Validating the connector development environment

As a developer, after you install and set up the connector development environment, you can use the validation utility to determine if the environment is set up correctly. The utility runs different health checks for the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems and suggests the required actions to be performed.

If BMC Helix Connector Designer is not installed, and all required preceding health checks pass successfully, the validation utility automatically installs BMC Helix Connector Designer for both the Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems.

Additionally, if you receive environment-related or Docker-related errors inBMC Helix Connector Designer, you can use the validation utility to gather information about the state of your system. The diagnostic information is saved to a local file that you can use to troubleshoot environment-related or Docker-related errors.

To run the validation utility

1. From  BMC Communities , download the validation utility to your working directory by performing either of the following actions:
   
   
   • If you have the Microsoft Windows operating system, navigate to the Docker validation tool for Windows folder, and then download the windowsValidator.exe file.
   • If you have the Linux operating system, navigate to the Docker validation tool for Linux folder, and then download the linuxValidator file.
     
     
2. Open the downloaded file.
   The utility performs the health checks.

3. Follow the health check instructions to fix the connector environment issues (if any).

   Important

   The health checks performed depend on the operating system. See Validation workflow for Microsoft Windows and Validation workflow for Linux.

Validation workflow for Microsoft Windows

For the Microsoft Windows operating system, the following health checks are performed by the validation utility:

• Microsoft Windows version—Checks whether the Microsoft Windows version is compatible with the connector development environment.
• BMC Helix Connector Designer installation check—Checks whether BMC Helix Connector Designer is installed.
• Docker installation—Checks whether Docker is installed.
• Ports availability—Checks whether the required 3000 and 61612 ports are enabled.
• Drive permissions—Checks whether Docker has access to a local drive.
• Proxy synchronization—Checks whether the system-specific proxy settings are set up and whether these settings are synchronized with Docker settings.
• BMC Helix Connector Designer start—Shows if BMC Helix Connector Designer is running.
• API connectivity—Checks whether an API connection was established.

After you start the utility, the health checks are performed; the next health check starts only if the preceding check is completed successfully.

The following illustration shows the validation workflow for Microsoft Windows:

Validation workflow for Linux

For the Linux operating system, the following health checks are performed by the validation utility:

• BMC Helix Connector Designer installation—Checks whether BMC Helix Connector Designer is installed.
• Docker installation—Checks whether Docker is installed.
• Ports availability—Checks whether the required 3000 and 61612 ports are enabled.
• BMC Helix Connector Designer start—Checks whether BMC Helix Connector Designer is running.
• API connectivity—Checks whether an API connection was established.

After you start the utility, the health checks are performed; the next health check starts only if the preceding check is completed successfully.

The following illustration shows the validation workflow for Linux:

Validation utility log file

The validation results of each health check are automatically saved to the system_check.log file. The file is located in the same directory where you downloaded the validation utility. 

For more information about troubleshooting common environment-related issues, see Troubleshooting BMC Helix Connector Designer issues.

Where to go from here

Creating or deleting a connector project