IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator
Server, server API, and server components enhancements
Review changes to the IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator server, server API, and server components for version 7.1.
IBM TDI server, server API, and server components
The IBM TDI server is an application that performs services for connected
clients as part of a client-server architecture. Server applications
are programs that accept connections so that they can answer service
requests by sending back responses. The server application programming
interface (API) is a way for clients to access server functionality
programmatically. Through the server API, a client can instruct the
Directory Integrator server to perform tasks such as run an Assembly
Line or shut down the server. The clients of the server API can be
internal or external. Processes of the internal server run in the
process of the IBM TDI server. Processes
of the external server are separate programs running on a remote server.
The
following enhancements accompany IBM TDI version
7.1 servers:
- Prior versions of Tivoli Directory Integrator can
encrypt properties using the Server's key. This means that all properties
in all property files are subject to the same encryption key/method.
Some customers require property encryption with a higher degree of
granularity. The ideal solution is that every single property can
be encrypted with its own key from the keystore.
For most customers
however, it is sufficient to use different keys for each property
file. Tivoli Directory Integrator V7.1 implements different keys for different
property files, which enables customers to maintain a master property
file where the encrypted property values are readable only by those
developers who have the key in their keystore. The property files
can then freely be distributed to multiple developers for use in their
projects without revealing sensitive information to those who are
not qualified for that information.
- The Delta functionality in Tivoli Directory Integrator has
been enhanced for increased performance, allowing multiple AssemblyLine access
to the Delta store. In order to facilitate orderly deployment, row-level
locking has been implemented for the Delta store; and the Delta engine
itself has been externalized in the form of a Delta Function Component
(DeltaFC). This Function Component provides lookup, add and delete
access to the Delta services outside of the normal Connector modes.
- Previously, when the server shut down, it was a hard
shutdown and did not attempt to cleanup any resources/connections
before exiting. In Tivoli Directory Integrator V7.1 a number of enhancements to the
shutdown capabilities have been included:
- Enhanced the windows service wrapper for the TDI server to provide
a controlled shutdown of the Tivoli Directory Integrator Server.
The service registration includes options for a controlled or immediate
shutdown and a time-out value that will automatically perform an immediate
shutdown after a specific period of time.
- Allow graceful shutdown of the UNIX service. When the server is
stopped with either SIGINT (2), SIGTERM (15) signal or Ctrl+C on the
console a controlled termination is performed.
- Added a script that will start/stop the service of the Tivoli Directory Integrator server.
- The Server API has been enhanced so that the Network
interface (hostname/IP Address) it listens on is configurable): The
properties com.ibm.di.default.bind.address and api.remote.bind.address were
added in order to allow the interfaces on which IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator listens on to be configurable. This
can be useful when setting up IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator servers
in conjunction with firewalls.
- TDI provides an RMI based Server API interface. This
means that by default after initial communication is established, another random port is assigned to handle the communication session
with the client. This can cause serious problems and security violations
for customers that have strict firewall guidelines. A new configuration
option has been introduced in TDI that limits the number of ports
that will be used by the TDI server after initial communication establishment
and will let the customer select the port range to use. This will
ensure that firewalls can be configured with a predetermined set of
ports when using the TDI RMI APIs.
Using this feature will limit
the number of connections that can be established against the TDI
Server at a given time and it will be proportional to the number of
ports that are made available to use.
- The Server has been enhanced with an implementation
of a Service Control Management Protocol (SCMP) based service in order
to provide a REST interface to IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator connectors.
SCMP
is a framework to query and provision connection end points via Atom
based messages sent via HTTP. To provision IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator connectors in this framework the
SCMP protocol was implemented, and configuration files are generated
that are deployed on a IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator server.
This provides a new way to configure and launch AssemblyLines on a IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator server using template AssemblyLines
with custom connector parameters provided via the FCM protocol. The
generated AssemblyLine that provides CRUD operations on a connector
is given a unique URL, which in IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator terms
translates to a HTTP Server mode connector with a unique port number.
This new service is termed a Touchpoint in the SCMP framework
- IBM solidDB is provided as a soft
bundle with the TDI product. IBM solidDB is
an in-memory database base and is perfect for both the Changelog connectors
and the general usage of the delta engine when processing large data
sets. The JDBC Connector and System Store components and the associated
documentation have been enhanced to support IBM solidDB.
Parent topic: Overview of IBM TDI version 7.1