IBM WebSphere Application Server v8 - Announced

This is of particular interest to one of my customers, as they're waiting for a 64-bit version of IBM HTTP Server (IHS) on the Red Hat Enterprise Linux platform.

We believe that this release will offer a 64-bit web server - currently, IHS is a 32-bit application, even though it may have been installed from a 64-bit bundle: -

Is IBM HTTP Server 32-bit or 64-bit? Will 32-bit IBM HTTP Server run on my 64-bit OS?

IBM HTTP Server is a 64-bit application on HP-UX/ia64 and Solaris/x64. IBM HTTP Server is a 32-bit* application on other platforms, regardless of which WebSphere Application Server Supplement CD it was installed from. Many platforms, including AIX, HP-UX, Solaris, and 64-bit Linux, provide support for both 32-bit and 64-bit applications, so a 32-bit IBM HTTP Server is able to function properly even though other applications on the system may be 64-bit.

WAS 8 and IHS 8 have now been announced and they are due for electronic GA on June 17.

In the meantime, we have the beta ...

Released - IBM WebSphere Portal 7.0.0.1 Combined Cumulative Fix

On Monday 4 April, IBM released a combined cumulative fix for WebSphere Portal and IBM Web Content Manager ( nee Lotus Web Content Management ).

This is known as V7.0.0.1 Combined WP & WCM CF002 and the fixlist can be viewed here. The fix is also known as PM34759.

So, off we go to Fix Central to download the fix ... this link *should* take you to the right place ........ :-)

Mac Attack - How to use Microsoft Office formats on a non-Microsoft desktop

This week, I have hit two interesting challenges: -

i) How can I create, edit and view architectural diagrams in Microsoft Visio format ?

ii) How can I view project plans in Microsoft Project format ?

Oh, did I forget to mention ? This week, I mainly be using an Apple Mac :-)

Well, one answer would be ... purchase Microsoft Office, although I'm not sure that Visio or Project come in Mac OSX flavours :-)

So, for the Visio diagram issue, we have Omnigraffle and, for the MS Project issue, today I found MOOS Project Viewer 

For the MOOS software, I can see me spending the requisite US$25 but I'm not sure (sadly) that the Hay budget will stretch to the US$199 that Omnigraffle Professional costs :-(

Still, it's great to know that there are alternatives.

PS Even more good news, MOOS runs on Linux as well, which sorts me out nicely for my Ubuntu boxen

#LotusKnows that IBM Connections 3.0.1 improves media sharing, content moderation, and idea sharing

So it's announced - IBM® Connections 3.0.1 adds new capabilities that can help you:

• Create a more compelling community experience through video and photo sharing

• Simplify sharing, commenting, and voting on ideas in community

• Foster higher quality community participation through moderation

IBM Connections 3.0.1 provides companies with the tools needed to help teams accomplish their business objectives whether they are located locally or distributed geographically.

New capabilities

Moderating community content

Community owners are provided with new capabilities for the moderation of a community's content. These capabilities help community owners realize the benefits of active and vibrant community participation, while having the confidence of being able to moderate the content that appears in a community.

Enhancing communities with video and photo sharing

The Media Gallery feature permits the sharing of videos and photos with a community. These capabilities can help attract more visitors to a community by creating a more compelling and satisfying experience for community members.

Generating ideas within a community

The Ideation Blog feature is designed to help simplify the sharing of ideas within a community, voting on the ideas and moving the best ideas forward as projects. These new capabilities can, for example, help gather ideas from customers in a structured manner, and facilitate turning the best ideas into new services and offerings.

Integration with Enterprise Content Management (ECM) repositories

The ECM integration helps users to store, access, and edit documents residing in FileNet® Content Manager and IBM Content Manager from within a Community.

IBM Lotus Connections is being renamed to IBM Connections. IBM Connections consists of social software that is enabled to take advantage of the broad capabilities in IBM's software portfolio. For example, Connections is now packaged with certain IBM Cognos Business Intelligence offerings to support integration between the two products. This naming change better aligns with that effort to create IBM solutions which involve multiple brands designed to address our customers specific business needs.

The full announcement is here, and the code will be available for download starting Thursday 7 April.

IBM Lotus Sametime Proxy Server upgrade for WebSphere Portal 7

This from CollaborationBen, aka Mr Ben Williams Esq.

An IBM'er dropped me an email this afternoon about a portlet which has been released for Portal 7 which integrates with the STProxy. This looks to replace the out dated Sametime Contact List portlet and remove STLinks from Portal.

Now, I haven't had the chance to try it out but I will soon and post more information.

If someone gets the chance to deploy it please let me know how you get on.

You can get it from the Greenhouse

More information has  become available this morning and a Wiki article has been written.

And, from the Greenhouse, we have this: -

IBM® Lotus® Sametime® Proxy Server upgrade for IBM WebSphere® Portal 7 allows you to connect to Lotus Sametime and use its features in IBM WebSphere Portal Version 7.0.0. This update replaces the Java applet-based connections to Lotus Sametime with a web service based solution. It uses a REST service on Lotus Sametime V8.5 or later proxy server. This new update works with Lotus Sametime community server V7.5.1 or later.

Lotus Sametime proxy server upgrade for WebSphere Portal V7 provides a new Contact List portlet. Its general functionality is similar to the previous support provided, but the new portlet has an updated look.

You can place the portlet on a portal page. This portlet behaves like the Lotus Sametime web client. For example, users can:

• See the list of their contacts, including their public and private groups. Expand and collapse their groups.
• Set their status.
• Find other Lotus Sametime users by using the search feature.

After you add the Person Card, users can view the business card of contacts and work with additional functions of Lotus Sametime.

Firefox 4 Beta - 'The operation can't be completed because the item "libsmime3.dylib" is in use.'

Spent a few minutes this morning saying "Argh" and "Gah!" in repeated succession whilst I struggled to install Firefox 4 Beta onto my Mac.

I kept seeing a big friendly dialogue box saying: -

'The operation can't be completed because the item "libsmime3.dylib" is in use.'

even though I'd shut down almost everything else.

I found a couple of useful posts, via Google, advising me to run this command: -

'sudo killall vpnagentd'

to kill the Cisco VPN client.

Sadly, it automatically relaunches each time you try :-(

I then found Matt Topper's blog which had the secret sauce :-)

So today I decided to switch over to the mainline Firefox 4.0 Beta from the Minefield dailies I've been using.  I started to copy the new Firefox.app directory over the existing one in my Applications folder and immediately was met with a:
'The operation can't be completed because the item "libsmime3.dylib" is in use.'
Well shit, whats holding onto that lib.  Turns out that it was my Cisco VPN Anywhere Agent, aka vpnagentd.  So I go ahead and do a:
'sudo killall vpnagentd'
Ugh and of course it restarts automatically before I can copy the files over.  So what now.  Oh yeah, it runs as a daemon so I need to use my old friend launchctl to unload it.  The command for this is:
sudo launchctl unload /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist
w00t! Now the files copy over with no problem.  Now I need to put AnyConnect back into place.  This can be done with:
sudo launchctl load /Library/LaunchDaemons/com.cisco.anyconnect.vpnagentd.plist
That should do it, Firefox 4 Beta up online and working again.

So, following Matt's suggestion, I used the sudo launchctl command to unload the VPN client, installed the FF4 beta, and then again used sudo launchctl to re-enable VPN.

I'm now up and running with the loveliness that is Firefox 4 AND have a working Cisco VPN client :-)

Life is good ....

IBM (Lotus) Connections 3.0.1 - Unleashed at the Greenhouse now....

Whilst digging around in the Greenhouse ( did you see the way I punned there ? No, well, that's OK, it wasn't that great ! ), I noticed a banner indicating that it's now been upgraded to Lotus Connections 3.0.1.

I also noted that the branding has subtly changed from Lotus Connections to IBM Connections.

As far as I'm aware, 3.0.1 has not yet been announced, but I *believe* the announcement is expected quite soon.

In the meantime, get over to Greenhouse and have a play ...