Supporting Integrations
Received a support ticket about Frends and no idea how to continue? Start here.
As fresh IT support or more experienced consultant just accessing Frends for the first time, you might be looking for information on how to solve the issue in Frends you've been tasked with. Or perhaps you need to give access to a new developer to Frends platform. Here's how to do it.
Getting started with Frends as support personnel
This guide is meant to show you how to find and access the logs and settings that are commonly used in supportive tasks in Frends.
If you missed it, the Getting Started page contains the very basics of Frends UI and features, and you might want to start there first before proceeding with this guide.
Reading the Process logs
Reading the Process logs
In order to see what happened during integration flow execution, Frends has a view called Process Instance.
Step by Step Tutorial Available
If you prefer more visual or interactive guidance on how to view Process logs with Frends, you can find a step-by-step walkthrough from your own environment's home page, under Onboarding by selecting "Tutorial 2b, Step 2: Process Logs" tour.
Accessing process instances
The Process Instances are accessible through Process list by selecting Show Process instances. You can also access the Process Instance list by clicking on Last execution or Instance counts per day columns from the Process list.
Then selecting any of the Process Instances on the Process Instance list will take you to the chosen execution's Instance view.
Viewing Multiple Processes' Instances at once
In order to see Instances for multiple Processes at once, you can use the bulk actions for Processes. Simply select the wanted (or all) Processes using the checkboxes in Process List view, select Actions from the top of the list, and finally select Show Process Instances from the menu.
Opening the Process Instance list this way allows you to view and filter multiple Processes' Instances at once, showing for example the lifecycle of a specific Order ID through multiple Processes in one view.
Process Instance list filters
In the Process Instance list, you can filter the shown Instances using time period and the state of the Process Instance. The search also supports searching for results and values promoted from the Process execution using SQL wildcards.
The Instance list is automatically refreshed by default, to show the current state of the executions in almost real time. In case there are a lot of executions happening, setting the Auto refresh to Off might help in focusing on the earlier executions.
Process Instance view usage
From the Process Instance view it is possible to see what happened at each stage of the execution, shape by shape.
From the view, it's possible to click on the Process elements to see details of that part of the Process. Depending on logging settings in the Process as well as in the Agent Group, some details of the execution might not be always visible.
Functionality in the Process Instance view is similar to Process Editor view, but instead of allowing editing the Process and shape details, it shows what happened during the execution.
Common information shown for each shape are:
Start time, when the execution of chosen shape was started
Duration, how long the execution took for that shape
Task or Expression, what was executed
Result, showing what was the result of the execution
If extended logging is enabled for the Process or Agent Group (Log everything in Log settings), the input parameters are also logged and shown here. Because extended logging has some impact on performance, this level of logging is recommended to be used only temporarily. The Log settings provide an easy way to set Log everything for only a specified duration.
It's also possible that log settings were adjusted so that Only errors are logged, or Skip logging result and parameters is enabled for some elements in the Process. In these situations details for successful shape executions are not logged. This is useful for production use, when there can be many and more executions and as long as there are no errors, most details of the executions are not needed.
Viewing the Agent logs
Viewing the Agent logs
Process logs and Instances give a lot of detail about what is happening on the execution level, and most of the time, this is all it takes to figure out what is wrong. Sometimes the reason for issues in Processes is somewhere deeper, and the logs the Agents provide can shed some light on the root cause.
Step by Step Tutorial Available
If you prefer more visual or interactive guidance on how to view Agent logs in Frends, you can find a step-by-step walkthrough from your own environment's home page, under Onboarding by selecting "Tutorial 2b, Step 4: Agent Logs" tutorial.
Requirements
In order to access Agent logs, you will need to have at least Editor role in Frends. In case the roles and permissions have been changed, having at least Environments.View permission is required. Some actions are restricted to Environments.Admin level, but viewing the Agent logs is possible with only the View level.
Viewing the Agent logs
You can access the Agent logs by heading over to Administration menu and opening Environments.
Once in Environments, you will be presented the currently selected Agent Group and its features and settings. On the left, you have a list of Environments and Agent Groups within them, to change which Agents you are looking at.
You can learn more about the architecture Frends has for the execution environment at Hybrid Integration Architecture section.
For viewing the Agent logs, we want to click on the Agent(s) shown under Agent Groups.
By clicking on the Agent's name or the Agent card in general, you will directly access the Agent's logs, what is happening on the background. These logs will show, among others, errors coming from the Processes and Subprocesses, as well as resource usage and message queue warnings and errors.
By clicking on the error and warning messages, you can get more accurate message what happened at that point.
Below the Agent logs, you can also find Triggers that are deployed to the Agent. From these you can confirm which Processes and Triggers should be running on the Agent, as well as receive the whole URL for an API or HTTP endpoint, as long as the external URL is configured for your Agent.
User administration
User administration
Frends provides powerful user administration and management features in the Frends Control Panel. Users are Tenant-specific and they are specifically for accessing the Control Panel and performing actions within, and not related to who can access your APIs or HTTP endpoints, those are controlled separately using API Policies.
At its basics, users are managed in Frends using RBAC or Role-Based Access Control model, and in addition different authentication methods can be integrated into Frends from the User Management.
Step by Step Tutorial Available
If you prefer more visual or interactive guidance on how to create and manage users in Frends, you can find a step-by-step walkthrough from your own environment's home page, under Onboarding by selecting "Tutorial 2b, Step 3: User Administration" tutorial.
How to create a new user in Frends
If your Frends Tenant has external authentication provider and SSO set up so that you can log in with your company's credentials, adding new users from your company can be done in Frends Control Panel.
Without external authentication provider set up, an administrator will need to invite new users to your Frends Tenant from the Frends Portal. Skip over to the second section to learn more about this method.
Adding users in Frends Control Panel (SSO enabled)
New users can be added by asking them to log in with their existing credentials into the Frends Tenant, provided they have a user account with the connected authentication provider. If your SSO configuration includes the setting for default role for users, the users can log in and get immediate access with the default role's permissions.
If the default role is not set they will not receive automatic access to Frends Tenant, but their username will be added to the list of users in your Frends Tenant after successful authentication, from where it is then easy to simply provide a role for the user.
Note that only the users able to authenticate to your authentication provider, such as Entra ID, may use this method. External users will either have to be invited from the Frends Portal, or have account created for them in your company's user management system.
While usually not necessary, it is also possible to add a user from within the Frends Control Panel. This essentially replaces the initial logging in by the user. Start by accessing the Control Panel and navigating to the User Management section, located under Administration menu in main navigation. This section serves as the central hub for all user-related activities, allowing you to manage user accounts, roles and authentication providers.
To create a new user this way, click on the New User button, which will prompt you to enter the necessary details for the new account. Begin by entering the username for the user, which will be used as the username for logging into the system. This is often the email address for the user, but not necessarily, depending on the authentication provider.
Next, you will need to select the appropriate role for this user from a predefined list of roles which align with your operational needs. Roles dictate the level of access and permissions the user will have, so it is crucial to assign roles carefully. If needed, the roles can be edited and new roles created to match the exact responsibilities the users need to undertake, ensuring they have enough access to perform their duties effectively while maintaining system security.
Once you’ve filled in all necessary fields, double-check for any errors or missing information before saving. Click 'Save' to create the user. The system will either confirm the successful addition of the user or alert you to any issues that need addressing before the user can be created.
Inviting new users from Frends Portal (Without SSO)
Before a new user can log in to your Frends Tenant with Frends credentials, the user has to be invited to your Frends Tenant by an administrator.
Navigate to the Frends Portal at https://portal.frends.com and log in. Here you can see information about your tenants, check release notes, and links to our documentation.
Find the Tenant you want to invite a user to, and click on the settings button 
to access the Tenant's settings. Navigate to Users section and click on Invite new users. You only need to enter the new users' email addresses and press Send invite.
This will invite the new user to you tenant and send the invitation link for them. On their first log in, the user will be asked to create a new password.
The user will also the default role (Editor) when they log in the first time. Continue reading to learn how to manage the users in Frends Control Panel.
Managing existing users
For managing existing users, return to the User Management section at any time. You can search for users by username and role. Selecting a user profile from the list enables you to view their details and make any necessary updates to their roles. Always confirm changes by clicking 'Save' to ensure updates are properly applied within the system.
When it becomes necessary to remove a user from Frends, perhaps due to departure from the organization or a role change that no longer requires system access, this can also be done from the same section. Select the user account you wish to delete, then click the trashcan icon on the top right corner.
Role-based Access Control
User roles in Frends are crucial for maintaining a structured and secure access environment, as they help define specific access levels for different users based on their responsibilities.
To create a new user role, navigate to the User Management interface in your Frends Tenant and select the Roles tab. From there, you can click the New Role button and enter a descriptive name for the new role.
Deciding on the permissions for this role involves selecting relevant options, such as access to specific views or functions. You can also allow or limit access according to tags and Environments, in order to limit the role to only view and edit Processes with the specified tags, or disallow access to production environments.
If modifications to existing roles are necessary, start by selecting the role to be updated from the list in the Roles tab. Adjust permissions or environment access as needed, then click Save to keep the changes you made.
While it's possible, it's recommended to not edit the default roles provided in Frends Tenant. Instead, if customized access is required for some users, create a new role based on the predefined roles, and limit them further.
Finally, after having a role created or modified, you can also assign users to that role directly from the role view.
With these guides and their tutorial and demo counterparts, you are well on your way to becoming the best integration operator with Frends. While this covered only the very basics of Frends Platform, continuing from here should prove to be no issue. Try, test and learn from doing is the perfect way of getting better in operating Frends.
To help you on your way, we have some more guides and tutorials to assist you in getting to know Frends better.
What's next?
Already got yourself familiarized with Frends basics? Check out these categories to learn more about Frends.
Certification
If you're ready to take your understanding of Frends to the next level, consider following our certification learning paths available in the Guides section. These paths are designed to help you deepen your knowledge of the platform, focusing on advanced topics and practical applications.
Why Pursue Certification?
Enhance Your Skills: Gain comprehensive insights into complex integration scenarios and platform capabilities.
Boost Your Career: Certification can demonstrate your expertise to employers and clients, potentially opening new professional opportunities.
Stay Updated: Engage with the latest features and techniques as you prepare for the exam.
Visit the Learning Paths section in Guides and you'll be well on your way to mastering Frends and achieving certification. Good luck on your learning journey!
Last updated
Was this helpful?