Set up the DataPower appliance manager using scripting


 

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Use the appserver and wsadmin to set DataPower appliances in the DataPower appliance manager.

DataPower appliances are purpose-built network devices that secure, and accelerate XML and Web services deployments.

Before beginning, verify that each appliance to manage has a 3.6.0.4 or higher level of firmware. Additionally, verify that the Appliance Management Protocol (AMP) endpoint is enabled for each appliance.

If the XML Management interface AMP endpoint was disabled during installation, use the DataPower WebGUI to enable the AMP endpoint.

Use this procedure to add DataPower appliances to the DataPower appliance manager, create managed sets, and assign appliances to managed sets in the environment. We can add as many or as few appliances and managed sets as we need.

The examples in this procedure set up the DataPower appliance manager to administer two managed sets of DataPower appliances, update the appliance firmware, and configure domains. The first managed set represents a production environment that uses three DataPower appliances. The second managed set represents a test environment that uses one DataPower appliance. By setting up this configuration, we can use the second managed set in the test environment to modify and test the DataPower appliance settings before importing the test appliance domain to the production environment. Modify the examples to best configure the environment.

  1. Launch the wsadmin scripting tool using the Jython scripting language.

  2. Add the DataPower appliances to the DataPower appliance manager configuration.

    Use the dpAddAppliance command to add appliances to the DataPower appliance manager. Each command invocation creates a task in the DataPower appliance manager and returns the task identifier as command output.

    The following commands add ProdAppliance1, ProdAppliance2, ProdAppliance3, and TestAppliance1 in the configuration and assign the task identifier to a specific variable:

    app1Task=AdminTask.dpAddAppliance('[ -hostname ProdAppliance1.ibm.com -hlmPort 5550 –name ProdAppliance1 -userId admin -password mypassword ]')

    app2Task=AdminTask.dpAddAppliance('[ -hostname ProdAppliance2.ibm.com -hlmPort 5550 –name

    ProdAppliance2 -userId admin -password mypassword ]')

    app3Task=AdminTask.dpAddAppliance('[ -hostname ProdAppliance3.ibm.com -hlmPort 5550 –name ProdAppliance3 -userId admin -password mypassword ]')

    testAppTask=AdminTask.dpAddAppliance('[ -hostname TestAppliance1.ibm.com -hlmPort 5550 –name

    TestAppliance1 -userId admin -password mypassword ]')

    The DataPower appliance manager submits tasks to add the appliances to the configuration. If the task uses a resource that another task is using, the system queues the new task until the other task is complete.

    Use the following example commands to monitor the status of the tasks:

    param = '-taskId '+app1Task; print AdminTask.dpGetTask(param)

    The command returns the task information and the appliance ID of the appliance as the value of the result attribute, as shown in the following sample output: 

    [ [currentStep 0] 
  [totalSteps 0] 
  [taskDescription [Add appliance ProdAppliance1 to the DataPower appliance manager]] 
  [currentStepTimestamp [Jan 18, 2008 2:32:25 PM]] 
  [creationDate [Jan 18, 2008 2:32:23 PM]] 
  [taskStatus 2] 
  [taskId 1] 
  [hasError false] 
  [createdByUser defaultWIMFileBasedRealm/admin]
  [isComplete true] 
  [result [00605  20356]] ]

    After the system adds each appliance to the configuration, the appliances are unmanaged appliances.

    To manage each appliance, assign each appliance to a managed set.

  3. Add the firmware version to the DataPower appliance manager.

    Use the dpAddFirmwareVersion command to add the firmware version that the ProdAppliance2 appliance uses to the DataPower appliance manager. ProdAppliance2 will be set as the master appliance later in this procedure. Each appliance in the same managed set as ProdAppliance2 will use the same firmware version.

    firmwareTask=AdminTask.dpAddFirmwareVersion('[ -file "/tmp/dptestFW/dev-xs-143863-3_6_0_15.scrypt2" -userComment "my new firmware" ]')

    Do not use the DataPower 3.6.0.28, 3.6.0.29, or 3.6.0.30 level of firmware for a managed set.

    Typically, when creating a managed set of DataPower appliances, the DataPower appliance manager...

    • Creates a shareable appliance settings version from the shareable appliance settings on the master appliance.

    • Synchronizes the settings across the managed set. This synchronization process is repeated whenever the shareable appliance settings change on the master appliance.

    Similarly, when a domain is added to a managed set in the DataPower appliance manager, the DataPower appliance manager typically completes the following process:

    • Creates a domain version from the domain on the master appliance.

    • Synchronizes the domain version across the managed set. This synchronization process is repeated every time that the domain changes on the master appliance.

    If we use the DataPower 3.6.0.28, 3.6.0.29, or 3.6.0.30 level of firmware for a managed set, the firmware level might cause the DataPower appliance manager to unnecessarily create new shareable appliance settings versions, or domain versions, and then synchronize these new versions across the managed set.

    The command submits a task to the system to add the firmware, and assigns the task identifier to the firmwareTask variable.

  4. Add managed sets in the DataPower appliance manager configuration.

    Use the dpAddManagedSet command to add managed sets to the DataPower appliance manager. Each command invocation creates a task in the DataPower appliance manager and returns the task identifier as command output.

    The following commands create the testSet and productionSet managed sets in the configuration:

    AdminTask.dpAddManagedSet('-name testSet')

    AdminTask.dpAddManagedSet('-name productionSet')

    The command submits the task to the DataPower appliance manager.

  5. Verify that the system added each appliance and managed set to the configuration.

    The dpAddAppliance and dpAddManagedSet commands might not complete immediately. Before adding the appliances to the managed sets, verify that the system completed the tasks from the previous commands.

    If we did not set the command output to variables in the previous steps, use the following command to display each task identifier from the DataPower appliance manager:

    AdminTask.dpGetAllTaskIds()

    Otherwise, use the dpGetTask command to determine whether the system has completed the tasks. Run the command for each task...

    AdminTask.dpGetTask('-taskId '+app1Task)
    AdminTask.dpGetTask('-taskId '+app2Task)
    AdminTask.dpGetTask('-taskId '+app3Task)
    AdminTask.dpGetTask('-taskId '+testAppTask)
    AdminTask.dpGetTask('-taskId '+prodSetTask)
    AdminTask.dpGetTask('-taskId '+firmwareTask)
    AdminTask.dpGetTask('-taskId '+prodSetTask)

    The commands return information about the asynchronous task of interest. The isComplete attribute displays a value of true if the task is complete. If it is not complete, note the value for the taskStatus attribute.

    If the returned value is 0, then the task is in a queue and the system has not started the task. If the returned value is 1, then the task is in progress. If the returned value is 2, then the task completed successfully. If the returned value is 3, then the task experienced an exception.

  6. Assign appliances to managed sets.

    To assign appliances to the managed set, know the appliance

    IDs of the appliances of interest. Use the dpGetAllApplianceIds command to display the appliance IDs of each appliance in the configuration, as the following example demonstrates:

    AdminTask.dpGetAllApplianceIds()

    Use the dpGetAppliance command to display additional information for a specific appliance ID...

    AdminTask.dpGetAppliance('[ -applianceId "00605 20356" ]')

    Use the dpManageAppliance command to add each appliance to the managed set, specifying the appliance ID of each appliance to add to the managed set.

    To assign multiple appliances to a managed set, each appliance must be the same appliance type, such as XI50 or XS40, and model type. Additionally, the appliances must have the same required features installed. By verifying that each appliance is exactly the same, you verify the DataPower appliance manager can synchronize the same firmware, domains, and settings for each appliance in the managed set.

    The following command examples add ProdAppliance1, ProdAppliance2, and ProdAppliance3 to the WAS managed set, and specifies ProdAppliance2 as the master appliance. If we do not specify an appliance as the master appliance, the system automatically assigns the first appliance in the managed set as the master appliance.

    manageTask1=AdminTask.dpManageAppliance('[ -managedSetId productionSet -applianceId "00605 20351" ]')

    manageTask2=AdminTask.dpManageAppliance('[ -managedSetId productionSet -applianceId "00605 20352" -asMaster ]')

    manageTask3=AdminTask.dpManageAppliance('[ -managedSetId productionSet -applianceId "00605 20353" ]')

    The command submits a task to the system and sets the corresponding task identifiers to the manageTask1, manageTask2, and manageTask3 variables.

  7. Assign the test appliance to the test managed set.

    The following command uses the dpManageAppliance command to add the TestAppliance1 appliance to the testSet managed set, specifying the appliance ID of the TestAppliance1 appliance:

    manageTask4=AdminTask.dpManageAppliance('[ -managedSetId testSet -applianceId "00605 20354" ]')

    The command submits a task to the system and sets the corresponding task identifier to the manageTask4 variable.

  8. Verify that the system added the appliances to the managed sets.

    Use the dpGetTask command to determine the status of the manageTask1, manageTask2, manageTask3, and manageTask4 tasks before continuing to configure the DataPower appliance manager.

 

Results

A test environment managed set and a production environment managed set exist in the DataPower appliance manager configuration in this example. The test environment managed set manages the TestAppliance1 appliance.

The production environment managed set manages ProdAppliance1, ProdAppliance2, and ProdAppliance3. Each appliance in both managed sets uses the default domain.

 

What to do next

Use the DataPower WebGUI to set up domains for the testAppliance1 appliance in the test environment if the domains do not already exist. After configuring and testing the domains, we can use wsadmin to copy the test environment appliance configuration to environment managed set.

You can also use wsadmin to manage appliances, firmware, domains, managed sets, and appliance-specific settings. Additionally, the system creates versions of domains, firmware, and appliance-specific settings. Use the wsadmin tool to modify the current version, or to revert to previous versions of domains, firmware, and appliance-specific settings.


WebSphere DataPower appliance manager overview
Secure Socket Layer communication with DataPower

 

Related tasks


Copy DataPower appliance domains between managed sets using scripting
Updating firmware versions for DataPower appliances using scripting
Administer managed domains, firmware, and settings versions using scripting
Use the DataPower appliance manager
Add DataPower appliances to the DataPower appliance manager
Administer DataPower appliance domains

 

Related


dpManagerCommands