Development Environment

To develop and test APS applications, you need to install the local development environment and a sandbox with the platform.

Set up Local APS Development Environment

You can create APS packages on local computers. Assuming that you will use Windows, Linux, or Mac OS, we recommend you to install the following development tools on it.

1. To build and validate APS packages, install the command line Development Tools relevant for your local OS.
2. To create PHP scripts implementing the provisioning logic, install APS PHP runtime on your computer. It allows you to use multiple REST and APS specific classes and methods to eliminate development of your own low level communication and security methods.

To develop a custom UI, you should use the APS JavaScript SDK available on the platform. There is no need to install it locally. In addition, when developing UI, use APS Fiddle - a remote tool for validating and debugging UI scripts (no need to install it, just keep a link to it nearby).

A graphical integrated development environment (IDE) is an optional convenient tool to develop and validate integration packages. Depending on your favorite IDE, use one of the following tools:

• Eclipse
• IntelliJ IDEA

Set up Hosting Platform

The ultimate goal of an APS package is to provision application services to customers through a hosting system based on the Odin Automation Platform.

We recommend you to register in the APS development portal and then order a free APS Sandbox with minimal configuration (preferably “lin-mn”) for testing your packages. Configure the VPN connection with your sandbox.

The sandbox will contain the core part of the Odin Automation necessary to arrange the APS ecosystem. Assuming your sandbox name is “a.isv1”, you will have the following access points to manage the test system:

• http://a.isv1.apsdemo.org:8080 - access to the platform user panels. Depending on login name, they are:
  • Provider control panel (PCP) - use “admin” as the login name and the password you entered during the sandbox deployment.
  • Reseller control panel (RCP) - use a reseller login name and the reseller’s password. In some demos, you will create a test reseller.
  • Customer control panel (CCP) - use a customer login name and the customer’s password. You will create a test customer later in the demo project.
  • Unified user panel (UX1) - used by both resellers and customers.
• endpoint.a.isv1.apsdemo.org - SSH access to the endpoint host whose APS PHP framework is used to install APS connectors. Use “root” as the login name and the the password you entered during the sandbox deployment.

Enable Development Mode

When you test your application on a non-production platform, we recommend that you to enable the Development mode, which provides important benefits for developers.

Warning

You should not enable the APS development mode in production since it substantially impacts the network performance, CPU load, and disk usage.

To enable the APS development mode:

1. In the provider control panel, go to System > Settings > System Properties**.
2. At the bottom of the screen, click Edit.
3. Select the APS development mode checkbox to enable the APS development mode.
4. At the bottom of the screen, click Submit to save the updated configuration.

Once you have the development environment and a platform sandbox, proceed to the demo project.