Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
04
January 2011
www.bmc.com
Telephone
Fax
Fax
If you have comments or suggestions about this documentation, contact Information Design and Development by email at
doc_feedback@bmc.com.
Customer Support
You can obtain technical support by using the Support page on the BMC Software website or by contacting Customer
Support by telephone or email. To expedite your inquiry, please see Before Contacting BMC Software.
Support website
You can obtain technical support from BMC Software 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at
http://www.bmc.com/support. From this website, you can:
s
s
s
s
s
s
s
Read overviews about support services and programs that BMC Software offers.
Find the most current information about BMC Software products.
Search a database for problems similar to yours and possible solutions.
Order or download product documentation.
Report a problem or ask a question.
Subscribe to receive email notices when new product versions are released.
Find worldwide BMC Software support center locations and contact information, including email addresses, fax
numbers, and telephone numbers.
Product information
Product name
Product version (release number)
License number and password (trial or permanent)
Machine type
Operating system type, version, and service pack
System hardware configuration
Serial numbers
Related software (database, application, and communication) including type, version, and service pack or
maintenance level
Messages received (and the time and date that you received them)
Product error messages
Messages from the operating system, such as file system full
Messages from related software
Chapter 1
In the United States and Canada, call 800 537 1813. Outside the United States and Canada, contact your local support
center for assistance.
Contents
Chapter 1
Installing and configuring server groups
7
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Audience . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
How this document relates to the installation documentation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Server Groups Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Implementing a server group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Server group planning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Example configurations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
BMC Software Installation Planning - Products and Components . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Installing a server group (new installation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Before starting the installation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
Server group installation overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Installing the first server and the database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Configure the first server to be a server group member . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Test and confirm that the first server is working properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Installing the next server in the server group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
Configuring the next server for the server group. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Test and confirm that the current server is working properly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Configure the server group check interval . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Configure the server group signaling option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Set failover rankings for servers and operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Configure BMC Remedy Alert for the server group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Configure full text search (FTS) for a server group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Configure DSO for the server group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Configure Email Engine for the server group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Configure Flashboards for server groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
Working with server groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Bypass the load balancer to work on a specific server. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Configure logging for server groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
Remove a server from a server group or remove an unused server name. . . . . . 41
Chapter 1
Contents
Overview
Overview
This white paper provides detailed setup and configuration information on how
to plan for, install and configure the components for a BMC Remedy Action
Request System (AR System) server group. It supports any or all of the following
BMC software components:
BMC Remedy AR System 7.6.04 or higher server
Server tier components including the mid tier, the Approval Server, the
Assignment Engine, the Flashboards server, the Email Engine, DSO, and FTS
BMC Atrium Core 7.6.04 or higher
BMC Remedy ITSM Suite 7.6.04 or higher, including BMC Remedy Asset
Management, BMC Remedy Change Management, and BMC Remedy Incident
and Problem Management
BMC Remedy Service Request Management 7.6.04 or higher
BMC Remedy Service Level Management 7.6.04 or higher
Audience
This white paper is written for administrators who are responsible for setting up
and maintaining the AR System in a multiple server environment. It is required
that you are familiar with the AR System environment, components and
installation process. For more information, see the Installation Guide.
Overview
NOTE
It is required to always use the exact same version and patch level for all BMC
software applications on each server included within a server group. And, to
always upgrade each application on each server within the server group at the
same time.
Server Roles
In a server group, each server is typically the primary owner of one or more
specific roles. Each role represents a specific AR System application or component.
In any server group implementation, no matter how simple, there is one server that
is configured the administration role. This is typically the first server installed and
is used to perform all administration operations for the server group. Because all
of the servers share the same database, this allows the group to be managed as if it
were a single server.
Other servers can be assigned specific primary roles. For example a server might
be dedicated to just one specific primary task, such as Approval Server, while
another server might be setup as a primary server to host a group of roles that
might be closely related such Atrium CMDB and Atrium Integration Engine. The
primary roles are configured on the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking
form, and each server should have at least one other server configured for failover.
The following is the complete list of server group roles for BMC software, as
supported by the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form.
Administration: Performs all Administration tasks for the entire server group.
Approval Server: The approval server provides the approval functionality
within BMC Remedy applications. An approval represents the signature or
acknowledgment of an individual where required in a process. The approval
server records all necessary information to provide an audit trail and proof of
authenticity of all approvals.
Archive: The archive feature of AR System provides a convenient way to
periodically store data (not definitions) from a form to an archive form; this
reduces the amount of data accessed during searches on the main form thus
improving system performance. Archiving applies to all types of forms, except
display-only forms.
Assignment Engine: Using processes instead of workflow, the Assignment
Engine enables you to automatically assign requests to individuals. The
assignment method determines who is assigned to an issue when more than one
person matches the qualification.
Atrium Integration Engine: The BMC Atrium Integration Engine (AIE)
provides the hooks to enable data to pass between AR System and other
systems, such as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. AIE consists of
the Data Exchange application and the AIE service as well as a configuration
tool and an event request interface.
10
Overview
11
Licensing structure
Because servers in a server group use the same database, they share licenses. Each
AR System server must have its own AR Server license key, but the server group
feature shares all other BMC product licenses with all of the servers in the group.
So for any product in a server group, when you install the license, since it gets
stored in the database shared by all the servers, it only has to be installed one time.
This registers it for all servers in the group.
To add a server license, follow the procedure in the Adding Licenses section of the
BMC Remedy Configuration Guide.
All other license types, such as all types of Fixed and Floating user licenses and
application licenses, are stored in the database and are therefore shared by all
servers in the server group. You can add these other product licenses at any time.
However, for all AR System servers, except the first server, the license must be
added prior to installing the server.
12
Overview
NOTE
If the server name alias setting is not the same as the load balancer short DNS
name, ARTask email attachments generated by the server might not work. When
generating an ARTask attachment, the server generates a reference to itself using
the server name parameter with the domain name appended. Clients opening the
ARTask will then use the fully qualified domain name to be routed to the server
group through the load balancer.
DNS must be able to resolve this name, and it is used exactly as specified (that is,
no domain name is appended). Each server uses this name to register as a server
group member. Other servers in the group use the name when communication
between servers is required. In addition, various external server components use
the name when connecting to the local server. This name can be specified as either
the short name or the fully qualified name.
Chapter 1
13
For more information, see the BMC Remedy white paper, Using a Hardware Load
Balancer with AR System 7.6.04. This white paper is posted on the Customer
Support website (http://www.bmc.com/support).
NOTE
If the load balancer belongs to a different domain than the AR System Servers, then
the fully qualified domain name of the Server-Name alias will be wrong. In this
case, the domain name parameter should be specified in the ar.cfg file for each AR
System server using the domain of the load balancer
14
Overview
Chapter 1
15
16
Example configurations
This section contains examples of a simple configuration and a complex
configuration.
Simple example
In the simplest form, a server group can be setup with two AR System servers and
a database server. Each of the AR System servers have all Remedy products
installed.
In this example, the first server installed should be configured to be the primary
administration server. That server will handle all of the server configuration tasks.
Then, using the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form, the
applications should be distributed evenly across both servers, so that each server
handles about half of the load, and each server has the other server configured for
failover on each of its applications.
The exception to this is the email engine and the flashboards server. In a simple
configuration, those two items are only installed and configured on one server.
Configuring failover for those operations can be complex and may not be
necessary in a simple configuration.
Chapter 1
17
The full text search feature should be installed on each server. Each server has the
ability to read from FTS, but only one server can be set to write, which is the server
that is set with a higher priority on the AR System Server Group Operation
Ranking form. It is also recommended that the FTS collection directory (location
where the search index files are stored) and FTS configuration directory (location
where the search configuration files are stored) be located on a separate computer
in a location where both AR servers have network access.
Figure 1-4: Simple server group example
Complex Example
A more complex server group implementation contains three or more AR System
servers. In this example we are using four AR System servers. It is still
recommended to install all Remedy products on each server, but it is not required.
However, each application or component should be installed on at least two
servers so that failover can be provided.
Again, the first server installed should be configured to be the primary
administration server. The administration server handles all of the server
configuration tasks. Then, using the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking
form, the applications are distributed evenly across all four servers, so that each
server handles about one quarter of the load, and each server has at least one other
server configured for failover on each of its applications and components.
18
In this case, even the email server and the flashboards have a failover server
assigned. Configuring failover for those operations is somewhat complex because
it means that each server has to be specifically configured to handle those items,
but the secondary server for each needs to be disabled until the failover is
activated.
Figure 1-5: Complex server group example
NOTE
The applications and components listed for the servers above are just the primary
roles for each server. It is recommended that all applications and components be
installed on each server. This is important because users could be accessing any
components from any server in the group, and there are dependencies such as
plug-ins and other binary files that could be called when a user opens certain
forms, creates a new record, or modifies a record.
In this example, FTS is setup on AR Server 2, so that is the only server with readwrite access to the FTS collection directory. The FTS feature should be installed on
each server. It is also recommended that the FTS collection directory (location
where the search index files are stored) and FTS configuration directory (location
where the search configuration files are stored) be located on a separate computer
in a location where all AR servers have network access.
Chapter 1
19
20
21
products. This includes the database installation. See the Installation Guide for
details.
NOTE
BMC recommends that you install the mid tier on the first server so that you can
use it to confirm that the product installations are working correctly, and to access
the server administration console to perform configuration options.
Step 2 Test the first server and verify that all installed products and components are
working properly.
Step 3 Configure the first server for server groups.
Step 4 On the next AR System server in the server group, run the AR System installation,
22
Step 5 Perform the final manual configuration for server groups, including updating the
IMPORTANT
On Windows, you must be logged in as a domain user on the server rather than a
local user when performing installations. The installer needs to copy files to the
database server. On Unix, you must also be logged in with a user the has
permissions to copy files to the database server.
Chapter 1
23
Note that you will be installing the database during the installation of the first
server, so make sure to have the database server name and IP Address available.
Make sure to read through the instructions for each step before attempting to
perform the procedures.
1 Install the Remedy AR Server v7.6.04 or the BMC Remedy ITSM Suite
confirming that the forms render in the mid tier interface. For details on accessing
and using the mid tier, see the BMC Remedy mid tier Guide.
3 Install the Remedy AR Server License on the first server. See the Configuration
NOTE
If you used the BMC Remedy ITSM Suite Preconfigured Stack 7.6.04 installer, skip
the next step.
4 Follow the same procedures as in steps 1 - 3 to install each of the rest of the BMC
Remedy products on the first server (when repeating step 3, make sure to install
the correct product license for the specific product being installed). See the
Installation Guide for each individual product for details in individual product and
component installation details.
After the Remedy AR Server is installed, it is recommended to install the products
in the following order:
BMC Atrium Core
BMC Remedy ITSM Suite
BMC Service Request Management
BMC Service Level Management
BMC Remedy Knowledge Management
24
1 Using a Web browser, access the mid tier on first server. For details on accessing
and using the mid tier, see the BMC Remedy mid tier Guide.
2 From the mid tier, choose Administration Console > General > System
Information, then select the Configuration tab. Then, select the Server Group
Member check box and click Apply.
3 Locate the ar.cfg file. On a Windows server, it is located in the \[Remedy Install
change it to T.
b Also confirm that the Multiple-ARSystem-Servers: setting is set to T
(Multiple-ARSystem-Servers: T). If you dont see this setting, create it and
name that resolves to your load balancer, or if not modify the settings value so
it does. If the entry does not exist, create it and set accordingly. For our
installation test example the name is RemedyServerGroup.
d Check for an entry called Server-Connect-Name. If it exists, then verify that is
set to the name if the first server, or if not modify the settings value so it does.
If the entry does not exist, create it and set accordingly. For our installation test
example the name of the first Remedy AR Server is svr_grp_tst0.
e Check for an entry called Domain-Name. If it exists, then verify that is set to the
current server. For example, in our test scenario we added the following four
entries for the first server:
Chapter 1
25
IP-Name:
IP-Name:
IP-Name:
IP-Name:
svr_grp_tst0
svr_grp_tst0.svgroup.com
svr_grp_tst0.test.svgroup.com
192.161.135.31
g Now, looking ahead to the installation of the rest of the servers, create the same
number of entries for each of your AR Servers. Since our test scenario only uses
two servers, we added:
IP-Name:
IP-Name:
IP-Name:
IP-Name:
svr_grp_tst3
svr_grp_tst3.svgroup.com
svr_grp_tst3.test.svgroup.com
192.163.122.40
NOTE
Once you create this for all of your servers, copy the entire set of IP-Name entries
and save it into a separate text file. This will used later on to save you time when
configuring the other servers. Each server must have the exact same set of entries
containing all resolvable names for each server.
4 Save the ar.cfg file and restart the server.
1 Using a Web browser, access the mid tier for Server 1, and log in.
2 Type the following into the URL to get to the AR System Server Group Operation
Ranking form:
http://[midTierServer:portNumber]/arsys/forms/[arSystemServer]/
GroupAR+System+Server+Group+Operation+Ranking/
3 From that page, click Search, in the top left corner of the screen to get the display
of all current rankings. Verify that all of the Remedy applications and components
are listed in the form, and that they are all set to Rank 1.
26
NOTE
This set of procedures is repeated for each additional server, following the initial
server installation.
1 Open the mid tier on the first server and configure the Remedy AR Server License
for the next server. See the Configuration Guide for details on installing the license.
2 Install the Remedy AR Server v7.6.04 or the BMC Remedy ITSM Suite
Preconfigured Stack 7.6.04 installer on the next server. See the Installation Guide for
installation procedures and details.
For all the second server and all servers afterward, be sure to select the Server
Group option. For many of the product installs, when you enter the database
name, it will automatically go into server group installation mode because it
recognizes that the database is already populated by an AR Server which is
configured for server groups.
Chapter 1
27
1 Now, locate the ar.cfg file. On a Windows server, it is located in the \[Remedy
change it to T.
3 Also confirm that the Multiple-ARSystem-Servers: setting is set to T
(Multiple-ARSystem-Servers: T). If you dont see this setting, create it and set
that resolves to your load balancer, or if not modify the settings value so it does.
If the entry does not exist, create it and set accordingly. For our installation test
example the name is RemedyServerGroup.
5 Check for an entry called Server-Connect-Name. If it exists, then verify that is set
to the name if the current server, or if not modify the settings value so it does. If
the entry does not exist, create it and set accordingly. For our installation test
example the name of the first Remedy AR Server is svr_grp_tst3.
6 Check for an entry called Domain-Name. If it exists, then verify that is set to the
28
1 Type the following into the URL to get to the AR System Server Group Operation
Ranking form:
http://[midTierServer:portNumber]/arsys/forms/[arSystemServer]/
GroupAR+System+Server+Group+Operation+Ranking/
2 From that page, click Search, in the top left corner of the screen to get the display
System Server Group Operation Ranking form for all installed servers are there.
Also verify that the rankings for the current server are all set to the rank number
of the current server (i.e. 2 for the second server, 3 for the third, etc.?
NOTE
If you used the BMC Remedy ITSM Suite Preconfigured Stack 7.6.04 installer, you
can skip the next step in this section because all of the applications have already
been installed on the current server
4 Install each of the rest of the BMC Remedy products on the current server.
5 If this is the last server you are installing, you are now finished. If it is not the last
server, go back to the Installing the next server in the server group section, and
go through the same process for the next server. Repeat this until all servers are
installed and configured.
NOTE
If the product you are installing was already installed and licensed on the first
server, then you dont need to install a license for it. With server groups each
license, other than the Remedy AR System server license, only needs to be installed
once.
Chapter 1
29
3 In the Check Interval field, enter how often you want the server to identify itself
30
The information shared between servers in the group includes the following:
The current servers own status
Whether any server is delinquent
The parameters needed for sending signals
Information about operational responsibilities
For an explanation of delinquency and rankings, see the Configuration Guide.
4 Click OK and then restart each server in the server group.
Description
Database posting
Signaling
Chapter 1
31
NOTE
In previous releases, server group signaling was performed by the arsignal
program, which caused a separate process to be spawned and then closed down
for every change. This could significantly impact resources on the host computer.
The arsignal program is still available for use by AR System workflow, but is no
longer used for server group signaling.
If this option is set to false (F) or is not included, server group signals are
accomplished by the default method described in this section.
NOTE
Form, workflow, and escalation time changes can significantly increase the
workload on a production server. In a server group environment, that effect is
magnified when other servers are notified of the changes and they recache
definitions from the database. Consider this when planning changes of this type.
32
Form definitions
Group information from the database
Workflow definitions
Signals triggered by changes to user, licensing, and computed group information
are not disabled.
Later, when memory use is low, you can manually send the signals to the target
servers by using the arsignal program.
To disable automatic signaling for the specified changes, add the following line to
the configuration file (ar.conf or ar.cfg) of each server in the server group:
Disable-ARSignals: T
If this option is set to false (F) or is not included (the default), automatic signaling
remains in effect for all object definition changes.
NOTE
Remove the default entries for operations that do not run in your environment.
Figure 1-8: AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form
Chapter 1
33
Operation rankings
The fields named Operation, Server, and Rank work together to define which
server is the primary server for the operation, which server takes over if the
primary server fails, and so on.
operations.
Use the following guidelines to determine how to set operation rankings for the
server group:
The servers for any one operation are ranked lowest to highest. A value of 1
indicates the server chosen first to perform the operation. The next highest value
indicates the server that takes over the operation if the first server fails, and so
on.
Ranking numbers do not need to be consecutive.
If a value is null, the server ignores the entry.
If an operation has no server designated with a valid rank, it is not run on any
of the servers in the group.
Avoid assigning two servers the same ranking for the same operation. (For ease of
configuration, the form enables you to do this temporarily.)
Operations can be spread freely across different servers, with the exception of
operations involving BMC Remedy Approval Server, BMC Atrium CMDB, and
the BMC Service Level Management engine (labeled Business Rules Engine in the
form). These operations must reside on the same server as the administration
operation; therefore, the operations must have the same ranking as the
administration operation so that they move as a unit.
If you are implementing full text search (FTS), an additional restriction for multiplatform server groups exists. The Administration and Full Text Indexing
operations must be restricted to server group nodes that can have a compatible
directory structure for the Search Server configuration files. For more information,
see the Installation Guide.
5 Save the AR System Server Group Operation Ranking form.
6 Restart all the AR System servers in the group.
34
Delinquent threshold
The Delinquent Threshold field determines the number of times the specified
server can miss reporting its status before the next server in the ranking takes
responsibility for the operation. This setting works together with the Check
Interval to determine the total time to failover for any operation.
Mapping IP addresses
Mapping loadbalancer IP
addresses to
AR System
server IP
addresses
NOTE
Because each AR System server is configured individually, you must repeat this
procedure for all AR System servers in the group.
Mapping
remote server
IP addresses to
local server IP
addresses
Chapter 1
35
could connect.
localServerIPThe IP address of the local AR System Server.
For example, if you have three AR System servers (A, B, and C) in the group, add
the following lines to the ar.conf (ar.cfg) file for server A:
Map-IP-Address: serverB_IPAddress serverA_IPAddress
Map-IP-Address: serverC_IPAddress serverA_IPAddress
NOTE
Version 5.1 or higher of the BMC Remedy Alert client is required in a server group
environment.
For more information about BMC Remedy Alert, see the Configuration Guide.
Configuring
the server to
ignore client IP
addresses
When an alert client registers with the AR System server, it provides its own IP
address as part of the registration information. If the server detects a difference
between the registered IP address and the actual IP address from which the client
call originates, the server tries to send alerts to the actual address by default. In a
load-balanced environment, the actual IP address is the address of the load
balancer, and alerts sent to that address fail.
collection directory. You can specify the location of this directory in the following
ways:
36
Provide the directory name during installation when you are prompted.
Specify the directory name in the Full Text Search tab on the AR System
Administration: Server Information form.
Add the following server options to the ar.cfg or ar.conf file:
Full-Text-Collection-Directory: <directory_name>
Full-Text-Configuration-Directory: <directory_name>
Make sure that all AR System servers in the group can access the collection and
configuration directories.
2 If you change the collection or configuration directory, restart the AR System
server.
Windows configuration example:
If the shared full-text collection directory resided in a shared directory called
Collection on serverX, the following server option would be added to the
ar.cfg file:
Full-Text-Collection-Directory: \\serverX\Collection
Be sure that the login account for the AR System server service has access to the
shared location. The default System Account does not have access, and therefore
you cannot use it with this configuration.
UNIX configuration example:
If the shared full-text collection directory were named /home/root/collection,
the following server option would be added to the ar.conf file:
Full-Text-Collection-Directory: /home/root/collection
NOTE
To configure DSO in a server group environment, you must specify a server group
name.
Chapter 1
37
If multiple email engines are configured for the server, each engine must have a
unique RMIPort. For a multiple email engine configuration, use semicolons to
separate the RMIPort numbers as follows:
Server-Group-Email-Admin-Port: 2020;2030;2040
38
Chapter 1
39
If BMC Remedy Developer Studio used either of these server names to log in, that
server is recognized as the current server in workflow.
For server group logging, select the Server Group Log check box.
For arsignald logging, select the ARSIGNALD Log check box.
Figure 1-9: Server Group entry on the Logging tab
3 Enter a path for each log file if you do not want to use the default paths.
4 Click OK.
40
NOTE
You cannot log arsignald activity in the Server Events form.
Configuration tab.
2 Clear the Server Group Member check box.
3 Restart the server.
The server that you restarted removes all the server group references for a server
that does not have any ranking entries.
Chapter 1
41
42
Chapter 2
43
*207681*
*207681*
*207681*
*207681*
*186702*
44