Installing and setting up the connector development environment

Set up the connector development environment to create, test, and build custom connectors in BMC Helix Connector Designer and deploy the custom connectors to the BMC Helix Integration Studio instances.

To set up the development environment, you must install the following components:

The Docker application, which enables installing and using BMC Helix Connector Designer
BMC Helix Connector Designer
Integration Controller

Before you begin

Ensure that your working environment matches the following system requirements for BMC Helix Connector Designer and Integration Controller.

System requirements for BMC Helix Connector Designer

Component	Requirements
Supported operating systems	Microsoft Windows 10.x or later Apple OS X or macOS 10.11.x and later Linux CentOS 7.1 or later (7.3 preferred) Ubuntu 14.04.5 or later (16.04.x preferred) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 or later (7.4 preferred)
Supported web browsers	Mozilla Firefox 53.x or later Google Chrome 57.x or later Microsoft Internet Explorer 11.x or later Microsoft Edge 40.x or later
Processor	2.5 GHz, a minimum of 4 cores
RAM	A minimum of 8 GB
Disk space	A minimum of 30 GB of free space
Other	Docker CE—Generally preferred, but not supported for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Docker EE—Required for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Important: For both Docker CE and EE, only versions 18.01 to 24.0.9 are supported. Docker version 25.0.0 and later is not supported.

System requirements for Integration Controller

Component	Requirements
Supported operating systems	Linux (physical or a virtual machine): CentOS 7.1 or later (7.3 preferred) Ubuntu 14.04.5 or later (16.04.x preferred) Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.3 or later (7.4 preferred)
Processor	2.5 GHz, a minimum of 2 CPU
RAM	A minimum of 8 GB
Disc space	A minimum of 30 GB of free space
Networks	Allow egress (an outbound from one network to another) on port 61600 for bidirectional TCP traffic.
Container software	Docker CE—Versions 18.01 to 24.0.9 are supported (included in Docker) Important: Docker CE is not supported for Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Docker Compose—Version 1.9 or later is supported (might not be included in Docker, depending on the OS)

To set up the connector development environment

Log in to your BMC Helix Integration Studio development instance as a tenant administrator.
Navigate to Sites, and select Add New Site > Add a Development Site.
Enter a Site Name (required) and a Description of your site (optional).
Save the changes.
Next to the saved site, a Not Installed label and an Install Connector Designer button are displayed.
To get the installation link for the Connector Designer, click Install Connector Designer and complete the steps described.
To open the BMC Helix Connector Designer login screen, click https://localhost:3000/.
Log in to the BMC Helix Connector Designer by using your BMC Helix Connector Designer username and password.
Important
The Reset Password link redirects to the BMC Helix Integration Service login screen. Click Forgot Password to reset your password.
From the main menu of BMC Helix Connector Designer, click Administration.
From the Settings menu, click Integration Controller and enter or update the following values:
- Instance URL—The URL of your production instance.
- Username—The username to log in to the production instance.
- Password—The password to your user account.
From the Site menu, select the site name of the development site you created earlier in this procedure.
Click Start.
The red down arrow changes to a green up arrow in the BMC Helix Connector Designer interface, which indicates that Integration Controller is running.
(Optional) Refresh the BMC Helix Integration Studio page in your browser to view the updated status of the site.
The development site you created previously is Online, which indicates that the Integration Controller is set up correctly.
Best practice
To ensure that you have the latest version of Integration Controller, we recommend that you update your production and development sites every time new features are released.

Where to go from here

Validating the connector development environment