Configuring a custom Object Request Broker

[Java programming language only] [Version 8.6 and later] (Deprecated)WebSphere® eXtreme Scale uses the Object Request Broker (ORB) to enable communication among processes. No action is required to use the Object Request Broker (ORB) provided by WebSphere eXtreme Scale or WebSphere Application Server for your WebSphere eXtreme Scale servers. Little effort is required to use the same ORBs for your WebSphere eXtreme Scale clients. If instead you must use a custom ORB, the ORB supplied with the IBM® SDK is a good choice, although you must configure the ORB. ORBs from other vendors can be used, also with configuration.

Before you begin

Deprecated: The Object Request Broker (ORB) is deprecated. If you were not using the ORB in a previous release, use IBM eXtremeIO (XIO) for your transport mechanism. If you are using the ORB, consider migrating your configuration to use XIO.

Determine if you are using the ORB provided with WebSphere eXtreme Scale or WebSphere Application Server, the ORB provided with the IBM SDK, or an external vendor ORB.

You can make separate decisions for the WebSphere eXtreme Scale server processes and WebSphere eXtreme Scale client processes. While eXtreme Scale supports developer kits from most vendors, it is recommended you use the ORB that is supplied with eXtreme Scale for both your server and client processes. eXtreme Scale does not support the ORB that is supplied with the Oracle Java™ Development Kit (JDK).

About this task

Become familiar with the configuration that is required to use the ORB of your choice.

Case 1: Default ORB

For your WebSphere eXtreme Scale server processes, no configuration is required to use the ORB provided with WebSphere eXtreme Scale or WebSphere Application Server.
For your WebSphere eXtreme Scale client processes, minimal classpath configuration is required to use the ORB provided with WebSphere eXtreme Scale or WebSphere Application Server.

Case 2: Custom ORB (IBM)

To configure your WebSphere eXtreme Scale client processes to use the ORB provided with the IBM SDK, see the instructions later in this topic. You can use the IBM ORB whether you are using the IBM SDK or another development kit. You can use IBM SDK Version 6 or later.

Case 3: Custom ORB (supplied by an external vendor)

Using a vendor ORB for your WebSphere eXtreme Scale client processes is the least tested option. Any problems that you encounter when you use ORBs from independent software vendors must be reproducible with the IBM ORB and compatible JRE before you contact support.

The ORB supplied with the Oracle Java Development Kit (JDK) is not supported.

Procedure

Configure your client processes to use one of the default ORBs (Case 1).
Use the following JVM argument
:
```
-jvmArgs –Djava.endorsed.dirs=default_ORB_directory${pathSeparator}JRE_HOME/lib/endorsed
```
The default ORB directory is: wxs_home/lib/endorsed. Updating the following properties in the orb.properties file might also be necessary:
```
org.omg.CORBA.ORBClass=com.ibm.CORBA.iiop.ORB
org.omg.CORBA.ORBSingletonClass=com.ibm.rmi.corba.ORBSingleton
```
Configure client or server processes to use IBM SDK Version 6 (Case 2).
1. Copy the ORB Java archive (JAR) files into an empty directory, or the custom_ORB_directory.
  - ibmorb.jar
  - ibmorbapi.jar
2. Specify the custom_ORB_directory directory as an endorsed directory in the scripts that start the Java command.
  Tip: If your Java commands already specify an endorsed directory, another option is to place the custom_ORB_directory directory under the existing endorsed directory. By placing the custom_ORB_directory directory under the existing endorsed directory, updating the scripts is not necessary. If you decide to update the scripts anyway, be sure to add the custom_ORB_directory directory as a prefix to your existing –Djava.endorsed.dirs= argument, rather than completely replacing the existing argument.
  - Update scripts for a stand-alone eXtreme Scale environment.
    Edit the path for the OBJECTGRID_ENDORSED_DIRS variable in the setupCmdLine.bat|sh file to specify the custom_ORB_directory. Save your changes.
  - Update scripts when eXtreme Scale is embedded in a WebSphere Application Server environment.
    Add the following system property and parameters to the startOgServer script:
    -jvmArgs –Djava.endorsed.dirs=custom_ORB_directory
  - Update custom scripts that you use to start a client application process or a server process.
    -Djava.endorsed.dirs=custom_ORB_directory