Yet it doesn't have to be so. The concept is actually very simple indeed and can be encapsulated quite easily within a single diagram.
So without over-using words... here's a pretty picture:
All explained I hope? Of course it is!
Thursday, June 30, 2011
WebSEAL Virtual Host
Tivoli Access Manager for e-business' WebSEAL supports the concept of virtual hosting but the documentation surrounding the setup of virtual hosting can sometimes be a little unclear. The diagrams available on Infocenter only help to muddy the waters from what I can tell.
Yet it doesn't have to be so. The concept is actually very simple indeed and can be encapsulated quite easily within a single diagram.
So without over-using words... here's a pretty picture:
All explained I hope? Of course it is!
Yet it doesn't have to be so. The concept is actually very simple indeed and can be encapsulated quite easily within a single diagram.
So without over-using words... here's a pretty picture:
All explained I hope? Of course it is!
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
What Fix Pack Are You On
In the world of commercial software, patches and fix packs can come thick and fast and it is often difficult to stay "current" despite the protestations of customer support.
How often have you had the following conversation?
Familiar?
It's not necessarily possible to constantly apply fix packs that are released every quarter.The thought of regression testing a fundamental component in your architecture may send shivers down your spine. So maybe applying fix packs once every six months or once a year would suffice?
In my TIM and TAM world, I have a view on what is and isn't acceptable as far as fix packs are concerned. I prefer the latest and greatest but am happy to accept certain fix packs and being relatively fit for purpose.
IBM Tivoli Identity Manager
If you aren't on v5.1, what are you waiting for. Life in the world of v5.1 is a much happier experience and is further enhanced once you are on at least Fix Pack 1 (though preferable Fix Pack 5 or later).
IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator
If you aren't on v7.1, what are you waiting for. At last, TDI gets the interface it deserves and the functionality it promised. Apply Fix Pack 3 at least, though, as most of the niggles had been ironed out by then.
RMI Dispatcher
If you are using agentless adapters, you need to ensure you are running v5.1.3 of the RMI Dispatcher at least. The v5.1.2 had a memory leak! Feel free to deploy v5.1.7 though!
ITIM Adapters
Ah - keep a close eye on these bad boys. Try to keep up with them because they tend to only get an update if there are performance problems. It pays to stay current!
IBM Tivoli Access Manager
If you aren't on v6.1.1, what are you waiting for? Upgrades aren't that complicated! Of course, apply Fix Pack 1 but you will find a life of stability and tranquility with the veteran piece of software.
IBM Tivoli Directory Server
It's got to be at least v6.2 but there's not a lot wrong with v6.3 either. If you have a five in your version, you need to sort out your life!
DB2
Like TDS, your life will need sorting out if your version is antiquated. Anything pre v9.x needs replacing. Honestly. Now. Just do it. Give v9.7 your blessing. It will be good to you for a while.
Take the time to stay up-to-date as much as possible. You may find that the customer support conversation doesn't happen in the first place!
How often have you had the following conversation?
User: "I'd like to report a problem with this software you sold me."
Customer Support: "What version and fix pack are you running?"
User: "Version 5.1, Fix Pack 1"
Customer Support: "Oh. I don't like the sound of that. You should really be on Fix Pack 6 you know. Why don't you apply Fix Pack 6 and see if the problem goes away. If it doesn't, ring me back."
User: "Does Fix Pack 6 address the issue I described?"
Customer Support: "No. But it might be fixed as a result of some other fix."
Familiar?
It's not necessarily possible to constantly apply fix packs that are released every quarter.The thought of regression testing a fundamental component in your architecture may send shivers down your spine. So maybe applying fix packs once every six months or once a year would suffice?
In my TIM and TAM world, I have a view on what is and isn't acceptable as far as fix packs are concerned. I prefer the latest and greatest but am happy to accept certain fix packs and being relatively fit for purpose.
IBM Tivoli Identity Manager
If you aren't on v5.1, what are you waiting for. Life in the world of v5.1 is a much happier experience and is further enhanced once you are on at least Fix Pack 1 (though preferable Fix Pack 5 or later).
IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator
If you aren't on v7.1, what are you waiting for. At last, TDI gets the interface it deserves and the functionality it promised. Apply Fix Pack 3 at least, though, as most of the niggles had been ironed out by then.
RMI Dispatcher
If you are using agentless adapters, you need to ensure you are running v5.1.3 of the RMI Dispatcher at least. The v5.1.2 had a memory leak! Feel free to deploy v5.1.7 though!
ITIM Adapters
Ah - keep a close eye on these bad boys. Try to keep up with them because they tend to only get an update if there are performance problems. It pays to stay current!
IBM Tivoli Access Manager
If you aren't on v6.1.1, what are you waiting for? Upgrades aren't that complicated! Of course, apply Fix Pack 1 but you will find a life of stability and tranquility with the veteran piece of software.
IBM Tivoli Directory Server
It's got to be at least v6.2 but there's not a lot wrong with v6.3 either. If you have a five in your version, you need to sort out your life!
DB2
Like TDS, your life will need sorting out if your version is antiquated. Anything pre v9.x needs replacing. Honestly. Now. Just do it. Give v9.7 your blessing. It will be good to you for a while.
Take the time to stay up-to-date as much as possible. You may find that the customer support conversation doesn't happen in the first place!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
ITIM Custom Participants Explained
One of IBM Tivoli Identity Manager's strengths is in its workflow engine. Visually defining workflows by adding actions, scripts and approval "nodes" can actually be fun and the visual results can often be a thing of beauty.
That said, the visual beauty can often be regarded as ugly compared to the elegance and simplicity within our scripting!
An approval node, for example, allows a workflow designer to select an approver as a particular ITIM user; a group of users associated with an ITIM role; or users with a specific relationship to the entity being operated on (such as a supervisor or service owner). But this can be extended using "Custom Participants".
CUSTOM PARTICIPANTS
Custom participants allows us to make use of the power of scripting. Instead of defining the participant for an approval (for example), we could use scripting to find an approver based on more obscure relationships.
All we need to do within our scripting is return an array of DNs representing each user who will act as an approver for the activity.
USE CASE & SOLUTION
Why would we want to do this? Let's walk through an example scenario:
Big Corp has lots of departments filled with lots of people who are very busy indeed. Supervisors have been identified but are too busy to deal with approval requests coming from ITIM because they operate in a highly volatile world when it comes to access rights. Big Corp has therefore decided that a role called "Departmental Approver" will be created and each department can assign multiple people to the role.
Big Corp, however, has insisted that users' access requests will only be approved by those Departmental Approver who exist within the same department as the requestor.
Native ITIM wizards allow you to select the "Departmental Approver" role as the participant of an approval activity but the link to the department that the approver is in won't exist! Using this mechanism, ALL departmental approver across the entire organisation would be used as an approver. This is where our Custom Participant script can come into play and provide us with a means of selecting Departmental Approver who exist in the same department as the requestor.
The solution to the problem would look a little like this:
// Let's search for the role first - we need its DN
var roleSearch = new RoleSearch();
var roleResult = roleSearch.searchByName("Departmental Approver");
if (roleResult.length < 1) {
// This is a disaster - the role doesn't exist
// You should handle this by whatever means suits you
} else {
supervisordn = roleResult[0].dn;
// Let's search for Departmental Approvers within our department
var myFilter = "(&(erparent=" + container.get().dn + ")(erroles=" + supervisordn + "))";
var personSearch = new PersonSearch();
var personResult = personSearch.searchByFilter("person", myFilter, 2);
// For each user found, let's add them to an array
var myParticipants = new Array();
for (i=0; i < personResult.length; i++) {
myParicipants[i] = new Participant(ParticipantType.USER, personResult[i].dn);
}
return myParticipants;
}
Of course, we should handle the situation whereby no approvers were found! Hopefully, however, there is enough information above to help you build a robust custom participant solution.
That said, the visual beauty can often be regarded as ugly compared to the elegance and simplicity within our scripting!
An approval node, for example, allows a workflow designer to select an approver as a particular ITIM user; a group of users associated with an ITIM role; or users with a specific relationship to the entity being operated on (such as a supervisor or service owner). But this can be extended using "Custom Participants".
CUSTOM PARTICIPANTS
Custom participants allows us to make use of the power of scripting. Instead of defining the participant for an approval (for example), we could use scripting to find an approver based on more obscure relationships.
All we need to do within our scripting is return an array of DNs representing each user who will act as an approver for the activity.
USE CASE & SOLUTION
Why would we want to do this? Let's walk through an example scenario:
Big Corp has lots of departments filled with lots of people who are very busy indeed. Supervisors have been identified but are too busy to deal with approval requests coming from ITIM because they operate in a highly volatile world when it comes to access rights. Big Corp has therefore decided that a role called "Departmental Approver" will be created and each department can assign multiple people to the role.
Big Corp, however, has insisted that users' access requests will only be approved by those Departmental Approver who exist within the same department as the requestor.
Native ITIM wizards allow you to select the "Departmental Approver" role as the participant of an approval activity but the link to the department that the approver is in won't exist! Using this mechanism, ALL departmental approver across the entire organisation would be used as an approver. This is where our Custom Participant script can come into play and provide us with a means of selecting Departmental Approver who exist in the same department as the requestor.
The solution to the problem would look a little like this:
// Let's search for the role first - we need its DN
var roleSearch = new RoleSearch();
var roleResult = roleSearch.searchByName("Departmental Approver");
if (roleResult.length < 1) {
// This is a disaster - the role doesn't exist
// You should handle this by whatever means suits you
} else {
supervisordn = roleResult[0].dn;
// Let's search for Departmental Approvers within our department
var myFilter = "(&(erparent=" + container.get().dn + ")(erroles=" + supervisordn + "))";
var personSearch = new PersonSearch();
var personResult = personSearch.searchByFilter("person", myFilter, 2);
// For each user found, let's add them to an array
var myParticipants = new Array();
for (i=0; i < personResult.length; i++) {
myParicipants[i] = new Participant(ParticipantType.USER, personResult[i].dn);
}
return myParticipants;
}
Of course, we should handle the situation whereby no approvers were found! Hopefully, however, there is enough information above to help you build a robust custom participant solution.
Sunday, May 08, 2011
Tivoli Directory Integrator Web Services
Tivoli Directory Integrator has supported web services for quite some time but the AxisEasyInvokeSoapWebServiceFunctionComponent sounds like it should be a straightforward drag, drop and point at a WSDL in order to enable TDI to call a web service without any knowledge of how web services work.
Of course, the reality is quite different and the word Easy in the middle of that component string is a tad misleading.
Let's construct a TDI web service client to retrieve a stock quote. Those nice people at webservicex.net have made a stockquote service available at http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?wsdl.
Complex Types
Invoking a web service normally means that some data needs to be provided to the service and the service will respond with some data. The data involved is normally wrapped up in what is called a complex type. In other words, a data object which can have one or more data elements.
Supplying complex types to a Function Component is straightforward, but not in the traditional way of building an input or output map the way we do for most other components.
Thankfully, TDI comes with a "Complex Types Generator". Drop a Complex Types Generator function component into your assembly line, point it at the http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?wsdl WSDL, provide a JAR file to collect the necessary Java code that will construct the Complex Types as such:
Click on "Generate Complex Types" and you should get the following result:
The JAR file should now be copied to your {TDI_HOME}\jars directory. I create a WSDL directory under 3rdparty for such JAR files - you might like to do something similar.
To make use of the JAR file, TDI should be restarted!
We can disable the Complex Types Generator component as it won't be required at runtime. Now, we can make use of our JAR file and call the web service.
I use the excellent Java Decompiler to look inside the JAR file which helps me determine the full names of the Complex Types and the methods I can use on them:
Now, with a JAR file and the knowledge of what's inside the JAR file, we can build a web service call. For ease of understanding, I'm going to create three components/connectors:
Component/Connector 1: Script
First, we create a script component which will build our complex type. The code is:
What this is doing is creating a complex type called GetQuote containing a Symbol attribute with a value of MSFT.
Component/Connector 2: AxisEasyInvokeSoapWebServiceFunctionComponent
Now we can make the call to the service with our next connector. Pointing the AxisEasyInvoke.... component at http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?wsdl WSDL we can select the GetQuote operation by clicking on Operations. The parameter to be supplied to the component (Operation Parameters) will be GetQuote and we specify our input and output complex types in the Advanced Pane as NET.webserviceX.www.GetQuote and NET.webserviceX.www.GetQuoteResponse as such:
Our Output Map should map the GetQuote work object as such:
Our Input Map should map the supplied Return object as such:
Component/Connector 3: The Result
Finally, we are going to insert a script to decrypt the information retrieved from the AxisEasyInvoke.... component:
And when we run the Assembly Line, this is what we should get:
23:19:40,789 INFO - CTGDIS087I Iterating.
23:19:40,790 INFO - CTGDIS086I No iterator in AssemblyLine, will run single pass only.
23:19:40,790 INFO - CTGDIS092I Using runtime provided entry as working entry (first pass only).
23:19:41,242 INFO - [AxisEasyInvokeSoapWebServiceFunctionComponent] CTGDIZ601I Web service called successfully.
23:19:41,246 INFO - <StockQuotes>;<Stock>;<Symbol>;MSFT</Symbol>;<Last>;25.87</Last>;<Date>;5/6/2011</Date>;<Time>;4:00pm</Time>;<Change>;+0.08</Change>;<Open>;26.01</Open>;<High>;26.22</High>;<Low>;25.75</Low>;<Volume>;55993640</Volume>;<MktCap>;218.2B</MktCap>;<PreviousClose>;25.79</PreviousClose>;<PercentageChange>;+0.31%</PercentageChange>;<AnnRange>;22.73 - 29.73</AnnRange>;<Earns>;2.517</Earns>;<P-E>;10.25</P-E>;<Name>;Microsoft Corpora</Name>;</Stock>;</StockQuotes>;
23:19:41,247 INFO - CTGDIS088I Finished iterating.
23:19:41,247 INFO - CTGDIS100I Printing the Connector statistics.
23:19:41,248 INFO - [BuildComplexType] Calls: 1
23:19:41,249 INFO - [AxisEasyInvokeSoapWebServiceFunctionComponent] CallReply:1
23:19:41,250 INFO - [DecodeReturn] Calls: 1
23:19:41,250 INFO - CTGDIS104I Total: CallReply:1.
23:19:41,251 INFO - CTGDIS101I Finished printing the Connector statistics.
23:19:41,252 INFO - CTGDIS080I Terminated successfully (0 errors).
I leave the parsing of the result to you and wish you all the best with your future Web Services' adventures.
Of course, the reality is quite different and the word Easy in the middle of that component string is a tad misleading.
Let's construct a TDI web service client to retrieve a stock quote. Those nice people at webservicex.net have made a stockquote service available at http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?wsdl.
Complex Types
Invoking a web service normally means that some data needs to be provided to the service and the service will respond with some data. The data involved is normally wrapped up in what is called a complex type. In other words, a data object which can have one or more data elements.
Supplying complex types to a Function Component is straightforward, but not in the traditional way of building an input or output map the way we do for most other components.
Thankfully, TDI comes with a "Complex Types Generator". Drop a Complex Types Generator function component into your assembly line, point it at the http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?wsdl WSDL, provide a JAR file to collect the necessary Java code that will construct the Complex Types as such:
Click on "Generate Complex Types" and you should get the following result:
The JAR file should now be copied to your {TDI_HOME}\jars directory. I create a WSDL directory under 3rdparty for such JAR files - you might like to do something similar.
To make use of the JAR file, TDI should be restarted!
We can disable the Complex Types Generator component as it won't be required at runtime. Now, we can make use of our JAR file and call the web service.
I use the excellent Java Decompiler to look inside the JAR file which helps me determine the full names of the Complex Types and the methods I can use on them:
Now, with a JAR file and the knowledge of what's inside the JAR file, we can build a web service call. For ease of understanding, I'm going to create three components/connectors:
Component/Connector 1: Script
First, we create a script component which will build our complex type. The code is:
var GQ = NET.webserviceX.www.GetQuote();
GQ.setSymbol("MSFT");
work.setAttribute("GetQuote", GQ);
GQ.setSymbol("MSFT");
work.setAttribute("GetQuote", GQ);
What this is doing is creating a complex type called GetQuote containing a Symbol attribute with a value of MSFT.
Component/Connector 2: AxisEasyInvokeSoapWebServiceFunctionComponent
Now we can make the call to the service with our next connector. Pointing the AxisEasyInvoke.... component at http://www.webservicex.net/stockquote.asmx?wsdl WSDL we can select the GetQuote operation by clicking on Operations. The parameter to be supplied to the component (Operation Parameters) will be GetQuote and we specify our input and output complex types in the Advanced Pane as NET.webserviceX.www.GetQuote and NET.webserviceX.www.GetQuoteResponse as such:
Our Output Map should map the GetQuote work object as such:
Our Input Map should map the supplied Return object as such:
Component/Connector 3: The Result
Finally, we are going to insert a script to decrypt the information retrieved from the AxisEasyInvoke.... component:
var myReturn = work.getAttribute("return").getValue(0);
task.logmsg("INFO", myReturn.getGetQuoteResult().toString());
task.logmsg("INFO", myReturn.getGetQuoteResult().toString());
And when we run the Assembly Line, this is what we should get:
23:19:40,789 INFO - CTGDIS087I Iterating.
23:19:40,790 INFO - CTGDIS086I No iterator in AssemblyLine, will run single pass only.
23:19:40,790 INFO - CTGDIS092I Using runtime provided entry as working entry (first pass only).
23:19:41,242 INFO - [AxisEasyInvokeSoapWebServiceFunctionComponent] CTGDIZ601I Web service called successfully.
23:19:41,246 INFO - <StockQuotes>;<Stock>;<Symbol>;MSFT</Symbol>;<Last>;25.87</Last>;<Date>;5/6/2011</Date>;<Time>;4:00pm</Time>;<Change>;+0.08</Change>;<Open>;26.01</Open>;<High>;26.22</High>;<Low>;25.75</Low>;<Volume>;55993640</Volume>;<MktCap>;218.2B</MktCap>;<PreviousClose>;25.79</PreviousClose>;<PercentageChange>;+0.31%</PercentageChange>;<AnnRange>;22.73 - 29.73</AnnRange>;<Earns>;2.517</Earns>;<P-E>;10.25</P-E>;<Name>;Microsoft Corpora</Name>;</Stock>;</StockQuotes>;
23:19:41,247 INFO - CTGDIS088I Finished iterating.
23:19:41,247 INFO - CTGDIS100I Printing the Connector statistics.
23:19:41,248 INFO - [BuildComplexType] Calls: 1
23:19:41,249 INFO - [AxisEasyInvokeSoapWebServiceFunctionComponent] CallReply:1
23:19:41,250 INFO - [DecodeReturn] Calls: 1
23:19:41,250 INFO - CTGDIS104I Total: CallReply:1.
23:19:41,251 INFO - CTGDIS101I Finished printing the Connector statistics.
23:19:41,252 INFO - CTGDIS080I Terminated successfully (0 errors).
I leave the parsing of the result to you and wish you all the best with your future Web Services' adventures.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
TAMeb Naughty Installer - SMS Part 2
Previously, I described the pain and heartache that is the Tivoli Access Manager for e-business SMS Server installer routine when another administrator has installed the WebSphere component [see http://blog.stephen-swann.co.uk/2011/03/tameb-naughty-installer-sms-part-1.html].
The title of that blog post claimed that it was merely Part 1 of the saga. Here's part 2.
It's not unusual for customers to want to install software somewhere other than the suggested location. In a Windows environment, it seems quite normal for the base operating system to occupy the C: drive and for additional components to be deployed on the D: drive. When an installer gives you the option to change the destination for your application, it's reasonable to assume that it is safe to do so.
With the TAMeb SMS installer, however, this assumption would be incorrect. While the PDSMS package can be deployed on to the D: drive, running the smscfg utility to configure the SMS product will fail claiming that c:\Program Files\Tivoli\PDSMS cannot be found on the system!
The simple way to resolve this issue is as you would expect. Temporarily copy the contents of your PDSMS directory from wherever you deployed it to the location above and smscfg will get you further. In fact, you should now be in a state where you can successfully deploy and configure the SMS Server and associated components.
For a comprehensive set of instructions on how to do that, follow the guide at IBM Tivoli Access Manager Session Management Server Deployment Architectures.
The title of that blog post claimed that it was merely Part 1 of the saga. Here's part 2.
It's not unusual for customers to want to install software somewhere other than the suggested location. In a Windows environment, it seems quite normal for the base operating system to occupy the C: drive and for additional components to be deployed on the D: drive. When an installer gives you the option to change the destination for your application, it's reasonable to assume that it is safe to do so.
With the TAMeb SMS installer, however, this assumption would be incorrect. While the PDSMS package can be deployed on to the D: drive, running the smscfg utility to configure the SMS product will fail claiming that c:\Program Files\Tivoli\PDSMS cannot be found on the system!
The simple way to resolve this issue is as you would expect. Temporarily copy the contents of your PDSMS directory from wherever you deployed it to the location above and smscfg will get you further. In fact, you should now be in a state where you can successfully deploy and configure the SMS Server and associated components.
For a comprehensive set of instructions on how to do that, follow the guide at IBM Tivoli Access Manager Session Management Server Deployment Architectures.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
TAMeb Naughty Installer - SMS Part 1
I've long been an admirer of IBM Tivoli security software. The components mostly do exactly what you would expect.
However, I've always been a bit confused by the means and mechanisms used to install the software. This week, I had a brilliant example of pure laziness on the part of the developer within IBM who had responsibility for coding the installer for the Tivoli Access Manager for e-business SMS component!
Consider the following facts:
Installing the SMS component should be as simple as running the installer from the TAMeb Base package and following the on-screen instructions. Unfortunately, on my system, the installer failed to recognise that WebSphere was installed and insisted on installing its own version of WebSphere.
And the reason for this failure to detect the WebSphere installation? I could plainly see that it was deployed at d:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer. I could plainly see that WebSphere was running by checking the list of Windows Services. The installer, however, could not.
It was time for some code-hacking to determine what was going on and after a little bit of digging around the installer, I found that it was checking for a WebSphere installer by looking through the Windows registry.
Interesting, I thought. Surely there must be a reference in the registry for WebSphere? Well, that may indeed have been the case, but it certainly wasn't where the installer was looking for it!
A colleague of mine had installed WebSphere using his credentials. I was installing SMS using my credentials. The SMS installer was looking for WebSphere registry keys under LOCAL USER in the registry. And they didn't exist there because I didn't install WebSphere!
The addition of the following registry keys (under my session) allowed the installer to recognise the WebSphere instance:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment\7.0.0.0]
"BinPath"="D:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\AppServer\\bin"
"InstallLocation"="D:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\AppServer"
"LibPath"="D:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\AppServer\\lib"
"MajorVersion"="7"
That said, I wanted to install the SMS components on to my D: drive. Do you think that would work? Do you think if I installed the software there that the smscfg routine would work? If you think positively about these questions, then it's time to think again! Check back for the next thrilling episode in the SMS Installation Series!
However, I've always been a bit confused by the means and mechanisms used to install the software. This week, I had a brilliant example of pure laziness on the part of the developer within IBM who had responsibility for coding the installer for the Tivoli Access Manager for e-business SMS component!
Consider the following facts:
- Windows 2008 Server (64-bit) platform
- WebSphere 7 already deployed
- Tivoli Access Manager for e-business Policy Server already deployed and configured
Installing the SMS component should be as simple as running the installer from the TAMeb Base package and following the on-screen instructions. Unfortunately, on my system, the installer failed to recognise that WebSphere was installed and insisted on installing its own version of WebSphere.
And the reason for this failure to detect the WebSphere installation? I could plainly see that it was deployed at d:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer. I could plainly see that WebSphere was running by checking the list of Windows Services. The installer, however, could not.
It was time for some code-hacking to determine what was going on and after a little bit of digging around the installer, I found that it was checking for a WebSphere installer by looking through the Windows registry.
Interesting, I thought. Surely there must be a reference in the registry for WebSphere? Well, that may indeed have been the case, but it certainly wasn't where the installer was looking for it!
A colleague of mine had installed WebSphere using his credentials. I was installing SMS using my credentials. The SMS installer was looking for WebSphere registry keys under LOCAL USER in the registry. And they didn't exist there because I didn't install WebSphere!
The addition of the following registry keys (under my session) allowed the installer to recognise the WebSphere instance:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment]
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\IBM\WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment\7.0.0.0]
"BinPath"="D:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\AppServer\\bin"
"InstallLocation"="D:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\AppServer"
"LibPath"="D:\\IBM\\WebSphere\\AppServer\\lib"
"MajorVersion"="7"
That said, I wanted to install the SMS components on to my D: drive. Do you think that would work? Do you think if I installed the software there that the smscfg routine would work? If you think positively about these questions, then it's time to think again! Check back for the next thrilling episode in the SMS Installation Series!
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
A Proxy For Google
I was recently asked why I write down my thoughts on Identity and Access Management in a blog. In fact, I was recently asked why I give away all our secrets and didn't I know that my actions were damaging to my long-term job prospects. In effect, educating others means more competition in the job pool.
I have some answers to these questions:
1) I enjoy writing down my thoughts and it helps solidify the concepts in my own head. It also allows me to refer back to past experiences
2) I like the idea that others read my blog and are maybe inspired to take the thoughts and improve them
3) Educating others relieves me of the responsibility of being the custodian of a certain piece of information and allows me to concentrate on learning new things. After all, we should always aspire to learn new things and stretch our imaginations
Having said all that, my time is precious. When viewers of my blog request help, I will try my best to provide guidance and pointers but I may not respond immediately. I don't actually provide this as a service and therefore there is no SLA! Requests should also be thought through - I don't like being a proxy for Google, for example. (You may get a response including a Let Me Google That For You link!)
In short, I enjoy writing my blog and I enjoy helping people but I prefer to help people who have demonstrated that they have already made a good attempt at addressing their problem.
I have some answers to these questions:
1) I enjoy writing down my thoughts and it helps solidify the concepts in my own head. It also allows me to refer back to past experiences
2) I like the idea that others read my blog and are maybe inspired to take the thoughts and improve them
3) Educating others relieves me of the responsibility of being the custodian of a certain piece of information and allows me to concentrate on learning new things. After all, we should always aspire to learn new things and stretch our imaginations
Having said all that, my time is precious. When viewers of my blog request help, I will try my best to provide guidance and pointers but I may not respond immediately. I don't actually provide this as a service and therefore there is no SLA! Requests should also be thought through - I don't like being a proxy for Google, for example. (You may get a response including a Let Me Google That For You link!)
In short, I enjoy writing my blog and I enjoy helping people but I prefer to help people who have demonstrated that they have already made a good attempt at addressing their problem.
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