Mendix Event Broker
Introduction
Based on Apache Kafka, the Mendix Event Broker is single-tenant and can only be used by apps running on nodes provisioned for your company.
Events are published to a Kafka topic. Apps are subscribed to a Kafka topic to receive events, and messages use standard CloudEvents payload format.
There is a single Kafka broker for Free Apps that your company Free Apps can connect to. All Free Apps in your company publish and consume from the same Kafka broker. Events are published to one shared Kafka topic, and any Free App in your company can receive these events.
Mendix Event Broker License
Purchase a license to the Mendix Event Broker to deploy unlimited apps on production environments in Mendix Cloud. Ask your Customer Success Manager or Account Manager to reach out to purchase a license. See the Mendix Event Broker platform service page for more details.
A license for the Mendix Event Broker is available for any Mendix region, but once selected, you can only run on a single region (no multi-region support). This license is available for all customers. You can also run business events on your own Kafka cluster.
Enabling the Mendix Event Broker Service
Once a license is purchased, a Technical Contact must enable the Event Broker Service on the Mendix Portal for the Mendix Cloud in the following places:
- On the app level under Environments > Services
- On the Environment Details page for each environment
The Event Broker must be enabled on both the app and specific environment levels in order to use the Event Broker services.
Managing the Mendix Event Broker
Technical Contacts with a license to the Mendix Event Broker can manage its features on the Event Broker Manager page.
Users for Event Broker Manager
Users within the company’s email domain that have a Mendix login can participate in the administration of the Mendix Event Broker as either a View or Admin user. They can also be blocked from participation.
Users that are not part of the customer organization (not within the email domain of the customer) can be invited within the same levels of access. Such users still require a standard Mendix login.
Environments and Spaces
Space define which applications can exchange events with each other. When Business Events is enabled for an environment, it is placed in an Event Broker Space based on the environment name. This enables apps deployed under the same Space to publish and consume events. For example, apps in acceptance environment can only exchange events with other apps’ acceptance environments. You can check the Space of an app’s environment on the Event Broker Manager page.
Spaces are created and assigned based on the app environment name and allow isolation of your business events. The default behavior can be changed if needed. Contact Mendix Support if you would like to change the Space of a specific app environment.
See Enabling the Mendix Event Broker Service for more information.
Topics and Channels
Events are placed in channels, sometimes called topics. Apps subscribed to a channel will receive events published to this channel.
Events published by Free Apps are published to one shared company channel on a multitenant free Event Broker. Events published by apps running on licensed nodes are published to their own channels on the company Event Broker. These channels, implemented as topics on Kafka, are automatically created upon deployment of the app publishing the events.
Event Access Control
The Mendix Event Broker allows for access control to be applied down to the event level. Each application can be granted or denied access to events using the Event Broker Manager.
The overview page contains a list of applications by environment within the organization’s event landscape. The table contains columns that provide cases with exceptions:
- Implemented but no access - an application has implemented an event that it is not allowed to access, guaranteeing a failure to subscribe to and/or publish the event
- Has access but not implemented - an application has been provided with more access than is required and thus can be secured more accurately
Selecting the specific application provides an overview of the application’s implemented events with their associated access.
From this view, access to the individual events can be configured. Changes take effect immediately upon application.
From the main overview page, an administrator can assign the default behavior of applications when they deploy to an environment for the first time by changing the configuration in the Manage Default Access dialog box.
From here, you can manage the default access settings:
- An app can access events defined in it – allows newly-deployed applications to always have access to any events defined within that application (see Creating a New Business Event Service for more information)
- For other events, in all environments, the app can: – allows administrators to turn on or off the default assigning of event access
Mendix Event Broker Bridges
Mendix Event Broker Bridges allow for the integration of the Mendix Event Broker with other technologies, such as AWS SQS, AWS S3, or Google Pub/Sub, to send and receive events between your Mendix Cloud landscape and technologies outside of your Mendix Cloud landscape.
Standard Message Format
To move an event from SQS to Mendix Event Broker, a message must contain the following message attributes and start with ce_:
- id as
ce_id - source as
ce_source - specversion as
ce_specversion - type as
ce_type
See CloudEvents for more information on required attributes.
Configuring a Bridge with AWS SQS
Technical Contacts with a license to the Mendix Event Broker can manage this feature from the Event Broker Bridges tab on the Event Broker Manager page.
The creation process contains three steps on the Mendix side and policies that need to be implemented on the AWS side.
Select a Service to Configure
Within the scope of the current Public Beta for this feature, Mendix Event Broker Bridges can transport events between the Mendix Event Broker and AWS SQS. Other options in the list are currently not available for use.
Configuration Details
The next step of configuration is to select a Space, Name, and Region for the bridge to operate in.
Choose the Business Events to Integrate
The user must select events from the Event Broker landscape of events to send to or receive from AWS SQS. To do this, do the following:
-
Select *Add Business Events and search for the appropriate events.
-
Select the checkbox for the event you want to add, then click Select.
-
Configure each event with its own SQS URL for each direction that the event will be integrated.
-
Confirm the configuration with the AWS Access Policy.
-
After all events have been configured, click Start to start the Mendix Event Broker Bridge. This process will take several minutes to complete.
Once the Mendix Event Broker Bridge has been successfully deployed, its configuration and status can be viewed on the Overview page.
Configure AWS Access Policy for Sending Messages to Mendix
Add this object to your Access Policy of the AWS SQS queue if it is sending messages to Mendix.
{
"Sid": "__sender_statement",
"Effect": "Allow",
"Principal": {
"AWS": [
"arn:aws:iam::044806572671:role/mendix-event-broker-bridge"
]
},
"Action": [
"SQS:SendMessage"
],
"Resource": "<Tenant SQS ARN>"
}
Configure AWS Access Policy for Receiving Messages from Mendix
Add this object to your Access Policy of the AWS SQS queue if it is receiving messages from Mendix.
{
"Sid": "__receiver_statement",
"Effect": "Allow",
"Principal": {
"AWS": [
"arn:aws:iam::044806572671:role/mendix-event-broker-bridge"
]
},
"Action": [
"SQS:ChangeMessageVisibility",
"SQS:DeleteMessage",
"SQS:ReceiveMessage"
],
"Resource": "<Tenant SQS ARN>"
}
Externally Defined Events
Externally defined events refer to events that are defined outside the Mendix application, specifically outside of Studio Pro.
The Mendix Event Broker allows users to upload an AsyncAPI document for these external events. Once uploaded, users can download a new AsyncAPI document compatible with Mendix Business Events, which can then be imported into Studio Pro to share the events across Mendix applications or use them in a new Bridge.
Upload Events
Technical Contacts with a license to the Mendix Event Broker can manage this feature from the Uploaded Events tab on the Event Broker Manager page.
To begin, click Get Started or Upload AsyncAPI Document, which involves uploading a file, verifying event information, and selecting spaces.
Upload an AsyncAPI File
Upload an AsyncAPI contract based on the AsyncAPI format. If there are any errors with the content or file format, an error box will display a list of the issues found.
Verify File Information
The details of the uploaded file are extracted in the Verify section. This allows you to confirm that all information is accurate and meets the required expectations.
Choose Spaces
Select the spaces where the events will be used. When at least one space is selected, the Create Service button will be enabled. Click Create Service to create the service.
Successful Page
The externally defined events have been successfully uploaded and are now ready to be used in Bridges or applications. For more information on how to use an event, see Usages.
Overview Page
After a service is uploaded, it can be viewed on the Overview page. This page presents a list of uploaded events, along with their corresponding services and the spaces selected for the AsyncAPI.
Events and Services Details
From the Overview page, users can access the Event and Service details by clicking on the event or service name in the table. Each page includes a drop-down selection for a space, which allows you to manage services and events specific to that space.
Event Details
This page provides information about the uploaded event, including the event name, PUB/SUB details, attributes, and usages.
Service Details
The services details page includes information about the uploaded services, including the service name, description, and associated events. You can also delete a service within the selected space (subject to deletion conditions) and download the AsyncAPI contract to import into an existing Mendix application (for more information, see Application Usages).
Event Usages
Once an AsyncAPI contract is successfully uploaded, it can be used through Bridges or applications.
Bridges
To use an uploaded event in a Bridge, you must configure a Bridge with AWS SQS. During the step Choose business events to connect, the newly uploaded events in the selected space from the previous step will be visible.
Applications
To use an uploaded event in an application, download the AsyncAPI contract for Studio Pro and import it as a new business event in your Mendix application. The download button is available on the Service Details page.
After downloading the file, open your Studio Pro app and import the file as a new business event using the Use an existing business event service option.
Click OK, and the new business event is created and ready to be used with the same features as any other imported event.
Delete Service
You can delete a service on the Service Details page. Deletion is only possible if the service is not being used in the selected space. This action is irreversible. If you want to re-upload the service to the space, you will need to upload the file again.
AsyncAPI Format
Externally defined events are provided to the Event Broker via an AsyncAPI document, which must include the service information and event definitions. Any other content within the AsyncAPI document, if provided, will be ignored.
The mandatory information required in the file includes:
- Title - the service name.
- Message - represents the business events.
- Payload - the attributes that form the message.
The supported version of AsyncAPI is 2.0.0, in accordance with AsyncAPI documentation.
The file requirements are listed below:
- Size: maximum file size is 1MB.
- Supported files: .yml, .yaml, .json