And more on passwords in IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator

Want to know how to stop passwords being held in clear text in your TDI Assembly Line property files ?

Simple - add the string {protect}= to the beginning of any line that you wish to encrypt in the property file - I'm using profiles_tdi.properties in the following example.

As an example, we change: -

...

source_ldap_user_password=Passw0rd123

...

to: -

...

{protect}-source_ldap_user_password=Passw0rd123

...

and then run an Assembly Line such as populate_from_dn_file.sh ( I'm using IBM Connections as an example ), and you'll then get this: -

...

{protect}-source_ldap_user_password={encr}89ae788e9f88bbc8877a7729e99ac9d990ea

...

Now I'm not sure how strong the encryption is, so you should, as always, protect your property files via other means i.e. physical access control, Unix permissions etc.

Nice :-)

Potty Password Problems with IBM Tivoli Directory Integrator and IBM Connections

This seen last week whilst trying to add new users into my IBM Connections 3.0.1 environment using IBM Tivoli Directory Integration 7.0.05

javax.naming.NamingException: [LDAP: error code 1 - 000004DC: LdapErr: DSID-0C0906DC, comment: In order to perform this operation a successful bind must be completed on the connection., data 0, v1db0 ]; remaining name ''

When I checked profiles_tdi.properties I found that the LDAP password wasn't properly set, with: -

{protect}-source_ldap_user_password={encr}

rather than: -

{protect}-source_ldap_user_password={encr}89ae788e9f88bbc8877a7729e99ac9d990ea

Simple when you know ...

IBM WebSphere Portal Unified Task List Portlet

I'm looking at a new project to deliver a process portal using WebSphere Portal 8 and IBM Business Process Manager (BPM), and was checking on the status of the Unified Task List (UTL) Portlet.

This is a portlet that I've had cause to use in the past, so I went straight to the Catalog to download it: -

Description: The IBM WebSphere Portal Unified Task List Portlet version 5.0 for WebSphere Portal 7.0 aggregates tasks and activities from multiple systems into a single user interface. WebSphere Portal 7.0 users access the Unified Task List portlet to view all tasks relevant to them. They can then complete these tasks using task processing portlets created with the included Unified Task List Business Process Support package for Web Experience Factory. The Unified Task List portlet in this release contains a task provider for WebSphere Process Server 6, WebSphere Process Server 7.0.0.4, IBM WebSphere Lombardi Edition 7.2, IBM Business Process Manager 7.5 and 7.5.1. Also Included are two Coach portlets for Lombardi and Business Process Manager Coach processing in Portal Server.

IBM WebSphere Portal Unified Task List Portlet version 5.0 

However, having noticed that it only listed WebSphere Portal 7, I asked a colleague when the version for WebSphere Portal 8 would be released.

Imagine my surprise when she told me that it's shipped as a component with WP8, so it's already there in the box :-)

She also kindly drew my attention to the WP8 documentation that covers UTL: -

Overview of the Unified Task List portlet

Review concepts about the Unified Task List portlet to understand the different elements.

Task providers

Task providers are services that access back-end systems to retrieve tasks. The task providers also use a Web Experience Factory Transform builder to provide a uniform data set that display in the Unified Task List user interface.

Task provider instance

Task provider instances are services that access back-end systems to retrieve tasks. Task provider instances reside in the Task Provider Instance Registry (TPIR) and contain the parameters that you specify in task providers.

Task Provider Instance Registry

The Task Provider Instance Registry (TPIR) contains task provider instance configurations. A task provider instance configuration contains a set of parameters required to connect to a back-end system and a unique ID to map the parameters to the appropriate task provider. The Task Provider Instance Registry service resides in WebSphere Application Server and stores the task provider configurations in an XML variable. The Task Provider Instance Registry service also provides a service to get and modify task provider instances.

Task dispatcher

The task dispatcher acts as a link between the Unified Task List portlet and the task providers. When an action occurs in the portlet, the task dispatcher retrieves task provider instance configurations from the task provider instance registry service and calls a getTaskList service operation on each task provider instance configuration.

Task handler

Task handlers define what the Unified Task List portlet does when users select a task to advance a workflow. The task handlers determine how the Unified Task List portlet connects to the tasks that the users must complete.

So, there you have it, UTL is now an integral part of WP8, which is nice :-)

Case Study - IBM helps Birmingham Metropolitan College to create a “Classroom in the Cloud”

Utilising social learning to boost student engagement and transform college operability

The need

Birmingham Metropolitan College (BMet) is constantly seeking new ways to engage students and make education accessible to a more diverse user base. In order to synergise with the digital lifestyle of learners and compete in different markets, the college recognised that it needed to transform how it delivered learning.

The solution

Embarking on a strategic relationship with IBM, BMet began building "Classroom in the Cloud", based on IBM SmartCloud® for Social Business. When the project is complete, up to 25,000 students and 1,350 staff will be able to use the solution to access learning through a variety of mediums including the web and smart phones.

The benefit

Enables staff and students to collaborate across departments, providing access to a wealth of resources not easily available before. Potential to increase student engagement, retention and make education available to a wider population. Expected to cut down on travel costs and carbon footprint and increase productivity with staff and students.

Want to know more ? The case study is available as a PDF here.

Flushing DNS on Mac OS X Lion

Found this linked from an internal forum post, and thought it worth sharing - mainly so I can find it again :-)

Flushing the DNS on Mac OS X Lion is quite simple. Just follow the below steps:

1) Change to "root" by using the following command:
su -
Enter the root password when prompted. If you don't know the "root" password for your system, you can set it by following this Apple KB article: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1528

2) Type in the following command to flush the DNS:
dscacheutil -flushcache

The DNS has now been flushed.

Thanks to djlaube at Lewan & Associates for sharing

WebSphere Portal version 8 Installation Social Workshop

IBM WebSphere Portal Support team ("Portal support" henceforth) is pleased to announce that WebSphere Portal version 8 Installation Social Workshop will be held from 7/9 to 7/26. This is a great opportunity for IBM support to engage customers, business partners, and IBM service and technical sales personnels ("customers" henceforth) on our current social media presence, i.e. Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/WebSpherePortalSupport) and Twitter (@PortalSupport, or http://twitter.com/PortalSupport). 

Want to join in ? Then click here for more details ….

WebSphere Portal - Performance - How to trigger the reload of public pages

I saw this in an email earlier today, and thought it worth sharing more widely.

Thomas Hurek has written here about portal performance, and the reload of public pages: -

Public pages are pages that are visible to anonymous users. Once the user authenticates the protected area of Portal is rendered. The protected and public area of Portal have different URLs - e.g. in the default configuration it is /wps/portal for public pages and /wps/myportal for the protected area of Portal.

It's definitely worth a read, as are the other articles in the series on WebSphere Portal Performance.