Configuring Remote File Servers
To perform content replication, you must complete these steps for the main site and File Server sites.
Following are the major post-installation steps for the main site and File Server. For detailed a detailed procedure for any of these steps, refer to the corresponding section below.
1. Do one of the following:
◦ Option A—Register the File Server with the main site.
◦ Option B—Create a remote site representation on the main site.
2. Create remote hosts, vaults, and folders.
3. Mount and enable the folders.
4. Start the remote site.
Following these steps, a troubleshooting section appears to help resolve configuration errors.
Step 1, Option A: Register the File Server with the Main Site.
Register the File Server using the File Server Management utility, available from Site 
> > . For more information, see Registering a New File Server with the Main Site.
> > . For more information, see Registering a New File Server with the Main Site.Step 1, Option B: Create a Remote Site Representation on the Main Site
1. On the main site, select > > , available from Site , Libraries 
, and Products 
. The Site Management window appears.
, Libraries , and Products . The Site Management window appears. | The label (This Installation) appears after the site name in the Site Management window for the site to which you are currently connected. System software ensures that the automatically generated site labeled (This Installation) can continue serving its role in the event of a change in the value of the wt.httpgw.url.anonymous property in the wt.properties file. This automatically generated site’s URL is the value of the wt.httpgw.url.anonymous property in the wt.properties file. If the value changes, the system assigns the new URL to it, and a warning message is displayed on the main site console. You can configure this site by clicking Update. |
2. In the Site Management window, click New. The New Site window opens.
3. Enter the following information:
Field | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Site Name | The site name must be unique. The string is not case-sensitive and cannot include spaces. A File Server site must be known by the same name to all main sites. The label (This Installation) appears after the site name in the Site Management window for the site to which you are currently connected. | ||
URL | Enter the URL. The URL must allow the main site to access the file server site. The URL is the value of the wt.httpgw.url.anonymous property in the wt.properties file of the site that you are creating. It is the URL of the anonymous gateway for the Windchill site. If this URL is the same as the URL of the Windchill site to which you are currently connected, the label (This Installation) appears following the site name in the Site Management window. | ||
Site Type | Select the File Server checkbox. The Main andFile Server options determine which roles the site uses for replication. You can select one, both, or neither of these options. | ||
Context | Click Select to access the Pick Context window, which lists all possible contexts. Select a context and then click OK.
| ||
Description | Enter a description of the site. You can use up to 200 characters. | ||
Principal | Click Select to access the Select Principal window. Use the fields on the Groups and Users tabs to select a principal for the new site. | ||
Site Proximity | You can move the sites into the order of proximity to the current site being created or updated. The left box contains a list of all the sites. You can move the sites from this box to the right box using >> and <<. The box on the right side indicates the proximity of the other sites to the new site. The site at the top of the list has highest proximity to the new site. You can move a site up or down the list with Move Up, Move Down, Move Top, and Move Bottom. |
4. Click OK.
| | The new site appears in List of Sites table in the Site Management window. |
If you need to update an existing site, select the site in the Site Management window and then click Update.
Step 2: Create Remote Hosts, Vaults, and Folders
You create hosts, vaults, and folders for replication. You must create a host first, then a vault, and then folders.
Before you create and mount folders, you must manually create a folder on the remote site. The main site must be able to read from and write to the folder. Before you begin this step, you must create at least one folder for each file vault that will be created in the following procedure. Create this folder now.
 | Each folder must be mounted to a unique physical location. If this is not done, permanent data loss will occur. |
You create remote hosts, vaults, and folders from the Vault Configuration window. To access this window, select > > , available from Site , Libraries , and Products .
, Libraries , and Products .Creating a Remote Host
Creating a host associates a site with a host on the network.
A host is a machine on your network, on which Windchill Method Server is running, that can be used to store content files. Since method servers may run on different hosts, each folder should have a different mount for each host. If this is not done, the paths might not be identical. However, the location for all mounts for a folder should be the same.
| | The system does not check that the DNS name that you enter for the host is a valid DNS name. |
To create a host:
1. From the Vault Configuration window, select > > . The New Host window opens.
2. Enter the unique DNS name for the host in the Host Name field. (There cannot be any blank values in the name.) This hostname can be determined in one of two ways:
◦ Consult the ServerManager or MethodServer log for a line that looks like this:
ServerManager log
<DATE> INFO [main] wt.server.manager.startup - java.rmi.server.hostname:
<Host Name>
MethodServer log:
<DATE> INFO [main] wt.method.server.startup - java.rmi.server.hostname:
<Host Name>
<DATE> INFO [main] wt.server.manager.startup - java.rmi.server.hostname:
<Host Name>
MethodServer log:
<DATE> INFO [main] wt.method.server.startup - java.rmi.server.hostname:
<Host Name>
◦ Execute the following command to retrieve the java.rmi.server.hostname value:
windchill wt.util.jmx.WTPropEval java.rmi.server.hostname
| | The system does not verify that the DNS name that you enter is valid. |
3. Select the remote site from the Site list.
4. Click OK.
Creating a Remote Vault
A vault is a logical context for folders, each of which represents a storage location on a host machine. A remote vault is a vault on a File Server rather than main site. PTC recommends one vault for each remote server for content replication.
| | Creating a cache vault on the File Server site is preferable because remote users can upload content to this vault much faster. However, the existence of a cache vault on a Windchill File Server is not a necessity for replicating contents to that site. |
To create a remote vault:
1. From the Vault Configuration window, select > > . The New Vault window opens.
2. Enter the following information:
Field | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|
Site | Select the File Server from the list. | ||
Name | Enter a vault name. The name you specify must be unique among the vaults defined for all sites. | ||
Vault type | Select one of the following: • Main Vault—Stores (revaulted) main copies of content files. • Replica vault—Stores replicated content files. • Cache vault—Stores uploaded files until they are revaulted to their permanent storage locations. If you select this vault type, the vault is used as the local cache vault for the site. Only one cache vault is allowed for each site. • All vault types are supported on both main sites and File Server sites.
| ||
Default system target (for a main vault) or Default target for site (for a replica or cache vault) | You can select this checkbox, but you cannot directly clear it. Because there must always be a default target for the site (replica or cache vault) or default system target (main vault), the checkbox is cleared automatically when you designate another vault as the default target. Every site must have one vault that is its default target. Only main site can have default system target vault. When a main vault is designated as the default system target, and when the wt.fv.useVaultsForAllContent property is true, the vault becomes the destination for revaulting operations for content not covered by revaulting rules. When a replica or cache vault is designated as the default target for a site, it becomes the target of replication operations when the target vault has not been explicitly specified. | ||
Read only | Do not select this checkbox. If you do, the vault is not available for storing uploaded or replicated content files. | ||
Automatic folder creation | Leave this checkbox selected. When this checkbox is selected, a folder is automatically created when an existing folder reaches its capacity (number of files). This checkbox is selected by default.
| ||
Automatic cleanup of older content
| Select this checkbox if appropriate. When this checkbox is selected, automatic cleanups are performed on this vault according to the rules and schedule that are specified in the Automated cleanup of replica vaults window. |
3. Click OK.
| | You can create only one cache vault per Windchill File Server for replication. |
Creating a Remote Folder
Creating a folder establishes a storage location and associates the location with a vault.
| | Creating a cache vault on the File Server site is recommended because remote users can upload content to this vault much faster. However, the existence of a cache vault on a Windchill File Server is not a necessity for replicating contents to that site. |
To create a folder:
1. From the Vault Configuration window, select > > . The New Folder window opens.
2. Enter a unique name for the folder in the Name field.
3. Select a vault from the Vault list.
| | Do not select the Read Only checkbox. If you do, the folder is not available for storing uploaded or replicated content files. |
4. Click OK.
Step 3: Mount and Enable the Folders
After you have defined vaults and folders for the site and specified its hosts, you must specify the location of the storage partition to which content will be replicated. You do this by defining the mount for each combination of folder and host for the site.
To mount a folder:
1. In the left pane of the Vault Configuration window, expand a cabinet that holds folders and then select the folder.
2. Select > . The New Mount window opens.
3. Select a host from the Host list.
4. Specify the path to the folder path in the Path field.
5. Click OK.
6. Select the folder and then select > . The Update Folder window opens.
7. Select the Enabled checkbox and then click OK.
Step 4: Start the Remote Site
Starting a remote site server is similar to starting a standard Windchill server.
To start the remote site:
1. Start the web server, servlet engine, and method server on the remote site computer.
2. Start Windchill in one of the following ways:
◦ Using an MS-DOS command prompt, in the <Windchill>/bin directory, enter the following:
windchill start
◦ On the Windows Start menu, select > > .
Troubleshooting the Configuration
This section describes both the properties and services in the wt.properties file that are relevant to Windchill content replication. If replication configuration contains an error, log files created by the services provide information for troubleshooting. The log files show all the interactions between main sites and remote sites. In the case of some errors, the log files list suggestions to solve the problem.
To Check the Configuration:
1. Enable verbose logging for wt.fv and wt.fv.master packages on the main site and wt.fv.replica package on the remote site using Log4j configuration.
2. Ensure that the replica folders are not read–only and that they are enabled.
3. Restart the remote site method server.
Immediately following startup, you should see a line in the log files stating that the remote site has requested configuration from the main site. Several lines below, there should be a response message specifying the received configuration. Verify that this configuration makes sense.
4. Restart the main site method server.
Immediately following startup, you should see a line in the log files stating that the main site has attempted to refresh the configuration of the remote site. Check the remote site MethodServer.log file to verify that the configuration was received.
Manually Configuring Services
In File Server remote sites, the remote Windchill site does not have access to an Oracle instance and runs with a minimal set of services. Only the services required for content replication are started.
Rather than the usual 67 or more services, only the 5 services pertaining to replication are configured. Verify that the services section contains the following:
wt.services.service.1=wt.fv.replica.ReplicaService/wt.fv.replica.StandardReplicaService
wt.services.service.2=wt.fv.replica.ReplicaServiceSvr/wt.fv.replica.StandardReplicaService
wt.services.service.3=wt.wrmf.delivery.ShippingService/wt.wrmf.delivery.StandardShippingService
wt.services.service.4=wt.wrmf.delivery.ReceiverService/wt.wrmf.delivery.StandardReceiverService
wt.services.service.5=wt.wrmf.transport.GenericTransportService/wt.wrmf.transport.StandardGenericTransportService
wt.services.service.2=wt.fv.replica.ReplicaServiceSvr/wt.fv.replica.StandardReplicaService
wt.services.service.3=wt.wrmf.delivery.ShippingService/wt.wrmf.delivery.StandardShippingService
wt.services.service.4=wt.wrmf.delivery.ReceiverService/wt.wrmf.delivery.StandardReceiverService
wt.services.service.5=wt.wrmf.transport.GenericTransportService/wt.wrmf.transport.StandardGenericTransportService
The method server and server manager should now launch successfully. The POM messages that normally appear when the method server starts are not displayed, and registering with the server manager is significantly quicker than in a full Windchill installation.
Enabling Remote File Server Support if Not Enabled with the PSI
If Enable Remote File Server Support was not selected in PSI during the main installation, you can enable it using the information provided in the following sections.
Manually Creating the Installer Bundle Zip File (CCsInstallerBndle.zip)
You must manually create a bundle ZIP file that contains the installers used for replica installation, using the following steps:
1. Locate the script needed to create installer ZIP and MD5 files in the following location:
<Windchill>/bin/CCSTools/createZip.xml
The script must be run from <Windchill>/bin/CCSTools for each CD image in this format:
ant -f createZip.xml -Dpsi_loadpoint.dir=<val> -Dsource_image.dir=<val>
where <val> is the psi_loadpoint directory containing PSI’s separately managed rule files.
For example:
D:\ptc\PJL\Windchill\bin\CCSTools\>ant -f createZip.xml -Dpsi_loadpoint.dir=D:\ptc\PJL\PSI -Dsource_image.dir=E:\CD_JavaSDK
The result should be <installer_name>.zip and <installer_name>.zip.MD5 files in <Windchill>/CCSTools/install for each CD.
2. Using the script, create a ZIP and MD5 checksum of the following sub-installers. These sub-installer zips and MD5 files must reside in the ZIP respository located in the following location:
(<Windchill>/CCSTools/install
◦ Web Server
◦ Servlet Engine
◦ Info*Engine Server
◦ Windchill Services
◦ PTC Solution Installer
| | Apache and Tomcat must share a common directory when they are unzipped, for example CD_CAPPS/Apache and CD_CAPPS/Tomcat. To ensure that this structure is preserved Apache and Tomcat must be individually copied into a separate CD_CAPPS folder and this folder must be referenced when calling createZip.xml.. |
3. Gather the installer zips created above into the main bundle zip file, named CCsInstallerBndle.zip. To create this zip run the following command:
ant -f createZip.xml bundleInstallerZips
The result should be CCsInstallerBndle.zip file in <Windchill>/CCSTools/install.
Manually Generating the CCSDsu.zip File (If Necessary)
If Enable Remote File Server Support was not selected during the initial solution installation, this ZIP file does not exist after applying the maintenance updates, so you must generate it manually.
An ANT script that handles this task resides in the following location: <Windchill>/bin/CCSTools/create_ccsdsu.xml. This script creates the CcsDsu.zip file based on a BOM (bill of materials). It maintains a cumulative BOM, <Windchill>/CCSTools/CcsDsuBom.include, with which any future BOMs are merged.
To generate the ZIP file, run the following command from a Windchill shell:
ant -f <Windchill>/bin/CCSTools/create_ccsdsu.xml
-Dinstall.files.maint=true <params>
-Dinstall.files.maint=true <params>
where <params> are:
• -Dccsdsubom_include (optional)—Any alternative BOM file with contents relative to <Windchill>.
This points to a BOM of contents to append to the CcsDsu.zip.
• -Dccsdsu_exclude_list (optional)—A regular expression-based list containing any files to exclude from the DSU. It defaults to <Windchill>/installer/wnc/ccsdsu_regex_exclude_list.txt).
The script runs and generates the CcsDsu.zip and a corresponding MD5 checksum file in the <Windchill>/CCSTools/update directory.
This CcsDsu.zip is downloaded to the remote File Server. Ensure that the ZIP file is placed in the same location as the main site: <Windchill>/CCSTools/update.
The CcsDsu.zip is applied when Windchill is restarted on the File Server.
| | When applying an update (a patch or maintenance release) to a main site that has a cluster setup, the patch is applied to each the node in the cluster individually. However, for the CCS (File Server) automatic update to function properly, the files in the <Windchill>/CCSTools/update directory in the main node (background method server) of the cluster must be copied to the <Windchill>/CCSTools/update directory of each node in the cluster. This is essential to ensure that the CCSDsu.zip and its CCSDsu.zip.MD5 files on all nodes are exactly the same. |
Installing a New File Server Using CcsInstallerBundle.zip and CcsDsu.zip
| | CcsInstallerBundle.zip did not exist in versions earlier than Windchill 10.2. |
To install a new file server using CcsInstallerBundle.zip and CcsDsu.zip use the following procedure:
1. Download the CcsInstallerBundle.zip.
2. Once CcsInstallerBundle.zip is downloaded, unzip it into a common location and run the unzipped PTCSolnInstaller image.
3. To unzip in Windows, you can use WinZip (or a similar application) or the built-in Windows .zip functionality.
For UNIX, unzip <file name> can be used. You may need to install the unzip functionality.
4. When the PSI is started, select the Solution scenario, choose File Server as an installation option, and point the staging area to the location containing all of the unzipped images.
Once you have installed File Server using PSI you need to apply CcsDsu.zip file.
Updating the File Server
Maintenance updates for a remote File Server are required when maintenance releases or patches are applied to the main site. The updates are delivered by a file named CcsDsu.zip that contains all the necessary updates for a maintenance release. If Enable Remote File Server Support was selected when the solution was installed, this ZIP file is generated on the main site when the maintenance updates are applied. To update the file server you must:
• Update Existing Standalone Products on the File Server Using CCsInstallerBundle.zip
• Update Non-Standalone Products on the File Server using CcsDsu.zip
Updating Existing Standalone Products on the File Server Using CCsInstallerBundle.zip
To update existing standalone products on the file server using CCsInstallerBundle.zip use the following procedure:
1. Shut down the method servers, server manager, and web server on the file server.
2. After applying the update on the main and restarting it, check the content of File Server Management inside the Windchill page from Site > > to see if the standalone products have been updated (verify their date).
> > to see if the standalone products have been updated (verify their date).3. If the standalone products have been updated, download the CCsInstallerBndle.zip main zip from the main server and extract it into the staging area..
4. Run PSI located on the staging area and select Update Existing Installation.
5. Select the instance of the file server to be updated.
6. Provide the location of the staging area for PSI to install the standalone products update.
7. Click Next until you reach the end of the last panel for running the installation.
Updating Non-Standalone Products on the File Server Using CcsDsu.zip
To update non-standalone products on the file server using CcsDsu.zip use the following procedure:
| | If you have completed the main site update and the autoManageCCS property in the wt.properties file is set to true, then broadcast the file server configuration to automatically download the CcsDsu.zip file to the following location on the file server: <Windchill>/CCSTools/update. If the autoManageCCS property is set to false, you must manually download the CcsDsu.zip file from <Windchill>/CCSTools/update using the File Server Management utility, available from Site > > . |
Updating Non-Standalone Products on the File Server Using CcsDsu.zip Automatically
If your system is set up to update existing File Server installations automatically when the main site is updated with a maintenance release or patch, the following process begins once the Site Manager on the main site has prepared the information and files, performed an update on the site, and restarted that site:
1. The main site notifies the File Server of the need to update.
2. The site is set to Read-only status.
3. The main site sets the status modifier on the File Server to Update in Progress status.
4. Each File Server recognizes the need to update itself.
5. The main site pushes the update to the File Server.
6. The status modifier changes to Restart Required status.
7. The system sends notifications to appropriate managers asking them to perform the restart.
8. If updated versions of standalone products and PSI are available, you must update the existing standalone products on the file server with PSI before restarting Windchill on the file server to apply the update.
9. The restart is performed.
10. The File Server updates itself during the restart.
11. The main site does the following:
◦ Verifies the File Server release level
◦ Removes the Restart Required status modifier from the File Server
◦ Removes the Read-only status from the site
Updating Non Standalone Products on an Existing File Server Installation Manually
If your system is not set up to update existing File Server installations automatically when the main site is updated with a maintenance release or patch, you must manually update each File Server site:
1. Shut down all Windchill-related server applications, including the method servers, web server, servlet engine, and server manager, and exit all Windchill shells.
2. If updated versions of standalone products and PSI are available, you must update the existing standalone products on the file server with PSI before executing the install_ccsdsu.xml file.
3. Open a system console and navigate to the <Windchill>/bin/CCSTools directory.
4. Ensure that the Windchill Directory Server is running.
5. Using ANT, execute the script file install_ccsdsu.xml as follows:
ant -f install_ccsdsu.xml
| | If ant -f install_ccsdsu.xml fails on the first attempt, run it again to successfully complete the update process. |
6. Once the execution completes, start Windchill.