Skip to main content link. Accesskey S
  • HCL Logo
  • HCL Connections On-Premise Wiki
  • THIS WIKI IS READ-ONLY.
  • HCL Forums and Blogs
  • Home
  • API Documentation
Search
Community Articles > Deployment Scenarios > Scenario 1: Installing Lotus Connections 3.0 - Small Deployment
  • Share Show Menu▼

Recent articles by this author

Customizing themes for Connections 4.5 CR1

You can edit the LotusConnections-config.xml file that controls the IBM® Connections theme to incorporate the new cascading style sheet (CSS) theme. Also, the new theme requires you to switch off Internet Explorer 7 compatibility mode. Switching off compatibility mode is required for the new theme ...

IBM Connections Plug-in for Microsoft Outlook

Documentation for Connections Plug-in for Microsoft Outlook

What's New in Connections 4.5

This video shows the new and changed features in Connections 4.5

Using Files - Connections 4

Watch this Connections video to learn how to use Files to store, share, organize, and collaborate on files.

Customizing the Connections 3.0.1 UI: Different Themes in a Single Installation

This article shows how to create different themes for Connections based on different domain names in a single installation.
Community articleScenario 1: Installing Lotus Connections 3.0 - Small Deployment
Added by ~Ben Brekrolit | Edited by ~Hal Xanfooings on November 16, 2011 | Version 24
  • Actions Show Menu▼
expanded Abstract
collapsed Abstract
This article describes how to deploy Lotus Connections 3.0 in a small environment. This type of deployment involves three machines - LDAP, Database and the WebSphere Application Server, which hosts Lotus Connections. This deployment would be typical of a test or pilot deployment.
Tags: 3.0, deploying, 3_deployment, scenarios, test_infrastructure
ShowTable of Contents
HideTable of Contents
  • 1 Overview
  • 2 Scenario Description
    • 2.1 Summary
    • 2.2 Prerequisites Details
    • 2.3 Environment Hardware and Software Specifications
    • 2.4 Configuration Diagrams
      • 2.4.1 Overall System Topology
      • 2.4.2 WebSphere Application Server Topology
  • 3 Deployment Considerations
  • 4 Pre-Installation Tasks
    • 4.1 Installing WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Network Deployment
    • 4.2 Installing IBM HTTP Server V7.0 and WebSphere Plugins
    • 4.3 Upgrading WebSphere Application Server, HTTP Server and WebSphere Plug-ins to Correct Fix pack Level
    • 4.4 Installing of DB2 Enterprise Edition V9.7 Fix pack 2
    • 4.5 Verify & Apply DB2 Licence
    • 4.6 Installing Tivoli Directory Integrator V7.0 & fix pack 5
    • 4.7 Setting up Federated Repositories and Application Security
  • 5 Installation and Configuration Instructions
    • 5.1 Configure the Database Instance
    • 5.2 Populating the Profiles Database
    • 5.3 Installing Lotus Connections 3.0
      • 5.3.1 Before You Install
      • 5.3.2 Begin the Installation
    • 5.4 Configuring the HTTP Server
      • 5.4.1 Add Web Server as Unmanaged Node
      • 5.4.2 Add Web Server as a Server
      • 5.4.3 Configuring IBM HTTP Server for SSL
      • 5.4.4 Adding Certificates to the WebSphere Trust Store
      • 5.4.5 Update Web Addresses used by Lotus Connections to access Content
    • 5.5 Configuring Application Administrators and Configuring Blogs
      • 5.5.1 Adding an Administrator to Blogs
      • 5.5.2 Creating the Blogs Homepage
    • 5.6 Linux & AIX only : Setting Path Variables for Search
  • 6 Starting and Stopping Lotus Connections 3.0
  • 7 Tuning and Optimizing Lotus Connections 3.0
    • 7.1 Tuning the JVM Heap Sizes
  • 8 About the Authors
Scroll up for Table of Contents

Overview



This scenario describes how to deploy Lotus Connections 3.0 in a small environment. This type of deployment involves three machines - LDAP, Database and the WebSphere Application Server, which hosts Lotus Connections. This deployment would be typical of a test or pilot deployment. This article is designed as an end-to-end guide to deploying Lotus Connections 3.0, including all prerequisites in a step-by-step process.


To access a PDF version of this content, download the http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/xsp/.ibmmodres/domino/OpenAttachment/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/1A54508D1B8B07D8852578370012E8F5/attach/Small_Deployment_S1.pdf|Small_Deployment_S1.pdf attachment">Small_Deployment_S1.pdf">http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/xsp/.ibmmodres/domino/OpenAttachment/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/1A54508D1B8B07D8852578370012E8F5/attach/Small_Deployment_S1.pdf|Small_Deployment_S1.pdf attachmentexternal link.

Scenario Description



Summary



This scenario is designed as an end-to-end guide to deploying Lotus Connections 3.0 in a single server environment where both the cell and node share the same machine. Full system specifications and a list of software used in this configuration are outlined in the Environment Hardware and Software Specifications topic in this article. The following properties describe the environment in more detail.

Operating system

Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x86-64

Database Server

IBM DB2 9.7 FP2

User Directory

IBM Tivoli Directory Server v6.2

Plug-ins Supported

All plug-ins are supported in this environment.

WebSphere Topology

All applications will run under one Java Virtual Machine. This means that all applications will be installed into the same server instance.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

SSL is configured in this scenario; however, SSL communications are not forced by Lotus Connections. This is the default configuration of Lotus Connections, meaning that unless the user inputs "https" manually when accessing Lotus Connections, all traffic will not be encrypted with SSL (with the exception of login). When logging in to Lotus Connections, SSL is always used to encrypt user credentials and after the user is authenticated, they are redirected back to standard HTTP protocol.

Other Product Integration

There is no integration with other IBM products in this scenario.

Mail Integration

A Java mail session is used in this scenario.

Additional Security

There are no additional security layers in this deployment.


Prerequisites Details



The following section describes the prerequisites, which must be completed prior to installing Lotus Connections 3.0. The installation of all these prerequisites is explained in the course of this document, with the exception of the LDAP, which is already configured. As each of the prerequisites is discussed below, links to fix packs are included as well as the names of each machine used in this deployment scenario. Prerequisites are as follows:
  • Installation and configuration of WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Network Deployment (ND) and IBM HTTP Server
WebSphere Application Server must have the following fix packs and fixes applied:
- 7.0.0-WS-WAS-WinX64-FP0000011.pak
- 7.0.0-WS-WASSDK-WinX64-FP0000011.pak
- 7.0.0.11-WS-WAS-IFPM12828
- 7.0.0.0-WS-WAS-IFPM23410 *
- 7.0.0.0-WS-WASJavaSDK-WinX64-IFPM24384 *
- 7.0.0.11-WS-WAS-IFPM25931 *
- 7.0.0.11-WS-WAS-IFPK54565 *

IBM HTTP Server must have the following fix packs applied:
- 7.0.0-WS-IHS-WinX64-FP0000011.pak
- 7.0.0.0-WS-WASJavaSDK-WinX64-IFPM24384 *

IBM HTTP Server plug-ins for WebSphere has the following fix packs applied:
- 7.0.0-WS-PLG-WinX64-FP0000011.pak
- 7.0.0-WS-WASSDK-WinX64-FP0000011.pak
- 7.0.0.0-WS-WASJavaSDK-WinX64-IFPM24384 *

* The screen shots supplied with this guide for applying fixes do not include the fixes followed by an asterisk (*). However, this list is the definitive list of fixes required for Lotus Connections 3.0 to run correctly in this environment. Hence, all the above listed fixes need to be applied. The screen shots are supplied as a guide on how to do this.

These fix packs can be downloaded from IBM Fix Central at: http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral.

In this example, Network Deployment and Node 1 are installed on the same machine.
Purpose
Host Name
Deployment Manager, Node1 and HTTP Server
connections.example.com
  • Installation and configuration of DB2 Enterprise Edition 9.7
DB2 must have the following fix pack applied:
DB2-ntx64-server-9.7.200.358-FP002

DB2 fix packs can be downloaded from this location : http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg27007053
  • Installation and configuration of Tivoli Directory Integrator 7.0
TDI must have the following fix pack applied:
7.0.0-TIV-TDI-FP0005

This fix pack is available at: http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral

DB2 and TDI are installed on the same machine:
Purpose
Host Name
Database and TDI
db.example.com
  • LDAP Directory: The LDAP server used is IBM Tivoli Directory Server V6.2. The LDAP is called : ldap.example.com


Environment Hardware and Software Specifications

Machine DNS Name
Purpose
OS
RAM
CPU
Hard Drive Size
Software and Versions Installed
connections.example.com
  • Deployment Manager
  • WebServer Application Server Node
  • IBM HTTP Server
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x86-64
8 GB RAM
2 x Intel Xeon X7460 @ 2.66 GHZ
100 GB
  • WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V7.0.0.11
  • IBM HTTP Server V7.0.0.11
  • IBM HTTP Server Plugins for WebSphere V7.0.0.11
  • IBM WebSphere Update Installer V7.0
  • Lotus Connections 3.0
db.example.com
  • Database (64-bit)
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x86-64
8 GB RAM
2 x Intel Xeon X7460 @ 2.66 GHZ
100 GB
  • IBM DB2 v9.7 FP 2
  • IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator V7.0 FP 5
ldap.example.com
  • LDAP Directory Server
Windows Server 2008 Enterprise Edition x86-64
8 GB RAM
2 x Intel Xeon X7460 @ 2.66 GHZ
50 GB
  • IBM Tivoli Directory Server V6.2


Configuration Diagrams



The following diagrams demonstrate the topology used in this deployment scenario. The topology below affords both good performance and the opportunity to scale up in the future, if required. It is a solid base for a test or pilot system and is contained on only two machines.

Overall System Topology



The following topology diagram illustrates a single node cluster of Lotus Connections. In this scenario, the LDAP and database servers communicate with the cell controlled by the Deployment Manager. The Tivoli Directory Integrator server sits between the database and LDAP maintaining the synchronization between both. Lotus Connections is installed onto the Deployment Manager machine and, from here, is pushed out to the nodes in the cell (in this case, the single node below). The data store shown on the right is a shared space accessible from all nodes in the configuration (in this case, the single node). This shared space is actually a directory on the same machine as the cell.

Sitting in front of the entire configuration is the Web server. From here, the end user accesses Lotus Connections 3.0.






WebSphere Application Server Topology



In the overall system topology diagram above, the relationships between the various components in the deployment is clear. However, this did not illustrate the WebSphere Application Server topology (shown below). In this scenario, there is a single cluster containing a single server on the node below. Within this server, all of the features of Lotus Connections 3.0 are installed.




Deployment Considerations



When planning a deployment of Lotus Connections, there are a number of things to consider. Here is a brief discussion on some of the key points.

System Requirements
  • Lotus Connections 3.0 is supported only on 64 bit versions of Linux or AIX with the exception of SLES10 31 bit on System Z. While it is supported on 32 bit versions of Windows, it is highly recommended to move to a 64 bit operating system to achieve better performance from the overall system.
  • It is recommended to have at least 8 GB RAM on your node machine in this scenario.
  • In this scenario, the system hosting WebSphere Application Server and Lotus Connections has a total of 100 GB, approximately 70 GB hard disk space is free on the system after the installation. This is sufficient for a test system and a good starting base for a pilot install. When planning the installation, it is important to consider how many users will use the system and how much data each user might generate. The file system should be big enough to handle this, or else expanded over time to cope with the space requirements.

Resource Planning

While this scenario covers a specific deployment situation, it can be used as a guide to deploying other slightly different topologies. It is possible to customize the number of clusters and applications that are installed into each cluster. Where there are resource constraints, any number of the Lotus Connections applications can be combined onto a cluster.

It is also possible to combine one or more databases onto any number of DB2 instances to achieve the performance required.

Future Planning

It is crucial to plan for the future when deploying Lotus Connections. While this configuration is an excellent starting configuration, over time, demands on the system may grow and additional nodes may need to be added to the system. This topology offers this option by allowing additional nodes to be added to the cell, as and when required in the future.

Integration with Other Products and Single Sign On

While neither product integration or Single Sign On (SSO) are covered in this scenario, you may need to consider the implications of integrating other products with Lotus Connections or SSO between a security product and Lotus Connections when planning your installation.
  • Enabling SSO with another IBM product involves exchanging LTPA tokens, sharing realms and users who can access the system, as well as the machines being in close synchronization with each other's system clocks.
  • If you plan to deploy a system where a third party security suite, such as SiteMinder, Tivoli Access Manager, or SPNEGO, will be deployed, it is crucial that an LDAP user be configured as a WebSphere Application Server administrator and be specified as the user to connect to WebSphere Application Server during the installation.

Security Considerations
  • The proxy-config.tpl file allows the proxy to work with self-signed certificates. This is true out-of-the-box, but for improved security, set the value of the unsigned_ssl_certificate_support property to false when your deployment is ready for production. This file can be checked out and edited by following the Configuring the AJAX proxy section of the Lotus Connections product documentation.


Pre-Installation Tasks



The following prerequisite software must be installed in advance of installing Lotus Connections 3.0. The following sections detail how to achieve this.

Installing WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Network Deployment



Unzip the file that you have downloaded in a directory on your hard disk. Change to the directory and run launchpad.exe. The following panel is displayed:



Click Launch the installation wizard for WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment. The following panel is displayed.



Click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Accept the IBM and non-IBM terms and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



If the prerequisites check is successful, click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Leave all the check boxes unselected and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select an installation directory, preferably not in C:\Program Files, and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select Cell as the environment to install, and then click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Choose a user name and a password for the administrative user of WebSphere Application server and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Leave the check box unselected and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Click Finish.

Installing IBM HTTP Server V7.0 and WebSphere Plugins



Unzip the WebSphere Application Server Supplements file in a directory on your hard disk. Go to the IHS subdirectory and run install.exe. The following panel is displayed.



Click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Accept the IBM and non-IBM terms and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




If the prerequisites check is successful, click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Select an installation directory, preferably not in C:\Program Files, and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Leave the default values and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select the two check boxes, select to "Log on as a specified user account," and then enter a user name and a password for that account. Click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select "Create a user ID for IHS administration server authentication," and then select a user name and a password. Click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select "Install the IBM HTTP Server Plug-in for IBM WebSphere Application Server." The two fields are already filled. Leave the defaults and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Review the installation summary and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Upgrading WebSphere Application Server, HTTP Server and WebSphere Plug-ins to Correct Fix pack Level



Locate the directory where you unzipped the WebSphere Application Server supplements. Go to the UpdateInstaller directory and run install.exe. The following panel is displayed.




Click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Accept the IBM and non-IBM terms and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



If the prerequisites check is successful, click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Select an installation directory, preferably not in C:\Program Files, and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Review the installation summary and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Select the check box "Launch IBM Update installer for WebSphere Software on exit." The following panel is displayed.



Click Next. The following panel is displayed.



The location of the AppServer is already filled in. Click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select "Install maintenance package" and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select the directory where you copied the 7.0.0-WS-WAS-WinX64-FP0000011.pak, 7.0.0-WS-WASSDK-WinX64-FP0000011.pak, 7.0.0.11-WS-WAS-IFPM12828.pak, 7.0.0.0-WS-WAS-IFPM23410 *, 7.0.0.0-WS-WASJavaSDK-WinX64-IFPM24384*, 7.0.0.11-WS-WAS-IFPM25931 *, and 7.0.0.11-WS-WAS-IFPK54565* and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select the check boxes and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Review the installation summary and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Click Relaunch. The following panel is displayed.



From the drop-down list, select the path for the HTTP server and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select the path where you downloaded the fix packs, 7.0.0-WS-IHS-WinX64-FP0000011,pak and 7.0.0.0-WS-WASJavaSDK-WinX64-IFPM24384* and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Leave the check box selected and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Review the summary and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Click Relaunch. The following panel is displayed.



From the drop-down list, select the path for the HTTP server plug-ins and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select "Install maintenance package" and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select the path where you downloaded the fix packs, 7.0.0-WS-PLG-WinX64-FP0000011.pak, 7.0.0-WS-WASSDK-WinX64-FP0000011.pak and 7.0.0.0-WS-WASJavaSDK-WinX64-IFPM24384* and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Click Finish.

This ends the installation and update of WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V7.0 and IBM HTTP Server V7.0 to the required level for Lotus Connections 3.0.

Installing of DB2 Enterprise Edition V9.7 Fix pack 2



Run v9.7fp2_ntx64_server.exe to unzip the contents. Go to the "SERVER" directory and run setup.exe. The following panel is displayed.



Click the Install a Product link. The following panel is displayed.




Click Install New. The following panel is displayed.




Click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Accept the license and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select "Typical" and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select "Install DB2 Enterprise Server Edition on this computer" and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Choose the installation directory and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Choose a user name and a password and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Click Next. The following panel is displayed.



The catalog is not required. Leave the check box blank and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Notifications are not required. Leave the check box blank and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Enabling OS security is not necessary. Leave the check box blank and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Review the setup and click Install. After a few minutes, the following panel is displayed.



Click Finish.

Verify & Apply DB2 Licence



Verify that you have a DB2 license. Check the license status using the following command:



Locate the DB2 license file named db2ese_o.lic. Apply this file using the following command:




Installing Tivoli Directory Integrator V7.0 & fix pack 5



Unzip the file that you downloaded in a directory on your hard disk. Go to the directory and run launchpad.exe. The following panel is displayed.



Select the language and click OK. The following panel is displayed.




Click the "Install IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator" link. The following panel is displayed.



Click the "Tivoli Directory Integrator 7.0 Installer" link. The following panel is displayed.



Click Next. The following panel is displayed.






Accept the license and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Choose the installation directory and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Select "Typical" and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Select "Do not specify - use current working directory at startup time" and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Leave the default values and click Next. The following panel is displayed.



Leave the check box blank and click Next. The following panel is displayed.




Review the setup and click Install. After a few minutes, the following panel is displayed.



Click Finish.


Apply fix pack 5 to TDI


Unzip the file 7.0.0-TIV-TDI-FP0005.zip to create a folder with the same name (in this example, the file is unzipped in C:\). Change to this directory and locate the UpdateInstaller.jar Jar file.
Copy and paste this file in the C:\IBM\TDI\V7.0\maintenance directory, replacing the existing file with the same name.

Change to the C:\IBM\TDI\V7.0\bin directory and run the following command:

applyUpdates.bat -update C:\7.0.0-TIV-TDI-FP0005\TDI-7.0-FP0005.zip





Setting up Federated Repositories and Application Security



Make sure that the Deployment Manager is started.

Open the WebSphere Administration Console: http://connections.example.com:9060/ibm/console

Log in with the user you defined previously as administrator.



Expand the "Security" section and click Global security.



Click Configure.




Click Add Base entry to Realm.





Click Add Repository.



Type a name in the "Repository identifier" field, select a Directory type, type the "Primary host name," and then type the user name and password of the "Bind distinguished name." Use default values for the other fields.



At the bottom of the page, click Apply. Next. at the beginning of the page, click Save as shown in the following panel.



Fill the first field with the value of the base DN of the user container of your LDAP server. This changes depending on the type of LDAP that you have. In this example, TDS is used so the value is dc=connections,dc=example,dc=com.
The second field defines the location in the LDAP directory information tree from which the LDAP search begins. The entries beneath it in the tree can also be accessed by the LDAP search. In this example, the value is dc=connections,dc=example,dc=com.

For other LDAP servers:
Domino - Type ou=, o=, … (for example, all that follows CN=username in the User Name in Domino in both fields)
Active Directory - Use the same value as TDS.

When you are done, click Apply and then click Save.



Click OK and then click Save.
Verify that the new base entry has been saved.



Click OK and then click Save.
Enable Administrative security and Application security. Do not enable Java 2 security. Click Apply and then click Save.




Optional
: If you want to set up SSO later, you must do the following:

Expand the "Security" section and click Global security. On the right, click the + sign next to "Web and SIP security" and then click Single sign-on (SSO).



Insert the Domain name (for example, example.com) and then select the "Interoperability Mode" check box.



Click Apply and then click Save.

Log out from the administrative console. Then, stop and restart the Deployment Manager.


Installation and Configuration Instructions



After all of the prerequisite steps are complete, take the following actions to configure, create, and populate the database as well as install Lotus Connections 3.0.

Configure the Database Instance



Following the DB2 install process proposed above, the instance named DB2 is created. This instance is used to host our databases for this scenario.

On the db.example.com machine, extract the Lotus Connections Wizards to a directory. From here, find the folder named Wizards. This folder contains two batch files of interest - dbWizard.bat and populationWizard.bat, the first of which is a wizard that creates the nine databases required to run Lotus Connections, the second that populates the profiles database with user data.

*Note that in a Linux environment, these files have the extension '.sh' and are used in exactly the same way.

Before creating the databases, you must create a user on the operating system for DB2 named lcuser. This user will be the owner of the databases when they are created. On the database machine, expand Computer Management > System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users. Right click on Users and select New User... as shown.



Enter user and password details of lcuser. Ensure to deselect the "User must change password at next logon" option. Click Create when ready.



After the user is created, right-click the user and click Properties. Select the Member of tab. The lcuser user must be added to the DB2USERS group. Click Add and type DB2USERS in the "Enter the object names to select" field as shown below. Click OK until you are back to the Computer Management panel. Your computer is now prepared for the Lotus Connections databases to be created.



Note
: If the DB2USERS group is not found, extended security for DB2 on Windows might not be enabled. To enable extended security on Windows, stop the database, run the db2extsec.exe command, and then restart the database again as shown. For more information about Extended Windows security using DB2ADMNS and DB2USERS groups, refer to the DB2 product documentation.




Linux Only Step

For Linux users, the following steps cover the process mentioned above:
  • Log into the DB2 server as root user and then type the following commands to create the user:
    useradd lcuser
    passwd lcuser
  • When prompted for a new password, enter it, and then confirm the password.

Important:
*
When using other databases, such as Oracle Database Server or Microsoft SQL Server, you do not need to create the "lcuser" user, as instructed above. Instead, when using the wizard to create the databases, new database users are created. You are prompted to provide a password for each of the database users.
*
When using Microsoft SQL Server, you are prompted to provide a location on the file system for the databases being created.

Linux Only Step

Before running the database wizard (dbWizard) on Linux systems, ensure the following is set:
  • Ensure that users (other than root) have permission to access the Lotus Connections Wizards directory. To do so, run the following command against the directory containing these wizards:
    chmod -R 777 <
    wizards_directory
     
  • To grant display authority to other users, run the following command as root:
    xhost +
  • Take note of the DISPLAY variable with following command:
    echo \$DISPLAY
  • On Linux, dbWizard must be run by the database instance user (for example, db2inst1 user). Switch to this database user from the terminal as follows:
    su - db2inst1
  • Set the DISPLAY variable with the following command:
    export DISPLAY=<
    hostname:displaynumber.screennumber
     


    Where <hostname:displaynumber.screennumber
     
    specifies the client system, monitor number and window number (for example, localhost:0.0).
  • To verify that this user can use the display with the following simple test, enter the following command:
    xclock


    If the clock launches, the system is ready to begin the dbWizard. Press Ctrl+C to exit the clock.
  • Ensure the database is started and run the dbWizard.sh command to begin to create the databases. The screen shots below are the same for all operating systems.




To run the database wizard, follow these steps:

1.Run dbWizard.bat. The following panel is displayed.



2. Select Next on the welcome panel. The following panel is displayed.



3. Select which task to use on the panel above. For example, select Create and then click Next. The following panel is displayed.



4. On the panel above, check the database type you are using, in this case DB2. Then select the installation location and the DB2 instance name. Click Next to display the following panel.



5. Select which database tables to create. In this case, all database tables are required since all Lotus Connections services are being installed. Ensure all check boxes are selected and then click Next. The following panel is displayed.



6. The panel above provides a summary of which databases will be created and which scripts are run to achieve this. For more information on the database commands, select the "Show the detailed database commands" check box. If you select this check box and click Create, the following panel is displayed. If you do not select this check box, a progress indicator is displayed as the databases are created.



If you choose to view the detailed database command panel above, you can save these commands via the Save As... button or click Execute to launch the creation of these databases.



7. During the creation process, you can open the log files to view progress. The Open log button opens the directory containing the logs. The database creation process should only take a few minutes, depending on the speed of your system. After the process is complete, the following summary panel is displayed:



8. Results are displayed. The result field for each database should state, "The database creation was successful". Scroll down the list to verify that the databases were created successfully. In the event that there were issues with the database creation, click Open log to view the logs for the script that failed. The log file should indicate what the problem is. For additional help, see the Troubleshooting section of this document.



9. If you click the Open log button, the following folder displays the individual logs for each of the database creation scripts. To close this window, click the X icon on the top right. This action returns you to the summary panel in step 8. Click Finish to close the database wizard.



Populating the Profiles Database



The profiles database must be populated with users from the LDAP before you can log in to Lotus Connections 3.0. To begin populating user data in the profiles database, run the populationWizard.bat file.

On the welcome panel, click Next. The following panel is displayed.




The wizard warns that Tivoli Directory Integrator is not installed in its default location. Select the location where it was installed, C:\IBM\TDI\V7.0, and then click Next.




Select the database type, in this case DB2. Click Next to continue.




Now input the database information into the wizard. Update the fields as follows. The port number is 50000 by default, unless this was updated in the db2 config. Note that on Linux systems, the default port number is 50001. Click Next to continue.



Type the LDAP server name and port number and then click Next.




Enter the bind user and password and then click Next.




Select the search base and ensure that the LDAP user search filter is correctly identified. This filter can differ based on different LDAPs. Click Next to continue.



You can customize the mappings between the LDAP and profiles database. For this example, default settings are used. Click Next to continue.



Optional tasks can be run to add additional information to the profiles database, such as county, department and organizational details, which are not in LDAP. For this example, the default values are selected. For more information about running this task, see the following wiki article: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/Mapping_fields_manually_lc3



When you are ready to begin population, click Configure as shown.






When the profiles population is complete, the following completion summary is displayed. Verify the results before proceeding. Click Finish to close the Profiles population wizard.





Installing Lotus Connections 3.0



To install Lotus Connections ,complete the prerequisite tasks and then launch the installer.

Before You Install



Before beginning the installation, review the following considerations:

Rational Installation Manager

Lotus Connections 3.0 uses the Rational Installation Manager to provide an enhanced installation experience. Before beginning the installation, make sure to uninstall any older version of Rational Installation Manager. You are prompted to install this software when you launch the Lotus Connections 3.0 installation wizard.

Deployment Manager and Node Agent

Start the Deployment Manager before launching the installation wizard. The node agent should also be started so that resynchronization is possible between the Deployment Manager and node when required.

Linux / AIX Issues

If installing Lotus Connections 3.0 on a Linux system as a non-root user, refer to the topic about installing as a non-root user at http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/lcwiki.nsf/dx/Installing_as_a_nonroot_user_lc3. In AIX environments, GNU Tar is required to untar the installation packages. You can download GNU Tar from the following location: http://www.ibm.com/systems/power/software/aix/linux/toolbox/alpha.html.

Shared Data Folder

Because this is a one-node deployment, there is no need to mount a shared space for Lotus Connections data content to be stored. During installation, you are prompted to provide the location of the shared data directory. In this case, the local disk drive is used. The shared data directory, however, must be mounted on each node when there is more than one node.

DB2

Before you begin to install Lotus Connections 3.0, you must copy the JDBC driver from the DB2 server (db.example.com to a local directory on connections.example.com - the directory used is C:\IBM\JDBC_Drivers). These drivers are used by Lotus Connections to connect to the database. On the DB2 machine, these drivers are located in the C:\IBM\SQLIB\java directory. The names of the drivers required are db2jcc.jar and db2jcc_licence_cu.jar.



In cases where DB2 is not the database used, consult the following table to see which JDBC Driver to use. The drivers should be copied to this same location, regardless of which DB is used.
Database Type
JDBC Driver Name
DB2 v9.7 FP2
db2jcc.jar
db2jcc_licence_cu.jar
Oracle
ojdbc6.jar
MS SQL Server
sqljdbc4.jar


Begin the Installation



Extract the Lotus Connections installation files to a location on connections.example.com, such as C:\Software. From the extracted folder (LC_Install_IM), double-click launchpad.exe to begin the installation.



The welcome panel contains links to general documentation as well as information about pre- and post-installation tasks. Select the Install Lotus Connections 3.0 option as shown.



The above panel contains information about Rational Installation Manager and includes an important note about starting the Deployment Manager before beginning the installation. See the section in this article about starting and stopping Lotus Connections 3.0 to find out how to start the Deployment Manager. After the Deployment Manager is started, select the "Launch the Lotus Connections 3.0 install wizard" option shown above. The following installer panel is displayed.



Ensure all check boxes are selected as shown in the screen shot above. To install Lotus Connections 3.0 and the correct version of Rational Install Manager, click Next.



Accept the license agreement and click Next to continue.



Select the location to install Rational Installation Manager and the shared resources directory. Use the above locations for ease of use. Click Next to continue.



A new package group is created for Lotus Connections. Select the install directory as shown above and then click Next to continue.



To install all Lotus Connections components, ensure that all check boxes are selected and then click Next to continue.
,


Now we need to provide the installer details of the Deployment Manager. To do so, provide the location to the Application Server as shown above. The Deployment Manager will be detected. Input the hostname, connections.example.com, and the Deployment Manager administrator and password. If your configuration is planned to be deployed with a third-party security suite, such as Tivoli Access Manager, SiteMinder or SPNEGO, it is very important that the administrative user specified be both an LDAP and a Deployment Manager administrator. Click Validate to verify these settings before proceeding.


If all details are correct, the above validation message is displayed. Click OK and Next to continue.



Select the Small Deployment check box from the above options. This indicates that all applications will be installed into the same cluster. You must name the cluster. In the above example, the name is simply LotusConnections. Ensure that the node connectionsNode01 is also selected from the Node Selection section. Click Next to continue.



In this deployment, all features are using the same database server; therefore, select the Yes check box above. Set DB2 as the database type and provide the database server information as shown. Next, select the check box to use the same password for all features and supply the passwords for the databases in the appropriate fields.

Click Validate to verify that the details provided are correct. The following dialog is displayed:



Click OK and Next to continue to the next panel.



Here we are providing the locations for the local and shared data stores. As this is a small deployment, both of these locations are local as shown above. Click Validate again to validate these locations.


Click OK and Next to continue.



The above panel is the final panel before a summary of items to install is displayed. Provide details of your mail server. In this instance, the Java mail session is selected. Provide the location to the SMTP messaging server and the user ID required to use this server. You might also need to select the Encrypt check box if sending mail over SSL. Click Next to continue to the summary panel.



The above panel summarizes what is about to be installed on this system. Verify that this information is correct and click Install to start the installation.




The progress bar keeps you informed as to the installation's progress. After installation is completed, the following summary panel is displayed. All packages should be installed successfully as shown.



Click Finish to complete the installation of Lotus Connections. Note that there are a number of post installation tasks which must be performed to complete the configuration. Before beginning these tasks, you must restart the Deployment Manager for changes to take effect. After the Deployment Manager is restarted, follow these steps.

Configuring the HTTP Server



Before beginning this task, ensure that the IBM HTTP Administration server is started. The administration server must be started to synchronize configuration files between the HTTP Server and the Deployment Manager. To start the admin server on Windows, go to Start > Programs > IBM HTTP Server V7.0 > Start Admin Server. To start the admin server on Linux and AIX systems, use the terminal. Navigate to the HTTPServer/bin directory and issue the following command: ./adminctl start

Add Web Server as Unmanaged Node



After the administration server is started, open the WebSphere Administration Console and add the Web server to the cell as an unmanaged node. Open the WebSphere Administration Console at http://connections.example.com:9060/admin.


Go to System Administration - Nodes and click the Add Node button:


Select the unmanaged node option and click Next.


Provide a name and host name of the HTTP server and click OK.


Now click Save.


On the nodes panel, the Web server is displayed in the list above.


Add Web Server as a Server



Next, add the Web server as a server in the configuration. To do so, follow these steps:


From Servers - Server Types - Web Servers, click the New button.



Select the Web server node and provide the name of this server "webserver1" - this is the same name that is provided during the plug-ins installation on the Web server. Click Next to continue.



The IHS option is selected. Click Next.



Provide all of the Web server details as indicated above and then click Next.



Confirm the new Web server and click Finish.



Now save this change. Before proceeding, do a full synchronize between nodes in the deployment.



Return to Servers - Server Types - Web Servers. Generate and propagate the plug-in file to the Web server.



Do this by selecting the check box besides webserver1 and then click the Generate Plug-in button.


Select the check box again and click Propagate Plug-in.



Click webserver1 and then select the Plug-in properties link as shown above.



From the "Repository copy of Web server plug-in files" section, click Copy to Web server key store directory as shown above.



The following message is displayed, indicating the successful copying of these keys. Restart the Web server for the plug-in changes to take effect.

Configuring IBM HTTP Server for SSL



To support SSL, create a self-signed certificate and then configure IBM HTTP Server for SSL traffic. If you use this certificate in production, users might receive warning messages from their browsers. In a typical production deployment, you would use a certificate from a trusted certificate authority.

The first step is to create a key file. Start the IKEYMAN utility. To do so, double-click the ikeyman.bat file, located in C:\IBM\HTTPServer\bin (or ikeyman.sh from /opt/IBM/HTTPServer/bin on a Linux\AIX system).

The following panel is displayed when you launch this utility.



Select Key Database File > New...



Ensure the key database type is selected as CMS. Input a name for the key file and location to store it.




Enter a password and select the stash password to a file check box.



You are returned to the IKEYMAN panel with the webserver-key.kdb opened.




Create a self-signed certificate. To do so, select Create > New Self-Signed Certificate...





Input the label and other details as appropriate. Click OK to save the certificate.




The certificate now appears in the key file as shown.



Next, stop the IBM HTTP Server, if started. After you have verified that the server is stopped, log in to the WebSphere Administration Console and configure the Web server for SSL.

From the Web servers panel, select the webserver1 link.




Click the Configuration File link to open the httpd.conf from the WebSphere Administration Console.




The httpd.conf opens in the browser as shown.



At the bottom of the configuration, add the following lines to the http.conf:

LoadModule ibm_ssl_module modules/mod_ibm_ssl.so 
<IfModule mod_ibm_ssl.c> 
Listen 0.0.0.0:443 
<VirtualHost *:443> 
ServerName connections.example.com
SSLEnable 
</VirtualHost> 
</IfModule> 
SSLDisable 
Keyfile "C:\IBM\Keyfiles\webserver-key.kdb"
SSLStashFile "C:\IBM\Keyfiles\webserver-key.sth"


Scroll to the bottom of the configuration file. At the end of the httpd.conf, add the above lines to load the SSL module using the key file we just created.

Click OK to save this change.





Start the IBM HTTP Server. To verify that the SSL settings took effect correctly. enter https://connections.example.com in a browser. If the IBM HTTP Server page appears over https, this step was successful. Note that you might need to accept the certificate to your browser as it is not signed.








Adding Certificates to the WebSphere Trust Store



From the WebSphere Administration Console, go to Security > SSL Certificate and Key Management. Next, click the CelllDefaultTrustStore link as shown.



From within CellDefaultTrustStore, click the Signer certificates link in the right hand pane.



Add the webservers signer to the trust store by clicking the Retrieve from port button.



Specify the host name of the Web server and its SSL port (typically 443). Then click the Retrieve Signer Information button, which retrieves the information shown on the bottom of this screen shot. Provide an alias for this signer certificate and click OK to add this certificate to the list of signers.




Save this change and restart the HTTP server to apply the changes.


Update Web Addresses used by Lotus Connections to access Content



Using the wsadmin client, check out the LotusConnections-config.xml to a temporary directory. From this directory, update all href and ssl_href values to reflect the host name of the HTTP Server. Do not include any port numbers.

An example of this follows :


Convert the original values below of the href's ssl_href's from their default values above to their new values, in this case all that is done is to drop the port numbers 9081 and 9044 from these urls.



Repeat this process for all href and ssl_hrefs that are currently set to connections.example.com. After this process is complete, save the file and check it back in using the wsadmin client. After the file is checked in, resynchronize the node so that this change is pushed out.

This completes the Web server, SSL, and certificate configuration for this scenario. Now when the application is started, it can be accessed at http://connections.example.com/<component
 
where <component
 
represents any of the Connection's applications.

The commands to perform the above tasks are shown below (the above updates take place after the check out command).



The list below provides the above commands in a test format so that they can be copied and used again in your own deployment:

1: wsadmin.bat -lang jython -username wasadmin -password wasadmin -port 8879
2: execfile("C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\Dmgr01\config\bin_lc_admin\connectionsConfig.py")
3: LCConfigService.checkOutConfig("C:/temp","connectionsCell01")
<Make changes to the checked out file>
4: LCConfigService.checkInConfig()
5: synchAllNodes()


Configuring Application Administrators and Configuring Blogs



After Lotus Connections 3.0 is installed, it is necessary to configure the blogs landing page. There are two steps involved::

1. Assigning administrative access to a blogs user.
2. Creating the blogs home page.

You may also want to give administrative access to particular users for other applications, such as home page, so that widgets can be enabled/disabled and determine who can read server metrics & statistics. The below example shows how to add an administrator to the blogs application. The same process is followed to add administrators to the other applications.

Before beginning this task, ensure to start Lotus Connections. For instructions, refer to the section in this article about starting and stopping Lotus Connections 3.0. After the deployment is started, verify that you can log in successfully to all components. It is a good idea to check the logs to ensure there are no errors occurring during the startup and verification.

Adding an Administrator to Blogs



1. Log in to the WebSphere Administration Console on connections.example.com at the url http://connections.example.com:9060/admin.

2. Go to Applications - Application Types Web - WebSphere Enterprise Applications and click the Blogs link.



From the list of options for this application select "Security role to user/group mapping" as shown.



From the following panel, it is possible to map users and groups to different roles. In the below example there is no user assigned as admin. Click the check box beside admin and then click Map Users...



Enter the user name into the search string and click Search. When the required user is found, select their name and click the right-facing arrow to assign this user to the role specified.




Click the OK button below to return to the user - role mapping panel.




The user 'jcollins' is assigned as an administrator in Blogs. Click OK to save this change.



To save the change, click Save as follows:



Now we have assigned an admin user in blogs. Follow the same procedure to map groups or users to different roles in the various applications, such as admin or moderator where appropriate. It is not required to restart the servers for this change to take effect. However it may take a few minutes for the change to take effect across the node(s) in the deployment.

Creating the Blogs Homepage



Log in to Blogs as the newly-assigned administrator.



On the top of the page, there is now an Administration tab. Click the "New Blog Creation Page" link to create the new blog homepage.



On the page above, take note of the blog address (in this case 'home'). Also ensure that Theme is set to Blogs Homepage. Click Save to create the blog.


The above message is displayed. Click the Administration tab as shown.



Enter the blog URL (home), in the above field. Click Save to make this change.

After the change is successful, log out of Blogs.



Now, if you navigate to connections.example.com/blogs, the above page is displayed.

Linux & AIX only : Setting Path Variables for Search



Starting and Stopping Lotus Connections 3.0



To completely start or stop the system, follow this process. It is assumed that LDAP is active throughout.

WebSphere Application Server


To start/stop these services, use the command prompt or shell in Linux. From the command prompt, issue the following commands:

Start:
C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\Dmgr01\bin\startManager.bat
C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\AppSrv01\bin\startNode.bat

Stop:
C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\Dmgr01\bin\stopManager.bat -username wasadmin -password wasadmin
C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles\AppSrv01\bin\stopNode.bat -username wasadmin -password wasadmin

WebServer


Ensure the IHS administrator server is started. To do so, click Start - All Programs - IBM HTTP Server V7.0 - Start Admin Server.

From the WebSphere Administration Console, select Servers - Server Types - Web Servers. Select the check box beside webserver1 and click Start or Stop as required.



Database


To start/stop these services use the command prompt or shell in Linux. From the command prompt, issue the following commands:

Set the instance to the correct name using this command:
SET DB2INSTANCE=DB2

Use either of the below commands to start or stop DB2
DB2START
DB2STOP


Lotus Connections


From the WebSphere Administration Console, select Servers - Clusters - WebSphere Application Server Clusters. Select the check box beside LotusConnections and click Start or Stop as required.



After the cluster is started, verify that there are no problems by viewing the logs at C:\IBM\WebSphere\profiles\AppSrv01\logs\LotusConnections_server1\SystemOut.log.


Tuning and Optimizing Lotus Connections 3.0



This section contains information on how to tune he server heap size. As this guide is intended for a small deployment which may be used for a test deployment no other tuning is included in this section. If you need more information on basic tuning please see the tuning section of the scenario 2 article. There are many more possible tweaks and modifications that can be made on WebSphere Application Server to tune the configuration for optimal performance depending on your requirements. For further information, consult the Lotus Connections 3.0 tuning articles available on the Lotus Connections Wiki.


Tuning the JVM Heap Sizes



The JVM heap size on a small deployment is set by default to the below values:
Applications
Servers
Initial Heap Size (Mb)
Maximum Heap Size (Mb)
All
LotusConnectionsCluster_server1
512
2560

Follow this guide to tune the heap size as required. When increasing the heap size, it is a good idea to monitor overall memory consumption to ensure that your system can provide the necessary memory allocations without excessive paging.

In this scenario, the machine hosting the Deployment Manager, Application Server, and Web server has 8 GB RAM. When increasing the max heap size, ensure that you do not allocate more memory than the physical capacity of the system.

The following screen shots show how to set the maximum heap size for a server named 'activitiesCluster_server1'. Apply this process for the LotusConnectionsCluster_server1 server, which was created in this scenario. Open the Deployment Manager and navigate to Server Types > WebSphere application servers. Click the link for the server you want to modify (LotusConnectionsCluster_server1).




Locate the Server Infrastructure section and click Process definition.



Click the Java Virtual Machine link as shown.




Enter the initial heap and maximum heap size for this server as per your requirements.



Click OK and Save this change.


About the Authors




Colm O'Brien
is a member of the Lotus Connections System Verification Test (SVT) specialising in the area of product deployment and reliability/workload testing.

Roberto Boccadoro
is a Collaborative solutions Architect in the Lotus Client Technical Professionals team.

Elena Sangalli
is an IT Specialist in the Lotus Client Technical Professionals team.


  • Actions Show Menu▼


expanded Attachments (1)
collapsed Attachments (1)
Edit the article to add or modify attachments.
File TypeSizeFile NameCreated OnDelete file
application/pdf 3,548 KB Small_Deployment_S1.pdf 7/26/11, 6:44 PM
expanded Versions (1)
collapsed Versions (1)
Version Comparison     
VersionDateChanged by              Summary of changes
This version (24)Nov 16, 2011, 8:00:22 PM~Hal Xanfooings  
expanded Comments (0)
collapsed Comments (0)
Copy and paste this wiki markup to link to this article from another article in this wiki.
Go ElsewhereStay ConnectedAbout
  • HCL Software
  • HCL Digital Solutions community
  • HCL Software support
  • BlogsDigital Solutions blog
  • Community LinkHCL Software forums and blogs
  • About HCL Software
  • Privacy
  • Accessibility