Out of the box situation

Out of the box blueriq uses an embedded cloudconfig server to retrieve the values of property files.
This server reads all property files it finds in the assigned folder, and blueriq in order asks the server for the value of the property it wants.

Creating documents

To generate a document we use an IBEX renderer.
This renderer requires some adjustments by the customer before being usable.
For starters, the folder containing the xsl files (required to generate documents) must be in the WAR, since we cannot use the physical paths any more.
To do this you must unpack the war and add the folder to the src/main/resources folder of the application server used.
When doing so the property blueriq.documents.base-folder must be given the value "classpath:/", using this value Blueriq will use the documents folders inside the WAR.

This renderer also uses windows fonts when creating a pdf-A file.
We cannot include these fonts due to copyright infringement so it's required for customers to add them to the WAR.
To do this you must unpack the war and add the windows fonts to the src/main/resources folder of the application server.

Usage of exports

When using the spring cloud config server embedded, all the exports can be placed in the exports folder in the aquima.home folder.
However if config server is running standalone, these exports must be explicitly named with the full path to each file in the application.properties file.
Resulting in a line like: blueriq.exports.files=D:\exports\example.zip, D:\exports\example2.zip, etc.
These exports must be on the same server as the runtime is running on.

Possible changes:

Git

It is possible to stop using files on the filesystem, and read property files out of git.
To be able to do this, some change have to be made:

bootstrap.properties - for using the file-system
spring:
   profiles:
      active: native
   cloud:
      config:
         server:
            native:
                   searchLocations: file:D:/local-properties

bootstrap.properties - for using GIT - basic authentication
spring:
    cloud:
       config:
           server:
               git:
                  uri: https://git.blueriq.com/config-repo.git
                  basedir: target/config
                  username: <git_username>
                  password: <git_password>

However, using git does result in not being able to use the development plugin the same way as it does without GIT.
This is because it can only read from git, but cannot write. So while it does show all the settings, you cannot change them and save them.
They will run during your session, but when it reloads (manually, or new session) all the original settings are being read from GIT again, and be back to original.

Standalone instead of embedded

If you wish to run the cloud config server on it's own, that's also possible.
To accomplish this, some changes must be made:

In the bootstrap.properties you must place the url to reach the server
(example:spring.cloud.config.uri=http://ipadress:portnumber)

Add the following annotation on the standalone config server:

@Configuration
@EnableAutoConfiguration
@EnableConfigServer
public class Application {

public static void main(String[] args) {
         SpringApplication.run(ConfigServerApplication.class, args);
         }
}

Expected changes in the future

For the following changes we have no realease date, but they are expected to be made.

The development plugin cannot write in property files that are read out of GIT. This is something we want to keep.
However this results in the fact that the development plugin can only read properties, and this changes it usage.
Either the development plugin, or the compatibilty with GIT based property storing, will be changed.

Currently static resources are not managed by the spring cloud config server(for example frontend sources and exports).
When we make the spring cloud config server manage those aswell, they can be versioned when using GIT.