Rational Automation Framework 3.0.1

Known Side Effects

There are no open APARs to report as of this release.

The following issues are known to affect this release.

New location for configuration definition file: The former location of the configuration properties file (env-config.properties) was the following directory:

RAFW_HOME/work

Beginning with Rational Automation Framework Version 3.0.0.4, a second copy of the file was placed in the following directory:

RAFW_HOME/user/preserve/envgen

Beginning with Version 3.0.1, only one copy of the configuration definition file is supported. That copy is the one located in the /user/preserve/envgen directory.

Custom templates fully supported for WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal only: For any other middleware products, you might see errors due to mismatched token names between the user-created templates and the product templates.

The automated creation of custom templates is not available at all for WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile.

Workaround:  For products other than WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal, use product templates and customize the configuration definitions manually.

Clusters cannot recognize custom node types: The problem is that nodes define what types of servers you can create on them. Clusters define what types of nodes their servers go onto. Servers are located on nodes, but are managed by clusters. Thus existing cluster types don't recognize custom nodes and won't allow you to create servers on them. The custom nodes are not even available in the configuration editor to add to a cluster.

For this release, do not use custom node types if you want servers on those nodes to be clustered. Instead, add custom questions for the standard node types.

Java 7 required for alternate application servers: If you use WebSphere Application Server or your own copy of Tomcat as your application server, you might not be able to launch the Rational Automation Framework console.

Upgrade to a version of WebSphere Application Server or Tomcat that includes Java 7.

The Rational Automation Framework integration with Rational Asset Manager is not available on AIX:.Version 3.0.1 of Rational Automation Framework does not support Rational Asset Manager integration on the AIX platform.

Creating a virtual system pattern from a template results in pattern for unintended part: The VSP generator chooses parts based on the way those parts identify themselves. If, for example, a new image is an extension of a WebSphere Application Server image, but still identifies itself as the WebSphere Application Server part, Rational Automation Framework might use the new image rather than the intended WebSphere Application Server part.

Workaround: Instead of generating a VSP, use the same interface to generate a custom script package based on the template. You can then manually create a VSP in the IBM Workload Deployer and add the custom script package as well as the Cleanup, Import, and Integration script packages. Alternatively, you can edit the generated VSP, remove the incorrect image, and replace it with the appropriate one.

VSP generation fails due to missing script package: When generating a virtual system pattern from a template, you might see the following error message:

CRWSE0307E No matches for script package with name AMC Xxxxxx Script Package

You must have the following script packes in the IBM PureApplication System catalog:

• AMC Cleanup Script Package
• AMC Import Script Package
• AMC Integration Script Package

If any packages are missing, upload them from the following location on the framework server:

/opt/IBM/RAFServer/rafw/framework/wca/

The following files are available:

• CleanupScriptPackage.zip
• ImportScriptPackage.zip
• rafwScriptPackage.zip (contains AMC Integration Script Package)

After all three script packages are displayed in the catalog, generate the VSP again.

DB2 warning message during rafBackupAndRestore command: While restoring the database on a new Rational Automation Framework server, you might see the following warning:

Restoring database 'RAFDB'... Executing: su - db2inst1 -c "db2 restore database RAFDB taken at xxxxxx without prompting" SQL2540W Restore is successful, however a warning "2539" was encountered during Database Restore while processing in No Interrupt mode.

The DB2 warning message 2539 indicates that a database with the given name (in this case RAFDB) already exists and that the data inside that database will be overwritten. This is the expected action, so you can ignore this message.

Rational Automation Framework script packages are supported only on Linux and AIX: Rational Automation Framework script packages are not supported when attached to Windows based images.

WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5 supported as automation target: You can use all existing WebSphere Application Server 8.5 actions with WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5.

Microsoft Windows Server 2012 support: Microsoft Windows Server 2012 (W2K12) is supported as a platform for WebSphere Application Server 8.5 target systems.

Fix pack support: The current release supports the following fix packs for IBM WebSphere Application Server and IBM HTTP Server: 70027, 8003, 8004, 8005, 8501.

RAFW_EnvironmentGenerationWizard automation plan no longer created: Due to extensive changes in the generation process, this plan is no longer needed.  The plan was not commonly used, in any case. Existing copies of the plan are not deleted when you upgrade from a version earlier than 3.0.1, but the plan is no longer created if you freshly install version 3.0.1.

User change logging suppressed in Tomcat logs: The user change function in the automation engine is being invoked frequently enough that logging the activity was causing very large log files. If you wish to restore those messages, comment out the following line in the RAFW_HOME/server/tomcat/conf/logging.properties file:

com.buildforge.services.server.api.AuthContext.level=WARNING

Use a number sign (#) as the comment character.

-genCloudPattern option no longer supported in rafwEnvBuild: With the current release, you use the Eclipse client to generate virtual system patterns (VSPs). The -genCloudPattern option has been removed from rafwEnvBuild.

Default OS_RAFW_HOME changed: In previous releases, the default value for OS_RAFW_HOME on UNIX and Linux target systems (such as AIX_RAFW_HOME) was /opt/RAFW. With the new release, the value is now /tmp/RAFW. The value for Windows target systems has not changed. You can change this default value by editing the configure.properties file on the framework server in the RAFW_HOME path.

Resolving conflicts in template creation: When you use the Eclipse client to create a template from a configuration definition, the new template must pass a number of validation steps. The template can fail validation if any of the following conditions apply:

• You select more than one scope of the same type
• You select files from a second scope of the same type as the selected scope, even if that second scope is not itself selected
• You select child scopes (such as  nodes and application servers) from a second scope of the same type as the selected scope, even if that second scope is not itself selected

Property name change for WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile: If you are using a WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile configuration properties file that was created in a previous version of Rational Automation Framework, you must make a manual change to the file before you regenerate the configuration definition file.

Open the configuration properties file (RAFW_HOME/user/preserve/envgen/env-config.properties) in an editor. Change the name of the LIBERTY_ENVIRONMENT property to ENVIRONMENT. Change the name of the LIBERTY_PROFILE_NAME property to CONFIGURATION.

Save the properties file and regenerate the configuration definition.

Generation process for new configurations creates four automation plans: With this release, when you create a configuration definition from scratch, the generator not only creates the RAFW_env_config plan to create the live configuration on the target system, but also creates the same three automation plans that are generated for an existing configuration:  RAFW_env_config_compare, RAFW_env_config_execute, and RAFW_env_config_import.

Configuration editor questions reorganized for ND managed nodes: The information center topic named "Configuration reference for managed nodes" lists a number of configuration editor questions for each managed node under the heading Questions for Stand-alone Server. Prior to release, these questions were reformatted. There are now two sections, one named Application Servers on this node and the other named Proxy Servers defined on this node.

For each application server on the node, provide a name in the Server name field.

For each proxy server, provide a server name in the Server name field and select a template from the WebSphere Proxy Server template list.

Problems validating the Rational Asset Manager repository URI: The Rational Asset Manager repository URI does not require the context root for the Rational Asset Manager GUI.  This is different from the Rational Team Concert repository URI which does require the context root.

For example, if your Rational Asset Manager server is at ramsvt2.example.com:9080/ram/ and your Rational Asset Manager web services are ramsvt2.example.com:9080/ram.ws/RAMSecure/rootservices, then specify ramsvt2.example.com:9080/ram.ws as the value for the repository URI.

Configuration not checked into source control because of "ambiguous workspace": Due to a problem with Rational Team Concert, if you accept the default value when creating a workspace, duplicate workspaces might be created. If two or more workspaces exist with the same name, regardless of who created them, the configuration is not checked in and a message that reads "Ambiguous workspace/stream" is written to the log.

Workaround: Do not use the default value when creating a Rational Team Concert workspace.

Rational Asset Manager and Rational Team Concert integrations not available on Windows: You can use Rational Asset Manager or Rational Team Concert to store configuration definitions for a Rational Automation Framework server on UNIX or Linux systems only.  The integrations with Rational Asset Manager and Rational Team Concert are not available for a Rational Automation Framework server running on Windows.

Use "-product" option when creating Liberty profile through the command line wizard: When creating a configuration definition for WebSphere Liberty profile through the command line wizard, do not use the Liberty profile option in the product list. For new configurations, the definition is created in the wrong directory. For existing configurations, the wizard fails.

Workaround: Start the rafwEnvBuild command with the "-product liberty" option.

Can't add WebSphere Application Server nodes to WebSphere Service Registry and Repository clusters: When you create a configuration definition for a WebSphere Service Registry and Repository cell, you can add only WebSphere Service Registry and Repository nodes to a cluster. At this time, you cannot add WebSphere Application Server or other types of nodes to the clusters.

Warnings in log after running integrateToBF: When you run integrateToBF createAll on a new installation of Rational Automation Framework, you might see "Missing required parameter 'env.uuid'" warnings in the catalina log file. You can ignore these warning messages.

Concurrent imports of the same cell cause deadlock: If you have two configuration definitions based on the same WebSphere Application Server cell, do not run the import automation plans from both configurations at the same time. Doing so can create a situation where neither plan completes.

Configure actions excluded for standalone servers: The following two configure actions are not included in the was_common_configure_all action for WebSphere Application Server cells with a standalone server:

was_common_configure_health_policies
was_common_configure_service_policies

The problem is related to the base installation code for WebSphere Application Server. If you have a cell with a standalone server that you created using WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment installation code, you can run these two actions separately after the was_common_configure_all action completes.

False positive result of configuration storage automation plans: When you run one of the "get" or "put" automation plans for either Rational Team Concert or Rational Asset Manager, the plan may fail while indicating success. These plans determine their success or failure using text filters to find specific strings within the command output. If none of these strings match, then the command is deemed successful. It is possible that the command was unsuccessful, and either returned an unexpected string or possibly no string at all.

When running a configuration storage automation plan, scan the output and verify that no errors were reported.

Administrative agent questions displayed for Network Deployment cells: When creating a WebSphere Application Server version 7.0, 8.0, or 8.5 configuration definition in the Rational Automation Framework console, it is possible to specify a “Standalone” cell type, answer “Yes” for administrative agent, and then change the cell type to “Network Deployment. “ In this case, the administrative agent setting remains "Yes".

Do not change from “Standalone” to “Network Deployment” if you have already set the administrative agent to “Yes”. If you have already made this change, delete the configuration definition and reenter the information.

Date does not change after VSP update: If you update a VSP from a template, but do not remove the VSP from IBM Workload Deployer and reload it, your changes show up in IBM Workload Deployer, but the displayed date of the VSP does not change.

No workaround is required, because the VSP is updated correctly.

The VSP generator creates a VSP with the wrong WebSphere Application Server version: When you generate a VSP from a template, the VSP in IBM Workload Deployer might have a different version of WebSphere Application Server than the template.

Edit the VSP in IBM Workload Deployer to replace the Operating System part with one that contains the correct version of WebSphere Application Server.

Generating with rafEnvBuild from older configuration properties files results in missing or incorrect values: Version 3.0.1 added a scope data file to the generation process. If you generate an older configuration properties file using the command line, that file is not available and errors can result.

Open the file in the configuration editor and generate it there.

Installing the Rational Automation Framework server from the launchpad console fails: The Rational Automation Framework installation process uses three ISO images: two for the server and one for the client. If you start the server installation process from one of the ISO images using launchpad and then select Install or Upgrade IBM Installation Manager, you might find that nothing happens.

You must extract the contents of both server ISO images into a common directory and then run launchpad from that directory.

Framework server fails to start due to missing password: If you upgraded from Rational Automation Framework version 3.0.0.5 or earlier, you might not be able to start the framework server.

Edit /buildforge.propeties. Add a BF_ROOT_PASSWORD property and set it to the Rational Build Forge root user password. If you don't know the root password, and BF_USERNAME is set to root, you can copy the value from BF_PASSWORD to BF_ROOT_PASSWORD. Save the buildforge.propeties file and restart the framework server.

Configuration properties files can be lost during upgrades: If you upgrade from a version of Rational Automation Framework earlier than 3.0.0.4, configuration properties files (env-config.properties) are not copied from the old location (the RAFW_HOME/work directory) to the new location (the RAFW_HOME/user/preserve/envgen directory).

The preferred workaround is to back up the RAFW_HOME/work directory before you upgrade, and then copy the contents to the RAFW_HOME/user/preserve/envgen directory after the upgrade.

If you have already upgraded and lost your properties files, use the existing configuration option of the configuration editor to recreate the missing configuration definitions.

was_common_configue_sibus_all does not properly update Messaging bus entries: When you run was_common_configue_sibus_all in execute mode, the attributes are imported, but any changes to the sib.xml file are not propagated to WebSphere Application Server when executed.

Workaround: Delete the messaging engine and recreate it with the desired datasource attributes.

Possible confusion over name of was_common_configure_security_ssl action: The was_common_configure_security_ssl action corresponds to Security > SSL certificate and key management > SSL configurations in the WebSphere Application Server console. If you want the action that corresponds to Security > SSL certificate and key management > Dynamic outbound endpoint SSL configurations, which you use to import, execute, or work with changes, use the was_common_configure_security_global action.

WebSphere Application Server administrative console permits invalid characters in passwords: You can include the "$" and "&" characters in a password that you create through the WebSphere Application Server administrative console. However, if you then use that password in the Rational Automation Framework configuration editor, or any other process that uses a SOAP connection, the password will not be recognized.

The best workaround is to not create a password that uses invalid characters. You can still use a password with some invalid characters (such as "$" and "&") by prefacing them with a backslash, or by enclosing the entire password in single quotes.

The was_common_configure_start_cluster action times out: The was_common_configure_start_cluster action times out if the cluster fails to start within 30 minutes. This can be caused by a cluster that is simply very slow to start.

Workaround: Use the was_common_configure_ripple_start_cluster action instead. This action cycles through all the servers in the cluster, stopping and restarting each one in turn so that at least one server is available at all times to handle processing.

Eclipse client uses system browser to create configuration definition: In previous releases, the Eclipse client used an internal browser to display the Environment Generation wizard. With the current release, configuration definitions are created in the new console interface. When you click "Create Configuration Environment" in the Eclipse client, the console is displayed in the system browser rather than the internal Eclipse browser.