Running Multiple TEPS with a single TEMS

Many customers have asked me how to run multiple TEP Servers against a single TEMS, to overcome certain performance issues.

Typically when I mention database replication, eyes glaze over and the conversation ends.

There is another way, it involves some not well documented commands that run some undocumented commands - but it works great.

The procedure to maintain more than one TEPS (Tivoli Enterprise Portal Server) can be intimidating for many people. However, there are a couple of utilities that will make the procedure a bit easier.

At the heart of the matter is the database that TEPS uses, this can be one of three different vendors. If you are familiar with database replication for your chosen RDBMS, you can successfully use that replication to replicate the entire database from one server to another.

However, if you are like many companies out there that do not have dedicated DBA support there is a mechanism that will allow you to migrate the existing data into an empty database. A file called migrate-export.bat/sh is included in the IBMITMCNPS directory, it executes a program called KFWSQLCLient - this is essentially a SQL interface to the TEPS, though little to no documentation exists on this command.

This procedure will take down your TEP server. So, do not run it outside of a scheduled maintenance window.

1.cd IBMITMCNPS or /opt/IBM/ITM/CNPS
2.Locate migrate-export.bat (Windows) or migrate-export.sh (Unix/Linux)
3.Execute the bat or sh file.

This will stop the TEP Server and begin an export of the TEPS database. As a result, there will be a file created in the IBMITMCNPSSQLLIB directory called saveexport.sql.

4.Take this file and copy it to your secondary or backup TEP Server.

5.Install and Configure TEPS as per the documentation from IBM.

6.Locate and Launch a command prompt for the OS on your backup TEP Server.

7.Open the database client on the backup server and run the saveexport.sql within the client (this example shows running it on DB2):

db2 -f -otz saveexport.sql > saveexport.log

The above command will run the saveexport.sql and import all of the data into the existing table structures.

Once this is complete - recycle your failvoer TEP and you are good to go. Just remember, the TEPS will be out of sync if any changes are made.

This procedure is also useful for backing up your TEP Server.