Creating plug-in integrations#

Work with external tools by defining integrations.

Integrations require user credentials and connection information, such as URLs, and API endpoints. To create an integration with UrbanCode™ Deploy, for example, you need a user token generated by UrbanCode Deploy, and the URL where the server is located. Ensure that you have all the necessary connection information at hand before starting.

Credentials and other connection properties vary among individual plug-ins. You can find property descriptions and use cases for all plug-ins on the UrbanCode website.

A plug-in is a software add-on designed to communicate with external services and applications. Each plug-in defines an expected record type and communication method. Communication can be uni-directional or bi-directional. To use a plug-in, you configure an integration. There are three ways to configure an integration:

• Create an integration definition on the Plug-ins page.
• Add an integration definition to a value stream JSON file.
• Configure a deployment plan task for one of the native integrations types.

This topic describes the first two methods. Native integrations are described in a separate section.

To configure an integration, complete the following steps:

1. On the UrbanCode™Velocity Home page, click Settings > Integrations > Plugins.

   The Plugins page lists the available plug-ins. All listed plug-ins are available for you to use; you do not have to perform an installation step.

2. Click Add Integration for the plug-in that you intend to use, and then define the integration properties.

   For information about the properties that are unique to the plug-in, visit the UrbanCode website.

3. You can configure integrations for some plug-in types by adding an integration definition to a value stream JSON file.

   Using a text editor, define an integration object in the integrations array of the value_stream_name.json file. The following code example illustrates a Jira integration.

   { "_id": "velocity-generated-id", "type": "ucv-ext-jira", "tenant_id": "velocity-generated-id", "name": "my-JIRA", "disabled": false, "properties": { "baseUrl": "http://my-jira-url", "username": "admin", "password": "****", "jiraProjects": [ "My-Project" ] } },

   Integrations created by the value stream method are displayed on the Integrations page along with integrations created by the other methods.

The integration is listed on the Integrations page. The Integrations page is where you can manage integrations.

Integrations start providing data as soon as they are successfully configured. For some integration types, such as quality-data types, you can start using their data without additional configuration. For example, you can create dashboard charts that contain quality data as soon as you complete the integration. JUnit is an example of a quality-type plug-in.

Other integration types require additional configuration before you can start using their data. Native integrations require that tasks be added to deployment plans. Value stream integrations, such as GitHub™, require a reference in the value stream JSON file. If you define an integration on the Plugins page, add a reference to the integration name in the JSON file. If you define an integration directly in a JSON file as described in Step 3, no additional configuration is required.

See installing plug-ins in UrbanCode products for additional information.

Parent topic: Extending product functions