Connections 2.5 - Step 5 - INSTALL CONNECTIONS!

Right so we should have all the pre-install steps completed. WASND installed, Dmgr running, server1 profile created (unmanaged node, not running), security setup (using LDAP federated repository in this case), DB2 installed, databases created, TDI installed, Profiles database populated.

So now we can install Lotus Connections 2.5

But before we do...one more thing. Sometimes when you install Connections we can get a SOAP time out error. In order to avoid this error we need to increate the time that the server allows for a SOAP request. We need to modify the com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout property in the install_root/properties/soap.client.props file. Just open this file in Wordpad, search for "soap.request", and change the value to 300 or 600 (I did 600 just to be sure). Detailed instructions are here.

So now that we are really ready we need to make sure the Deployment Manager is running and the Application Server instance we will use to install Connections (server1) is not running.

Then we run the install.bat file from the extract of file 1 of 12 from the downloads. The Info Center is pretty good for these steps so just follow the prompts as per this document. You can choose to install all the Features onto the one server however I decided to split the features across 3 servers just to spread the load. The Lotus Connections install will automatically create the additional server profiles for you if you decide to do this as well. I guess it would be wise to try and spread the estimated load across all 3 of the servers however it is really dependent on your usage plans as to how you do this.

The install takes a good while but you should be able to just let it run. Once the install is complete it will provide you with a list of the URL's to each feature. You just need to start each of the servers (as long as the nodeagent is running you can start the servers from the Dmgr Integrated Solutions Console) and off you go! Be Social, Explore, Collaborate!

There are some post install tasks (such as testing the database connections, more security, configuring IBM HTTP server etc) that are listed in the Info Center but you should have a Connections system up and running. 

Connections 2.5 - Step 4 - Install TDI

So once the Database server is ready and the Lotus Connections databases created the next step is to populate the Profiles database with your user information. To do this we use Tivoli Directory Integrator and run a the provided TDI script that will pull the data from your ldap directory and populate the Profiles database.

Now the Lotus Connections Info Center tells us that we need at least TDI 6.1.1 with Fix Pack 6. This can again be downloaded from Fix Central. Do a search for the Fix ID "*0006" and download the fix pack.

Once you have installed TDI and the fix pack that is really all you have to do for now specifically on TDI. You can later set TDI up to run the Profiles population script periodically but for now you just need it installed.

So now you need to copy the Lotus Connections Wizards directory (extracted from file download 2 of 12) onto the TDI server and run the populationWizard.bat file. Just follow the prompts and provide the data required about your LDAP server and the location of your database server.

And that is it for this step. We now have a server with WASND (DMgr and unmanaged node server1), Security enabled, DB2 server with databases created and Profiles database populated from the LDAP database.

Finally we are ready for the actual Lotus Connections install! Coming up next.... 

Connections 2.5 - Step 3 - Databases

So I am going to use DB2 Enterprise Server that is provided as part of the Connections license. You can install this on the same server as your WAS for a small site however I am going to install onto a separate server.

Now note that the Software Requirements tell us we need either DB2 9.1 FP6 or 9.5 FP3. So once again we go to Fix Central and download the fix pack. Interestingly (as CuriousMitch points out) it seems the FP3 appears to be a full install rather than a fix so I have downloaded this and will start with this.

IBM Db2 Enterprise Server Edn V9.5 for Windows  Fix Pack 3 - Download here

Installing DB2 Enterprise Server & Registering the license
The actual install is pretty straight forward so just follow the prompts and choose the options you want for your environment.

Once installed you can either follow the instructions here to install the DB2 restricted license key or you can use the License Centre.




Using the Database Wizard to create the Lotus Connections Database
Next we create a dedicated user for Lotus Connection, lcuser - Doco Here . This user us used by the Lotus Connections database wizard to create all of the databases required.

Once that is all ready make sure the DB2 instance is running (should be set to run as a service already) and run the db wizard - dbWizard.bat  (extracted from the 2 of 12 file in downloads). This wizard will run for a while as it creates all of the databases needed for the Connections services. We are only having one DB2 server instance at this point but you can choose to install the databases on separate servers for scaling reasons if needed.

So that is the Database ready to go. Next we will install Tivoli Directory Integrator and populate the Profiles database. 

Connections 2.5 - Step 2 - WASND

Installing WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment
Ok. So the first major step to setup Connections 2.5 is to install WebSphere Application Server. In this case I have a relatively small number of users so I plan to install on a single Windows 2003 Standard server. Now IU could just use WAS in a stand-alone deployment however this would make it difficult to later move to a more clustered approach or to have the different Connections services running on different profiles/nodes if needed. So I will go with WAS Network Deployment.

So when you install WAS choose the Network Deployment option. Note that you will need at least Windows Server 2003 SP1. On the server we have SP2 so it gave us a warning that we needed SP1 so I just ignored it and kept going. Also note that at this stage do not Enable Administrative Security. We will be enabling security later.

When you first install WASND from the download it only installs 6.1.0.0. According to the Software Requirements tell us we need 6.1.0.23. The latest fixpack is 6.1.0.27 so I am going to give that a go instead. Go to Fix Central for the fixpack. You will also need to install the Update Installer for WebSphere Software. This is a fairly straight forward process if you follow the instructions.

So now you should be able to start the server and log onto the Integrated Solution Console and see:



Setting up the Application Server for the first node
So now that we have WASND running we need to create a profile for the first node.

From the First Steps screen select Profile Management Tool:


We then choose to create an Application Server. I have chosen the Typical profile creation option. I am not enabling Administrative Security as again we will enable security later. The tool will create new application server called "server1". It is important to note that this server should not be federated with the Deployment Manager as a managed node. You can not install Lotus Connections onto a managed node.

Ok. So we now have WAS Network Deployment Installed, a Deployment Manager, and an Application Server Node (server1). Step 2 is almost complete!

Setting Up Security
For security we are going to use a Federated repository. The Info Centre is pretty good on this topic.

I have setup a Domino LDAP Server as a Federated Repository in our environment.

Now as server1 is not a managed node we need to repeat the security setup for both DMgr and server1. Just make them exactly the same.

Java Heap Size
Lastly we need to expand the Java Heap Side. This is done on the Deployment Manager in order to prevent an out of memory error while installing Lotus Connections. Instructions here.

So that is the WAS server prepared and ready for install of the databases which I will cover next. 

Connections 2.5 - Step 1 - What you need for install

Ok so I am installing Lotus Connections 2.5 to add to one of our Portal sites.

Here is the list of everything you need to install Lotus Connections 2.5

Required parts To install Lotus Connections 2.5 on Windows, you need to download the following parts:

Download Number	Part Number	Description
Download 1 of 12	CZ4SHML	Lotus Connections 2.5 for Windows
Download 2 of 12	CZ4SKML	Lotus Connections 2.5 wizards for Windows
Download 3 of 12	C88SPML	IBM WebSphere Application Server V6.1 for Windows 32-bit
Download 4 of 12	C88SWML	WebSphere Application Server V6.1 Supplements for Windows 32-bit
Download 5 of 12	C92MEML	WebSphere Application Server V6.1 for Windows 64-bit
Download 6 of 12	C88TPML	WebSphere Application Server V6.1 Supplements for Windows 64-bit
Download 7 of 12	C14SLML	IBM DB2 Enterprise Server Edition V9.5 for Windows
Download 8 of 12	C9666ML	IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator V6.1.1 for Windows

Optional parts You can also download the following optional parts:

Download Number	Part Number	Description
Download 9 of 12	CZ0LCML	Lotus Connections 2.5 Quick Start Guide for AIX, Linux, and Windows
Download 10 of 12	CT1HZML	Lotus Connections 2.5 License information booklet
Download 11 of 12	CZ4SGML	Lotus Connections 2.5 Pilot installation
Download 12 of 12	CZ0LGML	Lotus Connections 2.5 Pilot License information booklet

You will also need a variety of fix packs and update installers. I will list this at the appropriate steps as I progress.