Create a Custom Backend

You can create your own backend to map to a custom server other than the built-in Oracle Cloud Applications backend.

A custom backend lets you access a service when you know its URL. You can create a custom backend with a free-form URL, or create a custom ADF backend when you know the Describe URL that points to an ADF Describe service.

To create a custom backend:

  1. Click Services in the Navigator.
  2. In the Services pane, click + sign and select Backend.
  3. In the Create Backend wizard, select the type of backend you want to create:
    • To create a backend with a free-form URL, click Custom.
    • To create a backend with the Describe URL of an ADF service, click Custom ADF Describe. Use this option only when your custom ADF Describe endpoint does not have any child backends.
  4. Enter a name and description for the custom backend. Your description will be the backend's display name in your application.
  5. Optionally, click + Add Header under Custom Headers to add a static header that is passed from the browser to the service. Enter a name for the header and its value, then click OK.
    Headers can exist at both the backend level and at the server level. The difference is that backend headers are guaranteed to be applied to REST API calls, whereas server headers are applied to the call only if that particular server is in play. For this reason, using headers at the backend level is recommended.
    Custom headers become available to you from the browser's Developer Tools console.
  6. Click Next to display the second page in the wizard:
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  7. Determine whether this backend needs a local server (see What Are Local Servers?) or in-source server (see What Are In-Source Servers?). If you need a local server, click the Local Server Definition checkbox. (Most extensions will need a local server.)
  8. Enter the instance URL and other information that your extension requires to connect to the custom backend.

    Note:

    If you're using an IP address instead of a proper DNS-based URL in a production environment, you're probably using self-signed certificates. Be aware that certificates based on IP addresses are less secure and more difficult to maintain than DNS-based URLs. To avoid potential security issues, self-signed certificates should never be used in production environments. For this reason, an audit warning is displayed whenever an IP address-based service connection is used.
  9. If you need more information about the options in the Authentication drop-down, see Set the Backend's Authentication Method and Connection Type.
  10. If you're using an in-source server and need help in determining server variables, see Add Server Variables for Backends.
  11. Click Create.

A new custom backend displays in the Backends tab on the Services pane. Click the newly created custom backend to view and edit its details. See Edit a Backend.

If this backend was created with a local server, you'll need to provide the corresponding runtime server details in Oracle Cloud Applications so that the backend will work for the Preview action. See Provide a Backend's Runtime Server Details.

Now that your custom backend is registered, you can click + Service Connection to create a service connection to your backend, either by providing a service specification document or by pointing to the URL of a service endpoint. See Create a Service Connection from a Service Specification or Create a Service Connection from an Endpoint.