The blueprint composer is where blueprints are constructed. The composer is split into four main sections.

1. Node Selector: Displays the node types available for the blueprint
2. Canvas: Drag and drop nodes from the Node Selector onto the canvas
3. Node Properties: Displays the properties of a selected node
4. Actions Bar: Provides navigation and action menus/buttons

Node Selector

The node selector contains the blueprint nodes which are dragged and dropped onto the blueprint canvas. Nodes are context sensitive in that they are capability aware - eg. A PowerShell script cannot be dragged into a Linux OS Image node.

Each function of the node selector is covered in the following sections.

Refer to the following articles for specific details on how to use each node type.

Filter

The Filter box provides a quick way to search for nodes by their name. Type any text into the filter to list nodes containing that text.

The filter also searches for matching artifact names within libraries.

OS Images

OS Image nodes provide virtual machine objects for the blueprint.

Operating Systems must be created and mapped for use with these OS Image nodes.

Appliances

Similar to OS Image nodes, Appliance nodes provide virtual appliance objects for the blueprint.

Appliances must be created and mapped for use with these Appliance nodes.

Libraries

Libraries list the library nodes available for the blueprint.

By default, Script Artifacts and Variable Set libraries are available to all blueprint types. Different plugins or blueprint types may provide additional library nodes to select from.

Advanced

Advanced nodes provide additional functionality to blueprints, either at the blueprint scope or virtual machine scope.

Different plugins or blueprint types may provide additional advanced nodes to select from.

Other Node Categories

Addition node categories are made available depending on the Broker configuration and the type of blueprint selected. Some examples include:

• AWS plugin providing additional Network and Database node types
   
• Azure plugin providing additional Network, Database, and Advanced node types  

Canvas

The Canvas is the area which nodes are dragged onto and is space containing the blueprint design. The behaviour of a node when dragged onto the template is determined by the node's scope - some nodes are dragged onto the canvas, others must be dragged onto another node, while others can only be dragged onto certain nodes.

In addition to holding the nodes forming the blueprints, the canvas provides the interface to interlink nodes to form dependencies and complex orchestration tasks.

Note: Multiple nodes dragged onto an OS Image node automatically form a dependency tree form top to bottom.

Standalone Nodes

The example shows uses a generic blueprint with two virtual machine nodes which have been dragged onto the canvas.

When deployed, two standalone virtual machines are queued for creation simultaneously.

Note: This example also shows that the Broker has recognised and raised an alert for a misconfiguration of node vm2.

Node Dependencies

This example shows a generic blueprint with two virtual machine nodes which have been dragged onto the canvas. Some advanced nodes have been dragged onto Node vm1, which will execute sequentially top to bottom. In addition, Node vm2 has been dragged to node vm1 to create a dependency.

When deployed, vm1 will be queued first with deployment for vm2 queued once vm1 has completed all its tasks.

Node Connections

This example shows an AWS blueprint two virtual machine nodes dragged into separate Availability Zone nodes. A Security Group node has been dragged onto the canvas with both virtual machine nodes connected to the security group. In addition, a Load Balancer node has been dragged onto the canvas with both virtual machine instances connected to the load balancer.

When deployed, vm1 and vm2 will be queued to deployed into their defined availability zones. A new security group and load balancer will also be queued to be deployed. Once the load balancer object has been created, both vm1 and vm2 will be registered. Once the security group is deployed, both vm1 and vm2 will be attached.

Node Properties

Node Properties is the area where a node which has been dragged onto the canvas is configured.

Select a node on the canvas to bring up its properties. The Broker understands the configuration properties available for each node type and will validate the configured properties.

Note: The blueprint also contains configurable properties, which are accessible by clicking anywhere on the blueprint canvas.

This example shows a selected virtual machine, with the Broker validating and alerting that the CPU quantity has been misconfigured.

Actions Bar

The Actions Bar provides operational actions which can be applied to the blueprint.

He following table lists the actions available.

Menu Item	Sub Item	Description
Back to My Blueprints	N/A	A link back to the user's blueprints
Published	N/A	When displayed, indicates that the blueprint has published versions to the Catalog - click the flag to view published catalog items
Undo/Redo menu	N/A	Used to revert/re-apply changes made to the blueprint Note: Standard keyboard shortcuts Ctrl + Z (undo) and Ctrl + Y (redo) can also be used
Actions	Deploy	Saves the blueprint and requests a deployment
	Publish Version	Saves the blueprint and publishes the version Note: Catalog items published with <Latest Version> will reference the latest published version when next deployed
	Manage	A link to the blueprint management screens
	Clone	Creates a new cloned copy of the blueprint
	Export	Exports the blueprint as a JSON formatted file to the local computer
	Import	Imports a JSON formatted blueprint file from the local computer
	Delete Blueprint	Deletes the blueprint and its references from the Broker
Save	N/A	Saves the blueprint draft