Connecting and configuring IBM Content Manager repositories

To access the content in an IBM® Content Manager repository, you must first connect to at least one repository and configure it to use IBM Content Navigator as a web client. After you connect to and configure the repository, you must associate a desktop to enable users to access the content.

Before you begin

The types of repositories that you can connect to depend on the repository connectors that are installed on your web application server. If an IBM Content Manager server is configured by using the IBM Content Navigator Configuration and Deployment tool, the IBM Content Manager APIs are included as part of the IBM Content Navigator installation. In the IBM Content Navigator Configuration and Deployment tool, in the Configure the Content Manager Connector task, you must provide the database type, connection name, host name, database name, schema name, database port, connection ID, and password to configure a connection to a repository.

After you run the required tasks and deploy the web application, go to the IBM Content Navigator administration tool and connect to the IBM Content Manager server by using the required library server administration user ID, such as icmadmin.

Important: If IBM Content Navigator is configured for a high availability environment, failover is not supported with IBM Content Manager OnDemand and IBM Content Manager 8.
Note: If the IBM Content Manager server is using an Oracle database server, before you run the Build the Web Application task, you must copy the Oracle JDBC JAR file to the following directory:
  • Microsoft Windows: C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\ECMClient\configure\explodedformat\navigator\WEB-INF\lib
  • AIX®, Linux®, and Linux for System z®: /opt/IBM/ECMClient/configure/explodedformat/navigator/WEB-INF/lib

About this task

When you are configuring the parameters for the repository, consider the following options:
Teamspaces
If you want users to access and use teamspaces, select the option and confirm that the repository supports hierarchical folders. When you enable teamspaces, IBM Content Navigator creates the teamspace data model on the repository. The data model includes access control list (ACL) objects, privileges, privilege sets, and two more item types.
Root folder
The root folder is where users browse for documents. If you do not have hierarchical folders that are configured on your repository, defining a root folder provides support for browsing documents. If your hierarchical folders are already configured on your repository, this setting overrides the root folder setting on the repository.
Important: If you are using IBM Content Manager Version 8.4.2 and the repository does not have any folders, you must create at least one folder before you enable the root folder from the administration tool. If no folders are created, you cannot enable root folders.
System properties
You can specify the system properties that users see from the desktop. To help users identify the folders that they are browsing in the repository, you can specify the properties that are displayed for folders.
Searches
You can also configure what users see or do when they run searches. For example, you specify the properties that users can search on and the search operators that they can use. If you want users to see or add specific properties in the search results, you can identify the properties that are displayed after users run their searches. You can specify whether users can select properties to display in addition to the properties that you specified. You might also want to hide certain properties so that users see only properties that they need or use when they are completing their tasks. For example, if you do not want users to see an ACL code property in their search results, do not specify that property to be displayed in the search results.
Important: Excluding a property from the repository configuration Magazine view does not ensure that users cannot see the property. If the user selects the property in the Results Display option, the excluded property is displayed.

Procedure

To connect and configure an IBM Content Manager repository:

  1. Open the administration tool in the web client.
  2. Click Repositories > New Repository.
  3. Select Content Manager as the repository type.
  4. Click General and enter the information that is specific to the repository that you are configuring.
    You need the repository information such as the display name, ID, and server name to configure the repository. If you do not have this information, contact your IBM Content Manager administrator.
  5. Click Connect.
    You can save the default configuration settings for the repository or continue to customize the settings.
  6. Click Configuration Parameters, System Properties, Browse, Search, or Office Integration to configure other settings for the repository.
    1. To configure the repository to support teamspaces, enable teamspaces on the Configuration Parameters tab.
    2. To configure the repository to support entry templates, enable entry templates on the Configuration Parameters tab.
    3. To configure the repository to support cross-repository searches, enable cross-repository searches on the Search tab.
  7. Save your settings.

What to do next

If you later experience problems with connecting to the IBM Content Manager server, you can use the following information to help resolve the problem:

After you set up the IBM Content Manager repository and deploy the IBM Content Navigator web application, the IBM Content Manager connection files are created, which includes the cmbicmenv.ini file and the cmbicmsrvs.ini file. IBM Content Navigator connects to the IBM Content Manager server through the encoded connection ID and password, which are stored in the cmbicmenv.ini file.

If the values in the cmbicmenv.ini file become invalid or expired, for example, if the connection ID or password changes, you cannot connect to the repository. To resolve the problem, you can regenerate the files by running the configuration task again and redeploying the web application through the IBM Content Navigator Configuration and Deployment tool. After the web application is redeployed, go to the IBM Content Navigator administration tool and connect to the IBM Content Manager server by using the required library server administration user ID, such as icmadmin.