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Introduction
Coexistence of IBM® WebSphere® Application Server (WAS) Sametime components allows for multiple WAS-based Sametime products to be installed and configured under the same Cell profile. This is a new feature as of IBM® Sametime® version 8.5.2.
This functionality can be useful when the Sametime administrator wants to install multiple Sametime products on the same hardware and federate each product to one Deployment Manager. This article outlines the steps required to create a WAS Sametime coexistence environment.
Although the
IBM Sametime wiki Product Documentation tab should be used as your primary resource for environment installation and configuration details, this document briefly describes a sample WAS-coexistence-environment configuration that could be found in a customer environment.
Our target audience is familiar with both WAS and IBM Sametime, and it is assumed readers are already familiar with the Sametime family of products---both from a business and technical point of view.
Prerequisites and scope
Before beginning you must have the following components already installed, correctly configured, and have their services started and properly running, per the instructions on the
IBM Sametime wiki Product Documentation tab:
- IBM Lotus® Domino® and Sametime Community Server configured, installed, and registered with the Sametime System Console (SSC).
- IBM SSC (release 8.5.2 or later; ensure this has been installed with a Cell profile).
- IBM DB2® (release 9.7 or later)
- LDAP (connected with the SSC)
The following topics are within the scope of this document:
- High-level topology of a WAS-coexistence test case
- Step-by-step instructions for configuring and setting up a sample coexistence environment
All else is considered outside of scope.
Sample test case
Our sample environment configuration is as outlined in table 1 and illustrated in figure 1.
Table 1. Environment configuration
Figure 1. Sample WAS-coexistence environment
It is worth emphasizing that this configuration does not represent a complete list of all possible environment configurations, nor does it define a maximum number of coexistent nodes under a particular cell.
For example, it would also be reasonable (however unrealistic in a commercial solution) to install the Sametime Meeting Server as a Cell profile with Sametime Proxy and Media Manager as primary nodes under the Meeting Cell profile.
Installing Meeting Server in the coexistent environment
Create the Meeting Server database
1. From the DB2 Server, connect to the Sametime Meeting Server Installation Media and navigate to the Database Scripts directory.
2. From the command line, execute:
createMeetingDb.bat <database name> <user account created during installation of DB2>
3. Upon execution, confirm that all tables were created and the command line output contains “Operation Successful.”
Connect the Meeting database to the SSC
1. Open a browser window and navigate to the URL of your SSC:
http://system.console.domain.name:8700/ibm/console
2. Log in to the SSC and navigate to Sametime System Console – Sametime Prerequisites – Connect to DB2 Databases. Click Add (see figure 2).
3. Enter the hostname of the DB2 Installation, Meeting Server database name, db2 username, and password.
Figure 2. Add a new database
4. Click Finish and confirm that the database has been added to the list of databases connected to this system console.
Create the Deployment Plan for Meeting Server
In a WAS coexistence environment each additional coexisting Sametime product is installed as a primary node under an existing Cell profile. In this respect we now want to install the Meeting Server as a primary node, federated to the Deployment Manager of our Sametime System Console:
1. Open a browser window and navigate to the URL of your SSC:
http://system.console.domain.name:8700/ibm/console
2. Log into the System Console and navigate to Sametime System Console – Sametime Guided Activities – Install Meeting Server.
3. The Meeting Server deployment plan Guided Activity displays (see figure 3). Select the Create a New Deployment Plan option and click Next.
Figure 3. Meeting Server Guided Activity
4. On the next screen the Guided Activity will prompt for a meaningful deployment plan name for this Meeting Server installation. For demonstration purposes, we use “stMeetingsDeploymentPlan”. Click Next.
5. As coexistence is supported only for version 8.5.2 and later of Sametime products, select 8.5.2 from the drop-down list and click Next.
6. The Guided Activity now prompts for the installation type. Since all coexisting products must be installed as primary nodes, select the Primary Node option (see figure 4). Click Next.
Figure 4. Choose configuration type
7. Since we are installing the Sametime Meeting Server as a Primary Node alongside the System Console, we must choose a Deployment Manager for the Meeting Server.
In a WAS-coexistence environment it is best to federate all coexisting Sametime products on one Cell to the Deployment Manager of that Cell; in this case, select “Federate the node into the following Deployment Manager's cell at install time” (see figure 5).
Figure 5. Node Federation at Install Time
8. The Guided Activity now prompts for the “WebSphere Profile Settings”. We need to provide the fully qualified domain name, username, and password for the the Meeting Server. In this example the fully qualified domain name is the same as that of the SSC. Click Next.
9. Select the database for the Sametime Meeting Server and click Next.
10. Select the LDAP and click Next. The Deployment Summary displays (see figure 6).
Figure 6. Deployment Summary
11. Click Finish to complete the creation of the Meeting Server deployment plan.
Install the Meeting Server
The installation process is not much different from the standard SSC Guided Activity installation process. Here are the steps:
- Launch the Meeting Installer and select the Meeting Server Package; click Next.
- Agree to the licence and click Next.
- On the Install Packages screen, select the “Use the existing package group” option, as shown in figure 7. This is the default option in the Meeting Server installer for version 8.5.2. In this example it ensures that the Meeting Server profile is created alongside that of the SSC.
- Select “Use Lotus Sametime System Console to install” and click Next.
Figure 7. Install Packages window
5. The installation wizard now presents the Common Configurations window (see figure 8). Enter the Sametime System Console hostname, User ID, and Password. In this example we want to connect to the System Console over a secure connection, so enable the Use SSL checkbox.
6. Also required is the fully qualified domain name of the Meeting Server. As this is a coexistence environment, the domain name for the System Console will be the same as that for the Meeting Server. When complete, click Next.
Figure 8. Common Configurations window
7. Select the deployment plan that we created in Section 4.3 above, “Create the Deployment Plan for Meeting Server.” Click Next (see figure 9).
Figure 9. Deployment Details window
8. The installation wizard now displays an installation summary. When you are satisfied that these details are correct, click Next.
9. Click Install to start the installation process. (
NOTE: The installation process is lengthy and can take over an hour to complete.) When complete, the installation wizard will indicate that the installation was successful.
Post-installation configuration of the Meeting Server
At this point, we need to start the Synchronize all nodes that have been federated to the System Console Deployment Manager and start the Meeting Server:
- Log into the System Console (https://system.console.domain.name:8700/ibm/console).
- On the left-hand navigation panel, expand System administration and select Nodes (see figure 10).
- Select all the node check boxes and click Full Resynchronize.
Figure 10. Nodes window
4. Now expand Servers – Server Types, select “WebSphere application servers” from the left-hand navigation pane, and click Start (see figure 11).
Figure 11. Application servers window
5. Wait for the “Meeting Server started successfully” message to display in the Messages section (see figure 12).
Figure 12. Confirmation message
Installing the Media SIP Proxy in the coexistence environment
Create deployment plan for Media SIP Proxy
As already discussed, in a real-world scenario, all components of the Media Manager are required in order to provide audio/visual communications in Sametime. For this example, we are installing the Proxy/Registrar alongside the Meeting Server.
1. Log into the SSC (
https://system.console.domain.name:8701/ibm/console), expand Sametime Guided Activities, and select Sametime Media Manager (see figure 13). Click Next.
Figure 13. Install Sametime Media Manager
2. Provide a meaningful deployment plan name, select 8.5.2 as the product version, and click Next (see figure 14).
Figure 14. Select product version
3. Select to “Install Proxy/Registrar” and click Next.
4. The Guided Activity will prompt for the installation type. Choose Primary Node and click Next. (NOTE: The Sametime Meeting Server has already been installed as a primary node.)
5. At his point we need to indicate in the deployment plan that we wish to use the Deployment Manager from the SSC as the Deployment Manager for the Proxy/Registrar node. Select the System Console Deployment Manager and click Next (see figure 15).
Figure 15. Node Federation at Install Time
6. Provide the hostname, user name, and password for the server on which the Proxy/Registrar will be installed. Click Next.
7. Select a pre-configured Community server and click Next (see figure 16).
Figure 16. Select Community server
7. A deployment plan summary displays. Confirm that all details therein are correct and click Finish, to complete the deployment plan creation process.
Install the Media SIP Proxy
The installation process is not much different from the standard SSC Guided Activity installation process:
- Launch the IBM Sametime Media Server Installer.
- Agree to the Licence and click Next.
- On the Install Packages window, select “Use the existing package group” (see figure 17). This is the default option in the Media Server installer for version 8.5.2. In this example it ensures that the Media Server profile is created alongside that of the Meeting Server.
Figure 17. Install Packages window
4. Select to use the System Console to install and click Next.
5. Select to use the existing WebSphere Application Server (see figure 18).
Figure 18. Use Sametime installed WebSphere Application Server
6. In the Common Configurations window, provide the domain name for the System Console login/password and the location where the Media SIP Proxy will be installed (see figure 19).
7. Click Validate, to ensure the details entered are correct, and click Next.
Figure 19. Common Configurations window
8. In the Deployment Plans List window, select the deployment plan for Media SIP Proxy, and click Next.
9. A Summary of the deployment plan is displayed, click Next.
10. Confirm that you are satisfied with the Installation Summary, and click Install.
Post-installation configuration of the Media SIP Proxy Server
At this point, we need to start the Synchronize all nodes that have been federated to the System Console Deployment Manager and start the Media SIP Proxy Server.
- Log into the System Console (https://system.console.domain.name:8700/ibm/console).
- From the left-hand navigation panel, expand System Administration and select Nodes (see figure 20).
- Select all the node check boxes and click Full Resynchronize.
Figure 20. Nodes window
4. Expand Servers – Server Types, and select “WebSphere application Servers”(see figure 21).
Figure 21. Application servers window
5. Confirm that the Media SIP Proxy started correctly. If it did not, select the Media SIP Proxy and click Start, as shown in figure 21.
Conclusion
In this article we showed how to install two Sametime WAS products in a side-by-side configuration. To do this we prepared a deployment plan for a Meeting Server and a deployment plan for a Media SIP Proxy (both configured as a primary node federated to the SSC). Then we installed both a Meeting Server and Media SIP Proxy, and confirmed post-installation that both Sametime products were started correctly and running.
Resources
IBM Sametime 8.5.2 Announcement Letter:
http://www-01.ibm.com/common/ssi/cgi-bin/ssialias?infotype=AN&subtype=CA&htmlfid=897/ENUS211-165&appname=USN
IBM Sametime 8.5.2 Product Documentation:
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/stwiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=Product%20Documentation
developerWorks® Sametime product page:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/products/instantmessaging/
About the authors
Tom Ohle and
Tomasz Gawlik are experienced Software Engineers working with the System Verification Test (SVT) Sametime team at IBM's Dublin, Ireland, facility. They specialize in environment configurations, performance, reliability, and stress and load testing.