Create a Custom Backend

You can create your own backend to map to a custom server other than the built-in Oracle Cloud Applications backends.

A custom backend lets you access a service when you know its URL. You can create a custom backend with a free-form URL, or create a custom ADF backend when you know the Describe URL that points to an ADF Describe service.

A custom backend is essentially the same as a service connection. You specify the instance URL, description, authentication, and static headers—just as you would to manage any other service connection.

To create a custom backend:

1. Click Services in the Navigator.
2. In the Services pane, click + sign and select Backend.
3. In the Create Backend wizard, select the type of backend you want to create:
   • To create a backend with a free-form URL, click Custom.
   • To create a backend with the Describe URL of an ADF service, click Custom ADF Describe. Use this option only when your custom ADF Describe endpoint does not have any child backends.
4. In the Name field, enter a name and description for the custom backend. Your description will be the backend's display name in your application.
   
   

   
   Description of the illustration create-custom-backend-name.png

   
   
5. Optionally, click + Add Header under Custom Headers to add a static header that is passed from the browser to the service (for example, a REST-Framework-Version header). Enter a name for the header and its value, then click OK.
   Custom headers become available to you from the browser's Developer Tools console.
6. Click Next.
7. Enter the instance URL and other information that your extension requires to successfully connect to the custom backend.

   Note:

   If you're using an IP address instead of a proper DNS-based URL in a production environment, you're probably using self-signed certificates. You need to be aware that certificates based on IP addresses are less secure and more difficult to maintain than DNS-based ones and, to avoid potential security issues, self-signed certificates should never be used in production environments.

   An audit warning will be displayed whenever you use an IP address-based service connection.

   
   Description of the illustration create-custom-backend-details-appui.png

   You can create the backend first, then edit all server details after the backend is registered.

8. Click Create.

A new custom backend displays in the Backends tab on the Services pane. Click the newly created custom backend to view and edit its details. See Edit a Backend.

Now that your custom backend is registered, you can click + Service Connection to create a service connection to your backend, either by providing a service specification document or by pointing to the URL of a service endpoint. See Create a Service Connection from a Service Specification or Create a Service Connection from an Endpoint.