Chapter 8. Lifecycle support and discovering resources
This chapter covers
- What a service lifecycle is and how to register it in the registry
- What a policy lifecycle is and how to register it in the registry
- How to locate the resources that have been stored in the registry
- How to visualize the information in the WSO2 registry using the Bamos server
Using policies will make sure that your services are of a certain quality level and follow the regulations and standards set out by your company. This will ensure that your services are well understood by you as well as your customers and can be used effectively. So far, however, we’ve skipped two important aspect of SOA governance: service and policy lifecycle and resource discovery.
Besides these main subjects I’ll also show you how to extend the WSO2 user interface to make registration of resources easier. We’ll start with the definition of a service lifecycle.
A lifecycle, as the name implies, defines the stages a service goes through during its existence. A service lifecycle is important for the following reasons:
- It helps to identify which services need to be created or updated, because it provides a complete overview of all the services currently running in production.
- It helps to make sure all the necessary steps are taken before a service is put in production or is made obsolete.
- It can be used to determine which policies need to be complied with in each stage.