Enterprise deployment overview

As the number of Connect:Direct® for UNIX and Connect:Direct for Microsoft Windows installations increases, so does the time and effort that is needed for new installations and upgrades. Especially when administrators perform these operations one installation at a time.

Silent installations on individual systems

You can use an installation script for Connect:Direct for UNIX to silently and automatically install the product. The silent installation for Connect:Direct for Microsoft Windows supports enterprise deployment.

Automated installations on multiple systems

Instead of performing silent installations one system at a time, you can automate deployment on multiple systems with a single installation package. Use these installation solutions with existing software deployment systems, such as the Tivoli® Endpoint Manager.

Then, you can use IBM® Control Center for post-installation configuration and monitoring tasks. Although it is possible to combine installation and configuration in a single step, in this document the installation and configuration are treated as separate steps. During installation, perform the minimum configuration that is required to allow Control Center to establish a secure connection with Connect:Direct. Then, use Control Center for production configuration and subsequent configuration updates.

Another tool that you can use for post-installation and ongoing configuration management of Connect:Direct servers is the Control Center API (CCAPI). Use the CCAPI, a Java program, to programmatically create and maintain Connect:Direct server objects for large-scale efficiency.

These objects include:
  • Functional authorities
  • Initialization parameters
  • Netmap nodes
  • Netmap modes
  • Netmap communication paths
  • Connect:Direct Secure Plus nodes
  • Connect:Direct Secure Plus key certificates
  • Connect:Direct Secure Plus trusted certificates
  • Connect:Direct Secure Plus cipher suites
  • User proxies