Global Mailbox installation sequence

Global Mailbox installation is a multi-phased installation. You must complete all the phases to get the system functional. You must follow the sequence when doing a fresh installation or updating your current Sterling B2B Integrator to (V6.0 or later) and installing Global Mailbox.

Phase 1 - Install cross data center core prerequisites, Apache Cassandra and Apache ZooKeeper

From the topology plan, identify which nodes need Cassandra and ZooKeeper. For each node that needs Cassandra and ZooKeeper, complete the following tasks:
  1. Install Cassandra and Zookeeper. For more information, see Installing a Cassandra node and Installing a ZooKeeper node.
  2. Start the installed Cassandra and ZooKeeper nodes.

Phase 2 - Install third-party software and other IBM software that are not installed by using the Installation Manager: WebSphere MQ, shared file system, and Sterling B2B Integrator database

From the topology plan, identify which nodes need WebSphere® MQ, shared file system, and Sterling B2B Integrator database.

Complete the following tasks:
  1. Install and configure an active and standby WebSphere MQ in each data center. For more information, see IBM WebSphere MQ and Installing highly available WebSphere MQ for event processing.
  2. Install a shared file system for each data center. If you are installing IBM GPFS, see GPFS documentation.
    Restriction: If you plan to install Global Mailbox on a Windows server, you must specify the path to shared folder in the format <drive_name>:\<shared_foldername>. For example, C:\Storage or a mapped drive or Z:\Storage.
    Important: The shared storage directory is used to store Global Mailbox payloads and configuration.
  3. Create a directory on the local file system of each host that has Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes (UNIX only). This directory is where shared storage is mounted:

    mkdir <local_storage_mount_directory>

  4. Run the following commands on the directory you created (UNIX only):
    • chmod a-rwx <local_storage_mount_directory>
    • chattr +i <local_storage_mount_directory>
    Important: The chmod a-rwx and chattr +i commands are necessary to ensure that writes to storage fail if the shared storage file system is unmounted. If shared storage is unmounted while the system is processing files, files might get written to the local storage mount directory instead of the shared storage. As a result, files that are written to the local mount directory are not accessible when the shared storage file system is remounted.
  5. Mount the shared storage file system on the directory you created in step 3 (UNIX only).

    For NFS, run mount -t nfs <shared_storage_host>:<path><local_storage_mount_directory>.

    For GSFS, refer to the mmmount command documentation.

  6. Install and configure the Sterling B2B Integrator database in each data center. For installation information, see appropriate vendor documentation. If you are installing IBM DB2, see Installing DB2.
    Important: Each data center must have a separate database cluster for Sterling B2B Integrator.

Phase 3 - Install (or update) Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes

You must install (or update) the following Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes:
  • Initial node in the first data center
  • Second and subsequent nodes in the first data center
  • First nodes in the second and subsequent data centers
  • Second and subsequent nodes in the subsequent data centers
Restriction: If you plan to use IBM Standards Processing Engine (SPE) and IBM WebSphere Transformation Extender (WTX), install them before installing the initial Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes.
Important: There is only one initial node in the Global Mailbox topology. You must install all the nodes according to your topology before starting the nodes. For information about starting the nodes, see the Phase 4 - Start Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes.
The options that you select when installing the nodes are as follows:
Important: In addition to these options, there are various other options that you must select and fields where you must specify appropriate values. The following options specify the node that you are installing.
  1. When installing the initial node in the first data center, select the following options:
    1. Select Initial Global Mailbox Node on the Install Packages - Select the features to install panel.
    2. On the Sterling B2B Integrator Database Vendor Selection panel, do not select This installation is for a cluster node 2 or higher.
  2. When installing second and subsequent nodes in the first data center, select the following options:
    1. Select Additional Global Mailbox Node on the Install Packages - Select the features to install panel.
    2. On the Sterling B2B Integrator Database Vendor Selection panel, select This installation is for a cluster node 2 or higher.
  3. When installing initial nodes in second and subsequent data centers, select the following options:
    1. Select Additional Global Mailbox Node on the Install Packages - Select the features to install panel.
    2. On the Sterling B2B Integrator Database Vendor Selection panel, do not select This installation is for a cluster node 2 or higher.
  4. When installing second and subsequent nodes in second and subsequent data centers, select the following options:
    1. Select Additional Global Mailbox Node on the Install Packages - Select the features to install panel.
    2. On the Sterling B2B Integrator Database Vendor Selection panel, select This installation is for a cluster node 2 or higher.

For information about installing initial and additional nodes, see Installing initial Global Mailbox and Sterling B2B Integrator nodes, or Installing additional Global Mailbox and Sterling B2B Integrator nodes.

If you are upgrading your current Sterling B2B Integrator setup to include Global Mailbox, see Adding Global Mailbox to an existing Sterling B2B Integrator.

Phase 4 - Start Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes

You must start Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes after installing all the nodes for your data centers. For example, if you have two Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes in two data centers, the sequence to start the nodes is as follows:
  1. Start node 1 in data center 1.
  2. Start node 2 in data center 1.
  3. Start node 1 in data center 2.
  4. Start node 2 in data center 2.
For more information, see Starting and accessing Sterling B2B Integrator and Global Mailbox nodes.

Phase 5 - Enable protocol adapters to use Global Mailbox

Enable protocol adapters to use Global Mailbox. For more information, see Sterling B2B Integrator Services and Adapters.

Phase 6 - Configure load balancer

Refer to appropriate vendor documentation and configure the load balancer:
  • Configure local load balancer to balance requests to the protocol adapters within the data center.
  • Configure global load balancer to balance the request to the data center (local) load balancer based on geographic proximity.
    Important: Clients or trading partners must always go back to the same data center unless the data center is down.

Phase 7 - Configure firewall

Ensure that the correct ports are open. See Firewall considerations.