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.

About this task

The following steps describe how to connect to a WebSphere eXtreme Scale grid by using a configurable service.

Procedure

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 IBNODE -n wxs::id1 -u userId -p password
```
Create a WXSServer configurable service by using the mqsicreateconfigurableservice command or the web user interface.
Use the values that are provided by your WebSphere eXtreme Scale administrator to configure the connection to the external grid, as shown in the following example.
```
mqsicreateconfigurableservice IBNODE -c WXSServer -o xc10 
-n catalogServiceEndPoints,gridName,overrideObjectGridFile,securityIdentity 
-v "server.ibm.com:2809","myGrid","C:\Integration\WebSphere_eXtreme_Scale\xc10\xc10Client.xml","id1"
```
As you can see from this example, when you specify the security identity, you 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® Integration Bus 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 WXSServer configurable service, you can interact with the external grid by using a Mapping node or a JavaCompute node. For more information, 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 configurable service 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 Integration Bus interacts with the external grid. For more information, see Monitoring the global cache.