# eMBee IT

> eMBee IT. Enterprise integration, application modernization, AI and computer vision, and automation by Matthias Blomme, IBM Champion and IBM App Connect Enterprise specialist.

Every page on this site has a markdown twin: append `.md` to the page
path and you get the source instead of the rendered HTML. For blog posts
that is the original markdown, frontmatter included.

Note: image references inside post markdown are relative to the post
source and do not resolve over HTTP. The rendered images live on the
HTML page linked from each post's `canonical` frontmatter field.

## Pages

- [Home](https://www.embee.be/index.md): Enterprise integration, modernization & automation — services, background and contact details for Matthias Blomme.
- [Blog](https://www.embee.be/blog.md): index of all 47 posts, newest first.

## Blog posts (47)

- [Reporting IBM Champion activity with a custom Bob mode and Claude skill](https://www.embee.be/blog/ibm-champion-report/ibm-champion-report.md): A custom Bob mode (and Claude skill) that assembles your IBM Champion act-of-advocacy submission, builds a prefilled form URL, and stops you retyping your Champion ID umpteen times a year.
- [IBM App Connect and MCP: a field guide as of 13.0.7](https://www.embee.be/blog/Ace-MCP/ace-mcp-13.0.7-field-guide.md): What MCP looks like across ACE software and App Connect in containers, where the docs cover it, and where you still have to read the YAML.
- [Opening an IBM ACE support case with a custom Bob mode](https://www.embee.be/blog/ace-support-case/ace-support-case.md): A custom Bob mode that walks you through collecting diagnostics for an IBM App Connect Enterprise support case, and how to trigger an abend on purpose to test it.
- [Setting up MCP on ACE Minikube](https://www.embee.be/blog/ace-mcp-minikube/setting_up_mcp_on_ace_minikube.md): Walking through the IBM App Connect Dashboard's MCP server wizard on a Minikube install at operand 13.0.6.2-r1. What works, what doesn't, and what you have to wire up yourself when you're not on OpenShift or IKS.
- [Exposing a REST API as an MCP tool in App Connect 13.0.7](https://www.embee.be/blog/Ace-MCP/ace-mcp-runtime-callable-flow.md): MCP.Runtime in ACE 13.0.7 turns a deployed REST API into MCP tools. Here is the whole thing end to end, json and all, plus the callable flow workaround at the end.
- [Why Your ACE REST Request Node Isn't Sending Basic Auth](https://www.embee.be/blog/rest-request-basic-auth/rest-request-basic-auth.md): Two credential mechanisms, one pre-emptive and one reactive, and the silent "no error, no header" trap. Reproduced on ACE 12 and 13.
- [Keeping stuff stopped in IBM ACE](https://www.embee.be/blog/keeping-stuff-stopped/keeping-stuff-stopped.md): How to start an IBM ACE integration server without starting everything in it, and how to keep flows stopped across deployments.
- [Upgrading ACE on Minikube: from 13.0.4 to 13.0.6.2 (and unlocking MCP)](https://www.embee.be/blog/Ace-Operator-Minikube/upgrading_ace_minikube.md): A walkthrough of upgrading an existing ACE Operator + Dashboard + IntegrationRuntime install from 13.0.4.x to 13.0.6.2-r1 on Minikube, including the license-ID rebadge that silently blocks the upgrade.
- [Two bugs, one MQ CSU: how 9.4.0.21 broke my mqweb (twice)](https://www.embee.be/blog/mqweb-upgrade/mqweb-upgrade.md): An MQ 9.4.0.21 cumulative security update killed mqweb in two different ways on the same morning, a broken TEMP path that Liberty refused to claim, and an ltpa.keys file the new JRE wouldn't decrypt. Here's what happened and what went into the runbook.
- [MCP in IBM App Connect Enterprise 13.0.7: turning the admin server into an MCP host](https://www.embee.be/blog/Ace-MCP/mcp_in_ace.md): Enabling the MCP.Admin block in server.conf.yaml, hooking MCP Inspector up to a standalone ACE 13.0.7 integration server, and walking through every admin tool the runtime exposes , with the real JSON request and response for each.
- [Migrating ACE to v13](https://www.embee.be/blog/ace-migration/ace-migration.md): A walkthrough of an ACE v13 migration, from Transformation Advisor through Java 17 cleanup to what actually breaks once you flip the switch.
- [How to set up the IBM ACE vault from scratch](https://www.embee.be/blog/setup-ace-vault/setup-ace-vault.md): Replacing mqsisetdbparms with the ACE vault
- [ACE v13 new features (when coming from v12)](https://www.embee.be/blog/ace-v13-new-features-overview/v13-new-features.md): A summary of all the new features for ACE v13 up to 13.0.8.0
- [mqsirestart](https://www.embee.be/blog/mqsirestart/mqsirestart.md): mqsirestart solves all your restart needs!
- [IBM Storage Strategy Days 2026](https://www.embee.be/blog/storage-days-2026/storage-days-2026.md): No middleware this time: two days of IBM Storage
- [Sync Plex watch history to Trakt with PlexTraktSync in Docker](https://www.embee.be/blog/plex-trakt/plex-trakt.md): How to run PlexTraktSync in Docker to sync Plex watch history, ratings, and collections to Trakt, including fixes for Google login and Docker networking issues.
- [How This Blog Works: MkDocs, Python, and GitHub Pages](https://www.embee.be/blog/blog-hosting/blog-hosting.md): A look behind the scenes at how this blog is built and deployed, using MkDocs Material, a custom Python script for metadata generation, and GitHub Actions for automated publishing.
- [Is that a fish? Part 1: Motion detection](https://www.embee.be/blog/visdeurbel-automated-detection/01.visdeurbel-fish-detector.md): Detecting fish-like movement in the Dutch fish doorbell stream with Python, OpenCV and a mildly unreasonable amount of tuning
- [Validate a DFDL schema outside the toolkit](https://www.embee.be/blog/ibm-dfdl-tester/ibm-dfdl-tester.md): This post shows how to validate a DFDL schema with IBM DFDL outside the Toolkit using a simpler CLI-based flow. It covers the setup and validation scripts I added to ibmDFDLCrossTester, support for ACE 12 and 13, useful trace output for debugging, and a few schema gotchas worth knowing up front.
- [Containerizing IBM ACE: A Blog Series - Upgrading in Containers](https://www.embee.be/blog/containerization-series/06.upgrading-in-containers.md): The sixth installment in the Containerizing ACE series, tackling why  upgrades become boring (in a good way) when you containerize
- [PGP SupportPac on ACE 13.0.6.0: a full end-to-end setup](https://www.embee.be/blog/pgp-node/pgp-node.md): A practical, field-tested setup of the PGP SupportPac on ACE 13.0.6.0, from key generation to working encryption and decryption flows, including the runtime jar details that tend to get missed.
- [Creating a generic log node using context trees](https://www.embee.be/blog/generic-log-node/generic-log-node.md): Using the Context Tree in a second real life use case, logging
- [Running Granite 4.0-1B locally on Android](https://www.embee.be/blog/running-granite-llm-on-android/run-granite-on-android.md): An LLM that runs locally on your phone, I've got to give that a try
- [Installing ACE 13.x on Minikube: Filling in the Blanks](https://www.embee.be/blog/Ace-Operator-Minikube/installing_ace_minikube.md): Even though we hardly ever see it, IBM App Connect Enterprise (ACE) is perfectly capable of running on plain Kubernetes.
- [IBM TechXchange 2025, Orlando. Overwhelming in all the right ways.](https://www.embee.be/blog/techxchange-2025/techxchange-2025.md): TechXchange 2025, what you missed
- [Containerizing IBM ACE: A Blog Series - Container Startup Optimization](https://www.embee.be/blog/containerization-series/05.ace-startup-optimization.md): The fifth installment in the Containerizing ACE series, tackling why do ACE containers take so long to boot?.
- [Containerizing IBM ACE: A Blog Series - Scoping your runtimes](https://www.embee.be/blog/containerization-series/04.scoping-your-runtime.md): The fourth installment in the Containerizing ACE series, tackling a number of ways to determine your container content
- [Containerizing IBM ACE: A Blog Series - Images vs Artifacts](https://www.embee.be/blog/containerization-series/02.images-vs-artefacts.md): The seconf installment in the Containerizing ACE series, tackling images and artifacts
- [Containerizing IBM ACE: A Blog Series - Things to Consider in Containers](https://www.embee.be/blog/containerization-series/03.things-to-consider-in-containers.md): The third installment in the Containerizing ACE series, tackling some container concepts to keep in mind
- [ACE, AI, and Why You Should've Been in Hursley](https://www.embee.be/blog/ace-ai-hursley-2025/ace-ai-hursley.md): IBM TechXchange Early eXperience 2025.
- [Containerizing IBM ACE: A Blog Series - The Basics](https://www.embee.be/blog/containerization-series/01.the-basics.md): The first installment in the Containerizing ACE series, tackling the basics concepts
- [Stop Copying Messages into the Environment: Use Context Tree in ACE 13.0.4.0+](https://www.embee.be/blog/flow-order-context-tree/Stop-Copying-Messages-into-Environment-Use-Context-Tree.md): Using the new context tree in an actual functional use case
- [ACE on Windows:  Disable Weak TLS Ciphers and Verify with OpenSSL](https://www.embee.be/blog/disable-weak-ciphers-ace/ace_disable_weak_ciphers.md): Managing your cipher security
- [Create JSON Arrays in ESQL and Java (Without Losing Your Sanity)](https://www.embee.be/blog/creating-json-arrays/creating-json-arrays.md): How can we properly create clean JSON arrays
- [The EventLogMonitor](https://www.embee.be/blog/eventlogmonitor/eventlogmonitor.md): Hyping the EventLogMonitor tool
- [The Case of the Missing Query Parameters](https://www.embee.be/blog/missing-query-param/missing-query-param.md): Aka "The Blog That Reads like an Agatha Christie Story" or "The Overly Dramatic Description of a Simple Problem".
- [Select The Row](https://www.embee.be/blog/select-the-row/select-the-row.md): Let's talk about SELECT in ESQL — and I don't mean database queries (although they are rather similar)
- [Automating and Standardizing IBM ACE Installation with PowerShell](https://www.embee.be/blog/automating-standardizing-ace-install-powershell/automating-standardizing-ace-install-powershell.md): Automating windows installations of ACE through scripting
- [Running Unit Tests in IBM App Connect Toolkit Using a Custom Integration Server Setup](https://www.embee.be/blog/toolkit-unit-testing-custom-runtime/toolkit-unit-testing-custom-runtime.md): When working with IBM App Connect Toolkit, running unit tests on integration flows with custom configurations can be quite challenging.
- [How to Customize the IBM App Connect Enterprise Palette: A Quick Guide](https://www.embee.be/blog/customize-ace-palette/customize-ace-palette.md): Keeping a clean workspace
- [Ignoring fields in ACE integration testing: a guide](https://www.embee.be/blog/unit-test-ignore/unit-test-ignore.md): Making unit testing work for you, how to ignore specific data
- [A Week at IBM TechXchange Early eXperience Program in Hursley](https://www.embee.be/blog/ace-hursley-2024/ace-hursley-2024.md): Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the IBM TechXchange early eXperience program for IBM App Connect Enterprise (ACE) at the historic Hursley House
- [ACE Log Node tips and tricks – default values](https://www.embee.be/blog/log-nodes-tips-tricks/log-node-tips-tricks.md): Utilizing JSONata in the new Log Node
- [Logging ACE's ExceptionList Inserts (in the Activity log with the Log node)](https://www.embee.be/blog/logging-ace-exceptionlist/logging-ace-exceptionlist.md): Properly handing and parsing the ACE Exception list to retreive the most usefull information (with JSONata)
- [Transformation Advisor: helpful sidekick or noisy backseat driver?](https://www.embee.be/blog/tad/tad.md): Prepare your ACE migration
- [Business Transaction Monitoring](https://www.embee.be/blog/btm/btm.md): I wanted to try the new (re-introduced in 12.0.2.0) ACE Business Transaction Monitoring to see what the added value could be for a company/team/environment that.
- [Bar Build Commands: Unraveling the Differences](https://www.embee.be/blog/create-vs-package-bar/create-vs-pacakage-bar.md): Today automated builds and deployments are a must to support business demands. IBM App Connect Enterprise (ace) offers strong capabilities to automate build and.

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## Contact

- Matthias Blomme — matthias@embee.be
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthiasblomme/