Creating an integration node by using the command line

On Linux®, UNIX and Windows, you can create integration nodes on the command line.

Before you begin

If you want to configure the integration node as an IBM® MQ trusted application, see Using IBM MQ trusted applications.
Read Controlling access to IBM App Connect Enterprise.
Check which operation mode you are licensed to use. If you do not set a mode, the automatic default is advanced mode; see Operation modes.

About this task

When you create an integration node, you can optionally specify a queue manager for the integration node. If you do not specify a queue manager, features that require access to IBM MQ will be unavailable. For more information about using IBM MQ with IBM App Connect Enterprise, see Enhanced flexibility in interactions with IBM MQ and Installing IBM MQ.

When you create an integration node, a subdirectory is created to store files for the integration node (and its integration servers and the resources deployed to those servers). These files include the integration node's configuration file, node.conf.yaml. By default, the node's subdirectory is created under the IBM App Connect Enterprise working directory, which was set when the product was installed. On the mqsicreatebroker command you can optionally use the -w workPath parameter to specify your own choice of working directory.

For example, for the integration node node_name, the default working directory on Windows is C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\node_name, which has the following structure:

C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\node_name
C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\node_name\node.conf.yaml
...
C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\node_name\servers

The node_name\servers directory is created when you later create an integration server for the integration node, and a subdirectory is created under node_name\servers to store files for each integration server. These files include the server's configuration file, server.conf.yaml. For example, two integration servers created under the integration node NODEIPL102:

C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\NODEIPL102\servers\N101ISAA
C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\NODEIPL102\servers\N102ISAB

When you create an integration node by running the mqsicreatebroker command, an overrides subdirectory is also created under the working directory for the integration node. This overrides directory contains an additional node.conf.yaml configuration file, which contains property values that are set by IBM App Connect Enterprise commands, including the mqsicreatebroker command. These values override any values that are set for the same properties in the integration node's base node.conf.yaml file.

When you have created the integration node, you can configure it by modifying properties in its node.conf.yaml configuration file (for example, C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\acev11node\node.conf.yaml). If any commands are run subsequently, which modify settings for the integration node, those modified settings are saved in a node.conf.yaml file in the overrides directory (for example, C:\ProgramData\IBM\MQSI\components\acev11node\overrides\node.conf.yaml).

If a property has been set in the integration node's base node.conf.yaml file, and also in the overrides directory (\overrides\node.conf.yaml), the property value that has been set in the overrides directory is used. Therefore, if an integration node does not appear to be using the settings that you would expect, check the node.conf.yaml file in the overrides directory to see if your expected property value has been overridden by a command. If you want to manually override the settings that have resulted from a command, you can either edit the property in the node.conf.yaml file in the overrides directory, or you can remove the entry from the overrides directory and modify the base node.conf.yaml file instead.

To create an integration node by using the command line, complete the following steps:

Procedure

Ensure that you have the authority to create an integration node by following the steps for your operating system:
- On Linux and UNIX, ensure that you are logged in using a user ID that has authority to run the mqsicreatebroker command.
  Run the mqsiprofile script to set up the command environment for the integration node:
```
install_dir/server/bin/mqsiprofile
```
  You must run this script before you can run the IBM App Connect Enterprise commands.
  
  For more information, see Setting up a command environment.
- On Windows, open an IBM App Connect Enterprise command prompt for the runtime installation in which you want to create the integration node. For more information about initializing the runtime environment, see Setting up a command environment.
  On Windows systems, you must open a command console with elevated privileges. To open a command console with elevated privileges, use the mqsicommandconsole command. For more information, see mqsicommandconsole command.
Use the mqsicreatebroker command to create the integration node.
For example, if you want to create an integration node that is called INODE with a queue manager that is called ACEQMGR, enter the following command:
```
mqsicreatebroker INODE -i wbrkuid -a wbrkpw -q ACEQMGR
```
Where wbrkuid and wbrkpw are the user name and password under which the integration node runs.
Note: You can specify a queue manager name that does not exist, but the specified queue manager must be running before you start your integration node.
When you create your first integration node, the web user interface uses the default port 4414, and for each integration node created after the port number increments automatically by one. You can change the port number to be used by editing the integration node's node.conf.yaml file. You can also change the port number or disable the web user interface by using the mqsichangeproperties command. If administration security is not enabled, web users can access the web user interface as a default user with unrestricted access to data and integration node resources.

For more information about the command parameters, see mqsicreatebroker command.

Results

You have created an integration node.

What to do next

(Optional) If you want to configure properties of the integration node, edit its node.conf.yaml file. For example, you can set a REST administration port and an HTTPS port, you can enable administration security, and you can configure the trace level, activity logging, JVM, and the reporting of statistics and accounting data. For more information, see Configuring an integration node by modifying the node.conf.yaml file.

Start the integration node by using the mqsistart node_name command. See Starting and stopping an integration node on Windows, Linux, and UNIX systems.

If you want to work with the integration node in the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit (or a custom integration application), connect the toolkit to the integration node. For example, connect to the integration node before you can use the Enterprise Toolkit to start the node's web user interface or create integration servers associated with the integration node. See Connecting to an integration node by using the Toolkit.
If you want to use the web user interface to manage the integration node's integration servers and their resources, start the web user interface using the administration URI (hostname and port) configured for the integration node. The hostname and port are reported by the mqsilist command; for example:
```
mqsilist
...
BIP1325I: Integration node 'NODEIPL101' with administration URI 'http://<host>:4417' is running.
```
For more information about using the web user interface to manage integration servers and their resources, see Managing integration servers and Managing deployed resources.
Create integration servers under the integration node; for example, by using the Enterprise Toolkit or the web user interface. For more information, see Creating an integration server.

When you have completed these tasks, you can create the resources that you want to associate with the integration node; for example message flows. You can create and work with resources by using either the IBM App Connect Enterprise Toolkit or the IBM Integration API.