Administering InterChange Server

Administering InterChange Server may involve starting and stopping the system and managing the startup parameters and database passwords. This section includes the following topics:

Steps for starting InterChange Server

"Steps for shutting down InterChange Server"

"Changing the InterChange Server and database passwords"

Steps for starting InterChange Server

Perform the following steps to start InterChange Server:

UNIX

Run the ics_manager -start script.

Note:
If the ICS password is changed, you must use the following script: -start -uloginName -ppassword
Windows

Click Start > Programs > IBM WebSphere InterChange Server > IBM WebSphere InterChange Server > IBM WebSphere InterChange Server.

At startup, InterChange Server reads the InterchangeSystem.cfg file and sets its properties according to the parameter values listed there. See the System Installation Guide for Unix or for Windows for a list and description of the configuration parameters.

InterChange Server startup parameters

Perform the following steps to customize the InterChange Server startup parameters:

UNIX

Modify the ics_manager script. When running this script, you can use the following arguments to start, stop, or see the status of InterChange Server:

-start

-stop

-status

Windows

Modify the InterChange Server shortcut or the start_server.bat file.

The parameters in table Table 10 customize the startup of InterChange Server.

Table 10. InterChange Server startup parameters

Parameter Function
-c configFile Name of the configuration file to be used during startup. The default is InterchangeSystem.cfg.
-i Allows InterChange Server to start up and ignore all error messages.
-p password Specifies the password to access InterChange Server. If you do not use this parameter, the start_server command uses the password in the InterchangeSystem.cfg file. Use with the -u parameter.
-s serverName Specifies the name of the InterChange Server. The name is case-sensitive.
-u loginName Specifies the user login name for InterChange Server. If you do not use this parameter, the start_server command uses the user login name in the InterchangeSystem.cfg file. Use with the -p parameter.
-v Opens the version of InterChange Server, then exits.

Note:
Usage of the parameters -u and -p is not recommended as the password can be seen in clear text. It is recommended to specify these values using the startServerUserName and startServerPassword fields on the Security-RBAC tab. For more information on the Security-RBAC tab, see Administering role-based access control (RBAC) .

Steps for shutting down InterChange Server

Shutting down InterChange Server stops all running collaborations and connectors, as well as InterChange Server itself. All connections to the database are closed and the machine's system resources used by InterChange Server are returned.

Attention:
Refrain from using Ctrl+C to shut down InterChange Server. Doing so prevents the server from shutting down in an orderly manner.

Depending on your operating system, you can shut down the server using one of the following methods:

UNIX

Run the ics_manager -stop script.

Note:
If the ICS password is changed, you must use the following script: -stop-uloginName -ppassword
Windows

In InterChange Server Component Management view of System Manager, right-click the ICS instance, then select Shut Down > Gracefully. Alternatively, you can select Shut Down > Immediately, which shuts down the server without cleanup. To determine which type of shutdown is best for you, refer to the following topics: "Graceful shutdown" and Immediate shutdown.

Note:
A high-availability (HA) system cannot be shut down using System Monitor, SNMP manager, or the InterChange Server Component Management view of System Manager. Shutting down the server using any of these tools causes the HA system to perform a failover. To shut down the HA system, use the MSCS Administrator and use the Take Offline context menu option for all connectors and then InterChange Server. For instructions, see "Changing the status of a resource". For more information about managing an HA system, see "Administering High-Availability (HA) systems"..

Graceful shutdown

Gracefully shutting down the system allows all currently processing and queued flows to complete before shutting down. This method may be time consuming, since all flows waiting to be processed by a running collaboration must complete prior to shutdown. However, no new flows are accepted.

If you choose to gracefully shut down the system, the following occurs:

Note:
This procedure cannot be used to shut down ahigh-availability (HA) system. For information on shutting down an HA system, see "Changing the status of a resource"..

Immediate shutdown

Immediately stopping the system forces the system to shut down without processing any more flows. Running connectors and collaborations are stopped immediately. When the system is restarted, flows that were interrupted by the immediate shutdown are redelivered in the same processing order. If one of these flows wrote data to an application, when the flow is redelivered, it tries to duplicate the data and fails because the data already exists. If the collaboration processing the flow is transactional, a rollback occurs. If the flow is not transactional, it is moved to the resubmission queue. See Administering failed events for more information on submitting a flow that fails to process.

Note:
Immediately stopping the system does not compromise the integrity of the data or the integrity of the IBM WebSphere InterChange Server system.

Use this option when you need to quickly shut down the system. For example, you may want to reboot the system, but a collaboration has multiple events waiting to be processed. Shutting down gracefully may take too much time because the collaborations need to complete all existing work before stopping.

Changing the InterChange Server and database passwords

Password encryption provides a measure of security for protecting the IBM WebSphere InterChange Server system and underlying databases from unauthorized user entry. The encrypted string for each of the passwords is stored in InterChange Server and is accessed by the server when the password must be decrypted. In the InterchangeSystem.cfg file, the encrypted password is placed in the PASSWORD*= parameter.

The IBM WebSphere InterChange Server administrator and database passwords are requested during system installation by Installer and are encrypted and stored when the system is rebooted at the completion of the installation. Thereafter, you can change the InterChange Server password or the database password in System Manager.

The InterChange Server user name and password are required during repository copy and restoration when the repos_copy command is used. See Using repos_copy.

For instructions on changing the password for InterChange Server or for the database(s), refer to the following sections:

Steps for changing the InterChange Server password

Steps for changing the database passwords

Steps for changing the InterChange Server password

To change the password for InterChange Server:

  1. Open System Manager.
  2. Right-click the InterChange Server instance in the InterChange Server Component Management view, then select Change Password. The Change InterChange Server Password dialog box appears.
  3. Enter the current password in the Old Password field.
  4. Enter a new password in the New Password field.
  5. Reenter the new password in the Confirm Password field.
  6. Click OK.

The encrypted password is stored in the InterchangeSystem.cfg file.

Attention:
The InterChange Server password can be changed only by using this procedure. If you try to change the password by editing the password in the InterchangeSystem.cfg file, InterChange Server will not start.

Steps for changing the database passwords

The repository database passwords can be changed through System Manager once the IBM WebSphere InterChange Server system is operating.

To change the database passwords:

  1. In the InterChange Server Component Management view, right-click the InterChange Server instance whose database password you want to change, then select Edit Configuration. The upper-right section of the window changes to an editing tool in which many system properties can be changed.
  2. Click the Database tab to access the database configuration properties. The Server Property and Configuration window for database properties appears (see Figure 20).

    Figure 20. Database tab of Edit Configuration window

    The figure shows the database tab of the edit configuration window. The window is divided into four horizontal sections. The top section is for designating your database connectivity options, for instance, the database driver, the maximum number of connections, the maximum number of pools, the idle timeout in minutes, the maximum number of deadclock retries, and the deadlock retry interval in minutes. The second section is for designating your event management options, including your host name, database, your maximum connections, as well as your login, password and host number. The third section is for designating your Transaction options, including your host name, database, your maximum connections, as well as your login, password and host number. The fourth section is for designating your repository options, including your host name, database, your maximum connections, as well as your login, password and host number.

  3. Change any of the database passwords:
    1. In the section for the appropriate database (Event Management, Transactions, or Repository), click the Change button.

      A dialog box for changing the password appears.

    2. Type the old password in the Old Password field.
    3. Type a new password in the New Password field.

      A maximum of 30 characters is allowed.

    4. Retype the new password in the Confirm Password field.
  4. Click OK.

Copyright IBM Corp. 1997, 2004