Cloud Manager configuration checklist

A summary, with links, of the key initial configuration tasks that you must complete in the Cloud Manager user interface after installing and deploying IBM® API Connect, and further supplementary tasks.

Key initial tasks

Task	Description
Log in to the Cloud Manager user interface	A default admin user account is provided for you to begin your configuration tasks.
Configure an email server for notifications	The email server sends registration invitations and other event-driven emails. You must configure the email server before you add any provider organizations or register a Portal service.
Specify your email server as the notification server	Select the email server to be used as the notification server, and configure the sender name and email address to be included in the emails.
Register a Gateway service	A Gateway service represents a cluster of gateway servers that host published APIs and provide the API endpoints used by client applications. Gateways execute API proxy invocations to backend systems and enforce API policies including client identification, security and rate limiting.
Register an Analytics service	The Analytics service collects API event data from the Gateway service.
Associate the Analytics service with a Gateway service	You must associate an Analytics service with each of the Gateway services from which you want to collect API event data.
Register a Portal service	The Portal service provides a developer portal used by application developers to discover APIs and onboard consumers.
Create a provider organization	For developers to be able to publish APIs, and for API managers to be able to manage the API lifecycle, they must be a member of a provider organization. You must create a least one provider organization specifying the owner, who can add further members.

Further supplementary tasks

Task	Description
Configure authentication and security	API Connect provides default local user registries, but you can configure your own user registries, of various types, for user interface and API access control. You can also configure TLS profiles for securing data transmission over HTTPS, and OAuth providers for securing third-party website or application access to APIs.
Create an Availability Zone	An Availability Zone is a logical grouping of one or more API Connect services. A default Availability Zone is provided on installation, but you can add further Availability Zones to reflect your data center topology.
Administer members and roles	You can add further users as members of the administration organization, and control their permissions by assigning predefined roles. You can also create your own custom roles.
Monitor your API Connect cloud	API Connect generates events to allow you to monitor the status of your cloud.