Troubleshooting a failure to access help topics

By default, IBM® Business Process Manager is configured to access help topics from the IBM documentation site. If you are working behind a firewall, you might find that links from the product to help files do not resolve. In that case, you need to either revise the proxy settings in the product or download and install the help contents to your local system.

You can find the documentation for IBM Business Process Manager on the web at http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSFPJS_8.5.5. If you use the embedded help system that is installed with the IBM BPM product, you are using this site to access the latest documentation. For example, if you click the Help link in IBM Process Designer, the embedded help system accesses the help documentation at that link.

Reconfiguring proxy settings

The product documentation is found at http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSFPJS_8.5.5. If you can access the product documentation at that URL in a browser, but links to help topics from the product fail, you probably have a proxy server between your product and the documentation site. Check to see whether the browser is configured to use a proxy server. If it is, you need to configure the WebSphere server to communicate with that same proxy server.

In the WebSphere Application Server admin console, set the http.proxyHost and http.proxyPort properties to point to the proxy host and port that are in use. You can find instructions here: http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v8r5/topic/com.ibm.websphere.base.doc/ae/twbs_configaddhttppropertiesadmin.html and http://pic.dhe.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v8r5/topic/com.ibm.websphere.base.doc/ae/txml_configaddhttppropertieswsadmin.html

Downloading and installing IBM Business Process Manager documentation

If you need to work offline, you need to download the documentation files and install them into the same location as the IBM BPM product. Downloading the documentation files requires a working Internet connection. When there is a new release of the product, you need to update your installed documentation to keep it current.

To install the documentation for IBM BPM Standard to a local directory, follow these steps. If you are using IBM BPM Advanced, you must follow these steps and then install the documentation for IBM Integration Designer separately.

  1. In a browser, navigate to the following web address: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/dmndhelp/downloads/v8r5m5/localhelp_bpm855.zip.
  2. Save the file to a local temp directory.
  3. Extract the contents of the compressed file to your IBM BPM installation directory by entering the following commands:
    1. cd BPM_install_directory (where BPM_install_directory represents the directory where you previously installed the IBM BPM product).
    2. unzip localhelp_bpm855.zip. This command installs the documentation into BPM_install_directory/BPM/Lombardi/doc.local.
  4. If you need to update the documentation later, then you first need to remove the documentation that you previously installed locally.
    1. In a command window, enter cd BPM_install_directory.
    2. To remove the files, for Windows, enter del BPM/Lombardi/doc.local; for UNIX, enter rm -fr BPM/Lombardi/doc.local.
    3. After you remove the old files in that way, follow steps 1 - 3 to install the update files.
  5. Restart your IBM BPM server. The documentation is available from the Help links of the various IBM BPM components (such as Process Server, Process Designer, and Process Center).

Downloading and configuring IBM Integration Designer documentation

You can find the documentation for Integration Designer within IBM Business Process Manager Knowledge Center at http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSTLXK_8.5.5/. If you use the embedded help system that is installed with the IBM BPM product, then by default you are using this site to access the current version of this information. For example, if you click the Help link inside Integration Designer, the embedded help system automatically accesses the help documentation at that link. If you have access to the web but you are not seeing the IBM BPM documentation, check to see if the remote help is enabled. Select Window > Preferences > Help > Content. If http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSTLXK_8.5.5/ is not enabled, select it and click Enable. Click Apply and OK. Help is then available.

When you are connected to the web, the system automatically uses the web version to ensure that you are seeing the current version of the documentation. However, if you need to work offline, you need to download the documentation to a local directory. When there is a new release of the product, you need to update your installed documentation to keep it current.

To install the documentation for IBM Integration Designer to a local directory, follow these steps.

  1. In IBM Integration Designer, open the Resource perspective (click Window > Open Perspective > Other > Resource). Click OK.
  2. Then, in the main menu, click Help > Install New Software.
  3. In the Available Software window, click Add and specify the following location: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/dmndhelp/downloads/v8r5m5/.
  4. Expand the results under this repository location, select the BPM documentation, and click Next. You are asked to confirm your selection.
  5. Select BPM documentation again and click Next.
  6. Accept the license terms, and click Finish. The documentation downloads into your local Integration Designer help system. The operation might take a few minutes to complete.
  7. Select Help > Help Content. Help displays in a browser.
Parent topic: Troubleshooting and support for IBM Business Process Manager