An Instance is represents a logical concept representing a technology running in one or more environmentsEnvironments.

For example,

• You may have an Oracle SOA Suite instance Instance (SOA1) for most composites, and a second instance Instance (SOA2) for hosting composites which contain sensitive information such as financial or HR related data.In this case, you would create two Instances in FlexDeploy named SOA1 and SOA2. You can define Name and Code for instances Instances as per what makes sense for your topology.
• You may have a requirement to perform builds using multiple versions of JDeveloper, such as JDeveloper 11.1.1.9 and JDeveloper 12.2.1. In which case you can create JDEV11119 and JDEV1221 instancesInstances. Then you can associate each instance Instance with one or more environments Environments, and describe which endpoints fit in each Environment/Instance combination.

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This is simple variation from Example #1 above, where Build and Deploy instances Instances are named so that users can easily match Build with Deploy instanceInstance.

There are 4 types of instancesInstances:

1. Instances - represent a software technology that supports build and/or deploy.
2. SCM (Source Code Management) Instances - represent a source code management system such as Subversion, Git, TFS, CVS, etc. Holds properties necessary to authenticate. The paths to specific projects in the SCM are contained in the project instead so that the instance Instance can be used across many projects.
3. Test Instances - represent a software test tool. Holds properties necessary to run tests, and allows the properties to be used wherever the test is run.
4. Issue Tracking System Instances - represent an Issue Tracking System. Currently JIRA is supported. The settings on this instance Instance allow FlexDeploy to authenticate and manage tickets in the issue tracking system.

Viewing Instances

To view the list of instances Instances defined within FlexDeploy, select Topology -> Instances from the menu.

By default, all active instances Instances are displayed in the search results. To refine the search results, select one or more criteria options and click on the Search button. Select the Any radio button to indicate the search results should include instances Instances matching any of the specified criteria, or the All radio button to indicate that the search results should only include instances Instances matching all of the specified criteria. Click on the Reset button to return to the default search criteria form.

Creating or Editing Instances

 Each instance Instance type has slightly different configuration requirements. The following links will assist in setting up Instances.

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To inactivate an Instance at any time, select an existing instance Instance and click the Inactivate button. This will temporarily hide that instance Instance until, a search is performed where the criteria for Active is switched to "No". To reactivate an instanceInstance, select the desired instance Instance and click the Edit button. Then change the drop down menu for active to "Yes" and click Save. This instance Instance is now active in the system again and ready for use.