Building a Component

A key in creating a useful component is building the component.

Building a component selects specific versions of specific resources for use in the component. It assigns a version number to the component, and ensures that version of the component is always associated with specific versions of the component's resources.

Components consist of the following attributes.

• Path - A user definable location to store components. Between the many built-in components and the ones you create, the number of components can become extremely large making it difficult to locate the one you want. To help locating and using components easier, the provisioning software allows you to organize them in a hierarchical filing system.

• Component - (Name) A user definable text string that identifies the component. In some pages the component (name) will include the associated path such as in the Component Details page. In other pages such as the Components page it does not.

• Type - A user definable name for an object (Component Type) that serves as a service that manages the acquisition and deployment of source objects such as files directories, and configurations. The component type object is just another component that is used to control how to handle source information.

  The N1 Service Provisioning System software comes with a large number of component types that support WebLogic and Windows, UNIX, and some generic models.

• Version - The provisioning software manages version control by assigning a new version number each time a component is modified. This version number has a major number—the number to the left of the decimal point—and a minor number—the number to the right of the decimal point. You have the option of incrementing the minor number or the major number.

• Platform - Specifies which operating system(s) are valid for hosts that are targets for deployment.

• Checked in - The date and time the component was checked in. When a component is checked in it time and date stamps the component.

• Checked in by - The provisioning software provides an audit trail by storing the user ID of the person checking in the component.

• Label - A user definable text string that is used to categorize or group components. Labels can be used as sorting criteria on the component page.

• Category - A user definable object that is used to filter the component list. Categories are created using the categories page accessed from the Administrative page. Categories are then applied to a component from the Components page. Categories can also be created by clicking in the “Apply Categories . . .” link. at the bottom of the components page.

• Description - An optional user defined text string that describes the component object. This attribute is not used by the provisioning software but can provide meaningful information to the user. The better a description is the more useful it is for the user.

• Source - Identifies where the component source information came from including the path. This may be an object to be deployed (simple component), other components consisting (composite component) each consisting of other components or of an object to be deployed.

• Component Variables - User definable containers that store values required to deploy a component resource. For more information on component variables see Component Variables.

• Procedures - A set of instructions that tells what to with the resources and variables.

• Hidden - A flag that marks a component for exclusion from lists. Hidden components are not included in lists unless specifically requests.

If you're using the HTML user interface to define a component, saving the component automatically builds it.

Once a component has been built, it is ready to be deployed at which point you can either:

• install the component on a single set of hosts, using the HTML user interface to directly run the install procedure

• write a plan to install the component on several sets of target hosts

Plans are described in Chapter 6, Plans.