The steps discussed in this chapter are based on Windows 10 Pro, hence you will require Windows-specific software. The setup of the Designer and LTE components requires the following prerequisites:

• Download and install Docker Desktop for Windows: https://www.docker.com/products/docker-desktop.
• Download APIC toolkits and LTE (requires IBM ID and a proper API Connect license): https://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral/swg/selectFixes?parent=ibm%7EWebSphere&product=ibm/WebSphere/IBM+API+Connect&release=10.0.1.2&platform=Windows&function=all. Download the following files:

toolkit-loopback-designer-windows_10.0.1.5.zip

apic-lte-images_10.0.1.5.tar.gz

apic-lte-win_10.0.1.5.exe

Note

You can search for the preceding files in the search results without the filename extensions.

• Download three sample JSON files from the GitHub site: https://github.com/PacktPublishing/Digital-Transformation-and-Modernization-with-IBM-API-Connect/tree/main/Chapter04.
• Network connectivity from your workstation to the FHIR server: https://stu3.test.pyrohealth.net.

You will use the downloaded prerequisites to set up the development environment on your workstation. But before that, you should understand the various development tools available as part of the APIC toolset. APIC provides development tools for various kinds of requirements and preferences. These tools can be broadly classified into two categories:

• API development tools: Tools used to build the APIs
• API runtime/execution environment: Tools used in the execution of the APIs

You will learn in detail about each of these categories and their installation procedures.

Development tools

APIC development tools accommodate various developer preferences. These preferences could be development through a command-line environment, a desktop-based UI-driven tool, or a web-based tool. These accommodations are made with the support of the following toolset options:

• Command-line toolkit option (CLI) also known as toolkit: This toolkit provides commands for the cloud (called the Cloud Manager user interface) administration and API development and management. Typically, you will not be using the toolkit for API development purposes. It is commonly used for scripted cloud management (user management and gateway server management) and API management (API, Product, and application management).
• Designer user interface option (CLI + LoopBack + Designer) also known as Designer: You will use this for most of your API development work and this is going to be the focus of this chapter.
• API Manager: You can also develop APIs using the web-based API Manager tool. API Manager provides a more comprehensive development platform (as compared to Designer) where you can create new catalogs and manage API life cycles, for example. These advanced facilities are not available in Designer.

You can see that APIC provides many development tools to cater to all kinds of developer preferences. The next section will take you through the installation of Designer on your workstation.

Installing Designer

Before you start with the installation of the Designer component, ensure that you have downloaded the file toolkit-loopback-designer-windows_10.0.1.5.zip as specified in the Technical requirements section of this chapter. The following steps assume that you are carrying out the installation on a Windows platform. If your environment is either macOS- or Linux-based, please consult the IBM documentation for your environment-specific steps. You will probably have to execute (chmod +x) permissions for the apic file on a non-Windows environment:

1. Extract the contents of toolkit-loopback-designer-windows_10.0.1.5.zip to a folder of your choice. You should see two files:
   apic.exe: Supports the CLI option discussed earlier
   api_designer-win.exe: Supports the desktop-based UI-driven option
2. It is advisable to set the location of apic.exe in the PATH variable.
3. Go to the folder where you have extracted the contents of the toolkit-loopback-designer-windows_10.0.1.5.zip file.
4. To accept the toolkit (CLI) license, execute the following command:
   apic licenses –-accept-license
5. Install Designer. Execute the following command and follow the standard installation steps:
   api_designer-win.exe
6. Launch Designer by either clicking on the API Designer icon on your desktop or by executing the API Designer.exe file in the directory where you installed Designer.
7. Accept the license.
8. Create a workspace directory on your workstation where Designer will store various artifacts. This is the directory where Designer will store the API and Products that you create using Designer. You will need to provide the path to this directory after the initial login screen.
9. Designer requires credentials to connect to an API Manager instance or to an LTE. You will provide these credentials after the installation of your LTE.
10. You can exit Designer for now. You will come back to it after performing the installation and configuration of the LTE (covered in the next section).
    

You just completed the setup of the CLI toolkit and Designer. As was mentioned earlier, these two tools will help you build your APIs (by using Designer) and manage your cloud environment (by using the toolkit).

You now need a local API execution environment where APIs can be published and tested. The environment to publish and test the APIs is provided by the LTE component. It is discussed next.