This section describe how to start, stop, and pause connectors.
This section covers the following topics:
"Steps for starting, stopping, and pausing connectors"
System Manager commands for changing connector states
"Steps for manually starting a connector"
"Steps for setting automatic and remote restart for a connector"
Steps for using OAD as a Windows service
The first time you start a connector, it must be initialized. Initializing a connector requires that you start it manually. For instructions on manually starting a connector, see Steps for manually starting a connector.
If the connector does not start, check to make sure that the command line to start it includes the current InterChange Server Express name. For more information, refer to WebSphere Business Integration Server Express Installation Guide.
After the connector has been initialized, you can start, stop, and pause it with System Monitor or System Manager.
Perform the following steps to start, stop, and pause connectors in System Monitor:
Figure 27. System Monitor, icons for starting, pausing, restarting, or shutting down components
Perform the following steps to start, stop, and pause connectors in System Manager:
The following list describes the commands you can use to change the connector state and describes their processing actions:
When you install the IBM WebSphere Business Integration Adapters, a shortcut is created for each installed connector on the IBM WebSphere program menu. The connector is defined in the InterChange Server Express repository and is loaded when you load the repository.
Starting InterChange Server Express automatically initializes every connector defined in the repository. The connector is available for use whenever InterChange Server Express is running.
Perform one of the following steps to start the connector:
Start the connector by clicking the program shortcut created as part of the installation procedure.
Open a DOS Command Prompt window and navigate to the appropriate connector directory. At the prompt, enter one of the statements below, depending on whether the connector is a Java connector or a C++ connector:
Java connector
start_Sap ConnectorName InterChangeServerName
C++ connector
start_connector ConnectorName InterChangeServerName
where ConnectorName is the name of the connector and InterChangeServerName is the name of the InterChange Server Express instance. Refer to the Connectors folder in System Manager for the correct ConnectorName.
You can customize the startup for each connector by modifying the connector
shortcut or the
start_connector.bat
file. Use the connector startup parameters listed in Table 7 to customize the startup of a connector.
Table 7. Connector startup parameters
Parameter | Function |
---|---|
-c configFile | Name of the configuration file to be used during startup. If the file name specifies a relative path, the startup script looks for the file in the directory where the product is installed. This parameter is required only to use a local connector configuration file. If you are not using a local configuration file, enter the name of the configuration file used by the IBM WebSphere InterChange Server Express (by default, InterchangeSystem.cfg). |
-c | Causes the default configuration file to be used if the user-specified configuration file does not exist. |
-d | Specifies the name of the C++ connector's library file, which is a dynamic link library (DLL). This DLL name does not include the .dll file extension. The startup script specifies this option for all C++ connectors. |
-f pollFrequency | Poll frequency is the number of milliseconds between polling
actions.
The value of this parameter overrides any repository definitions. You can specify either -fkey or -fno, but not both. |
-j | Specifies that the connector is written in Java. This parameter is optional if you specify -l className. |
-l className | Specifies the name of the Java connector's global class, which is an extension of the connector base class. The startup script specifies this option for all Java connectors. |
-n connectorName | Specifies the name of the connector to start. |
-p password | Specifies the password that the connector uses to access InterChange Server Express. |
-s serverName | Specifies the name of the server. This parameter is required. The name is case-sensitive. |
-t | Turns on the connector property SingleThreadAppCalls. This property guarantees that all calls the connector framework makes to the application-specific connector code are with one event-triggered flow. The default value is false. Important: Do not change the value of this property from its shipped value. Each connector has the appropriate setting for its threading model. Specify this option only when starting a connector you created. |
-x connectorProps | Passes application-specific connector properties to the connector. Use the format prop_name=value for each value you enter. |
The generic connector manager script calls the appropriate start_connector.bat script, which handles the actual connector management (including shutdown) for the connector. The InterChange Server Express product provides a start_connector.bat script for each connector it delivers.
Shutting down a connector stops the connector's processes. Before shutting down a connector, pause or stop each collaboration object that uses the connector (the collaboration must be configured to pause; see the collaboration documentation for details on how to do this). If the Pause when critical error occurs check box is selected in the Collaboration General Properties window, the collaboration pauses automatically when a critical error occurs. The latest unprocessed events of such collaborations are then moved to the event submission queue.
You can perform either a "permanent" or a "temporary" shutdown of the connector. You control the type of shutdown by enabling or disabling (the default) automatic restart:
For instructions on enabling or disabling automatic restart, see "Steps for setting automatic and remote restart for a connector".
Instructions for shutting down a connector depend on which tool you use to monitor the system:
Perform the following steps in System Monitor to shut down a connector:
Perform the following steps in System Manager to shut down a connector:
The collaboration object icon changes to an icon with two vertical lines.
The procedures described in this section restart the connector after you have used the Shut Down Connector action in either System Monitor or in System Manager in the InterChange Server Component Management view. This action is available only if you have enabled automatic and remote restart for the connector (see Steps for setting automatic and remote restart for a connector).
Perform the following steps in System Monitor to restart a connector:
Perform the following steps in System Manager to restart a connector:
With the Object Activation Daemon (OAD), triggered by IBM WebSphere MQ, you can enable a connector to support the automatic-and-remote-restart feature, which allows the connector to handle the following conditions:
Perform the following steps to set up automatic and remote restart for a connector:
Use of the MQ-triggered OAD requires installation of the MQ-trigger Monitor and the configuration of certain queues. This monitor is installed as part of the WebSphere MQ software. These queues are created and configured by a special mqtriggersetup.bat script.
Perform the following steps to start Connector Configurator Express for the connector before you set the OAD properties:
Table 8. Configuring standard properties in Connector Configurator Express
Name | Possible values | Description | Default values |
---|---|---|---|
OADAutoRestartAgent | true or false | If this property is set to true, the MQ-triggered OAD automatically attempts to restart the connector after an abnormal shutdown. It can also be used to start the connector agent remotely. This value is dynamic. | false |
OADMaxNumRetry | Number | Number of maximum attempts. | 10,000 |
OADRetryTimeInterval | Minutes | Number of minutes between each retry. If the connector agent does not start in this time interval, another attempt to restart the agent is made. | 10 |
From within Connector Configurator Express, you can take any of the following actions:
Perform the following steps to enable automatic and remote restart for a connector for the first time:
Changing the value of the OADAutoRestartAgent property from True to False toggles the automatic-and-remote-restart feature on and off. This connector property is dynamic; that is, you do not need to restart InterChange Server Express for the change to take effect. Therefore, when you set OADAutoRestartAgent to False, automatic and remote restart is disabled. When you set this property to True, automatic restart is enabled.
If you shut down the connector agent when the automatic-and-remote-restart feature is enabled, you perform a temporary shutdown. The response of the connector depends on the method you use to shutdown the connector, as follows:
However, if you disable the automatic-and-remote-restart feature and then shut down the connector agent, you perform a permanent shutdown; that is, you must manually restart the connector.
If you are configuring a connector for automatic restart or remote startup using OAD, do not configure the connector to run as a automatic Windows service. Instead, install WebSphere MQ Trigger Monitor to run as a Windows service. When the system starts, OAD automatically starts as a Windows service; when InterChange Server Express restarts, it starts the connector through the OAD.
Perform the following steps to install WebSphere MQ Trigger Monitor as a Windows service:
After completing these steps, you can use the Services tool in Windows to start and stop the daemon.