Connecting to a WebSphere eXtreme Scale grid

You can store data in a WebSphere® eXtreme Scale grid for use by other message flows.

Before you begin

Read the concept information about external grids in WebSphere eXtreme Scale grids.
Ask your WebSphere eXtreme Scale administrator for the following information about the external grid to which you are connecting:
- The name of the grid
- The host name and port of each catalog server for the grid
- Optional: The object grid file that can be used to override WebSphere eXtreme Scale properties
To enable SSL for connections to external WebSphere eXtreme Scale grids, follow the instructions in Enabling SSL for external WebSphere eXtreme Scale grids.

Procedure

To connect to a WebSphere eXtreme Scale grid by using a policy, complete the following steps.

Optional: If you are connecting to a secure grid, use the mqsisetdbparms command to create a security identity, as shown in the following example.
```
mqsisetdbparms INODE -n wxs::id1 -u userId -p password
```
Create a WXS Server policy by using the Policy editor in the IBM® App Connect Enterprise Toolkit (see Creating policies with the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit).
Use the values that are provided by your WebSphere eXtreme Scale administrator to configure the connection to the external grid.
When you specify the security identity, omit the prefix (wxs::) that you used when creating the security identity with the mqsisetdbparms command.
If the object grid file is on a shared drive on Windows, you must use the \\hostname\directory path syntax to the shared drive, instead of a mapped drive letter. The IBM App Connect Enterprise user ID that is used to access the \\hostname\directory path must have read access to the file system and must use the same password that is required to access the shared drive.

What to do next

After you create the WXS Server policy, you can interact with the external grid by using a Mapping node or a JavaCompute node (see Accessing the global cache by using a Mapping node or Accessing the global cache by using a JavaCompute node).

When you get a global map from an external grid, the getGlobalMap method makes a connection to the grid if one does not exist. To modify a flow that previously used the embedded cache to connect to an external grid instead, you must update your Mapping node or JavaCompute node by specifying the name of the map on the external grid and the name of the policy that is used to connect to the grid. You can work with multiple external grids, and the embedded grid, at the same time.

Statistics are recorded for the interactions between message flows and the external grid. The global cache activity log also provides a high-level overview of how IBM App Connect Enterprise interacts with the external grid. For more information, see Monitoring the global cache.