About AppHub
AppHub allows you to share your private applications with other businesses. This page provides information about AppHub and how to use it.
AppHub provides a platform to securely consume and distribute applications between businesses, creating a secure extranet.
You can share your applications with other businesses. They can be existing CloudConnexa customers or new to CloudConnexa. You can also subscribe to applications distributed to you by others.
You will not receive unsolicited application invitations from OpenVPN, and OpenVPN does not facilitate or participate in any monetary transactions or service agreements between businesses.
These B2B application exchanges are meant to happen between businesses working closely or between multiple WPCs under the same company.
Your users will continue to connect to your WPC to access your internal applications but can also access applications distributed via AppHub. Watch a short video.
AppHub Terms
App Provider: A business that wants to provide access to one of its Applications to others.
App Client: A business that has been requested to access an Application belonging to another.
Note
A business can be both an App Provider and an App Client.
Application Sharing: The process that facilitates the App Provider in granting permission to access an application to the App Client and for the App Client to accept the same. It also includes CloudConnexa's ability to route the traffic from the App Client to the authorized App Provider's application.
Invitation: This is the first step in the Application Sharing process in which the App Provider enters the App Client's email address or Cloud ID as an invitee to share the application with.
Shared Application: An Application that has been shared using AppHub.
Note
An App Client cannot provide access to others for a Shared Application.
AppHub Usage Examples
Example 1: Sharing between two businesses that use CloudConnexa
'Acme Inc.' manufactures chairs. 'Chairs R Us' is a wholesaler of chairs. Both use CloudConnexa for remote access and also conduct business with one another. 'Chairs R Us' is undergoing modernization of its Supply Chain Management (SCM) software and wants API integration with its vendors. 'Acme Inc.' uses AppHub as an App Provider . It shares access to their inventory application's API endpoints by sending an Invitation with Cloud ID or the Owner email address of 'Chairs R Us' WPC. 'Chairs R Us' is the App Client and approves the Shared Application. The SCM system connected to the WPC of 'Chairs R Us' can now make API calls to the inventory app connected to the WPC of 'Acme Inc.'
Example 2: Sharing between multiple WPCs of the same business
'Acme Inc.' owns two WPCs: it-admins-acme.openvpn.com and sites-acme.openvpn.com. The first one is to be used only by IT staff with privileged systems access. The second one is for site-to-site networking and connects the networks of Acme Inc. factories in various locations. The CloudConnexa Administrator of Acme Inc. wants to provide IT staff access to systems in the different factories. Instead of deploying Connectors in all the factories for the it-admins-acme.openvpn.com WPC, the Administrator shares the Applications configured in sites-acme.openvpn.com WPC with it-admins-acme.openvpn.com. In this case, the App Provider is sites-acme.openvpn.com, and the App Client is it-admins-acme.openvpn.com. The Invitation is sent using 'it-admins-acme' as the Cloud ID.
Example 3: Sharing with a business not using CloudConnexa
Acme Inc. has hired an accounting company to carry out a financial audit. The accounting company needs access to Acme Inc.'s financial applications. Instead of onboarding the team of accountants as Acme Inc. contractors, they share the various financial applications by sending an Invitation to the accounting company's IT department using an email address. For example, it@accounting.com. The IT department person of the accounting company signs up for a CloudConnexa account with the same email address as the one used in the Invitation and approves the access to the shared applications. The IT Admin then adds the accountants responsible for Acme Inc.'s account as Users. The accountants connect to the accounting company's WPC and get access to Acme Inc.'s financial apps. Once the audit is complete, Acme Inc. revokes the accounting company's sharing permission.
Application Sharing Flow
The Application Sharing flow will start with the App Provider sending an invitation to the App Client. Refer to Share invitation sent.
The App Client receives an email invitation. Refer to Share invitation received.
The App Client can choose to accept or decline the invitation. Refer to Share invitation approved. The App Client can immediately access the shared application upon acceptance of the invitation. Refer to Use of shared App
The App Provider gets an email notification of the App Client's response to the invitation. Refer to Approval notification.
The App Client can optionally set up an Access Group for controlling access to the shared application. Refer to Access control.