IBM Connections Docs CR1 installation may fail with an error on Conversion server

It has happened to me in at least 3 different systems that the installation on Docs CR1 fails throwing an error about DocsConversion failed. Looking into the iFixInstall.log file you will see

…………………
2016-07-22 12:13:28,415 DEBUG WASX7209I: Connected to process “dmgr” on node connectionsCellManager using SOAP connector; The type of process is: DeploymentManager

WASX7303I: The following options are passed to the scripting environment and are available as arguments that are stored in the argv variable: “[checkin_json, conversion-config.json]”2016-07-22 12:13:28,415 INFO DocsConversion update failed!
2016-07-22 12:13:28,415 DEBUG Traceback (most recent call last):
File “applypatch.py”, line 31, in update_product
update_apps()
File “applypatch.py”, line 67, in update_apps
update_conversion_binary()
File “applypatch.py”, line 168, in update_conversion_binary
result = CONFIG.call_was_task(‘remote_install_a_version’,[me_hostname, escapes_for_was(str(target_list)), str(sym_count)],True)
File “c:\IBMConnectionsDocs_2.0_CR1\config.py”, line 60, in call_was_task
was_out = self.call_wsadmin(args)
File “c:\IBMConnectionsDocs_2.0_CR1\config.py”, line 43, in call_wsadmin
raise Exception(“Exception thrown while executing WebSphere command:” + ws_out)
Exception: Exception thrown while executing WebSphere command:WASX7209I: Connected to process “dmgr” on node connectionsCellManager using SOAP connector; The type of process is: DeploymentManager

WASX7303I: The following options are passed to the scripting environment and are available as arguments that are stored in the argv variable: “[remote_install_a_version, DOCS.yourdomain.com, [u\’DOCS.yourdomain.com\’], 8]”

WASX7017E: Exception received while running file “../execwas.py”; exception information: com.ibm.websphere.management.exception.AdminException: CWWSY0102E: Target with name DOCS.yourdomain.com was not found.

The error is somewhat misleading because upon reading it I immediately went on my system and verified that a target in the job manager with the correct name existed. So this is not the real cause.

I opened a PMR and today had a remote session with David McCarthy from IBM Support in Dublin and Jie Peng  from the Docs Dev labs in China, and they solved the issue.

  1. Go in the directory where you have the CR1 installation software
    – Edit the file applypatch.py
    – comment those 2 lines in red
    def update_apps():
    “””update apps in present work directory”””
    for filename in os.listdir(‘./’):
    if(filename.endswith(“.ear”) or filename.endswith(“.ear.zip”)):
    appname = get_app_name(filename)
    CONFIG.call_was_task(‘update_app’,[appname, filename])
    #if os.path.exists(“docs_remote_installer.zip”):
    #update_conversion_binary()
    – go in the DocsApp subdirectory and delete the file concord-config.json
    – run applypatch again
  2. Stop IBM Conversion Cluster, Websphere Console->Servers->Clusters->WebSphere application server clusters->IBMConversionCluster->Stop
  3. In the  directory where you have the CR1 installation software, open the DocsConversion subdirectory. Unzip the file docs_remote_installer.zip in a directory of your choice, for example c:\temp\docs_remote_installer
  4. Change directory to c:\temp\docs_remote_installer\installer\ and run the following command
    upgrade_node.bat – -installroot [CONVERSION_INSTALL_ROOT] – -symcount
    [SYM_COUNT]
    where [CONVERSION_INSTALL_ROOT] value you can get from the ISC (Environment -> WebSphere Variables-> CONVERSION_INSTALL_ROOT
    [SYM_COUNT] is the number of symphony instances, you can get this by counting how many inst* in [CONVERSION_INSTALL_ROOT]\symphony, usually it is 4 or 8.for example: upgrade_node.bat – -installroot c:\IBM\ConnectionsDocs\Conversion – -symcount 8
  5. Check fixpack.log in directory [CONVERSION_INSTALL_ROOT]\logs\
  6. Start IBMConversionCluster, Websphere Console->Servers->Clusters->WebSphere application server clusters->IBMConversionCluster->Start

Now open a browser and go to http://yourdocsserver/conversion/version, you should see something like this

{“timestamp”:”20160711-0948″,”version”:”2.0.0.1″,”build_description”:”IBM Connections Docs 2.0.0″,”product_name”:”IBM Connections Docs”}

If you still see version 2.0.0 then go back in the directory where you have the CR1 installation software, then in the DocsApp subdirectory and delete again concord-config.json. Run again the applypatch command, that will fix it.


I'll be speaking at DNUG 2016

Today I received in my inbox the confirmation that I have been accepted as a speaker at the DNUG Konferenz 2016, which will be in Hamburg on June 1-2.

dnug
My session is IBM Connections Docs 2.0 from zero to hero, in which I will show the architecture of IBM Connections Docs and live-demonstrate how to deploy and integrate it with IBM Connections.
The full agenda of the event is here.

It is an event geared primarily towards a German audience, as you can see from the list of sessions, and I am one of the few English language speaker; I am sure that the fact that my usual partner in crime Martti Garden, who would have surely given the session in his native language, will be away on holiday has something to do with this 🙂

There are other friends and IBM Champions speaking at DNUG which is a great event, so if you understand the language is definitely worth attending.


IBM Connections Docs 2.0 install guide

Me and the excellent Martti Garden have created an installation guide for IBM Connections Docs 2.0; it is a single-server installation, good for demo purpose or small environments where you do not need high scalability.

You can find it here
https://www.ibm.com/developerworks/community/files/form/anonymous/api/library/98a7ab0c-9742-463d-bf96-1c4ff2a65138/document/381881ef-e26f-414f-8ee8-cf618f80f7d0/media/IBM%20Connections%20Docs%202%20install%20guide.pptx
and here http://www.slideshare.net/RobertoBoccadoro/ibm-connections-docs-2-install-guide-56820027

 



I'll be speaking at Connect 2016

After 9 years I’ll be speaking again at Lotusphere IBM Connect 2016.

I will have a session with the excellent Martti Garden on Connections Docs.

TI-1055 : IBM Connections Docs From Zero to Hero

Session Type : Technical Breakout
Date/Time : Tue, 02-Feb, 04:00 PM-05:00 PM
Venue : Hilton Orlando
Room : Lake Eola A