Third-party tools exhibit wide and varied functions. Plug-in integration is achieved by breaking down a tool's functions into simple, discrete steps that run a specific behavior. A plug-in step might start a tool, or run different functions in a tool, such as extracting or inserting some type of data.
When you use plug-ins to create a component process, you can use steps from several plug-ins and configure the steps as you go. For example, you might create a process that uses a plug-in for a source control tool that deploys a component to a middleware server, and another plug-in to configure a step that removes the component from the server.
A component process that contains a plug-in step requires an agent. Unless the agent must interact with the host's file system or system processes, the agent does not need to be on the same host as the target resource.
IBM UrbanCode Deploy enables you to download and install numerous component plug-ins. The plug-in system is open and extensible; plug-ins can be written in any language.