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Administering
Learn how to administer the product.
Administering HCL VersionVault MultiSite
Learn to configure and manage the HCL VersionVault MultiSite environment to support development activities at different locations.
Packet transportation methods and configuration
The method you choose for transporting packets between replicas depends on connectivity. If your replicas do not have IP connectivity, you must use a file-based transport method. If your replicas have connectivity, you can use the store-and-forward facility.
Store-and-forward
The MultiSite store-and-forward facility (the shipping server) is a file-transfer service that automates the transport phase of replica creation and synchronization. It can handle packets of any size (up to the maximum packet size specified in the shipping.conf file on Linux™ and the UNIX™ system or the MultiSite Control Panel on Windows™), can route files through a series of MultiSite hosts (one hop at a time), and includes support for handling data-communications failures.

Administering
Learn how to administer the product.
- Administering HCL VersionVault
  Learn about performing administrative tasks for an HCL VersionVault community including managing software licenses, user and group accounts, VersionVault server and client hosts, shared data, and the network that connects them.
- Administering platforms for HCL VersionVault
  Learn how to perform HCL VersionVault administrative tasks on supported platforms.
- Administering HCL VersionVault MultiSite
  Learn to configure and manage the HCL VersionVault MultiSite environment to support development activities at different locations.
  - Introduction
    HCL VersionVault MultiSite adds a powerful capability to HCL VersionVault. With MultiSite, developers at different locations can use the same HCL VersionVault versioned object base (VOB). For HCL VersionVault, each location (site) has its own copy (replica) of the VOB. At any time, changes made in one replica can be sent in update packets to other replicas. You can manage replicas by using the command-line tools.
  - MultiSite operation
  - Implementation planning
    Before you install and use HCL VersionVaultHCL Compass MultiSite, you need to plan your implementation.
  - MultiSite command set
    This section summarizes the commands for HCL VersionVault MultiSite and HCL VersionVault that display HCL VersionVault MultiSite information. There are a series of MultiSite commands and API functions that display or modify MultiSite information.
  - Packet transportation methods and configuration
    The method you choose for transporting packets between replicas depends on connectivity. If your replicas do not have IP connectivity, you must use a file-based transport method. If your replicas have connectivity, you can use the store-and-forward facility.
    - File-based methods
      File-based transport methods include electronic mail, ftp, and physical media (like CDs, magnetic tapes, and diskettes).
    - Store-and-forward
      The MultiSite store-and-forward facility (the shipping server) is a file-transfer service that automates the transport phase of replica creation and synchronization. It can handle packets of any size (up to the maximum packet size specified in the shipping.conf file on Linux™ and the UNIX™ system or the MultiSite Control Panel on Windows™), can route files through a series of MultiSite hosts (one hop at a time), and includes support for handling data-communications failures.
      - Directories for packets
        Each storage class has storage bays and return bays, which are directories that hold packets. Storage bays are used for normal shipping operations, and return bays are used for packets that could not be delivered successfully.
      - Packet transport
        An explicit command, manual or automated, invokes the shipping server on the sending host. The shipping server process contacts the albd_server process on the receiving host, which in turn invokes the shipping server on the receiving host in receive mode. After a TCP/IP connection has been established between the sending and receiving invocations of the shipping server, the file is transferred.
      - Store-and-forward issues
      - Store-and-forward configuration
        The settings for the store-and-forward facility are host specific. You can specify locations of storage and return bays, routing information to support multihop packet delivery, specifications to handle failure-to-deliver situations, receipt handlers, and so on.
      - Store-and-forward packet submission
        When you generate a replica-creation or update packet, you can specify that the store-and-forward facility must deliver it.
      - Packet differentiation with storage classes
        You can configure the store-and-forward facility to handle packets in different ways. Each packet can be assigned to a storage class, and each storage class can have its own storage bay, return bay, and expiration period.
      - Indirect shipping route setup
        The shipping order for a packet includes the host name of the packet's final destination or several such host names. By default, the store-and-forward facility sends the packet directly to its destination host. You can specify that the packet must be sent to an intermediate host by associating it with a routing hop in the shipping.conf file (Linux™ and the UNIX™ system) or in the MultiSite Control Panel (Windows™).
      - Retries, expirations, and returned data
        The shipping server makes one attempt to transmit a packet to another host. If the packet cannot be transmitted (for example, because the receiving host is unavailable), the shipping server generates an error message and log file entry and exits.
      - Files that are not packets
        You can use the store-and-forward facility to send any file if you create a shipping order for the file with the mkorder utility.
    - Store-and-forward through a firewall (Linux™ and the UNIX™ system only)
      By default, the store-and-forward facility (the shipping server) cannot operate through a firewall. Passing through a firewall is usually accomplished by granting access to specific ports for certain IP addresses. Because the shipping server picks any available port number on the sending and receiving replica hosts to make the connection, there is no single port number (or even small range of port numbers) to which special access can be granted.
  - Feature levels
    Feature levels allow different replica hosts in a VOB family to run different versions of HCL VersionVault. You can raise the feature level of either a single replica host or an entire VOB family.
  - Creating VOB replicas
    Before creating a replica, you must make decisions about branching, mastership, identities and permissions preservation, and method of packet delivery.
  - Replica synchronization
    Replica synchronization uses the same export-transport-import procedure that is used during replica creation.
  - Administering replicas
  - Using MultiSite for VOB backup and interoperability
    You can use HCL VersionVault MultiSite to back up a VOB and to provide access to VOBs in a heterogeneous network.
  - Troubleshooting MultiSite operations
    When you encounter a situation where running an HCL VersionVault MultiSite command produces an unexpected result, or produces a warning or error message, the information in this section can assist you in troubleshooting the problem.

Store-and-forward

The MultiSite store-and-forward facility (the shipping server) is a file-transfer service that automates the transport phase of replica creation and synchronization. It can handle packets of any size (up to the maximum packet size specified in the shipping.conf file on Linux™ and the UNIX™ system or the MultiSite Control Panel on Windows™), can route files through a series of MultiSite hosts (one hop at a time), and includes support for handling data-communications failures.

This is how the store-and-forward process works:

During the export phase, a packet file and a shipping order file are created. The shipping order file contains delivery instructions for the packet.
The packet and shipping order are stored in one of the storage bay directories on the VOB replica hoston the synchronization server associated with a HCL Compass database replica.
If the packet is associated with a storage class, the packet is stored in the storage bay specified by the storage class. You can define storage classes in the shipping.conf file on Linux™ and the UNIX™ system and the MultiSite Control Panel on Windows™.
The shipping server uses the instructions in the shipping order to transfer the packet file from the storage bay at the local site to the corresponding bay on a host at another site.
If necessary, the shipping server on the receiving host sends the packet to its next destination.

Packet transport

An explicit command, manual or automated, invokes the shipping server on the sending host. The shipping server process contacts the albd_server process on the receiving host, which in turn invokes the shipping server on the receiving host in receive mode. After a TCP/IP connection has been established between the sending and receiving invocations of the shipping server, the file is transferred.

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