Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Documentation

Set Up Oracle Visual Builder Studio Generation 2

Like other Oracle Cloud services, you must create an instance of Oracle Visual Builder Studio (VB Studio) before you can start using it. You can create only one VB Studio instance per cloud tenancy. Your users can manage their development and deployment processes by taking advantage of VB Studio's many capabilities including development team management, issue tracking, Agile planning, Git version management, and continuous integration and deployment pipelines.

VB Studio Generation 2 refers to VB Studio running natively on Oracle Cloud Generation 2 Infrastructure.

Note

It’s important that you determine if you’re running on Gen 2 so you know which chapter to read for set-up instructions. Let’s do a quick test: Open the OCI console, then open Developer Services. Scan the list for "Visual Builder Studio". If you don’t see it, that means you’re not running on Gen 2 and should refer to Set Up Oracle Visual Builder Studio instead of this chapter. If you do see it, then this chapter is the one you need.

After you finish creating an instance and setting it up, you'll need to set the build system up for CI/CD, by referring to Set Up VB Studio for CI/CD. Then, if you want to set up VB Studio to customize certain Oracle Cloud Applications through application extensions, see Set Up VB Studio to Extend Oracle Cloud Applications or, if you want to set up VB Studio to develop web and mobile visual applications and deploy them to Visual Builder instances, see Set Up VB Studio for Developing Visual Applications.

Availability

Visual Builder Studio Generation 2 is currently available in the regions listed in the OCI Data Regions page.

Select your region, then scroll down the list until you find the row for VB Studio. Alternatively, you can use Ctrl+F and search for "Oracle Visual Builder Studio". The row shows the data centers in the selected region where the VB Studio is currently available.

Service Limits

When you sign up for Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, a set of service limits is configured for your tenancy. The service limit is the quota or allowance set on a resource. Review the following service limits for VB Studio Generation 2 resources.

Resource Service Limit
VB Studio instance count 1 instance per region

To learn more about service limits, see Service Limits.

IAM Policy Details for VB Studio

This section provides information about writing policies to control access to VB Studio.

Resource Types

These are the resources available for VB Studio:

  • vbstudio-instance/vbstudio-instances

Supported Variables

Variables are used when adding conditions to a policy. The conditions are evaluated by the OCI authorization service when API requests are authorized.

For the complete list of general variables that are applicable to all requests, including those that can be used in policy statements authorizing VB Studio API requests, see General Variables for All Requests.

Details for Meta-Verb + Resource-Type Combinations

The following table shows the permissions and API operations covered by each meta-verb. The level of access is cumulative as you go from inspect > read > use > manage.

Verb Permissions APIs Fully Covered APIs Partially Covered
INSPECT
  • VBS_INSTANCE_INSPECT
  • ListVbsInstances
  • ListWorkRequests
 None
READ
  • Inherits from INSPECT:
    • VBS_INSTANCE_INSPECT
  • VBS_INSTANCE_READ
  • GetVbsInstance
  • GetWorkRequest
  • ListWorkRequestErrors
  • ListWorkRequestLogs
 None
USE
  • Inherits from READ:
    • VBS_INSTANCE_INSPECT
    • VBS_INSTANCE_READ
  • VBS_INSTANCE_UPDATE
  • UpdateVbsInstance
 None
MANAGE
  • Inherits from USE:
    • VBS_INSTANCE_INSPECT
    • VBS_INSTANCE_READ
    • VBS_INSTANCE_UPDATE
  • VBS_INSTANCE_CREATE
  • VBS_INSTANCE_DELETE
  • CreateVbsInstance
  • DeleteVbsInstance
 None

Permissions Required for Each API Operation

API Operation Permissions Required to Use the Operation Description

ListVbsInstances

 VBS_INSTANCE_INSPECT List the VB Studio instances

GetVbsInstance

 VBS_INSTANCE_READ Get the VB Studio instance

CreateVbsInstance

 VBS_INSTANCE_CREATE Create a VB Studio instance

DeleteVbsInstance

 VBS_INSTANCE_DELETE Delete a VB Studio instance

UpdateVbsInstance

 VBS_INSTANCE_UPDATE Update a VB Studio instance

ListWorkRequests

 VBS_INSTANCE_INSPECT List a Visual Builder instance's work requests

GetWorkRequest

 VBS_INSTANCE_READ Get a Visual Builder instance's work request

ListWorkRequestErrors

 VBS_INSTANCE_READ List a Visual Builder instance's work request errors

ListWorkRequestLogs

 VBS_INSTANCE_READ List a Visual Builder instance's work request logs

Example OCI IAM Policy Statements that Grant These Permissions

This example grants fine-grained permissions to a group called devteam1:

Allow devteam1 to {VBS_INSTANCE_INSPECT,VBS_INSTANCE_READ,VBS_INSTANCE_CREATE,VBS_INSTANCE_UPDATE,VBS_INSTANCE_DELETE,VBS_INSTANCE_MOVE} in tenancy

Here's another example that uses the friendlier meta-verbs to grant the same permissions to group devteam1 and a lesser set to another group, devteam2:

Allow devteam1 to manage vbstudio-instances in tenancy

Allow devteam2 to use vbstudio-instances in tenancy

Additional Permissions Required to Create or Update VB Studio Instances with CI/CD Authorization

When a VB Studio instance is created and the "Yes, I authorize this" option is selected during the CI/CD setup, an additional policy will be automatically created to authorize VB Studio to perform the necessary operations in the selected compartment for the CI/CD resources. For this automatic policy creation to succeed, the user who creates the instance must also have permissions to manage policies in the root compartment (as well as permissions to manage dynamic groups). Typically, tenancy administrators have these permissions, so the easiest way to create a VB Studio instance is to have a tenancy administrator do it. If that isn't feasible, it's also possible to create the VB Studio instance without the CI/CD authorization and then set it up by performing an edit operation at a later time.

Service Events

Actions that you perform on Oracle Visual Builder Studio instances emit events. You can use the Oracle Cloud Console to define rules that trigger a specific action when an event occurs. For example, you might define a rule that sends a notification to administrators when someone either creates, deletes, or updates an instance.

See Overview of Events and Get Started with Events.

This table lists the Visual Builder Studio events that you can reference.

Event Name Event Type
Visual Builder Studio - Create Instance - begin com.oraclecloud.vbstudioinst.createvbsinstance.begin
Visual Builder Studio - Create Instance - end com.oraclecloud.vbstudioinst.createvbsinstance.end
Visual Builder Studio - Delete Instance - begin com.oraclecloud.vbstudioinst.deletevbsinstance.begin
Visual Builder Studio - Delete Instance - end com.oraclecloud.vbstudioinst.deletevbsinstance.end
Visual Builder Studio - Update Instance - begin com.oraclecloud.vbstudioinst.updatevbsinstance.begin
Visual Builder Studio - Update Instance - end com.oraclecloud.vbstudioinst.updatevbsinstance.end

Get the Right IDCS Roles

If you're the Oracle Cloud account subscriber, you're assigned the required roles to set up the VB Studio instance. If you're not the subscriber, ensure that you are assigned the correct roles in Oracle Identity Cloud Service (IDCS).

You must be assigned this role: To ...
Cloud Account Administrator Set up Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) compartments, policies, dynamic groups, and permission to create and manage the VB Studio instance.

If you're not an account administrator, contact the administrator to add you to the OCI_Administrators IDCS group.

Identity Domain Administrator or User Administrator Add users and assign IDCS roles.

If you're not an administrator, make sure that your OCI group is assigned a policy like this:

Allow group MyGroup to inspect identity-providers in tenancy

Configure Your OCI Resources for CI/CD

To allow your organization's members to run CI/CD builds, you should configure VB Studio to connect to an OCI account. Before you create the VB Studio instance, open the OCI console and create a compartment to host VB Studio's resources, such as Compute instances and Storage objects.

Note

You can also run VB Studio on the free build executor (see VB Studio's Free VM Build Executor), but if you want to add more executor templates to reduce the wait time for your organization's members, create custom executor templates, or use advanced features (such as use your own VCN or use a different VM shape), you should configure VB Studio to connect to your own OCI account.

Create an OCI Compartment

  1. On the OCI console, in the upper-left corner, click Navigation Menu the Menu icon.
  2. Select Identity & Security and then under Identity, select Compartments.
  3. On the Compartments page, create a compartment to host VB Studio resources.
    1. To create the compartment in the tenancy (root compartment), click Create Compartment.
    2. In the Create Compartment dialog box, fill in the fields and click Create Compartment.
    To learn more about compartments, see Managing Compartments.

Create the VB Studio Instance

You can create only one VB Studio instance in an Oracle Cloud account. You must create it in your tenancy's root compartment.

  1. In a web browser, go to https://cloud.oracle.com.
    To view the list of supported browsers, see https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/GSG/Tasks/signingin.htm#supported_browsers.
  2. In Cloud Account Name, enter your Oracle Cloud account or tenancy name and click Next.
  3. On the Single Sign-On (SSO) panel, if required, select your identity provider and click Continue.
  4. Enter your Oracle Cloud account credentials and click Sign In.
    The Oracle Cloud Console, also called the OCI console, opens. If you've recently created your Oracle Cloud account, wait for some time to see your services in the Oracle Cloud Console.
  5. In the upper-left corner, click Navigation Menu the Menu icon.
  6. Select Developer Services and then select Visual Builder Studio.
  7. On the Visual Builder Studio Instances page, from the Compartment drop-down list, select the root compartment.
  8. Click Create VB Studio Instance.
  9. In Instance Name, enter the VB Studio's instance name and click Next.
  10. On the CI/CD Setup page, to authorize VB Studio to create and use Compute and Storage instances, select the Yes, I authorize this check box.

    Selecting this option automatically creates an additional policy that authorizes VB Studio to perform the necessary operations in the selected compartment for the CI/CD resources. For this automatic policy creation to succeed, the user who creates the instance must also have permissions to manage policies in the root compartment. Typically, tenancy administrators have these permissions, so the easiest way to create a VB Studio instance is to have a tenancy administrator do it. However, if that isn't feasible, it's also possible to create the VB Studio instance without the CI/CD authorization and then set it up later by performing an edit operation.

    Note

    If you want to use the built-in free account's free VM build executor, don't select the check box.
  11. If you've selected the Yes, I authorize this check box, in Compartment, select the compartment you created to host VB Studio's Compute and Storage instances.
    When you select the check box, the required policies are applied to the selected compartment.
  12. Click Submit.
Once the service instance is created, click Service Console to open VB Studio's Organization page.

Here's an example:

Description of organization_page_firstaccess.png follows

After you create the instance:

  • You're assigned the DEVELOPER_ADMINISTRATOR IDCS role, which enables you to set up VB Studio, manage the VM build executors, and update the organization details. After you're assigned the role, you're also called the VB Studio's Organization Administrator.
  • You receive an email with the subject Verify your Oracle Visual Builder Studio email. Open the email and click the URL link in the email body to verify your email. This is required to receive email notifications from the service.

    After verifying the email address, you’ll receive another email with the subject Welcome to Oracle Visual Builder Studio. This email contains the VB Studio URL that you can bookmark.

  • Default tags are created that help you identify the instance. On the VB Studio's Instance Details page, click the Tags tab to see the created tags. If you don't know how tags help, see How Tagging Works.
  • Provide access for additional users. See Add Users to IDCS to add individuals or Manage Your Organization's Groups to add groups of users.

Access VB Studio from the Oracle Cloud Home Page

If you've signed out of the Oracle Cloud or VB Studio, follow these steps to sign back in.

  1. In a web browser, go to https://cloud.oracle.com.
  2. On the Sign-In page, in Cloud Account Name, enter your Oracle Cloud account or tenancy name and click Next.
  3. On the Single Sign-On (SSO) panel, if required, select your identity provider and click Continue.
  4. Enter your Oracle Cloud account credentials and click Sign In.
    The Oracle Cloud Console, also called the OCI console, opens. If you've recently created your Oracle Cloud account, wait for some time to see your services in the Oracle Cloud Console.
  5. In the upper-left corner, click Navigation Menu the Menu icon.
  6. Select Developer Services and then select Visual Builder Studio.
  7. On the Visual Builder Studio Instances page, click the VB Studio instance's name.
  8. On the Instance Details page, click Service Console.

The VB Studio Organization page opens, which displays all the projects you're a member of, as well as your favorite projects, the projects you own, and all the shared projects in your organization.

Here's an example of the Organization page with some projects:

Description of organization_admin.png follows

Manage the VB Studio Instance

After creating the VB Studio instance, you change the CI/CD compartment and the instance's display name, but can't change the name displayed in the instance's URL.

Change the CI/CD Compartment

You can switch to another OCI compartment any time. When you switch, your current compartment's executor templates and VM executors migrate to the new compartment, but Object Storage buckets do not migrate. The data in buckets may include build artifacts, Maven artifacts, NPM artifacts, and exported project data.

  1. Open the Visual Builder Studio Instances page and click the VB Studio instance.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. In the Edit Instance box, under CI/CD Setup, select the compartment you want to use for VM executors and storage.
  4. Click Submit.
The VB Studio instance is updated to use the specified compartment.

If you switch to the built-in free account, you'll lose access to data in Object Storage, and your current account's executor templates and VM executors. Instead, you'll get access to only one free VM build executor and the default executor template.

Switch to the Built-In Free Account

If you switch to the built-in free account, build executor templates and build executors of your current account are deleted and you get access to only one free VM build executor with fixed software in the default build executor template. You can't add more build executors or edit the executor template's software.

  1. Open the Visual Builder Studio Instances page and click the VB Studio instance.
  2. Click Edit.
  3. Deselect the Yes, I authorize this check box.
  4. In the Confirm Delete dialog box, click Delete Resources.
  5. In the Edit Instance dialog box, click Submit

Manage VB Studio Instance Tags

OCI tags enable you to tag your OCI resources, such as your VB Studio instance, and help you organize resources based on your business needs. You can manage VB Studio tags from the VB Studio Instance Details page.

If you're new to OCI tags, see Tagging Overview.

Action How To
Add a tag
  1. On the VB Studio Instance Details page, click Add Tags.
  2. In the Add One Or More Tags To This Resource dialog box, enter the tag's namespace, key, and value.
  3. Click Add Tags.
Edit a tag
  1. On the VB Studio Instance Details page, click the Tags tab.
  2. To edit a tag, click its Edit Pencil icon.
  3. In the Edit Tag dialog box, edit the tag and click Save.
Remove a tag
  1. On the VB Studio Instance Details page, click the Tags tab.
  2. To edit a tag, click its Edit Pencil icon.
  3. In the Edit Tag dialog box, click Remove Tag.

Terminate the VB Studio Instance

When you terminate your VB Studio instance, all projects and their data (such as Git repositories, workspaces, build jobs, and build artifacts) are deleted. OCI resources, such as VM executors, are destroyed and OCI Object Storage buckets are deleted too.

  1. Open the Visual Builder Studio Instances page and click the VB Studio instance.
  2. Click Terminate.
  3. In the Confirm dialog box, enter the VB Studio instance's name and click Terminate.
Wait for some time. OCI takes a few minutes to terminate the VB Studio instance.

Get a VB Studio Project's Identifier

Each VB Studio project has a unique identifier that you can get and copy from the Project Administration page if you are the project owner or, if you are a project member, from the Git or Maven URLs on the Project Home page.

The project identifier can be used with the OCI Resource Manager API at https://docs.oracle.com/iaas/api/#/en/resourcemanager/20180917/. It is used in URLs when working with the project's Git repositories and branches.

If you're a project owner, select Project Administration in the navigator, click the Properties tile, then look in the Identifier field to find project identifier. Click the Copy icon to copy the ID to the clipboard.

If you're a project member, go to the project's Project Home page, click on the Repositories tab, and examine the details of the Maven or Git repository URL. Look for the part before /maven/ or /scm/repository-name.git at the end. Some project identifiers may also include a numeric value appended to the project name. Click the Copy icon to copy the URL to the clipboard.