Introduction to MobileFirst

Platform Foundation

© Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

Course materials may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the prior written permission of IBM.
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Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Unit objectives
• Describe MobileFirst Platform Foundation components
• Describe MobileFirst Platform Foundation architecture
• Describe MobileFirst Platform Foundation product features

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Topics
• What is MobileFirst Platform Foundation?
• MobileFirst Foundation components
• MobileFirst architecture
• MobileFirst Foundation main capabilities

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 What is MobileFirst Platform
Foundation?

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 What is MobileFirst Platform Foundation?
• A mobile application development platform that you can use to integrate with
enterprise services in a secure manner
• Can be integrated with application lifecycle, security, management, and analytics
capabilities
• Use to develop, connect, run, and manage rich mobile applications (apps) that can
access the full capabilities of your target mobile devices
• Supports all major platforms: hybrid or native, iOS, Android, Windows 8 Universal,
desktop and mobile web apps
Internet Administrator
Mobile Management
devices console
App Stores

Cloud services
Push service
mediators Mobile Enterprise
gateway Systems, applications

Application
Developer server

IDEs

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Foundation
components

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Foundation components
• MobileFirst Platform Command Line Interface (CLI):
▪ Use to develop and manage applications, in addition to using the MobileFirst Operations
Console
▪ Some aspects of the MobileFirst development process must be done with the CLI
• MobileFirst Server:
▪ Provides secured back-end connectivity, management, push notification support, analytics,
and monitoring for MobileFirst applications
• Client-side runtime components:
▪ Embed server functions within the target environment of deployed apps
• MobileFirst Operations Console:
▪ Use to manage and monitor mobile applications; also has some development capabilities
• MobileFirst Analytics:
▪ Enables you to search across logs and events that are collected from devices, apps, and
servers
• Application Center:
▪ Allows you to share mobile applications within your organization
• IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation System Pattern:
▪ Allows you to deploy MobileFirst Server on IBM PureApplication System or IBM
PureApplication Service on SoftLayer

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst CLI
• Supports the following types of tasks:
▪ Registering apps with the MobileFirst Server
▪ Configuring your app
▪ Creating, building, and deploying adapters
▪ Previewing and updating Cordova apps
• You can use the mfpdev commands on their own, or in parallel with the
MobileFirst Operations Console
• You can also use the commands in scripts for automated testing, build,
and deployment flows

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Server
• Mobile-optimized middleware that serves as a gateway between
applications, back-end systems, and cloud-based services
• Integrates into your enterprise environment and uses existing resources
and infrastructure
• Not a Java EE server itself, but a collection of web applications, which
are packaged as an EAR (enterprise archive) file that run on top of
traditional application servers
• Acts as a container for IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation application
packages

MobileFirst Server

Authentication Push
& security notifications
JSON
Analytics
translation
Adapters Direct Update

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Client-side runtime components
• A collection of libraries that are integrated
into the locally stored app code
• Use them to add MobileFirst features to
your client apps
• The APIs and libraries can be installed with
the IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation
Application code
Developer Kit or you can download them
from repositories for your development
platform
MobileFirst
Client-side
runtime

Device APIs

Device OS

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Operations Console
• From the console, you can download code examples, tools, and SDKs
• You can use the MobileFirst Operations Console for the following tasks:
▪ Monitor and configure all deployed applications, adapters, and push notification
rules from a centralized, web-based console
▪ Remotely disable the ability to connect to MobileFirst Server by using
preconfigured rules of app version and device type
▪ Customize messages that are sent to users on application launch
▪ Collect user statistics from all running applications
▪ Generate built-in, pre-configured reports about user adoption and usage (number
and frequency of users that are engaging with the server through the
applications)
▪ Configure data collection rules for application-specific events

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Application Center
• Use as an enterprise application store
▪ Provides a repository for storing applications and a client that allows users to
download applications to devices
• Aimed for private use within a company
• You can target mobile applications to specific groups of users
• Facilitates collaboration between all the people who are involved in the
development of an application
▪ Users can leave feedback for an application
• Supports applications that are built for the Google Android platform,
the Apple iOS platform, the Windows Phone 8 platform, and the
Windows 8 platform
Public app
stores
Application Center

App provisioning &

governance

Feedback

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Analytics
• Enables searching across apps, services, devices, and other sources to
collect data about usage, or to detect problems
• In addition to reports that summarize app activity, IBM MobileFirst Platform
Foundation includes a scalable operational analytics platform accessible in
the MobileFirst Operations Console
• The analytics feature enables enterprises to search across logs and events
that are collected from devices, apps, and servers for patterns, problems,
and platform usage statistics
• You can enable analytics, reports, or both, depending on your needs

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation System Pattern
• IBM PureApplication System is an integrated, highly scalable system
that is based on IBM X-Architecture, providing an application-centric
computing model in a cloud environment
• Virtual system patterns are a logical representation of a recurring
topology for a set of deployment requirements
• With these patterns, administrators and corporations can respond
quickly to changes in the business environment by taking advantage of
on-premises Cloud technologies
• This approach simplifies the deployment process, and improves the
operational efficiency to cope with increased mobile demand
• Using MobileFirst Platform Pattern also gives access to best practices
and built-in expertise, such as built-in scaling policies

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Foundation
architecture

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Foundation architecture
Client-side run time Public app Development
stores
Cross-platform
IDEs (Xcode,
compatibility Application Center MobileFirst Android Studio,
Application code

Service integration Client SDKs: Visual Studio,

iOS, MobileFirst Studio

Build Engine
App provisioning &
governance Android,
JSONStore
Windows 10
Feedback UWP,
Crash capture MobileFirst CLI
Windows 8.1,
Developer server
Windows
Event capture for Simulator
Phone 8.1
analytics

MobileFirst Console MobileFirst Server

Authentication Push Cloud services

Development & configuration
& security notifications
Push notifications JSON
Analytics Enterprise
translation
Application management systems
Adapters Direct Update

Analytics

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 System requirements and licensing
• For system requirements, see the documentation at
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSHS8R_8.0.0/com.ibm.
worklight.getstart.doc/start/r_supported_operating_systems_an.html
• The IBM MobileFirst Platform Server supports two different licensing
methods:
▪ Perpetual licenses: You can use what you purchase and verify your usage
and compliance through the License tracking page in the MobileFirst
Operations Console
▪ Token licenses: Configure your MobileFirst Server to communicate with a
remote token license server

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst Platform
Foundation main capabilities

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Development
• Build mobile apps by using your preferred front-end framework and
tools, such as Xcode, Android Studio, Visual Studio, or MobileFirst
Studio
• Continuously deploy to multiple devices while quickly creating mobile
and omni-channel applications
• Develop in native, Cordova, or Xamarin and integrate any front-end
framework
• You can develop apps by using HTML5,
CSS3, and JavaScript Development
• You can optionally write native code; IBM IDEs (Xcode,
MobileFirst Platform Foundation provides MobileFirst Android Studio,
Visual Studio,
an SDK that includes libraries that you can ClientiOS,
SDKs:
MobileFirst Studio

Build Engine
access from native code Android,
Windows 10
UWP,
MobileFirst CLI
Windows 8.1,
Developer server
Windows
Simulator
Phone 8.1

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Back end integration
• IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation can act as the middleware solution
to integrate a mobile application with enterprise services, and make
communication with back-end services easier
• Display app business logic as REST API endpoints, and document in
Swagger to promote collaboration and to simplify testing
• Code adapters in Java or JavaScript and run in scalable enterprise-
grade clusters
• Manage APIs through IBM API Connect to create maximum reuse
across channels
MobileFirst Server Enterprise (back end)

HTTP web
Adapter 1 service

Adapter 2 SQL database

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Push notifications
• IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation includes a unified push notification
framework that provides a consistent mechanism to deliver messages
to multiple platforms with a single API

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Offline mode
• IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation uses a client/server architecture
that can detect whether a device has network connectivity, and the
quality of the connection
• An offline-enabled mobile application can be used when a mobile
device lacks connectivity but some functions can be limited
• When you create an offline-enabled mobile application, you can store
information to help preserve its functions in offline mode
▪ Consider data synchronization with the back end as part of the application
architecture
▪ IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation includes a feature that is called
JSONStore for data exchange and storage
▪ With this feature, you can create, read, update, and delete data records from
a data source
▪ Each operation is queued when operating offline
▪ When a connection is available, the operation is transferred to the server and
each operation is then run against the source data

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Monitoring and management
• IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation includes a range of analytics and
reporting mechanisms for collecting, viewing, and analyzing data from your
IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation applications and servers, and for
monitoring server health
• IBM MobileFirst Platform
Foundation simplifies
version management and
mobile application
compatibility
▪ IBM MobileFirst Platform
Foundation can determine
whether a newer version of
the application is available,
and if so, give information
to the user about it, or push
an application update to
the device

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Authentication and security
• IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation provides secure, end-to-end
communication by positioning a server that oversees the flow of data
between the mobile application and your back-end systems
• With IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation, you can define custom
security handlers for any access to this flow of data
• Because any access to data of a mobile application must go through
this server instance, you can define different security handlers for
mobile applications, web applications, and back-end access
• With this granular security, you can define separate levels of
authentication for different functions of your mobile application
• You can also prevent mobile applications from accessing sensitive
information

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Operational Analytics
• Gives you a rich view into both your mobile landscape and server infrastructure
• Includes default reports for user retention, crash reports, device type and operating
system breakdowns, network usage, push notification results, in-app behavior,
debug log collection, and more
• Data includes:
▪ Crash events of an application
▪ Interactions of any application-
to-server activity
▪ Server-side logs
• You can choose
the verbosity and
data retention
policy of the
reported events
• You can set
conditional alerts
and build custom
charts

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Application publishing and distribution
• IBM MobileFirst Platform Foundation Application Center is an
enterprise application store
• The Application Center provides a repository for storing the mobile
application files and a web-based console for managing that repository
• The Application Center also provides a mobile client application to allow
users to browse the catalog of applications that the Application Center
stores, install applications, leave feedback for the development team,
and display production applications to IBM Endpoint Manager
• Access to download and
install applications from the
Application Center is
controlled by using access
control lists (ACLs)

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Deployment options
• Deploying MobileFirst applications to test and production environments
– learn more at
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSHS8R_8.0.0/com.ibm.
worklight.admin.doc/devref/t_transporting_apps_and_adapters.html
• Deploying to the cloud - you can deploy a MobileFirst application to the
cloud as a Liberty for Java application on Cloud Foundry or as an
application on IBM Containers
• Deploying MobileFirst Server on IBM PureApplication System – learn
more at
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSHS8R_8.0.0/com.ibm.
worklight.deploy.doc/pureapp/c_pureapp_oview.html

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Deployment to cloud
• IBM MobileFirst Foundation can be hosted on Bluemix, an
implementation of IBM Open Cloud Architecture
▪ Learn more about Bluemix architecture and concepts on the Bluemix website
https://console.ng.bluemix.net/docs/
• Two ways to run, based on licensing model:
▪ Mobile Foundation Service: Requires Bluemix subscription, or PayGo
license
▪ MobileFirst Server on IBM Containers: Requires on-premises license; use
IBM provided scripts to set up a MobileFirst Server instance on IBM
Containers or Liberty for Java run time

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Mobile Foundation Service
• A Bluemix service that enables quick and easy set up of scalable
developer or production environments of MobileFirst Foundation v8.0
on Liberty for Java run time
• Includes MobileFirst Server, client-side runtime components, and
operations console
• Offers two plan options:
▪ Developer Plan: Provisions a Mobile Foundation server as a Cloud Foundry
app on a Liberty for Java run time. The plan does not support the use of
external databases or define multiple nodes and is restricted to development
and testing only. The server instance allows you to register any number of
mobile applications for development and testing.
▪ Professional 1 Application: Provisions a Mobile Foundation server in a
scalable Cloud Foundry app on a Liberty for Java run time. The plan also
requires a database service, which is created and billed separately. The plan
allows users to build and manage a single mobile application. A single mobile
application can consist of multiple types, such as iOS, Android, Windows,
and Mobile Web.

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 MobileFirst on IBM Containers
• IBM Containers run images in a hosted cloud environment and hold
everything that an app needs to run
• Infrastructure includes a private registry for your images, so that you
can upload, store, and retrieve them
• Learn more about IBM Containers here -
https://console.ng.bluemix.net/docs/containers/container_index.html
• Setting up MobileFirst Server on IBM Containers by using scripts on
IBM Container Service -
https://mobilefirstplatform.ibmcloud.com/tutorials/en/foundation/8.0/blue
mix/mobilefirst-server-using-scripts/
• Setting up the MobileFirst Server on Bluemix by using scripts on Liberty
for Java -
https://mobilefirstplatform.ibmcloud.com/tutorials/en/foundation/8.0/blue
mix/mobilefirst-server-using-scripts-lbp/

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Unit summary
• Describe MobileFirst Platform Foundation components
• Describe MobileFirst Platform Foundation architecture
• Describe MobileFirst Platform Foundation product features

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Review questions
1. True or False: You can use the mfpdev commands on their
own, or in parallel with the MobileFirst Operations Console.

2. You can use the MobileFirst Operations Console for which

tasks:
A. Leave feedback on applications
B. Monitor and configure all deployed applications
C. Control who can download and install an application
D. Store encrypted data on a device

3. What feature allows you to create, read, update, and delete

data records from a data source?
_______________________________________

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016

 Review answers
1. True or False: You can use the mfpdev commands on their
own, or in parallel with the MobileFirst Operations Console.
The answer is True.

2. You can use the MobileFirst Operations Console for which

tasks:
A. Leave feedback on applications
B. Monitor and configure all deployed applications
C. Control who can download and install an application
D. Store encrypted data on a device
The answer is B.

3. What feature allows you to create, read, update, and delete data
records from a data source?
The answer is JSONStore.

Introduction to MobileFirst Platform Foundation © Copyright IBM Corporation 2016