Using the Console for administering remote i5/OS components

This section provides an overview of the Console, and describes the Console's functions. This section covers the following topics:

Console Basics

Setting authorities for the Console

Managing the server using the Console

Configuring queue managers

Managing connector agents using the Console

Managing ODAs using the Console

Starting, stopping, and refreshing connector agents and ODAs using the Console

Refreshing and rebuilding components using the Console

Viewing and using Console Logs

Console Basics

The Console tool for WebSphere Business Integration Server Express is used to administer remote i5/OS components. The Console runs on a Windows operating system and connects remotely to an i5/OS system. The Console tool is used only for WebSphere Business Integration Server Express version 4.4 on an i5/OS system. The tool is installed with administrative tools via the i5/OS Launchpad.

The Console provides a Graphical User Interface for the functionality of the i5/OS administration scripts included with the product. The Console tool's design makes it easier to perform the administrative functions of Server Express.

Note:
If the Console is connecting to an i5/OS system behind a firewall, refer to the IBM eServer iSeries Information Center to determine the ports needed to open the Java ToolBox.

To start the Console:

Click Start>Programs>IBM WebSphere Business Integration Server Express>Toolset Express>Administrative>Console

Setting authorities for the Console

To perform all of the Console functions, the i5/OS profile of the user executing the tool must have these special authorities: *ALLOBJ and *JOBCTL.

The Console help text in the Help menu lists the specific authorities required to run the tool.

Managing the server using the Console

You can use the Console to create, configure, and delete server instances on an i5/OS system.

Creating a server instance using the console

You can use the Console to create InterChange Server Express instances on an i5/OS system. To do this:

  1. Click File>Create instance.
  2. Enter the following information:
  3. Click Create Instance.
    Figure 22. Create instance window

Configuring a server instance using the console

To configure advanced properties for an instance on the Create Instance panel, click the Advanced tab.

Figure 23. Create instance window, Advanced properties

You can set the new server to use a specific repository name; the server name defaults as the repository. You can also enter a new or existing queue manager for the server; the default is <INSTANCENAME>. QUEUE.MANAGER. You can enable Role Based Access Control (RBAC) and set the server to have a remote database.

During the creation process, status messages are displayed on the screen. To view the server instance creation log, click View Log.

Deleting a server instance

You can delete a server instance from the i5/OS system using the Console:

  1. Right-click on the server name and choose Delete Instance. A confirmation prompt is displayed.
  2. At the prompt, click Yes. A message is displayed in the status window when the instance is deleted.
    Note:
    This function is similar to using the delete_instance.sh script on the i5/OS system.

Setting the server to start automatically

You can set a server to start automatically by setting the Autostart option. To do this:

  1. Right-click on the server name.
  2. Click to enable the Autostart check box.
Figure 24. Set autostart window

Note:
To turn off the autostart option, deselect the Autostart check box.

Starting, stopping, and refreshing the server status

The Console tool enables you to conveniently start and stop InterChange Server Express.

To start the server, click the green arrow icon to the right of the server name, as shown in the example above. To stop the server, click the red box icon. To see the current status of the server, click Refresh.

Viewing the server log

The Console enables you to view the InterChange System log file (InterChangeSystem.log) for a server instance. The Console opens the Toolset Express program LogViewer to display a snapshot of the server log file. You can set a property to allow LogViewer to refresh the log file from the i5/OS system. No default exists for this property; so to refresh the log, you must map a drive on the PC to the i5/OS system.

  1. Access the properties file: C:\IBM\WebSphereServer\Console\console.properties.
  2. To enable the Refresh function, add a line like this to the properties file:

    wbi.remote.dir=Z\:/QIBM/UserData/WBIServer44

  3. To view the log, right-click on the server name and click View Log.

Configuring queue managers

The Console can configure queue managers for a specific server instance. Follow these steps to configure the queue manager:

  1. Right-click on the server name and choose Configure Queue Managers.
  2. In the file that opened, change "adaptername" to the specific adapter for which you are configuring queues (for example, JTEXT or JDBC).

Managing connector agents using the Console

Using the Console, you can add and remove connector agents.

Adding a connector agent

You can add connector agents to the Console view. These connectors can either be custom connector agents or a connector agent that was removed previously from the Console view.

Prerequisites: You must create the job description on the i5/OS system prior to adding the connector agent.

Note:
Multiple connector agents can use the same job description.

Use the following steps to add a connector agent:

  1. Right-click on the server name and choose Add Connector Agent.
  2. Enter the connector agent's name, job description, and start script.
  3. Click Add Connector Agent.

Note:
You can also add previously removed connector agents using the Rebuild List function described later.

The connector agent you add only appears in the Console view. No changes occur on the i5/OS system.

Removing a connector agent from the Console

When you remove a connector agent, it no longer appears in the Console. You can, however, use the Add connector agent or Rebuild list options to add it back to the Console. To remove a connector agent:

Setting a connector agent to start automatically

You can easily set a connector agent to start automatically with its server. To do this:

  1. Right-click on the connector name.
  2. Click in the Autostart check box.

Note:
To turn off the autostart option, deselect the Autostart check box.

Managing ODAs using the Console

Use the Console to add and remove ODAs from an i5/OS system.

Adding an ODA

You can add a new or previously removed ODA to the Console view. To do this:

  1. From the ODA menu at the top of the screen, click Add ODA.
  2. Enter the following information:

Note:
Unlike connector agents, multiple ODAs cannot use the same job description. You must give each ODA its own job description created on the i5/OS system before adding it to the Console view.

Removing an ODA

When you remove an ODA, it no longer appears in the Console view, but no change occurs to the i5/OS system.

  1. From the ODA menu in the menu bar, click Remove ODA From List.
  2. Select the ODA from the list, and click Remove.

Starting, stopping, and refreshing connector agents and ODAs using the Console

The process for starting, stopping, and refreshing connector agents and ODAs is similar to the process for server instances.

Connector agents are listed in the Console view under their associated server.

ODAs are listed separately under the ODA tab.

Refreshing and rebuilding components using the Console

The Configuration menu in the Console enables you to refresh the status of the components in the Console. The Refresh All Components option retrieves the current status of the components from the i5/OS system.

The Automatic Refresh option enables you to set a specific time interval for the Console to refresh the status of all components. The default time interval is 30 seconds.

From the Configuration menu, you can also choose the Rebuild Console Components option. This option adds all components previously removed back in the Console view. It also adds any newly installed features to the Console view.

Viewing and using Console Logs

The Console log can be used for troubleshooting. You can find the Console Log, called wbi-console-xx.log, in the following directory:

C:\IBM\WebSphereServer\log

To see more details in the log, set the Logging Level in the properties file to Finest. To do this:

  1. Go to C:\IBM\WebSphereServer\log.properties file.
  2. Uncomment the last three lines in the log.properties file by removing the pound (#) sign at the beginning of each line.
  3. Click File>Save to save your changes.

Copyright IBM Corp. 2004, 2005