Introduction

This section describes the hardware, software, and network configuration that needs to be in place before MettleCI can be deployed and configured in your environment.

If you have acquired an entitlement to use MettleCI via IBM Cloud Pak for Data then please visit /wiki/spaces/MCIDOC/pages/1512439920.

See also Rapid DataStage Upgrade - Technical Prerequisites for a description of the Rapid DataStage Upgrade technical pre-requisites for MettleCI.

MettleCI Platform Components

The following high-level MettleCI architecture shows the key software components to be installed, and their communications between hosts.

In-scope Hosts

Developer's Workstation: Where the Windows DataStage Designer client is typically run
Application Lifecycle Management Tools: One or more hosts running Work Item Management, Git, and Build services
Information Server Development Environment: Your development instance of Information Server, which may be deployed in any topology, and on any number of hosts.
Other Information Server Environment(s): Downstream Information Server environments, including testing and (optionally) Production. These environments can be MettleCI deployment targets without requiring the deployment of any MettleCI components.
MettleCI Agent Host: A MettleCI-dedicated Windows server hosting an IBM DataStage Client tier which is used by your Build system's agent, in conjunction with the MettleCI Command Line Interface, to automate build and deployment activities.

NOTE

MettleCI works with all Information Server deployment topologies, including High Availability, Grid, and Cluster environments, For clarity, this diagram shows each tier residing on its own, dedicated host.
Application Lifecycle Management components can be co-hosted with the other tools on the MettleCI Host or located on another host (on-premise, cloud or SaaS).

Connections

The MettleCI Workbench application running on your DataStage Engine tier needs to performs a commit to your Git platform.
The MettleCI Workbench application running on your DataStage Engine tier needs to perform a dynamic lookup of Work items when displaying the Git Commit page.
The Developer Workstation provides data engineers with access to the ALM tools' user interfaces via a supported web browser. This should cover...
1. the Git host,
2. the Work item Management host, and
3. the Build Host
The Developer Workstation requires regular DataStage client tier access to the development environment's ...
1. DataStage Engine tier, and
2. DataStage Services tier.
The Developer Workstation provides data engineers with access to the following components via a supported web browser:
1. OPTIONAL The MettleCI Scheduler (Azkaban) user interface
2. OPTIONAL The MettleCI Wallboard
Your Build system performs its duties via its agent installed on the MettleCI Host
The MettleCI Host requires regular access to the development environment's ...
1. DataStage Engine tier, and
2. DataStage Services tier
The MettleCI Host requires regular access to the downstream test environments' DataStage Engine and Services tiers, to affect automated deployment.