Maintenance of an external ECM configuration

Maintenance requires some additional considerations when IBM® Business Process Manager is configured with an external ECM server. Your maintenance procedures must include IBM BPM, the external ECM system, and shared resources.

The administrative role

The administrative role in FileNet Content Platform Engine is used to run administration tasks. However, since the IBM BPM object store is a shared resource between IBM BPM and FileNet Content Platform Engine, the user of this role must not change its properties. A change to the IBM BPM object store by the administrative role makes the IBM BPM object store inconsistent to the IBM BPM system.

Order of shutting down and starting up of the systems

For maintenance operations like the installation of interim fixes or for backups, a shutdown of the IBM BPM and (or) FileNet Content Platform Engine environments is required. Once IBM BPM is configured to use an external content repository in a FileNet Content Platform Engine environment, some operations will fail when one of the two systems is unavailable:

IBM BPM API calls that include access to content artifacts will fail if the FileNet Content Platform Engine environment is not available.
The navigation of case instances will fail if, for example, the instance is at a point where it synchronizes case folder properties; but the FileNet Content Platform Engine environment is not available.
If the IBM BPM environment is not available, operations in the content repository will fail. For example, the content information needs to be synchronized with IBM BPM. This situation might happen when a document is filed into a case folder, or when case folder properties are updated.

The recommended shutdown sequence is to begin by shutting down IBM BPM and then proceed to FileNet Content Platform Engine.

When you shut down the IBM BPM system, use the BPMconfig -stop command. This command automatically shuts down the system in the correct order: support cluster first, then application cluster, and, finally, messaging cluster. See BPMConfig command-line utility.
To shut down FileNet Content Platform Engine, see Starting and stopping FileNet P8 components.
Starting the systems occurs in the reverse order. Use BPMconfig -start to start the IBM BPM system. See BPMConfig command-line utility.

Applying maintenance

If you need to apply maintenance, such as fix packs or updates to your environments, a few dependencies must be considered for an IBM BPM environment that is connected to a FileNet Content Platform Engine environment.

IBM BPM and FileNet Content Platform Engine are installed in separate WebSphere Application Server cells, which means that fixes can be applied independently. A common WebSphere Application Server level is not required. Check the system requirements of each system.
FileNet Content Platform Engine: The administrator must realize that applying a maintenance update impacts IBM BPM, since IBM BPM must also be shut down. See Order of shutting down and starting up of the systems. Some FileNet Content Platform Engine fixes or upgrades might also need to be applied to IBM BPM. Refer to the documentation for the fix or upgrade for special instructions with regards to dependencies.
IBM Business Process Manager: The administrator must realize that applying a maintenance update impacts FileNet Content Platform Engine, since FileNet Content Platform Engine must also be shut down. See Order of shutting down and starting up of the systems. Some IBM BPM fixes and upgrades might also need to be applied to FileNet Content Platform Engine. Refer to the documentation for the fix or upgrade for special instructions with regards to dependencies.