Technical Notes

Configuring a FileXpress Internet Server Cluster
Technical Note 2586
Last Reviewed 03-Oct-2011
Applies To
FileXpress Internet Server version 7.0 or higher
FileXpress Command Center version 7.0 or higher
Summary

This technical note describes the steps to configure FileXpress Internet Server to run in a Microsoft cluster environment.

FileXpress Internet Server is not a cluster-aware application, but it can be configured to run in a Microsoft cluster environment. The Microsoft cluster service is required to manage access to shared resources.

Refer to the FileXpress Command Center and Internet Server Installation Guide for details as you proceed through the steps in this technical note. The Guide is available from the FileXpress Documentation page (http://support.attachmate.com/manuals/filexpress.html).

Follow these steps to configure a FileXpress Internet Server cluster.

Step 1: Install FileXpress prerequisites on each node of your cluster

Perform the following steps on each node of your cluster. See the Installation Guide for details.

1. Install the Java SDK on each node of your cluster, including the unlimited strength policy files.
2. Install the database server on each node of your cluster and download the JDBC driver if required for your database and version of FileXpress. MySQL is used as an example in this document. (See the Installation Guide for details.)

3. Configure the system environment variables (JAVA_HOME and PATH) on each node.

Step 2: Configure the cluster

Since FileXpress Internet Server is not a cluster-aware application, the cluster environment must be configured in stages. A shared physical drive must be defined where FileXpress will be installed and its shared resources (database files).

1. Open the Microsoft Cluster Administrator management tool.
2. Create a cluster group for FileXpress.
3. Select the available nodes and add them to the Preferred Owners list.
4. Add the following resource items to the FileXpress cluster group.

Resource Type	Description	Dependencies
Physical Disk	Location of the FileXpress installation.	None
IP Address	The IP address used by the server.	None
Network Name	The host name used by the server.	IP Address

5. Bring each resource online.

Step 3: Configure the database on the active owner

You need to create and configure the FileXpress Database, and then move the database files to the shared disk of the cluster. (For details, see "Installing and Configuring MySQL" in the FileXpress Installation Guide.)

To create and configure the FileXpress Database:

1. Create a FileXpress database and username. Use the name fxcc for both the database and the username.
2. Provide the FileXpress username with the ability to read, write, and create tables in the FileXpress database.

To move the database files to the shared physical disk of the cluster:

1. Stop the MySQL Server Service on the Owner node.
2. Launch Windows Explorer and go to the directory containing the MySQL Server installation files. For example, C:\Program Files\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.5\.
3. Edit the my.ini file.

• Locate the “SERVER SECTION” and comment out the existing “datadir” parameter by placing a hash (#) at the beginning of the line.
• Add a new “datadir” line with the location of the shared physical disk created in the previous section. For example:

4. Navigate to C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.1\data. Copy both the main mysql and the fxcc folders and paste the folders into the new Application Data directory S:\MySQL\MySQL Server 5.5\data\.
5. Repeat Steps 1-3 on the inactive node.

Step 4: Add the MySQL Server to the cluster group

1. Reopen the Microsoft cluster management tool, if you closed it.
2. Select the FileXpress cluster group created previously and add the MySQL Server service as a resource to the cluster group using the following settings:

Settings	Values
Resource Type	Generic Service
Dependencies	Add the following resources: Physical Disk IP Address Network Name
Generic Service Parameters	Set service name equal to: MySQL Enable this setting: Use network name for computer name

3. Bring the resource online.

Step 5: Install FileXpress on the active owner

To install FileXpress:

1. Create an Attachmate folder on the shared physical disk. For example,

2. Download the FileXpress package filexpress-ccis-7.x.tar.gz to the Attachmate folder you just created.
3. Extract filexpress-ccis-7.x.tar.gz to the current location.
4. Extract filexpress-ccis-7.x.tar to the current location. This creates a subfolder based on the package name.
5. Open a Command Prompt window and navigate to the FileXpress program folder that was created in Step 4.
6. Use the following command to start the install script (install.bat)

7. During the installation, use the shared network name of the cluster in your response to the following questions:

For detailed information about the install script options, refer to the Installation Guide.

Step 6: Install the FileXpress Windows Service on the active owner

The steps for installing the FileXpress Windows service depend on which version of FileXpress you are running.

Stop the FileXpress Server, and follow the steps for your version.

• For version 7.1, see "Install the FileXpress Windows Service" in the 7.1 Installation Guide.
• For version 7.0, see "To run FileXpress as a Windows service" in the 7.0 Installation Guide.

Step 7: Add the FileXpress Server to the cluster group

1. Reopen the Microsoft cluster management tool, if you closed it.
2. Add the FileXpress Server service as a resource to the cluster group using the following settings:

Settings	Values
Resource Type	Generic Service
Dependencies	Add the following resources: Physical Disk IP Address Network Name MySQL Server
Generic Service Parameters	Set service name equal to: FXServer Enable this setting: Use network name for computer name

Step 8: Install the FileXpress Windows Service on the second node

The FileXpress Windows Service must be installed on the inactive (second) node so that it can become the active node. The script and supporting files to install the service are located on the shared physical disk. To access these files, the second node needs to become the active owner.

To install the FileXpress Windows Service:

1. Select the FileXpress Group in the Microsoft cluster management tool.
2. Right click and select the Move Group option. This process takes each resource offline, changes the active owner and brings each resource online except for the FileXpress Server Resource.
3. Log into the now active node.
4. Open a Command window.
5. Change directories to the shared physical drive.
6. Navigate to the FileXpress Tomcat server directory by executing the command (replace <x> with your version):

7. Install the FileXpress Service by executing the command:

Step 9: Update the JDK on the second node

During the FileXpress installation, an AES encryption library was installed in the JDK environment on the first node. The JDK on the second node also needs to be updated.

1. Map a drive on the second node to the first node where you ran the FileXpress installation.
2. Navigate to the Java JDK library extension directory on the first node. For example:

3. Copy and paste the Bouncy Castle provider jar file, bcprov-jdk16.138.jar, to the same location on the second node.
4. Navigate to the Java JDK library security directory on the second node. For example:

5. Backup the java.security file by renaming it to java.security.bak.
6. Copy and paste the java.security from the first node to the same location on the second node.
7. Bring the FileXpress Server Resource online.

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