To develop visual applications using a VB Studio instance that's in a different identity domain than your Visual Builder instance (for example, a VB Studio instance provisioned in your Oracle Cloud Application account), you'll need to add a Visual Builder instance to your VB Studio project.

1. After you've set up VB Studio to develop visual applications, follow the steps in the this table to set up the project, configure the deployment job, and add users to the project:

   Action	How to
   1. Create an empty VB Studio project.	Sign in to VB Studio. See Access VB Studio from the Oracle Cloud Home Page. On the Organization page, click + Create. On the Project Details page, enter a unique name and description for the project. In Security, select the project's privacy setting. A private project is accessible to invited users only. Users who aren't invited can't access it or make changes to it. You can invite users after creating the project. A shared project is accessible to all users of the organization. Any user can view the source code, create or update issues, edit wiki pages, and interact with project builds. However, only invited users can make updates to the source code in Git repositories, create and run build jobs, and perform deployment operations. In Preferred Language, specify the language for the email notifications your project users will receive. You can change the language in which the user interface appears in your user preferences. Click Next. On the Template page, select the Empty Project template, then click Next. On the Properties page, select the wiki markup type, then click Finish. After the project is provisioned, the Project Home page opens where you can see a summary of the project's provisioning activities; default environment; default workspace; and Git, Maven, and NPM repositories. Review the activities feed and the Environments box for any errors.
   2. In the project, create an environment with your Visual Builder instance.	In the navigation menu, click Environments , and then click + Create Environment. In Environment Name and Description, enter a unique name and description, and click Create. In the Service Instances tab, click Add Instance. For Instance Type, select the Visual Builder, and for Authentication Method, select Visual Builder Credentials. In Base URL, enter the Visual Builder instance's URL. The Instance Name is automatically filled, but you can update that if you wish. The Instance Name will be displayed in the Service Instances tab. In Username and Password, enter the credentials of a user who can access the Visual Builder instance. Click Add.
   3. When users are ready, they can create this workspace in the project.	In the navigation menu, click Workspaces . Click New and select New Visual Application. In Workspace Name, add a name for your workspace. In Development Environment, select the environment you created in the previous step. In Visual Application Template, don't change the default (Default VBCS Application). In Git Repository, select Create new repository, and enter a repository name and working branch name.
   4. The user that created the visual application will need to configure their deployment job.	In your Visual Builder Studio navigation menu, click Builds . Click Configure, then click Configure. Click the Steps tab. In Target Instance, make sure that the environment you created in Step 2 is selected. In Username and Password, enter yours or a user's credentials who can connect and deploy to the Visual Builder development instance. The credentials will be used when the package and deploy build pipeline runs. (Optional) Choose Use custom file names and add custom file name details. (Optional) To overwrite the application's default version, specify the new version in Application Version. Leave it empty to use the version defined in the application's visual-application.json file. Don't deselect the Include the application version in the URL check box. (Optional) In Application Profile, specify the development application profile. Leave it empty to use the application's default profile. Using application profiles, you can define different combinations of servers and security settings for each of your environments, and use them when deploying the application to an environment. To learn more, see What Are Application Profiles? (Optional) To use the existing application's database, in Data Management, select Keep existing environment data. To use a clean database for the application, in Data Management, select Use clean database. Click Save.
   5. Add users to the project.	To allow your team members to access the visual application project, invite them to join the project. See Add Users to the Project.

To develop visual applications using a VB Studio instance that's in the same identity domain as your Visual Builder instance, you'll first need to first create a project based on the Visual Application template, then make a few configuration settings in the project so that it's ready for developing visual applications.

Here's a summary of how to create and set up a VB Studio project for development:

If you want to add more VMs to reduce the wait time for your organization's members or create custom VM templates, or use advanced features for VMs (such as use your own VCN or use a different VM shape), you should configure VB Studio to connect to your own OCI account.

1. Click the VM Build Executors tab.
2. Click + Create VM.
3. In the Add VM Build Executor dialog box, in Quantity, specify the number of VM executors you want to allocate.

   To minimize build execution delays, set the number of VM executors to the number of jobs that you expect to run in parallel using that template. If the OCI Compute VM quota is available, that number ofVM executors will be added to the Virtual Machines tab.

   If you're not sure about the number of VM executors you'll need, start with one VM executor and then add more as required. Note that the more VM executors you have running at a specific time, the higher the cost of OCPUs. To minimize the higher cost, use the Sleep Timeout setting on the VM Build Executors page to automatically shut down inactive VM executors. You can always return to the VM Build Executors tab to remove or add VM executors, based on your actual usage.

4. In Build Executor Template, select System Default OL7 for Visual Builder or a executor template with Node.js 16 (or higher) software.
5. In Region, Shape, and VCN Selection specify the OCI VM's region, shape, and Virtual Cloud Network (VCN).
   • A region is a localized geographic area where the data centers are located. Remember, a VM executor is a VM on OCI Compute. Choose the region where your VB Studio account is or the one that's closest to you geographically.
   • A shape is a template that determines the number of CPUs, amount of memory, and other resources allocated to the created instance. Choose a shape of your preference.
   • A VCN is a software-defined network that you set up in the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure data centers in a particular region. By default, builds run in your VB Studio's compartment. To run builds in your own VCN, select Custom and specify its details.

   To learn more about regions and shapes, see Regions and Availability Domains and VM Shapes. To find more about VCNs, see VCNs and Subnets.

6. Click Add.

From the source files in the Git repository's main branch, the packaging job generates two archive files: a source archive file that contains the visual application's source files and a build artifact archive file.

1. In the navigation menu, click Builds .
2. In the Jobs tab, click the packaging job.
3. Click Configure.
4. Click Configure .
5. Click the Steps tab and navigate to the Visual Application Packaging section.
6. By default, the build jobs minifies the application's source code before running the build. If you don't want to minify the source files, deselect the Optimize application check box.
   Minification is a process to remove the unnecessary characters (such as blank spaces, new lines, and comments) from the source code and reduce the size of the files, making the transfer of files consume less bandwidth and storage.
7. If you want to change the default names of the archive files, in File names, select Use custom file names.
   In Sources, specify the visual application source archive file's name and path. In Build Artifact, specify the build artifact archive file's name and path.

   You'll need both archive files to deploy the visual application.

8. Click Save.

By default, the main branch is accessible to all project users and anyone can make changes to its files. To restrict changes and who can push commits to it, you may want to set restrictions on it to allow branch merges only after they are approved.

1. In the navigation menu, click Project Administration .
2. Click Branches.
3. In Repository and Branches, select the Git repository and the main branch.
4. Select the Requires Review option.
5. In Default Reviewers, enter and select the users.
   A default reviewer is a project member who is automatically added as a reviewer when a merge request is created on the branch.
6. From the Approvals drop-down list, select the minimum number of reviewers who must approve the review branch of a merge request, where the selected branch is the target branch
7. (Optional) To allow a review branch to be merged to the selected branch only if the last build of the linked job in Merge Request is successful, select the Require successful build check box.
   To use this option, link a build job to a merge request.
8. (Optional) If you want to reset the approval status of reviewers if change is pushed to a branch after they have approved the merge request, select the Reapproval needed when branch is updated check box.
9. (Optional) To ensure changes pushed to the target branch match the contents of the review branch, select the Changes pushed to target branch must match review content check box.
10. (Optional) In Merge Request Exempt Users, specify users who can bypass the branch restrictions and merge the review branch of a merge request outside VB Studio or without required approvals.
    This is useful if you want to allow some users to merge the review branch irrespective of review conditions being met.
11. Click Save.

Follow your organization's guidelines to create a branch and protect it from unverified changes. To protect the branch, you can set merge restrictions, make the branch private and restrict who can push commits to it, or freeze it.

1. In the navigation menu, click Git .
2. Click the Refs view and then click Branches .
3. From the Repositories drop-down list, select the repository.
4. Click + Create Branch.
5. In the New Branch dialog box, in Name, enter the branch name. From the Base drop-down list, select the main branch as the base branch.
6. Click Create.

You need to set up some packaging and deployment jobs before you can deploy visual applications to your Visual Builder production instance. This topic explains how to do that.

Before you configure production build jobs, make a note of these:

• In the production packaging job, use the Git repository's production branch to generate production artifacts.
• In the development packaging job, if you changed the default file names of archive artifact files, get the new names and their paths. You'll need them when you configure the production packaging job.
• If you configured the development packaging job to overwrite the application's version defined in visual-application.json, get the new version. You'll need it when you configure the production packaging job.
• While configuring deployment build jobs, you specify whether to include the application's version in its URL. A visual application without the version in its URL is called a Live application. Usually, you deploy a live application to a production instance.
• If you deploy a version of a visual application that's never been deployed, VB Studio overwrites the last deployed version with the new version.

  VB Studio doesn't undeploy the previously deployed version from the production instance. It continues to remain on the target instance, but is inaccessible.

• If you want to redeploy a live application or a previously deployed version, undeploy it first, else the deploy build fails. To undeploy a previously deployed visual application version, configure a undeploy build job and run it. You can't undeploy it manually from the Environments page.
• If you've created an application profile for production, get its name. You'll need it when you configure the production deployment job.

You can undeploy a visual application that's deployed to your current identity domain's Visual Builder manually from the Deployments tab of its environment.

1. In the navigation menu, click Environments .
2. Select the environment where the visual application is deployed.
3. Click the Deployments tab.
4. Expand the application.
5. For the visual application to undeploy, click Actions and select Undeploy.
6. If the visual application is a live application (without the version number in the URL), select the Yes, I'm sure check box.
7. Click Undeploy.

1. In the navigation menu, click Builds .
2. In the Jobs tab, click + Create Job.
3. In the New Job dialog box, in Name, enter a unique name.
4. In Description, enter the job's description.
5. In Template, select the System Default OL7 for Visual Builder template.
6. Click Create.
7. Click Configure .
8. Click the Steps tab.
9. From Add Step, select Visual Application, and then select Undeploy.
10. In Instance, select the Visual Builder instance where the application is deployed.
11. In Username and Password, enter the user's credentials who can connect and undeploy to the Visual Builder instance.
12. In Application URL Root and Application Version, enter the visual application's root URL and its version.
    You can find the application's root URL and its version from the Deployments tab of the environment where the visual application is deployed.

    Example:

    
    

    
    

    
    
13. Click Save.
14. To run a build, click Build Now.

[2020-01-01 12:00:00] === Begin VB App Ops Undeploy Application===
[2020-01-01 12:00:00] Application employee-manager-visual-web-app/0.1 has been undeployed
[2020-01-01 12:00:00] === End VB App Ops Undeploy Application ===
Executor log size 364 B (364)
[2020-01-01 12:00:02] 
[2020-01-01 12:00:02] Build completed.
[2020-01-01 12:00:02] Status: DONE Result: SUCCESSFUL Duration: 7.0 sec