Configure the plugin registry for Ansibile Automation Platform and Red Hat Developer Hub integrations

To allow Red Hat Developer Hub (Developer Hub) to share identity and access across Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform workflows and templates, we need to create a plugin registry.  In this lesson, we’ll review several available plugins and guide you how to create a registry that works for you. 

Prerequisites:

• You must have administrative access to a Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform cluster.
• Install the OpenShift command-line interface (CLI) and Kustomize locally.
• A valid Red Hat subscription is required.

In this lesson, you will:

• Build and deploy a dynamic plugin registry.
• Explore the specific roles of the five core Ansible Automation Platform plugins provided by Red Hat.
• Understand how frontend, backend, and common utility plugins cooperate to create an automation portal.

Set up plugin registry

To enable Ansible Automation Platform plugins in Developer Hub, you need to set up a plugin registry.

1. Download the Ansible Automation Platform self-service automation portal Setup Bundle from the Red Hat Customer Portal.
2. Extract the ansible-plugins directory from the downloaded bundle.

3. Create a new build for the plugin registry:

   oc new-build httpd --name=plugin-registry --binary -n rhdh

4. Build the registry image with Ansible Automation Platform plugins:

   oc start-build plugin-registry --from-dir=ansible-plugins --wait -n rhdh

5. Deploy the plugin registry:

   oc new-app --image-stream=plugin-registry -n rhdh

An overview of Ansible plug-ins for Red Hat Developer Hub 

The following are dynamic plugins, published by Red Hat, that support Ansible Automation Platform integrations. Understanding what these do and how they fit together is key to troubleshooting your final integration.

Front-end plugins: 

• ansible-plugin-backstage-rhaap-dynamic: Adds the Ansible Automation Platform entry to the sidebar in Developer Hub and surfaces catalog information, learning paths, and template launch points. It acts as the main UI container that other plugins extend.
• ansible-plugin-backstage-self-service-dynamic: Delivers the dedicated self-service portal UI (/self-service) with simplified job template launches and role-aware filtering. It supplies opinionated UI widgets so developers can trigger automation without visiting Ansible Automation Platform.

Back-end plugins: 

• ansible-backstage-plugin-auth-backend-module-rhaap-provider-dynamic: Bridges authentication between Developer Hub, Ansible Automation Platform, and the Red Hat build of Keycloak, so the same identity is used across all tools. It manages the OAuth token exchange and keeps sessions available to the other plugins.
• ansible-backstage-plugin-catalog-backend-module-rhaap-dynamic: Continuously syncs organizations, teams, users, projects, and inventories from Ansible Automation Platform into the backstage catalog. Enriches catalog entities with Ansible Automation Platform annotations so resources are searchable and ownable inside Developer Hub.
• ansible-plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-backstage-rhaap-dynamic: Supplies the scaffolder actions that operate on Ansible Automation Platform (launch job templates, create projects, manage inventories, configure credentials). It allows software templates to orchestrate Ansible Automation Platform resources end-to-end without using custom code.

Shared utility plugin:

• ansible-plugin-backstage-rhaap-common: Provides shared types, API clients, and helpers that all of the plugins above rely on, ensuring it is present any time you enable the Ansible Automation Platform bundles.

How they fit together: 

1. ansible-backstage-plugin-auth-backend-module-rhaap-provider-dynamic signs users into Ansible Automation Platform and shares the token with the rest of the stack.
2. ansible-plugin-backstage-rhaap-dynamic and ansible-plugin-backstage-self-service-dynamic  exposes the Ansible Automation Platform UX surfaces inside Developer Hub.
3. ansible-plugin-scaffolder-backend-module-backstage-rhaap-dynamic powers software templates so those UI flows can create or launch automation.
4. ansible-backstage-plugin-catalog-backend-module-rhaap-dynamic keeps the Backstage catalog aligned with whatever exists in Ansible Automation Platform, making automation assets discoverable.
5. ansible-plugin-backstage-rhaap-common keeps the contracts consistent between all these pieces.

Success! With the plugins hosted and ready, the final step is to deploy Red Hat Developer Hub and bring your automation portal to life.