You start the staging server using the standard procedure for starting any Integrity Lifecycle Manager server. Starting the staging server automatically creates a lock binding between the staging server and the production server. You can confirm the status of the lock binding by connecting to the production server, right-clicking the Workflows and Documents directory node, and then selecting View Admin Lock from the shortcut menu. The View Admin Lock dialog box displays information on the production server (hostname:port number) that is locked, when the lock was obtained, and the staging server (hostname:port number) it is bound to.

When the staging server starts, it first tests to see if its database contains the same workflow and document admin provided objects as the production server's database. If they are identical, the production server creates a binding lock to that staging server. The server also tests to see if the Integrity Lifecycle Manager Presentation Templates (IPTs), trigger scripts, reports, ViewSets, and the public_html directory are identical. If differences are detected or if the production server is not running when the staging server attempts to initialize, the staging server does not start. If the production server is running, the staging server creates a lock binding.

If the production server already has a lock as a result of an Integrity Lifecycle Manager server administrator manually obtaining the lock, then the staging server still creates a lock binding between the two servers. A check is then carried out to ensure that the admin provided objects on the staging server match exactly with those on the production server. If they are not the same, the staging server does not start and the lock binding is dropped. An error message is posted to the installdir/log/server.log file on the staging server.

A lock binding cannot be directly created by an administrator. It is created automatically when the staging server has initialized and successfully verified that it is synchronous with the production server. Once the staging server is started and the binding lock is set, you can then modify the required workflow and document admin provided objects on the staging server.