Microservices are independently deployable units of logic in which each microservice performs a single business function. Applications built in the microservices architectural style are developed as a suite of microservices.

Software AG offers a lightweight container called webMethods Microservices Runtime to host microservices you develop in Software AG Designer. Using Microservices Runtime, you can deliver microservices as an webMethods Integration Server package that includes a set of related services, interfaces, document types, and triggers that subscribe to topics or queues, or as a set of related packages of this kind, for example, five packages relating to Human Resources functions.

Microservices Runtime is optimized for execution in a Docker container. You can run a microservice or a set of related microservices in a Docker container. Docker images include configuration, enabling you to deploy the same configuration anywhere. The Docker image can include one package or a set of related packages.

Microservices Runtime provides the ability to create a Docker image from an installed and configured instance of Microservices Runtime. The Docker image contains the Microservices Runtime application including packages and Microservices Runtime assets. While a Microservices Runtime stores configuration information inside its file system and therefore inside any Docker image created from the Microservices Runtime, some configuration information can be externalized and passed to the Microservices Runtime at startup. You can accomplish this with Microservices Runtime by using a configuration variables template and environment variables.

A configuration variables template contains configuration properties that map to properties on the Microservices Runtime. The property values can be set externally in the template and then passed to a Microservices Runtime when it starts up. As part of the startup process, Microservices Runtime loads the information from the configuration variables template and replaces the configuration information stored in the file system.

By externalizing configuration information, a single Docker image created for a Microservices Runtime can be used across multiple environments, including different stages of the production cycle. For example, you might use different templates for specific environments such as testing versus production, or you might use the same template for all environments but use environment variables to vary the configuration in each environment.