Using the device update service

A device update service is available with the IBM® Mobile Portal Accelerator Device Update feature.

Device update service subscription

IBM Mobile Portal Accelerator Device Update is the feature purchased for use with the IBM Mobile Portal Accelerator product. This feature is part of a subscription service that provides updated device profile information to the device repository file (file extension .mdpr) that is delivered with Mobile Portal Accelerator.

The repository of mobile device policies defines visual presentation elements (for example, page layouts and style sheets) and device attribute information. With the constant addition of new mobile devices in the market, the repository requires frequent updates to include these device profiles. You can use the device update service only if you have purchased the IBM Mobile Portal Accelerator Device Update feature.

Requesting a customer user ID and password

Before you can use the device update service, you must obtain a user ID. Send an email request to mdu@us.ibm.com requesting a user ID to gain access to the device update service.

When requesting a user ID, include the following information:

Customer ID number
Customer name
Your contact information

When the request is approved, your user ID and password will be sent to you. You need only one user ID, regardless of the number of IBM Mobile Portal Accelerator licenses you have purchased.

Note: The device update service is a subscription service and is limited to customers who purchase the service. Take precautions to protect and limit the distribution and use of your user ID and password.

Accessing the device update service

There are two ways to access the device update service:

Mobile Portal Toolkit Device Repository Import Wizard
Command line interface (CLI)

These methods are described in the sections that follow.

Mobile Portal Toolkit Device Repository Import wizard

Invoke the Device Repository Import wizard from the File > Import menu in the Mobile Portal Toolkit. The wizard requires a valid user ID and password.

The wizard enables you to:

Download the latest repository file to a user-specified directory. If a file exists of the same name, it will be overwritten.
Download the latest repository file and either overwrite the device repository currently in use or merge any changes that you have made to the current device repository file with the latest repository file.

You can enter values directly into the editable fields, or use the Browse button.

By default, the wizard saves the downloaded repository to a new file.

The default location of the device repository file is toolkit_home\DeviceRepository\devices.mdpr.

Note: toolkit_home is the directory where the Mobile Portal Toolkit is installed.

If your network environment does not allow direct access to the Internet, the proxy server connection option may be used. Alternatively, your network administrator might be able to modify your local firewall configuration to permit outgoing connections to the specific IP address and port associated with the device update service. This can be determined by resolving the service URL shown in the first page of the Device Repository Import wizard.

After you have completed all of the required fields, click Finish to start the download.

Click Cancel to stop the download at any time before it is completed.

On completion, the wizard closes. The file is transferred to the file system.

Command line interface

You can also download the latest device repository using a CLI. This enables you to automate update downloads, for example as a cron job.

Important: The device update service CLI does not merge any changes you made to the current device repository into the repository file that is downloaded by the device update service. If you want to maintain your changes to the device repository, you must use either the Mobile Portal Toolkit Device Repository Import wizard or the mcsRepositoryManager CLI command after you have downloaded the latest device repository.

Note: For more information on the mcsRepositoryManager command, see the topic Device repository update CLI in the Multi-Channel Server information center.

You can invoke the CLI from a server where the Mobile Portal Accelerator runtime component has been installed, or from a Windows system where you have installed the Mobile Portal Toolkit.

The Multi-Channel Server CLI commands must be used with Java 1.6 service release 1. To ensure that you are using the correct Java version, issue the following command before running any of the Multi-Channel Server CLI commands.

Note: In the UNIX command format, a space is required between the period (".") and the directory path.

. wp_profile_root/bin/setupCmdLine.sh

Note: There is a space between the period (.) and the rest of the command.

wp_profile_root\bin\setupCmdLine

Using the CLI on systems where Mobile Portal Toolkit is installed

The CLI mcsUpdateClient.bat file is located in the Mobile Portal Toolkit main directory: toolkit_home\DeviceCLI\bin .

Note: toolkit_home is the directory where the Mobile Portal Toolkit is installed.

Ensure that the JAVA_HOME environment variable is set to a JDK other than the one provided with WebSphere® Portal. You may set JAVA_HOME to an IBM JDK that comes with RAD (for example C:\IBM\SDP\jdk\jre). Do NOT set the JDK to the one found within WebSphere folder.

When you invoke the CLI, you must open a DOS window, change to the directory containing the mcsUpdateClient.bat file, and specify the current location of the device repository file. The default location of the device repository file is toolkit_home\DeviceRepository\devices.mdpr. However, if you have run the device update service after installing the Mobile Portal Toolkit, you should specify the new location of the device repository if it is different from the default location.

Note: For a list all of the parameters you can specify, refer to the table titled Supported command-line parameters, later in this topic.

Using the CLI on a server where the Mobile Portal Accelerator runtime component has been installed

The CLI mcsUpdateClient shell script (or batch file) is located in the wp_root/wp.mobile/wp.mobile.mcs/repository/updatedevcli/bin directory. When you invoke the CLI, change to the directory containing the mcsUpdateClient script (or batch file) and specify the current location of the device repository file. The default location of the device repository file is wp_profile_root/wp.mobile/wp.mobile.mcs/repository/xml-repository/devices.mdpr. However, if you have run the device update service after installing the Mobile Portal Accelerator runtime component, you should specify the new location of the device repository if it is different from the default location.

The CLI does not directly overwrite the current device repository. Instead, you must specify where you want to download the latest version to and give it an appropriate name. Overwriting the current repository can then be carried out as a subsequent step, either manually or using the same script that is used to invoke the CLI.

Table 1. Supported command-line parameters
Parameter	Mandatory	Type	Description
-user	Yes	Authentication	Valid device update service user ID
-password	Yes	Authentication	Valid password associated with the user ID
Latest	Yes	Command
-deviceRepository	Yes	Command	Full path and name of current device repository with .mdpr extension
-updateFile	Yes	Command	Full path and name of file that will be downloaded with a .mdpr extension
-proxyHost	No	Proxy	Required if connecting through a proxy server, enter the proxy server address
-proxyPort	No	Proxy	Required if connecting through a proxy server, enter the appropriate port
-proxyUser	No	Proxy	Valid user name for proxy (if required)
-proxyPassword	No	Proxy	Valid password name for proxy (if required)

Using the updated device repository file

You can import the updated device repository into instances of the Multi-Channel Server database. For details about the import procedure, see the topic Importing Policies into the Multi-Channel Server database in the Administering section of this information center.

The updated device repository file should also be distributed to Mobile Portal Toolkit users who create Multi-Channel Server policies or test portlets in the toolkit test environment. If the updated device repository file is renamed or placed in a new location on the file system, Mobile Portal Toolkit users must configure the Multi-Channel Server runtime and existing projects to find the new file. See the Mobile Portal Toolkit online help for more details.

Requesting the addition of new devices into the device repository

You may ask IBM to add devices to the repository by sending an email request to mdu@us.ibm.com. Include manufacturer, model and description of the device being requested. Typically, new devices can be added within two weeks of a request. IBM responds to each request with a confirmation of a target for inclusion, or an explanation if a device cannot or will not be added to the repository.