Generating Deployment Artifacts

A deployment artifact is an archive file that contains all the information required to deploy the application to runtime. It is the only artifact that is handed from the design phase to the run time as it contains all the bundles and metadata that is required to deploy and run the application.

Note: If any further changes to the design or configurations are made, the deployment artifact (archive file) must be regenerated.

When creating an archive file for an application, the application packager also generates the TIBCO BusinessWorks™ Container Edition processes in SVG format.

There are multiple ways to create a deployment artifact:

  • From the Project Explorer view in TIBCO Business Studio™ for BusinessWorks™, open Project.application > Overview and click Export Application for Deployment link. In the EAR Export window, specify the location for the archive file and provide a custom name to the archive file, if needed, by clearing the Use Default EAR file name check box. Click Finish to create the deployment artifact (archive file).
  • By selecting the project application in the Project Explorer and dropping it in the File Explorer an archive file for the application is created. If needed, change the default location in the File Explorer by using the Open Directory to Browse option in the File Explorer and select a custom folder. For example c:/tmp.
Note: When importing projects created in a version of the software that is lower than TIBCO BusinessWorks Container Edition 2.3.x, if the application module or shared module version does not contain a .qualifier version, a design time validation error is thrown by default. Preference options can be set to ignore this validation error. Navigate to Window > Preferences > BusinessWorks >Validation >Missing .qualifier literal for module version. Preferences can be set to one of the following options:
  • Error: The validation error is displayed on the Problems tab.
  • Warning: A warning is displayed on the Problems tab.
  • Ignore: The validation error is not displayed on the Problems tab.

When you deploy an application, each application in an AppSpace is identified by its unique name and a major.minor version number. The version number is important as it provides traceability and helps troubleshoot in case of an error at run time. If any further modifications are made to the application, the archive file must be regenerated with an updated version number and then deployed to Cloud Foundry.