Ansible Automation Platform Backstage provider plugin

The Ansible Automation Platform (AAP) Backstage provider plugin synchronizes the accessible templates including job templates and workflow job templates from AAP into the Backstage catalog.

For administrators

Installation and configuration

The AAP Backstage provider plugin allows the configuration of one or multiple providers using the app-config.yaml configuration file of Backstage.

Legacy Backend Procedure

1. Run the following command to install the AAP Backstage provider plugin:

   yarn workspace backend add @janus-idp/backstage-plugin-aap-backend

2. Use aap marker to configure the app-config.yaml file of Backstage as follows:

   catalog:
     providers:
       aap:
         dev:
           baseUrl: <URL>
           authorization: 'Bearer ${AAP_AUTH_TOKEN}'
           owner: <owner>
           system: <system>
           schedule: # optional; same options as in TaskScheduleDefinition
             # supports cron, ISO duration, "human duration" as used in code
             frequency: { minutes: 1 }
             # supports ISO duration, "human duration" as used in code
             timeout: { minutes: 1 }

3. Configure the scheduler using one of the following options:

   • Method 1: If the scheduler is configured inside the app-config.yaml using the schedule config key mentioned previously, add the following code to packages/backend/src/plugins/catalog.ts file:

     /* highlight-add-next-line */
     import { AapResourceEntityProvider } from '@janus-idp/backstage-plugin-aap-backend';
     
     export default async function createPlugin(
       env: PluginEnvironment,
     ): Promise<Router> {
       const builder = await CatalogBuilder.create(env);
     
       /* ... other processors and/or providers ... */
       /* highlight-add-start */
       builder.addEntityProvider(
         AapResourceEntityProvider.fromConfig(env.config, {
           logger: env.logger,
           scheduler: env.scheduler,
         }),
       );
       /* highlight-add-end */
     
       const { processingEngine, router } = await builder.build();
       await processingEngine.start();
       return router;
     }

     ---

     NOTE

     If you have made any changes to the schedule in the app-config.yaml file, then restart to apply the changes.

     ---

   • Method 2: Add a schedule directly inside the packages/backend/src/plugins/catalog.ts file as follows:

     /* highlight-add-next-line */
     import { AapResourceEntityProvider } from '@janus-idp/backstage-plugin-aap-backend';
     
     export default async function createPlugin(
       env: PluginEnvironment,
     ): Promise<Router> {
       const builder = await CatalogBuilder.create(env);
     
       /* ... other processors and/or providers ... */
       /* highlight-add-start */
       builder.addEntityProvider(
         AapResourceEntityProvider.fromConfig(env.config, {
           logger: env.logger,
           schedule: env.scheduler.createScheduledTaskRunner({
             frequency: { minutes: 30 },
             timeout: { minutes: 3 },
           }),
         }),
       );
       /* highlight-add-end */
     
       const { processingEngine, router } = await builder.build();
       await processingEngine.start();
       return router;
     }

   ---

   NOTE

   If both the schedule (hard-coded schedule) and scheduler (app-config.yaml schedule) option are provided in the packages/backend/src/plugins/catalog.ts, the scheduler option takes precedence. However, if the schedule inside the app-config.yaml file is not configured, then the schedule option is used.

   ---

New Backend Procedure

1. Run the following command to install the AAP Backstage provider plugin:

   yarn workspace backend add @janus-idp/backstage-plugin-aap-backend

2. Use aap marker to configure the app-config.yaml file of Backstage . The default schedule is a frequency of 30 minutes and a timeout of 3 minutes, please configure the schedule in the app-config.yaml as per your requirement.

   catalog:
     providers:
       aap:
         dev:
           baseUrl: <URL>
           authorization: 'Bearer ${AAP_AUTH_TOKEN}'
           owner: <owner>
           system: <system>
           schedule: # optional (defaults to the configurations below if not provided); same options as in TaskScheduleDefinition
             # supports cron, ISO duration, "human duration" as used in code
             frequency: { minutes: 30 }
             # supports ISO duration, "human duration" as used in code
             timeout: { minutes: 3 }

3. Add the following code to the packages/backend/src/index.ts file:

   const backend = createBackend();
   
   /* highlight-add-next-line */
   backend.add(import('@janus-idp/backstage-plugin-aap-backend/alpha'));
   
   backend.start();

Troubleshooting

When you start your Backstage application, you can see the following log lines:

[1] 2023-02-13T15:26:09.356Z catalog info Discovered ResourceEntity API type=plugin target=AapResourceEntityProvider:dev
[1] 2023-02-13T15:26:09.423Z catalog info Discovered ResourceEntity Red Hat Event (DEV, v1.2.0) type=plugin target=AapResourceEntityProvider:dev
[1] 2023-02-13T15:26:09.620Z catalog info Discovered ResourceEntity Red Hat Event (TEST, v1.1.0) type=plugin target=AapResourceEntityProvider:dev
[1] 2023-02-13T15:26:09.819Z catalog info Discovered ResourceEntity Red Hat Event (PROD, v1.1.0) type=plugin target=AapResourceEntityProvider:dev
[1] 2023-02-13T15:26:09.819Z catalog info Applying the mutation with 3 entities type=plugin target=AapResourceEntityProvider:dev

For users

Accessing templates from Ansible Automation Platform in Backstage

Once the AAP Backstage provider plugin is configured successfully, it synchronizes the templates including job templates and workflow job templates from AAP and displays them on the Backstage Catalog page as Resources.

Prerequisites

• Your Backstage application is installed and running.
• You have installed the AAP Backstage provider plugin. For installation and configuration instructions, see Installation and configuration.

Procedure

1. Open your Backstage application and Go to the Catalog page.

2. Select Resource from the Kind drop-down and job template or workflow job template from the Type drop-down on the left side of the page.

   

   A list of all the available templates from AAP appears on the page.

3. Select a template from the list.

   The OVERVIEW tab appears containing different cards, such as:

   • About: Provides detailed information about the template.

   • Relations: Displays the visual representation of the template and associated aspects.

   • Links: Contains links to the AAP dashboard and the details page of the template.

   • Has subcomponents: Displays a list of associated subcomponents.