Using the Server Administrator

The IntelliPortal Server Administrator is an application you use to manage the IntelliPortal server. The Server Administrator configures and manages the relationship between adapters, datafeeds, and channels running in the IntelliPortal server application. The Server Administrator lets you make dynamic configuration changes to transmitters during runtime, without starting or stopping the server.

The Server Administrator enforces user authentication by verifying the login name and password. It starts and stops transmitters, and it builds metadata records for channels and datafeeds. IntelliPortal may consist of multiple servers that are each associated with one transmitter. The Server Administrator only manages the server that you are presently connected to via the login window. Note that you can't run the Server Administrator from behind a firewall.

This section provides an overview of server concepts and capabilities. For an explicit discussion of how to configure channel and datafeed records, see Configuring Channels and Datafeeds.

How the Server Administrator Works

The Server Administrator consists of two pieces of client/server software that work together. One piece resides on the client machine where the Server Administrator is running; the other resides on the server machine where the transmitters are located. This can actually be the same machine or different machines. The Server Administrator client communicates with a running server via the Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI). There is authentication for administrator permissions, and any command is authenticated by the designated server before execution.


When using the Server Administrator to configure datafeeds and channels, the data transmitted from the Server Administrator client to the server is not encrypted and neither are SSL certificate passwords.

Adapters, Datafeeds, and Channels

IntelliPortal communicates with outside data sources using adapters. Adapters are the hookpoints into the server from outside data sources such as legacy mainframes, data warehouses, etc. This external data is then available to channels. Adapters are designed to be extended into specific protocols and can be customized to get data from the actual source. IntelliPortal provides pre-built adapters, and you can develop your own adapters. See the Channel Developer Guide for more information.

A datafeed manages data that is on the server. It caches, fetches, and distributes data. It is the standard interface through which requests for information are routed to and from external adapters. Datafeeds work with channels and adapters within IntelliPortal. They manage the data that has been returned from an adapter and feed it to channels (which are Java or HTML applications that run in the IntelliPortal client shell).

Multiple datafeeds can be associated with one channel, but there is a 1:1 relationship between adapters and datafeeds as shown in the following diagram. Similarly, there may be multiple instances of the same adapter, but each is associated with only one datafeed.

Channels use the data from a datafeed. There can be multiple datafeeds feeding into one channel. To add channels, you use a Server Administrator menu item to add a new channel (or datafeed) to the server. The channel name on the server must exactly match the channel name as defined in the IntelliPortal Publisher. This is the only association between a channel published with the Publisher and a channel record residing on the server.

Adding a channel may also require associating that channel with an adapter. For example, a stock quote channel may send stock symbols chosen by the client to the server so that data can be retrieved through an external adapter. The channel displaying the stock quotes must be associated with the adapter (i.e. the datafeed) supplying the quotes.

Authentication (RMI) Server

In IntelliPortal, there is one authentication server (the RMI server), defined during installation, that is designated to manage authentication, permissions, etc. for the entire system. As noted, the Server Administrator uses the Java Remote Method Invocation (RMI) as the communications protocol to communicate with the server. RMI lets you remotely retrieve and run Java objects stored on a network.

Each IntelliPortal server runs an rmiregistry to which clients have access. The server makes this object available to clients. This registry acts as a directory service for remote objects that are available to the server. The registry keeps track of datafeeds and channels existing on the server and notifies the Server Administrator. IntelliPortal clients connect to the registry through the specified RMI port.

Admin Properties

As noted, the Server Administrator consists of two pieces of client/server software. One piece resides on the client machine where the Server Administrator is running; the other resides on the server where the transmitters are located. Both have an AdminProperties.txt file. On the server, this file is in homedir/etc; on the client, this file is in intelliportal\tools\etc

The AdminProperties.txt files are automatically generated during installation and have settings that define specific configuration parameters that are used by the Server Administrator. If necessary, you can use a text editor to add lines or otherwise modify these files. The AdminProperties.txt files reside in the etc directory on both the client and the server respectively. (The server file has additional settings as explained in the following table.)


`rmiRegPort`	Client/Server. The server creates an RMI Registry to run on the specified port. Defaults to 1099. You can override this value from the Login window.
`authHostName`	Client/Server. Specifies a fully qualified hostname designated to manage user authentication. You can override from the Login window.
`admin.logs.maxbytes`	Client only. The maximum number of bytes (in `errorlog` and `java.out`) that are transmitted back to the client and displayed in the selected log window. The default is 8 KB. You can add this setting with an editor if not present.
`startSecureTransmitter`	Server only. If true, the transmitter is SSL-Enabled.
`autoStartTransmitter`	Server only. If true, a non-secure transmitter autostarts when the server reboots.
`admin.hupregister.retry`	Server only. The polling interval in milliseconds before the transmitter (1) checks for server shutdown and (2) retries registration for notification of metadata changes made by the Server Administrator. If not specified, defaults to 300000 ms (5 minutes).

The AdminProperties.txt file is automatically generated during server installation and provides information needed to run the Server Administrator. The Admin Properties window shows the settings in this file. In IntelliPortal, there may be multiple servers on the same local network. Be sure that you are logged into the right server on the network.

Select Properties from the Admin submenu to display the IP address and RMI port of the specified host server.

Logging In

You can start the Server Administrator from Solaris or from Windows. From Solaris, change to the directory where the tools are installed and type adminTool.sh. From Windows, navigate to the Server Administrator from the Start menu.

The login window is the first screen displayed when you start the Server Administrator. The name and password are assigned during server installation. There is one user name per system. The password can be modified with the Change Password command on the Admin menu. After you login successfully, the Server Administrator main window is displayed.


`Administrator Name`	There is one Server Administrator name that is assigned during server installation. To change this name, you must edit the appropriate file (contact MECA for instructions) or re-install the server software.
`Administrator Password`	There is one Server Administrator password that is assigned during server installation. This password can be modified with the Change Password command on the Admin submenu.
`Authentication Hostname`	The fully qualified hostname (hostname and domain name) of the server that was designated for user authentication during server installation. This is the server that you want to connect to. Do not specify an IP Address. The Server Administrator contacts this authentication hostname to verify users at login and before performing actions for which permission is required.
`RMI Port`	The port number where the RMI Registry will run. There is one rmiregistry for each server. Each server creates an RMI registry to run on the specified port. Defaults to 1099.


During server installation, the Server Administrator is installed by default in `/export/home/<os_user_name>/bin`. If you are logged in as the transmitter user, type `bin/admin.sh` to run the Server Administrator tool from the Solaris server.

Using the Server Administrator

The Server Administrator main window shows the IntelliPortal server applications. The tree control in the left pane shows the channels and datafeeds for the server on which you logged in.

In IntelliPortal, a server application name (i.e. fasholt.mymnet.com:ebs_test) consists of three parts: a hostname (fasholt), a domain name (mymnet.com), and a transmitter name (ebs_core). The fully qualified hostname consists of the hostname and the domain name (i.e. fasholt.mymnet.com). A fully qualified hostname resolves internally to an IP address.


Admin	`Properties` - Quickly shows Hostname, IP address, and RMI port number from the `AdminProperties.txt` file. `Change Password` - Changes the single login password needed by anyone using the Server Administrator. `Logout` - Logs out the current user and leaves the current Server Administrator session running. Displays the Login window so that a new user can login. `Exit` - Exits the Server Administrator entirely.
Servers	`Rescan` - Re-reads permissions from the server and re-validates Administrator Name and Password. Refreshes the screen as new channel or datafeed records are added.
Configurators	`New` - Use to configure a new channel or datafeed for the specified host (transmitter). `Commit` - Saves changes in database to the source server after creating or modifying a configurator.

Click on any discovered channel or datafeed to display the corresponding configurator for that item. For example, the right panel below shows the configurator for the Startup Channel. The configurator windows are the same for all channels and datafeeds respectively, but the information they contain is different. See Configuring Channels and Datafeeds for a description of the configurators and what the data fields mean.

Starting and Stopping a Transmitter

To start a transmitter, you may need to enter a password depending on how the transmitter was configured during installation. If the transmitter was SSL-Enabled, the Start button appears dimmed; if the transmitter was not SSL-Enabled, the Secure Start button appears dimmed. To stop a transmitter you simply right-click on the server application name and choose Stop from the pop-up menu.

Autostarting a Transmitter

During installation, you have the option to configure a non SSL-Enabled transmitter for autostart after a reboot. (You can't configure an SSL-Enabled transmitter for autostart because a password is always required.) If you didn't originally choose autostart, you can change to autostart (or no autostart) after a reboot by editing the etc/AdminProperties.txt file on the server as follows:


`Start`	Starts a transmitter that was installed without SSL Enabled.
`Secure Start`	Starts a transmitter that was installed with SSL Enabled. Prompts for the password specified when the digital certificate was installed.
`Stop`	Stops the specified transmitter.
`Update Status`	Click to update the transmitter status.
`Display last 8000 bytes only`	If checked, the last 8 KB in the selected log is displayed. This value is configurable in `AdminProperties.txt` on the client.
`View Output`	Displays the log of server events (`java.out`). This log also displays debug data generated by channels if the channel is configured for debugging.
`View Errors`	Displays log of transmitter events (`errorlog`).


When you choose View Output or View Errors, you may experience a noticeable delay if the system has to load the entire log file. To this delay, check "Display Last 8000 bytes only" to display the most recent entries in the log file.

Transmitter Status

The Transmitter Status window provides a quick snapshot. It is simply a subset of information from the previous window.