Configuring the Object Request Broker

The InterChange Server system uses the IBM Java Object Request Broker (ORB) to handle ORB communication between InterChange Server and individual connectors. This section describes how configure the ORB.

The InterChange Server Installer installs the IBM Java ORB automatically as part of the Java Runtime Environment (JRE). During the installation process, Installer assigns a port of 14500 to the ORB. It also displays the Services screen to determine whether you would like to install InterChange Server as a Windows service. In this case, you specify the port number for the ORB to use (5500 by default). Other than this step, no tasks are required to install the IBM Java ORB.

Configuring the IBM Java ORB

This section provides the following configuration information for the IBM Java ORB:

Customizing the ORB

By default, IBM Java ORB configuration is handled as part of its installation process. However, the IBM Java ORB supports several properties you can set to customize the ORB. These properties include the location of the ORB, number of ORB threads, and timing values. For a complete explanation of these properties and how to set them, refer to the System Administration Guide.

Configuring the ORB for the HA environment

In an HA environment, the IBM Java ORB must be configured to support use of the Persistent Naming Service and a virtual IP address. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Enable the Persistent Naming Server if it is not enabled.
  2. Register the IBM Transient Naming Server.
  3. Configure dependent services.
  4. Configure the virtual IP address for the multi-homed machine.

Enabling the Persistent Naming Server

The Persistent Naming Server is required for the HA environment. By default, it is enabled. To start the Persistent Naming Server, use the PersistentNameServer.bat file. For information, see Before starting InterChange Server.

Registering the Transient Naming Server as a Windows service

The IBM Transient Naming Server provides the naming service for the InterChange Server system. It keeps track of the CORBA objects that are active. For the HA environment, this Transient Naming Server must be installed as a Windows service. The InterChange Server product provides the CWService utility to register ICS components as Windows services. This tool resides in the bin subdirectory of the product directory. You can use the following syntax of the CWService utility to register the Transient Naming Server as a Windows service:

cwservice -xi -tNAMESERVER -c ProductDir\bin\PersistentNameServer.bat -mode=Auto -s serviceName

where serviceName is the name to assign to the Transient Naming Server's service. This command launches the cwservice tool, indicates that the component associated with this service is the Transient Naming Server, specifies the startup script to be used, sets the service to automatic start, and defines the service name.

Note:
The -s and -mode command arguments are required. The -s command argument determines the name of the service, as it appears in the Windows Services dialog. The -mode command argument has the syntax -mode=serviceStart, where serviceStart can either be Auto (for automatic startup of the service) or Manual (for manual startup of the service).

For more information on the CWService tool, see Running components as Windows services

Configuring other services

In addition to installing the Transient Naming Server as a Windows service, the HA environment requires that InterChange Server and adapters be installed as services. You can use the CWServices tool to perform these configurations (if they are not already configured as services on your system).

Note:
As part of the ICS installation process, the ICS Installer configures ICS as a Windows service using the information you provide on the Services panel.

Configuring the multi-homed

In an HA environment, InterChange Server system must be able to run on a multi-homed machine (a machine with multiple NIC cards). IBM Java ORB must be configured to use the virtual IP address, not the IP address on the private network between the two hosts. You must configure the virtual IP address in the following IBM Java ORB property com.ibm.CORBA.LocalHost.

To configure this ORB property, follow these steps:

  1. Create a system environment variable with the same name as the IBM ORB property.
    1. Right-click My Computer and select Properties from the context menu.
    2. On the Advanced tab, click Environment Variables.
    3. In the System variables section of the dialog, click one of the variables. This action ensures that the new variable you create will be a system variable, not a user variable.
    4. Click the New button at the bottom of the System variables section.
    5. In the Variable Name field of the New System Variable dialog, enter the name of the IBM ORB property:

      com.ibm.CORBA.LocalHost

    6. In the Variable Value field, specify the virtual IP address of the multi-homed machine. A virtual IP address contains the following information:
      • IP address
      • Subnet mask
      • Local broadcast address

        This is an example of a virtual IP address:

        10.5.1.214 255.255.255.0 10.5.1.255

        In this example, 10.5.1.214 is the IP address, 255.255.255.0 is the subnet mask, and 10.5.1.255 is the local broadcast address.

    7. Click OK in the boxes until you exit the System Properties dialog.
  2. Edit the ORB_PROPERTY variable in the global environment file, CWSharedEnv.bat, to add a command-line argument for the IBM ORB property. To do this, follow these steps:
    1. Open the CWSharedEnv.bat file in a text editor. This file is located in the bin subdirectory of the product directory.
    2. To the ORB_PROPERTY variable in this file add the following command-line argument to the end of the existing values for this variable:

      -Dcom.ibm.CORBA.LocalHost=com.ibm.CORBA.LocalHost

    3. Save the CWSharedEnv.bat file.
  3. Reboot your machine for the new system environment variable to take effect.

Copyright IBM Corp. 1997, 2004