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Salesforce Deployment Options

Salesforce is available only as an online SaaS offering, but the Rule Execution Service and Catalog Service components of InRule for Salesforce can be hosted anywhere an IIS site can be deployed. This guide assumes deployment in Azure, but an on-prem or VM environment can also be used if required.

The following sections describe which deployment scenario will be the most applicable depending on your needs:

The primary consideration for InRule SaaS vs self-hosted Azure generally depends on if your organization is already setup to manage an Azure subscription and services.

  • If your organization does not have an Azure subscription, this can be compelling rationale to go with InRule SaaS and forgo the overhead of Azure management and deployment.
  • If your organization has an Azure subscription, it does not exclude you from choosing InRule SaaS, but it may indicate that your IT department has requirements or preferences for self-managed Azure solutions.

Either way, this guide will provide you with the information to help determine which InRule configuration will best suit your needs, including Government Cloud and other considerations.

InRule SaaS​

InRule for Salesforce is now available via InRule SaaS, in which case many of the deployment steps in this document are not applicable and will be managed for you. This is the most stream-lined deployment available to both qualified Trial users and licensed customers.

Important

If you are new to InRule and do not have an InRule SaaS subscription, you can request a free trial and specify that you would like to integrate it with your Salesforce instance.

With InRule SaaS, the deployment steps are significantly reduced by eliminating the need to install the InRule's App Services in Azure. This narrows the deployment focus down to irAuthor with irX for Salesforce and the InRule for Salesforce App from the Salesforce AppExchange. The main deployment steps in this scenario are summarized as follows:

Deployment StepInstallation Type
1. irAuthor with irX for SalesforceInRule installer via the InRule Support Site
2. Rule Execution Services for Salesforce*managed by InRule SaaS Support
3. InRule for Salesforce AppSalesforce AppExchange

All information to set up the connectivity between Rule Execution Services hosted by InRule SaaS and your organization's Salesforce instance can be managed through the InRule SaaS Portal. The following configuration is what will be managed through the Portal. More information can be found in InRule SaaS Portal Configuration.

Entered by users in the SaaS Portal – configuration information for the Rule Execution App Services

  • Service account credentials for Salesforce, including that account's API security token – used to allow the InRule SaaS-hosted Rule Execution Service to connect to Salesforce.
  • Salesforce Connected App Consumer Key and Consumer Secret information -- used to allow the InRule SaaS-hosted Rule Execution Service to connect to Salesforce.

Provided to users in the SaaS Portal – configuration information for the InRule Salesforce Package:

  • Rule Execution App Service endpoint URL – used for allowing Salesforce to make requests out to the Rule Execution App Service
  • Rule Execution App Service access credentials -- used for allowing Salesforce to make requests out to the Rule Execution App Service

The net effect of an InRule SaaS deployment is that after the above pre-requisites are met, you get to skip ahead to InRule for Salesforce App. Beyond this initial setup the remainder of the guide will be beneficial for detailing advanced rule execution methods and troubleshooting.

Self-Hosted in Microsoft Azure​

The suggested setup is to install InRule using a Platform-As-A-Service (PaaS) model on Microsoft Azure. This document discusses the following three components:

  1. Catalog App Service and Azure SQL Database
  2. Rule Execution App Service for Salesforce
  3. InRule Decision Client package for Salesforce

The Salesforce Integration Architecture section of this document provides a complete walkthrough for setting up each of these components.

The Anatomy of a Rule Execution Request diagram contains a more complete diagram depicting how a standard request navigates through components.

IIS On-Premises Rule Execution Service​

If for any reason you cannot use the Azure App Service, the Rule Execution Service and Catalog Service can also be installed in an on-prem environment, or in any IaaS server configured with IIS. The following three components are required:

  1. Catalog Web Service and Database
  2. Rule Execution Web Service for Salesforce
  3. InRule Decision Client package for Salesforce

Installation Documentation and InRule Installer, which will be used to install the Catalog Service, are available on our support website's downloads section and provide instructions for setting up the catalog.

Detailed installation steps are not included with this guide, but the InRule.Salesforce.WebService.zip package in the RuleExecutionAzureService folder can also be deployed in an on-prem environment. This is a Web Deploy package, so it can be deployed via MSDeploy or by copying the contents to an IIS Site. Alternatively, an MSI is provided, located in the same file directory as the aforementioned Web Deploy package. This can provide a more streamlined installation process for on-prem Rule Execution services.

Other Integration Scenarios​

You are welcome to look at alternate integration options. The following are some possible integration scenarios that you may pursue, which may require either deployment or solution customization. Please take the opportunity to verify the rationale for customization with InRule to ensure plausibility.

RuleHelper integration with the InRule (non-Salesforce) Decision Service

  • This execution model uses the RuleHelper to query Salesforce data in rule applications running under Decision Services (as compared to the Salesforce execution service). This approach can be useful for targeted scenarios that do not require the full Integration Framework.
  • For self-hosted or InRule SaaS implementations, there are manual steps required to set up this integration:
  • Moving forward in a future release of InRule Decision Services, the deployment process will be automated to no longer require manual setup

While there are other possible routes, they generally will not work with the Integration Framework we provide off the shelf. As such, we strongly encourage that you follow the model outlined in this guide to start with, until you've acquired a more advanced understanding of how all of the pieces of the InRule for Salesforce Integration Framework work together to provide a solution.