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WCM Syndication Example

In this section we describe in detail the steps we took to complete syndication of the RiverBend library from the WCM instance on our lab server wcm01.itso.ibm.com ( Syndicator ) to the WCM instance on lab server wcm03.itso.ibm.com ( Subscriber ). From here onwards we will refer to these environments as the Syndicator and Subscriber .

To ensure both the Syndicator WCM instance and Subscriber WCM instance were at the same WCM version we looked at the information available in the following file on both the servers – C:\IBM\WebSphere\wp_profile\PortalServer\log\VersionInfo.log.

Both the environments are on the same build level, as shown below:

wcm01.itso.ibm.com (Syndicator)
------------------------------------------------------------

• IBM WebSphere Portal 6.1
• Build Level: wp610_493_01 (2008-06-18 17:24 )
• Server Name: WebSphere_Portal
• Started at: 8/19/2008 02:57:01:015 EDT
• Installed FixPacks:
  • None
• Installed Interim Fixes:
  • PK69424 (Cumulative iFix 2 for WCM 6100)

 

wcm03.itso.ibm.com (Subscriber)
------------------------------------------------------------

• IBM WebSphere Portal 6.1
• Build Level: wp610_493_01 (2008-06-18 17:24 )
• Server Name: WebSphere_Portal
• Started at: 8/29/2008 14:41:51:296 EDT
• Installed FixPacks:
  • None
• Installed Interim Fixes:
  • PK69424 (Cumulative iFix 2 for WCM 6100)

 

Next we check network connectivity between the two servers to ensure both the servers are available on the network.

The screenshots provided below illustrates the results of the ping command between the two servers.

 

Figure: Check network connectivity from the Subscriber to the Syndicator

 

Figure: Check network connectivity from the Syndicator to the Subscriber

 

Log in to the Portal administration portlet as the administrator and access the Web Content Libraries portlet to ensure the list of WCM libraries available in the two WCM instances. We did this on both the environments using two browser instances. The screenshots below illustrates this.

 

Web Content Libraries on the Syndicator

The Syndicator has two libraries RiverBend and Web Content as shown in the screenshot below.

Figure: Web Content Libraries available on the Syndicator

 

 

Web Content Libraries on the Subscriber

The Subscriber has the default Web Content library as shown in the screenshot below.

Figure: Web Content Libraries available on the Subscriber

 

Configuring Syndication for this example

On the Syndicator administration portlet click on the Syndicator link available in the left hand navigator. The screenshot below illustrates the Syndicator view which at this stage does not contain any syndicator entries.

 

Figure: Web Content Syndicators View

 

On the Subscriber administration portlet click on the Subscriber link available in the left hand navigator. The screenshot below illustrates the Subscriber view which at this stage does not contain any subscriber entries.

 

Figure: Web Content Subscribers View

 

The Syndicator view contains the following two actions -

Create New Syndicator

Use this action to create a new Syndicator configuration entry.

Refresh

Use this action to refresh the information available in the view.

 

The Subscriber view contains the following two actions –

Create New Subscriber

Use this action to create a new Subscriber configuration entry.

Refresh

Use this action to refresh the information available in the view.

Tip: It is easier to create a new Syndicator and Subscriber entry at the same time in two separate browser instances next to each other.

 

Creating a new Syndicator configuration

Use the Create New Syndicator action to create a new Syndicator configuration. The screenshot below illustrates the page that loads up and in this case it's already populated with values.

 

Figure: Create New Syndicator

 

Enter suitable values in the following fields –

• Name: Enter a suitable name for this syndicator configuration entry.
• Description: Enter a suitable description.
• Subscriber Name: Enter the value from the Name field in the subscriber configuration entry.
• Subscriber ID: Enter the value from the Subscriber ID field in the subscriber configuration entry.
• Subscriber URL: Enter the value from the Subscriber URL field in the subscriber configuration entry.
• Enabled checkbox: Ensure that this checkbox is ticked to enable this syndicator configuration entry. To disable this syndicator configuration entry, deselect this checkbox.

 

The following two actions available on the Syndicator configuration are explained in detail -

Add libraries

Use this action to add WCM libraries that should be syndicated as part of this syndicator configuration entry.

This action loads the portlet illustrated in the screenshot below which allows you to add the WCM libraries to be included as part of this syndicator configuration. In this case we selected the RiverBend library with All Items as the scope.

Scope All Items will syndicate all items.

Scope Live Items will only syndicate all items that are in the published state.

 

Figure: Web Content Syndicators – Add Libraries

 

 

Remove libraries

Use the action to remove WCM libraries that were included as part of this syndicator configuration entry. This action loads a similar portlet illustrated in the Add libraries section above and allows you to remove the libraries that were selected when the syndicator configuration was first created.

 

Creating a new Subscriber configuration

 

Use the Create New Subscriber action to create a new Subscriber configuration. The screenshot below illustrates the page that loads up and in this case it's already populated with values.

 

Figure: Create New Subscriber

 

Enter suitable values in the following fields –

• Name: Enter a suitable name for this subscriber configuration entry.
• Description: Enter a suitable description.
• Syndicator Name: Enter the value from the Name field in the syndicator configuration entry.
• Syndicator ID: Enter the value from the Subscriber ID field in the syndicator configuration entry.
• Syndicator URL: Enter the value from the Subscriber URL field in the syndicator configuration entry.
• Enabled checkbox: Ensure that this checkbox is ticked to enable this subscriber configuration entry. To disable this subscriber configuration entry, deselect this checkbox.

 

Once the syndicator configuration and subscriber configuration field values have been correctly entered, we saved the syndicator entry first by using the OK action available.

The screenshot below illustrates the syndicator view which now reflects the new syndication entry. Notice the Status and Last Update column values.

 

Figure: Web Content Syndicators View - Status Idle

 

After the syndicator entry was saved, click the OK action on the subscriber configuration entry to save the subscriber configuration entry. The screenshot below illustrates the subscriber view which now reflects the new syndication entry. Notice the Status and Last Update column values.

 

Figure: Web Content Subscribers View - Status Idle

 

Notice the actions that are now visible with the subscriber and syndicator views. These are the same actions that are also visible in both the views and hence have only been explained once below –

Update (Syndicator/Subscriber)

Manual action to overrides the syndication interval and initiate syndication directly. This action is useful when automatic syndication is disabled.

 

Rebuild (Syndicator/Subscriber)

Manual action to overrides the syndication interval and trigger the syndicator to send all updates to the subscriber. Generally, the rebuild action is used when the datastore on the subscriber is lost or corrupted.
This action is useful when automatic syndication is disabled.

 

Copy (Syndicator/Subscriber)

Use this action to create a copy of the syndicator/subscriber entry. The screenshot below illustrates the portlet that is loaded when this action is used. In this example we tested creating a copy of the subscriber configuration entry.

Figure: Copy Syndicator

 

Edit (Syndicator/Subscriber)

Use this action to edit the syndicator/subscriber configuration entry.

 

Delete (Syndicator/Subscriber)

Use this action to delete the syndicator/subscriber configuration entry.

 

We used the Update action on the subscriber to initiate the syndication process.