Check Expire Service

The Check Expire service alerts you when certificates are about to expire or already expired.

Note: You cannot check the expiration for the OpsDrv, OpsKey, and UIKey certificates. These system certificates are used internally by Sterling B2B Integrator and do not expire.

The following table provides an overview of the Check Expire service:

System Name Check Expire Service
Graphical Process Modeler (GPM) category All Services
Description Use this service to retrieve information on all supported certificates that have expired or will expire in a set number of days. The number of days can be set by changing the checkexpireDays value in ui.properties.
Business usage Alerts you when certificates are about to expire, or have expired.
Usage example Can be used in a business process to report on any certificates that are about to expire in the number of days specified by the EXPIRE_DAYS parameter.
Preconfigured? Yes. A configuration of the service called CheckExpireService is installed with Sterling B2B Integrator.
Requires third-party files? No
Platform availability All supported Sterling B2B Integrator platforms
Related services None
Application requirements None
Initiates business processes? No
Invocation The Check Expire service is included in a predefined business process, Schedule_CheckExpireService.bp, which is scheduled by default to run at 2:30 a.m. daily. To see whether there are any certificates about to expire, view messages under Accounts > User News.
Business process context considerations None
Returned status values None
Restrictions The OpsDrv, OpsKey, and UIKey certificates cannot be checked for expiration because they are used internally by Sterling B2B Integrator and do not expire.
Persistence level None
Testing considerations None

How the Check Expire Service Works

The Check Expire service runs on a schedule (by default daily at 2:30 a.m.) and looks at each checked in certificate to compare its expiration date against the value set in Sterling B2B Integrator (the default is 14 days). Any certificates that have already expired or will expire sometime within the specified number of days are listed on the Admin Console Home page in System Alerts, System Alerts on Dashboard, and the Event Viewer under the Operator menu. The alerts remain in the system for 60 days.

Implementing the Check Expire Service

There is no implementation necessary for the Check Expire service, unless you want to change the number of days prior to expirations that you receive alerts, or the schedule. To do so, edit the service configuration called Check Expire Service. The following table describes the fields used to configure the Check Expire adapter in Sterling B2B Integrator:

Field Description
Name Unique and meaningful name for the adapter configuration. Required.
Description Meaningful description for the adapter configuration, for reference purposes. Required.
Select a Group Select a Service Group to associate with this adapter. Valid values:
  • None – You do not want to include this configuration in a group at this time. Default.
  • Create New Group – You can enter a name for a new group in this field, which is then created along with this configuration.
  • Select Group – If you have already created one or more groups for this service type, they are displayed in the list. Select a group from the list.
  • For more information about service groups, see Managing Services and Adapters.
Run as User Type the user ID to associate with the schedule, or select a user ID from the list. Valid value is any valid Sterling B2B Integrator user ID.
Use 24 Hour Clock Display If selected, the adapter will use the 24-hour clock instead of the default 12-hour clock.
Schedule By default, the Check Expire service and business process are scheduled to run every day at 2:30 a.m. Valid values:
  • Do not use schedule If this field is selected, the adapter does not start a business process and does not run on a schedule.
  • Run based on timer Valid values are the hour and minutes at which to run the adapter. If you choose to select a time interval, the valid values are the hours and minutes for the intervals. Add or delete selections as necessary. Specify any schedule exclusions or date exclusions. Indicate whether you want the adapter to run at startup.
  • Run daily Valid values are the hour and minutes at which to run the adapter, daily. If you choose to select a time interval, the valid values are the hour and minute for the interval. Add or delete selections as necessary. Specify any date exclusions. Indicate whether you want the adapter to run at startup.
  • Run based on day(s) of the week Valid values are the day of the week, the hour, and the minute that specify when to run the adapter. If you choose to select a time interval, the valid values are the hours and minutes for the intervals. Add or delete selections as necessary. Specify any date exclusions.
  • Run based on day(s) of the month Valid values are the day of the month, hour, and minute that specify when to run the adapter. If you choose to select a time interval, the valid values are the hours and minutes for the intervals. Add or delete selections as necessary. Specify any date exclusions.
Expire Days Number of days before a certificate expires that you will begin receiving alerts. Default is 14. Required.
Output Method Type of alert to use when a certificate is about to expire. Valid values are Email, EVENT and User Message.
Output Email Address (Output Method = Email) E-mail address to use when the alert output method is Email.
User(s) Settings (Output Method = User Message) Users for whom an alert message will be created when a certificate is about to expire. Used when the alert output method is User Message.
Exclusion Settings Certificates to exclude from reporting.

Output from Service to Business Process

The following table contains the parameters passed from the Check Expire service to a business process:
CHECKEXPIRE Specifies the type of alert to use when a certificate is about to expire. Valid values are Email, EVENT and User Message.
EXPIRE_DAYS Specifies when you start receiving alerts that a certificate is about to expire. For example, if this parameter is set to 7 days, you will start receiving alerts seven days before the certificate is scheduled to expire. Default is 14.
OUTPUT_MAIL Specifies the e-mail address to use when using an e-mail alert.

Business Process Example

This is the Schedule_CheckExpireService business process as installed with Sterling B2B Integrator:

<process name="Schedule_CheckExpireService">
  <sequence>
    <operation name="Service">
      <participant name="CheckExpireService"/>
      <output message="Xout">
        <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
      </output>
      <input message="Xin">
        <assign to="." from="*"></assign>
      </input>
    </operation>
  </sequence> 
</process>