Migrating community apps
IBM Connections stores the apps that are created for a community in a database. As part of the Overview page customization, the mandatory user interface elements are being replaced with new apps that can be moved, hidden, or removed. Therefore, the Communities app is being updated to accommodate four new apps: Community Description, Tags, Important Bookmarks, and Members. The migration involves updating the database to add these new widgets for each community.
Summary
To limit database migration time during an outage, a new background migration service is being introduced. The service keys off a new bit field column in the SNCOMM.COMMUNITY table. A background task polls for communities with any flag set.
Background task versus community migration during access
A background task is required because a community might not be accessed for long periods of time. Because a background task is sufficient to perform a migration, this solution is the currently implemented migration method. Migration when a community is accessed might be implemented later.
Reusing the IBM Connections scheduled task service
The migration service reuses the existing scheduled task service. This reuse ensures that the task is run on only one server at a time. The task periodically queries for communities with nonzero migration flags. Communities-config.xml is updated.
Schema changes
In fix up scripts, the initial value for existing records has the WIDGETIZATION_FLAG set. The createdb script uses default value of 0 - no flags set.
API exposure
Migrations are internal changes so exposure in the API is not necessary.
Community Last Updated
The migration service does not update the Community last updated or last updated by fields. Many migrations affect every community so the last updated or last updated by fields must remain unchanged.