IBM® Sametime® consists of a variety of servers and clients, and can be deployed to suit many different environments. The deployment instructions are organized by feature set, beginning with the minimum components that are necessary to support instant messaging, and then expanding the deployment to include features such as audio and video support, and conferencing.
Clients in a local IBM® Sametime® community can communicate with users in other communities through the Sametime Gateway.
Configure one or more IBM® Sametime® Gateway Servers.
The installation worksheets are organized according to feature area, such as instant messaging, audio video, and common components. Use the installation worksheets to record DNS-registered host names, database names, IP addresses, ports to open, credentials, and other information. The checklist contains sample tables already filled out, and blank tables for you to fill out.
Install an IBM® Sametime® fix by downloading packages and installing with the Update option.
Many IBM® Sametime® servers use common components to support either an individual server or a server cluster. Installation Manager and WebSphere® Network Deployment are required prerequisites for most Sametime servers. DB2® and Sametime System Console must be installed once for the deployment. IBM Load Balancer is used in a clustered environment. Follow the instructions for each type of deployment to determine which common components you need to install.
Instant messaging features are provided primarily by the IBM® Sametime® Community Server, which supports presence, text chats, and two-way phone calls.
Deploy the First Party Call Control (FPCC) feature by configuring settings in the IBM® Sametime® Connect and Sametime Embedded client installation packages and then distributing the updated packages to users.
The Sametime® Gateway worksheets contains deployment information for the Sametime Gateway Server. There is also a set of blank worksheets you can use to record your own infrastructure information.
Deploy Sametime® Gateway to connect users to external communities.
Create the database tables and schema needed by Sametime® Gateway Server.
Choose to install a single Sametime® Gateway server on Windows™ or Linux™.
Install a cluster of IBM® Sametime® Gateway servers in a network deployment.
These steps help you troubleshoot installation problems by describing how you can use a different tablespace name for the database and how you can clean your system of previous installations.
Configure Sametime® Gateway to use the LDAP directory used by the local Sametime environment. If you did not connect to LDAP when you installed Sametime Gateway, or you did connect to LDAP but now want to create a secure connection, use these procedures. Sametime Gateway must look up names and groups in the LDAP directory to grant users and groups access to external communities.
Install one or more IBM® Sametime® Gateway Servers. Read the system requirements to ensure that you know the minimum supported software requirements.
To complete the installation of your Sametime® Gateway server, configure your server for optimal performance. Completion of these tasks provides you with information that will help you manage and maintain your server. These tasks are required -- not optional tasks. For Sametime Gateway clusters, some procedures must be repeated on each server in a cluster.
To complete IBM® Sametime® Gateway Server setup, you connect servers to the Sametime Gateway Server by performing some configuration steps on the local Sametime server, adding the local community to the Sametime Gateway Server, registering your Sametime Gateway server with AOL so that Sametime Gateway Server can connect to the AOL clearinghouse, and then, after you complete your registration, adding the AOL clearinghouse community to the Sametime Gateway Server. Finally, you want to note the port numbers so you can provide these ports to external communities.
The Sametime® Software Developer Kit includes a sample EAR file (rtc_gatewaySamplesEAR.ear) that you can install to view the event log. The event log can contain content logging, instant messaging logging, or subscription logging events, depending on what you enable.
You can put limits on sessions and subscriptions, and specify blacklist domains to check when Sametime® Gateway Server receives a subscription request. You can also add or edit custom properties for communities, connections, translation protocols, or message handlers.
Install a load balancer in front of a cluster of IBM® Sametime® servers to distribute connections among the servers. The cluster should have at least two IBM WebSphere® SIP proxy servers deployed in front of it, so that the load balancer can direct connections to those proxy servers for forwarding to the individual Sametime servers in the cluster.
To best support high availability and provide failover services, a cluster of IBM® Sametime® Gateway Servers should be fronted with at least two IBM WebSphere® proxy servers and IBM Load Balancer.
Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Secure Sockets Later (SSL) provide encrypted SIP communications between Sametime® Gateway Server and the external instant messaging communities such as AOL®, Office Communications Server, and Sametime communities, but only if the other Sametime community requires SSL. TLS/SSL also provides encrypted XMPP communications for XMPP communities. The TLS/SSL protocols allow Sametime messages to communicate across a network in a way designed to prevent eavesdropping, tampering, and message forgery. Use these steps to set up SSL with a certificate signed by a Certificate Authority and exchange trusted certificates with external communities.
The IBM® Sametime® Connect client or Sametime Embedded Client has to be installed on users' computers to use instant messaging and meetings. This section explains how to install these clients.
The Apple iOS client is distributed through the Apple App Store. The Android client is no longer available for download from the IBM® Sametime® Proxy Server. Customers with users who are unable to access the Google Play Store should contact IBM Support to request that a build be provided to them directly.
You can provide failover and load balancing in your deployment by creating a cluster of multiple IBM® Sametime® servers of the same type. All Sametime servers can be clustered except for the Sametime System Console, and the Video MCU and TURN Server components of the Sametime Media Manager.
Ensure the security of your IBM® Sametime® deployment by deploying servers in the extranet. Deploying Sametime servers in the extranet allows external clients to access Sametime features without directly connecting to servers deployed in your intranet.
Expand the range of features in your IBM® Sametime® deployment by integrating with other products.