USERNAME}:${DB_PASSWORD}@<host1>,<host2>,<arbiter-host>:<port>/<database>??retryWrites=false
  • DB_USERNAME: app-runtime

Configuring Kafka

To configure Kafka for Integration Designer, set the following environment variables. This configuration includes naming patterns, consumer group settings, and retry intervals for authentication exceptions.

General Kafka configuration

  • SPRING_KAFKA_BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS - Address of the Kafka server in the format host:port
  • KAFKA_TOPIC_NAMING_ENVIRONMENT - Environment-specific suffix for Kafka topics
  • FLOWX_WORKFLOW_CREATETOPICS - To automatically create kafka topics for development environments
    • When set to true: In development environments, where Kafka topics may need to be created automatically, this configuration can be enabled (flowx.workflow.createTopics: true). This allows for the automatic creation of “in” and “out” topics when workflows are created, eliminating the need to wait for topic creation at runtime.
    • Default setting (false): In production or controlled environments, where automated topic creation is not desired, this setting remains false to prevent unintended Kafka topic creation.

Kafka consumer settings

  • KAFKA_CONSUMER_GROUP_ID_START_WORKFLOWS - Consumer group ID for starting workflows

    • Default Value: start-workflows-group
  • KAFKA_CONSUMER_THREADS_START_WORKFLOWS - Number of Kafka consumer threads for starting workflows

    • Default Value: 3
  • KAFKA_AUTH_EXCEPTION_RETRY_INTERVAL - Interval (in seconds) between retries after an AuthorizationException

    • Default Value: 10

Kafka topic naming structure

The Kafka topics for Integration Designer use a structured naming convention with dynamic components, allowing for easy integration across environments. This setup defines separators, environment identifiers, and specific naming patterns for both engine and integration-related messages.

Topic naming components

ComponentDescriptionDefault Value
packagePackage identifier for namespaceai.flowx.
environmentEnvironment identifierdev.
versionVersion identifier for topic compatibility.v1
separatorPrimary separator for components.
separator2Secondary separator for additional distinction-
prefixCombines package and environment as a topic prefix${kafka.topic.naming.package}${kafka.topic.naming.environment}
suffixAppends version to the end of the topic name${kafka.topic.naming.version}
Predefined patterns for services
  • Engine Receive Pattern - kafka.topic.naming.engineReceivePattern

    • Pattern: engine${dot}receive${dot}
    • Example Topic Prefix: ai.flowx.dev.engine.receive.
  • Integration Receive Pattern - kafka.topic.naming.integrationReceivePattern

    • Pattern: integration${dot}receive${dot}
    • Example Topic Prefix: ai.flowx.dev.integration.receive.

Kafka topics

  • Events Gateway - Outgoing Messages

    • Topic: ${kafka.topic.naming.prefix}eventsgateway${dot}receive${dot}workflowinstances${kafka.topic.naming.suffix}
    • Purpose: Topic for outgoing workflow instance messages from the events gateway
    • Example Value: ai.flowx.dev.eventsgateway.receive.workflowinstances.v1
  • Engine Pattern

    • Pattern: ${kafka.topic.naming.prefix}${kafka.topic.naming.engineReceivePattern}
    • Purpose: Topic pattern for receiving messages by the engine service
    • Example Value: ai.flowx.dev.engine.receive.*
  • Integration Pattern

    • Pattern: ${kafka.topic.naming.prefix}${kafka.topic.naming.integrationReceivePattern}*
    • Purpose: Topic pattern for receiving messages by the integration service
    • Example Value: ai.flowx.dev.integration.receive.*

Replace placeholders with appropriate values for your environment before starting the service.

Configuring authentication and access roles

Integration Designer uses OAuth2 for secure access control. Set up OAuth2 configurations with these environment variables:

  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_BASE_SERVER_URL - Base URL for the OAuth 2.0 Authorization Server
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_CLIENT_CLIENT_ID - Unique identifier for the client application registered with the OAuth 2.0 server
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_CLIENT_CLIENT_SECRET - Secret key for authenticating requests made by the authorization client
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_REALM - The realm name for OAuth2 authentication
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_ADMIN_CLIENT_ID - Client ID for the integration designer service account
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET - Client Secret for the integration designer service account

Refer to the dedicated section for configuring user roles and access rights:

Access Management

Refer to the dedicated section for configuring a service account:

Integration Designer service account

Authentication and access roles

  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_BASE_SERVER_URL - Base URL for the OAuth2 authorization server
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_REALM - Realm for OAuth2 authentication
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_CLIENT_CLIENT_ID - Client ID for the Integration Designer OAuth2 client
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_CLIENT_CLIENT_SECRET - Client Secret for the Integration Designer OAuth2 client
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_ADMIN_CLIENT_ID - Client ID for the Keycloak admin service account
  • SECURITY_OAUTH2_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_ADMIN_CLIENT_SECRET - Client Secret for the Keycloak admin service account

Configuring loogging

To control the log levels for Integration Designer, set the following environment variables:

  • LOGGING_LEVEL_ROOT - The log level for root Spring Boot microservice logs
  • LOGGING_LEVEL_APP - The log level for application-level logs

Configuring admin ingress

Integration Designer provides an admin ingress route, which can be enabled and customized with additional annotations for SSL certificates or routing preferences.

  • Enabled: Set to true to enable the admin ingress route.
  • Hostname: Define the hostname for admin access.
  ingress:
    enabled: true
    admin:
      enabled: true
      hostname: "{{ .Values.flowx.ingress.admin }}"
      path: /integration(/|$)(.*)
      annotations:
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/rewrite-target: /$2
        nginx.ingress.kubernetes.io/cors-allow-headers: DNT,Keep-Alive,User-Agent,X-Requested-With,If-Modified-Since,Cache-Control,Content-Type,Range,Authorization,platform,Flowx-Platform

Monitoring and maintenance

To monitor the performance and health of the Application Manager, use tools like Prometheus or Grafana. Configure Prometheus metrics with the following environment variable:

  • MANAGEMENT_PROMETHEUS_METRICS_EXPORT_ENABLED - Enables or disables Prometheus metrics export (default: false).

RBAC configuration

Integration Designer requires specific RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) permissions to access Kubernetes ConfigMaps and Secrets, which store necessary configurations and credentials. Set up these permissions by enabling RBAC and defining the required rules.

  • rbac.create: Set to true to create RBAC resources.
  • rbac.rules: Define custom RBAC rules as follows:
rbac:
  create: true
  rules:
    - apiGroups:
        - ""
      resources:
        - secrets
        - configmaps
        - pods
      verbs:
        - get
        - list
        - watch

This configuration grants read access (get, list, watch) to ConfigMaps, Secrets, and Pods, which is essential for retrieving application settings and credentials required by Integration Designer.