Administering the RPC Server for XML/SOAP using the Command Central GUI

Learn how to administer the EntireX RPC Server for XML/SOAP, using the Command Central graphical user interface.

See also Administering the RPC server for XML/SOAP using the Command Central command line.

Logging in to Command Central

To login to Command Central:
  1. Open an Internet browser and specify the URL of the Command Central Server as: http://<Command_Central_host>:<Command_Central_port>.

    This takes you to the Command Central Login page.

    On Windows you can also get to the Login page from the Command Central Start Menu entry.

  2. Provide your user credentials in the Login page and click Log In. This takes you to the page Home > Instances:
    Command Central Instances

Creating an RPC server instance

To create an RPC server for XML/SOAP instance:
  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Installations tab.
  2. Click on the desired installation, for example Local, where you want to add an RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance.
    Local
  3. Click the Instances tab.
    Instances tab
  4. Click the add button in the upper right corner above the list and choose EntireX RPC Server for XML/SOAP.
  5. In the Create Instance wizard, fill in the fields in the main screen and in the Server, Broker and Deployment tabs.
    Table 1. Main screen
    Parameter Description
    Instance name Name of the runtime component, for example myBroker.
    Register Windows Service for automatic startup Register Windows Service for automatic startup. Default is not checked. If this parameter is checked, the RPC server can be controlled by the Windows Service Control Manager.
    Table 2. Server tab
    Parameter Description
    RPC Server address The case-sensitive RPC server address has the format: CLASS/SERVER/SERVICE.
    Administration port The administration port in range from 1025 to 65535.
    Table 3. Broker tab
    Parameter Description
    Connection
    Transport Transport over TCP or SSL. Default is TCP.
    Broker host EntireX Broker host name or IP address. See Using the Broker ID in applications in the RPC Programming documentation.
    Broker port Port number in range from 1025 to 65535.
    Credentials
    User The user ID for secured access to the broker.
    Password The password for secured access to the broker.

    Here you can enable the RPC Server for XML/SOAP to accept dynamic configuration and deployment of XML mapping files with the Designer.

    Table 4. Parameter to enable the RPC Server for XML/SOAP
    Parameter Description
    Allow dynamic configuration and deployment of XML Mapping Files (*.xmm). Default is false.
  6. Press Next to get to the Summary page to verify your input.
  7. Press Finish.
    Finish

    The new instance myRpcServer appears in the list.

Migrating a configuration file

After you have created an RPC server for XML/SOAP using Command Central, you can copy an existing configuration file entirex.xmlrpcserver.configuration.xml to your newly created server.

To migrate an existing configuration file to an RPC server for XML/SOAP that was created using Command Central:
  1. Copy file entirex.xmlrpcserver.configuration.xml to <EntireX home>/config/rpc/EntireXCore-RpcServerXml-<instance name>.
  2. Remove file connections.cfg.
  3. Rename file entirex.xmlrpcserver.configuration.xml to connections.cfg.

Configuring an RPC server instance

To configure an RPC server for XML/SOAP instance:
  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab.
  2. Click on the link associated with this instance to select the RPC server instance you want to configure.
  3. Click the Configuration tab. EntireX supports the following configuration types, which are presented in a drop-down box when you click the down arrow below the Configuration tab label:
    Note: All configuration changes require a restart of the instance to take effect.
  4. Click Edit to modify the parameters on your selected configuration type.
  5. Click Test to check the correctness of your input or Apply to save your changes.
The configuration options are described in the following sections:

Broker

Table 5. Broker
Parameter Description
Connection
Transport Transport over TCP or SSL. Default is TCP.
Broker host EntireX Broker host name or IP address. See Using the Broker ID in applications.
Broker port Port number in range from 1025 to 65535.
Encoding Encoding used for the communication between the RPC server and EntireX Broker.
SSL trust store Specifies the location of the SSL trust store.
SSL trust password The password for the SSL trust store.
FIPS-140 mode Enable FIPS-140 compliant SSL communication. Default is no.
Credentials
User The user ID for secured access to the broker.
Password The password for secured access to the broker.

Configuration file

Here you can view or edit the configuration file of the RPC server for XML/SOAP.

Deployment

Here you can enable the RPC server for XML/SOAP to accept dynamic configuration and deployment of XML mapping files with IBM webMethods Designer.

Table 6. Deployment parameter
Parameter Description
Allow dynamic configuration and deployment of XML Mapping Files (*.xmm). Default is false.

HTTP(S)

Here you can modify the HTTP(S) parameters of the RPC Server for XML/SOAP.

Table 7. HTTP(S) parameters
Parameter Description
Proxy Setting for HTTP
Host The host name or IP address of the proxy server for HTTP connection.
Port The port number of the proxy server for HTTP connection.
User The user name of the proxy server for HTTP connection.
Password The password of the proxy server for HTTP connection.
Proxy Setting for HTTPS
Host The host name or IP address of the proxy server for HTTPS connection.
Port The port number of the proxy server for HTTPS connection.
User The user name of the proxy server for HTTPS connection.
Password The password of the proxy server for HTTPS connection.
SSL Trust Store
Location Specifies the location of the SSL trust store used for HTTPS connection.
Password The password of the SSL trust store used for HTTPS connection.
Non Proxy Hosts
Host name List of the hosts that should be accessed without going through the proxy. Asterisk notation is allowed.

Monitoring KPIs

Here you can modify margins of monitored key performance indicators (KPIs) available for the RPC Server for XML/SOAP: Active Workers and Busy Workers.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) enable you to monitor the health of your RPC Server for XML/SOAP. The following KPIs help you administer, troubleshoot, and resolve performance issues:

Table 8. Monitoring KPIs
KPI Setting
Absolute number of Active Workers entirex.generic.kpi.1.max=20
Critical alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.1.critical=0.95
Marginal alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.1.marginal=0.80
Absolute number of Busy Workers entirex.generic.kpi.2.max=20
Critical alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.2.critical=0.95
Marginal alert relative to maximum entirex.generic.kpi.2.marginal=0.80
Note: Do not change the other properties.

Server

Here you can specify the RPC Server settings.

Table 9. Server parameters
Parameter Description
RPC Server
RPC Server address The case-sensitive RPC server address has the format: CLASS/SERVER/SERVICE.
Administration port The administration port in range from 1025 to 65535.
Reconnection attempts Required. Number of reconnection attempts to the broker. When the number of attempts is reached and a connection to the broker is not possible, the RPC Server for XML/SOAP stops.
Worker Scalability
Worker model You can either have a fixed or dynamic number of workers. Default is dynamic (true). For more information see Worker models.
Fixed number Required. Fixed number of workers. Must be a number in range from 1 to 255.
Minimum number Required. Minimum number of workers. Must be a number in range from 1 to 255.
Maximum number Required. Maximum number of workers. Must be a number in range from 1 to 255.

Trace Level

Here you can set the trace level of the RPC Server for XML/SOAP.

Table 10. Trace level parameters
Parameter Value Description
Trace level 0-3 One of the following levels:0 - None - No trace output (default).1 - Standard - Minimal trace output.2 - Advanced - Detailed trace output.3 - Support - Support diagnostic. Use only when requested by IBM Support.

XML mapping files

Here you can show the list of XML mapping files configured for this RPC server. You can add/delete XML mapping files or modify the settings for a listed XML mapping file.

Table 11. Parameters to configure XML mapping files
Parameter Description
Mapping
XML Mapping file Required. Absolute location including name of XML mapping file.
Web service connection URL Required. URL of the web service to call.
Time Out (sec.) HTTP(S) connection timeout (seconds).
Soap version
SOAP version RPC Server for XML/SOAP communicates with SOAP version 1.1 or 1.2.

Note: Mapping using pure XML is not affected by this setting.
Web Service Transport Security
Basic authentication Disable/enable the basic authentication for web service connection.
No authentication
Disable basic authentication.
For defined user/password
The basic authentication uses the credentials defined for user and password.
Using RPC client credentials
The basic authentication uses the credentials set by RPC client application.
User User for basic authentication.
Password Password for basic authentication.
Web Service Message Security
UsernameToken type Authenticate user with UsernameToken security.
No UsernameToken security
Payload does not contains a UsernameToken.
The password in plain text
The UsernameToken in payload contains the plain text password. We strongly recommend secure transport (HTTPS) when sending the password in plain text.
The digest of the password
The UsernameToken in payload contains digest of the password.
WSDL for Advanced Configuration of Web Service e.g. Schema Validation or WS Policy
Wsdl file Optional. Absolute location including name of WSDL file. If you are using a WSDL file, the address of the web service is retrieved from this.
Wsdl service Optional. The service name to use must be defined in WSDL file and match the selected SOAP version. If the service name is unique for the SOAP version, it can be omitted.
Wsdl port Optional. The port name to use must be defined in WSDL file and match the selected SOAP version. If the port name is unique for the SOAP version, it can be omitted.

Viewing the runtime status

To view the runtime status of the RPC server instance:

In the Command Central Home page, click the Instances tab and select the RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance for which you want to see the runtime status (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker instance).

Instances dashboard

The visual key performance indicators (KPIs) and alerts enable you to monitor the RPC Server for XML/SOAP's health.

Table 12. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
KPI Description
Active Workers Number of active workers.
Busy Workers Number of busy workers.

Starting an RPC server instance

To start an RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance from the Instances tab:

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab.
  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Start.

To start an RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance from its Overview tab:

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab and select the RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance you want to start (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker instance).
  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Start.

Stopping an RPC server instance

To stop an RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance from the Instances tab:
  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab.
  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Stop.
To stop an RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance from its Overview tab:
  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab and select the RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance you want to stop (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker instance).
  2. Select the status, and from the context menu choose Stop.

Inspecting the log files

To inspect the log files of an RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance

  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab, then click the link associated with the RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance for which you want to inspect the log files (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker instance).
  2. Click the Logs tab.
  3. In the Alias column, click the link of the log file you want to inspect, for example server.log:

Changing the trace level temporarily

To temporarily change the trace level of an RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance:
  1. In the Command Central home page, click the Instances tab then click the link associated with the RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance for which you want change the trace level temporarily (same as Step 1 under Configuring a Broker instance).
  2. In the Administration tab, select the trace level and press Update.
    Update
Note: If you want to set the trace level permanently, see Trace level under Configuring an RPC Server Instance.

Deleting an RPC server instance

To delete an RPC server for XML/SOAP instance:
  1. In the list of EntireX RPC Server for XML/SOAP instances for your selected installation (for example Local), select the instance you want to delete and click the minus button in the upper right corner above the list.
  2. Click OK to confirm the uninstall of this RPC Server for XML/SOAP instance.
  3. In the next window, click Finish. The selected instance is removed from the list.