by Sandro Pereira | Jan 26, 2023 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
I was honored to be invited by the Microsoft Logic App product group to contribute to the BizTalk Server Migration to Azure Integration Services Architecture Guidance documentation alongside my fellow MVPs: Michael Stephenson and Stephen W Thomas.
This guideline is focused on clients considering or having already decided to move their entire BizTalk Server on-premises integration solution to Azure or parts of the solution into Azure, therefore, making some hybrid solutions. Of course, in this process, many questions about best practices to use, what services to use, and others will be raised.
This guide provides an overview of the reasons and benefits, product comparisons, capabilities, and other information to help you start migrating from on-premises BizTalk Server solutions to cloud-based Azure Integration Services. Following this guide, you’ll find more guides that cover how to choose the services that best fit your scenario, along with migration strategies, planning considerations, and best practices to help you deliver successful results:
This is a simple feature matchup diagram that you will find in the guide:
If you want to know more about it, the architecture guide is available here: BizTalk Server Migration to Azure Integration Services Architecture Guidance.
See the original Microsoft announcement here: Announcement: BizTalk Server Migration to Azure Integration Services Architecture Guidance.
Author: Sandro Pereira
Sandro Pereira lives in Portugal and works as a consultant at DevScope. In the past years, he has been working on implementing Integration scenarios both on-premises and cloud for various clients, each with different scenarios from a technical point of view, size, and criticality, using Microsoft Azure, Microsoft BizTalk Server and different technologies like AS2, EDI, RosettaNet, SAP, TIBCO etc.
He is a regular blogger, international speaker, and technical reviewer of several BizTalk books all focused on Integration. He is also the author of the book “BizTalk Mapping Patterns & Best Practices”. He has been awarded MVP since 2011 for his contributions to the integration community.
View all posts by Sandro Pereira
by Sandro Pereira | Oct 14, 2022 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
Oracle Database (commonly referred to as Oracle DBMS or simply as Oracle) is a multi-model database management system produced and marketed by Oracle Corporation. It is a database commonly used for running online transaction processing (OLTP), data warehousing (DW), and mixed (OLTP & DW) database workloads.
One of the most common scenarios we face in several organizations is to be able to integrate other systems and applications with Oracle, and for that, BizTalk Server uses the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for Oracle Database or simply the WCF-ORACLE adapter.
The Microsoft BizTalk Adapter for Oracle Database exposes the Oracle database as a WCF service. Adapter clients can perform operations on the Oracle database by exchanging SOAP messages with the adapter. The adapter consumes the WCF message and makes appropriate ODP.NET calls to perform the requested operation. The adapter returns the response from the Oracle database back to the client in the form of SOAP messages.
The Oracle Database adapter surfaces metadata of Oracle database artifacts (tables, functions, procedures, etc.) that describes the structure of a SOAP message in the form of Web Service Description Language (WSDL).
- It uses the Add Adapter Service Reference Visual Studio Plug-in, the Consume Adapter Service BizTalk Project Add-in, and the Add Adapter Metadata Wizard to enable adapter clients to retrieve metadata for operations and generate programming artifacts that can be used in your programming solution.
- And it communicates with the Oracle database through the Oracle Data Provider for .NET (ODP.NET) and the Oracle client, which are part of the Oracle Data Access Components (ODAC) for Windows.
The following figure shows the end-to-end architecture for solutions that are developed by using the Oracle Database adapter:
This paper explains in detail – a step-by-step guideline – how to install and configure the WCF-OracleDB Adapter on a BizTalk Server 2020 standalone environment running Windows Server 2019.
What’s in the Whitepaper for you?
This whitepaper will give you a detailed understanding of the following:
- Installation requirements
- Install Oracle Data Access Components (ODAC)
- Testing Oracle connectivities
Where can you download it
You can download the whitepaper here:
by Sandro Pereira | Oct 12, 2022 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
The role of an adapter is to enable communications between BizTalk Server and external systems and trading partners. Users configure adapters by creating send ports and receive locations that define the properties for given instances of the adapter. Most adapters support both send and receive operations, whereas other adapters support communication in only one direction.
The HTTP Adapter is one of the adapters that support two-way communications, but unlike other adapters, this adapter has two characteristics that define it:
- The HTTP “Receive” Adapter that is responsible for delivering messages to BizTalk is, in fact, a DLL that runs inside Internet Information Services (IIS)
- And for that reason, it must be configured in IIS – it is not there out-of-the-box.
In this whitepaper, we will describe the step-by-step process of installing and configuring the HTTP Adapter in order to receive messages.
Some of you may think that the HTTP adapter is deprecated, but that is not true. The only adapters that were deprecated were the old SAP adapter (removed) and the SOAP and SQL adapter (that still are present in the Administration Console). The HTTP adapter is a classic but is not deprecated and is still very used today.
The idea for this whitepaper was partly out of a real need and at a customer’s request. Because it is a strange adapter with a peculiar configuration unlike any other adapter in BizTalk Server, when I was giving a training course, the attendees struggled to understand and put it working correctly. By coincidence, a week later, I needed to put this adapter working at another client. As a result of that request and that client’s need, I end up creating this step-by-step guide on how to install and configure the HTTP adapter to receive messages through HTTP requests. I think this is a good whitepaper about a classic adapter in BizTalk Server.
There is a similar whitepaper that I wrote in the past: BizTalk Server 2016: Receiving messages through the HTTP Adapter installation whitepaper focus on BizTalk Server 2016 as the name describes. This new one is just a small update on the BizTalk Server versioning and is to be updated with the latest version of the BizTalk Server.
What’s in the Whitepaper for you?
This whitepaper will give you a detailed understanding of the following:
- Prerequisites
- Configure the HTTP Receive Adapter in IIS
- Configure the HTTP Adapter Receive and Send Handlers
- Receiving messages using the HTTP Adapter
- Testing our solution
Where can you download it
You can download the whitepaper here:
by Sandro Pereira | Oct 11, 2022 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
There are many things to consider when planning this type of installation. This whitepaper will explain in detail – a step-by-step guideline – how to install and configure Microsoft BizTalk Server 2020 on a basic multi-computer environment using Windows Server 2019, i.e., installation of BizTalk Server with a remote SQL Server (1 SQL Server and 1 BizTalk Server). There will be 3 virtual servers:
- 1 Domain controller
- 1 Virtual Machine to host SQL Server
- Windows Server 2019
- SQL Server 2019SQL Server 2019 Enterprise Edition
- 1 Virtual Machine to host BizTalk Server.
- Windows Server 2019
- BizTalk Server 2020 Enterprise or Development Edition
In this scenario, I will perform a basic full installation of Microsoft BizTalk Server 2020, except for the SharePoint Adapter and additional components like Accelerators, ESB Toolkit or UDDI, emulating a production environment. The following components will be installed:
- Enterprise Single Sign-On (SSO)
- BizTalk Group
- BizTalk Runtime
- Business Rule Engine
- BAM Tools and Alerts
- BAM Portal (Although Microsoft has deprecated the BAM portal, it is still possible to install it.)
- BizTalk EDI/AS2 Runtime
- Microsoft BizTalk Adapters
This information will help you plan the installation and configuration of BizTalk Server 2020, applications, and components on which it depends focused on creating a UAT or Production environment (you can also follow this tutorial to help you create developer environments. However, if this is the case, you need to add some steps and additional components or software, in especially Visual Studio 2019).
Of course, it is assumed that all machines are already installed with the operating system and the latest critical Windows updates from Microsoft. Another presumption is that the domain controller is already installed and configured.
What’s in the Whitepaper for you?
This whitepaper will give you a detailed understanding of the following:
- The need for a Domain Controller – Windows Groups and Service Accounts
- Preparing Computers for Installation – Important considerations before setting up the
- servers
- Preparing and Install SQL Server 2019 machine
- Prepare and install prerequisites on BizTalk Server 2020 machine
- Testing environment connectivity
- Install and configure BizTalk Server 2020 machine
- Optimize the BizTalk Server 2020 environment
Where can you download it
You can download the whitepaper here:
by Sandro Pereira | Sep 23, 2022 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
There was a lot of inconsistent and incorrect information about the BizTalk WCF-SAP Adapter installation process and how it works, especially in old versions of the adapter where there was a need to use the classic RFC library to connect to SAP.
Fortunately for us, this process is now simpler and more direct, and this is due specifically to two points:
- The Classic RFC Library has been discontinued and is no longer supported (support ended on March 21, 2016). All customers should, if not already using, the “new” SAP .NET Connector (NCo)
Notice that the BizTalk Adapter Pack WCF-SAP adapter has been re-engineered to use SAP .NET Connector instead of the classic SAP RFC SDK. The SAP .NET Connector is available through the ConnectorType property within the WCF-SAP binding. This feature is available from BizTalk Server 2013 and above.
- On BizTalk Server 2020, the Microsoft BizTalk Adapter Pack x86 and x64 are now installed with the default installation process. That means that the WCF-SAP adapter is already registered on the server and present on the BizTalk Server Administration Console.
However, that does not mean that everything is ready for you to be able to use this adapter. Unfortunately, you still need to install the SAP Connector for Microsoft .NET available for you to download through the SAP Service Marketplace.
Notice that, like any other adapter, the 64-bit version of the SAP Connector for Microsoft .NET is optional, but if you have a 64-bit BizTalk environment and you want to run it under a 64-bit Host Instance, then you need to also install both versions of the SAP Connector for Microsoft .NET.
BizTalk Server 2020: Step-by-Step WCF-SAP Adapter installation guide
By reading this whitepaper, decision-makers should have more information on the following areas:
- Pre-requirements resources that are necessary and how to install them
- Register the adapter in BizTalk Server Administration Console
Where can I download it?
You can download the whitepaper here:
by Sandro Pereira | Dec 23, 2019 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
And you thought there was no Santa Claus? I couldn’t
take this opportunity and this time of year to once again give back to the
community what they have also done for me: grow up together in several aspects.
So, this year with the fantastic help as always of BizTalk360 team, my partner in many adventures during these years and the sponsor of my blog, we end up writing, revising and editing in a short period (5 days) another BizTalk Server whitepaper to be completed before Christmas: BizTalk Server 2016: End-to-end scenario – Receiving Messages through the HTTP Adapter whitepaper.
The role of an adapter is to enable communications
between BizTalk Server and external systems and trading partners. Users
configure adapters by creating send ports and receive locations that define the
properties for given instances of the adapter. Most adapters support both send
and receive operations, whereas other adapters support communication in only
one direction.
The HTTP Adapter is one of the adapters that support
two-way communications, but unlike other adapters, this adapter has two
characteristics that define it:
- The HTTP
“Receive” Adapter that is responsible for delivering messages to BizTalk is, in
fact, a DLL that runs inside Internet Information Services (IIS)
- And for that
reason, it must be configured in IIS – it is not there out-of-the-box.
In this whitepaper, we will describe the step-by-step process of installing and configuring the HTTP Adapter in order to receive messages.
Some of you may think that the HTTP adapter is deprecated,
but that is not true. The only adapters that were deprecated were the old SAP
adapter (removed) and the SOAP and SQL adapter (that still are present in the
Administration Console). The HTTP adapter is a classic but is not deprecated
and is still very used today.
The idea for
this whitepaper was partly out of a real need and at a customer request.
Because it is a strange adapter with a peculiar configuration unlike any other
adapter in BizTalk Server, when I was giving a training course, the attendees
struggle to understand and put it working correctly. By coincidence, a week
later, I needed to put this adapter working at another client. As a result of that request and that client’s
need, I end up creating this step-by-step guide on how to install and configure
the HTTP adapter to receive messages through HTTP requests. I think this is a
good whitepaper about a classic adapter in BizTalk Server.
I hope you like
it and marry Christmas!
Where I can download it
You can download the whitepaper here:
You can also find, download and enjoy several other
free whitepapers of my own here:
The post Christmas Gift: BizTalk Server 2016: End-to-end scenario – Receiving Messages through the HTTP Adapter whitepaper appeared first on SANDRO PEREIRA BIZTALK BLOG.
by Sandro Pereira | Oct 1, 2019 | BizTalk Community Blogs via Syndication
My latest BizTalk Server whitepaper has been published: “BizTalk Server 2016: step by step Logic App adapter installation guide” and I’m thrilled!
I am currently doing many hybrid integrations, leveraging the capabilities of BizTalk Server and Logic Apps to meet the needs/requirements of my clients/projects. Some of these projects began initially to be completely on-premises, but as the projects grew and new needs emerged, the need to use some cloud services appeared like Power BI, Office365 (Teams, Outlook) and so on, became a reality. And these features are much easier to implement and have more productivity on Azure Logic Apps instead of BizTalk Server as there are already native connectors there.
And you have known that in reality there are several ways to implement this two bidirectionality communication between Logic App and BizTalk Server :
- Sending messages from BizTalk Server to Azure Logic Apps
- and receiving messages from Azure Logic Apps to BizTalk Server
like using HTTP requests or Azure Service Bus, and by doing so you can create robust and smart hybrid integrations. You may have to use one of these alternative implementations if you are using older versions of BizTalk Server.
The good news is that BizTalk Server 2016 has a better and more user-friendly way to make these hybrid connections. Instead of using HTTP requests, with BizTalk Server 2016 you can use the Logic Apps adapter to receive messages from an Azure Logic App or send messages to an Azure Logic App.
This whitepaper will give you a detailed understanding of the following:
- Requirements to install Logic App adapter
- Microsoft BizTalk Server Adapter for Logic Apps
- On-premises data gateway
- How to install and configure the Logic App Adapter
Where I can download it
The whitepaper is completely free and you can download it here:
I would like to take this opportunity also to once again say thanks to Lex Hegt for helping me reviewing this whitepaper especially for the incredible work of him correcting my horrible English and in this way make the document and my thoughts being readable.
I hope you enjoy reading this paper and any comments or suggestions are welcome.
You can also find, download and enjoy several other free whitepapers of my own here:
The post BizTalk Server 2016: step by step Logic App adapter installation guide appeared first on SANDRO PEREIRA BIZTALK BLOG.