Maintaining an external Content Platform Engine configuration

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Maintenance requires some additional considerations when IBM® Business Automation Workflow is configured with an external Content Platform Engine, also called an external Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system. Your maintenance procedures must include Business Automation Workflow, the external Content Platform Engine system, and shared resources.

The administrative role

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

Shutting down and starting the systems in order

For maintenance operations like the installation of interim fixes or for backups, a shutdown of the Business Automation Workflow and Content Platform Engine environments is required. After Business Automation Workflow is configured to use an external content repository in a Content Platform Engine environment, some operations will fail when one of the two systems is unavailable:
  • Business Automation Workflow API calls that include access to content artifacts will fail if the 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 Content Platform Engine environment is not available.
  • If the Business Automation Workflow environment is not available, operations in the content repository will fail. For example, the content information needs to be synchronized with Business Automation Workflow. 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 Business Automation Workflow and then proceed to Content Platform Engine.
  1. When you shut down the Business Automation Workflow 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.
  2. To shut down Content Platform Engine, see Starting and stopping FileNet P8 components.
  3. Starting the systems occurs in the reverse order. Use BPMconfig -start to start the Business Automation Workflow 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 a Business Automation Workflow environment that is connected to a Content Platform Engine environment.

  • Business Automation Workflow and 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.
  • Content Platform Engine: The administrator must realize that applying a maintenance update impacts Business Automation Workflow, because Business Automation Workflow must also be shut down. See Shutting down and starting the systems in order. Some Content Platform Engine fixes or upgrades might also need to be applied to Business Automation Workflow. Refer to the documentation for the fix or upgrade for special instructions with regards to dependencies.
  • IBM Business Automation Workflow: The administrator must realize that applying a maintenance update impacts Content Platform Engine, since Content Platform Engine must also be shut down. See Shutting down and starting the systems in order. Some Business Automation Workflow fixes and upgrades might also need to be applied to Content Platform Engine. Refer to the documentation for the fix or upgrade for special instructions with regards to dependencies.