IBM WebSphere Portal

How to invoke or run XMLAccess against a remote Portal server?

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 23:52:00 -0800

XMLAccess can be run from any host as long as a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) is installed and the Portal server can be contacted over the network. WebSphere Portal does not have to be installed to run XMLAccess. As a matter of fact, IBM Support recommends that XMLAccess not to be run on a production server, because the JAVA process which invokes XMLAccess requires memory to run, in some cases, it would use a lot, especially with a lot of updates.

Follow the steps To run XMLAccess on a remoter server:

Copy the files listed below from any Portal system to a remote system with a JRE.
- /base/wp.xml.client/bin/wp.xml.client.jar
- /base/wp.base/shared/app/wp.base.jar
- /lib/j2ee.jar
- /bin/xmlaccess.sh or \bin\xmlaccess.bat
Edit the xmlaccess batch or shell script file and adjust the paths to the jar files as appropriate.

If your Portal is upgraded it is a good idea to copy the updated versions of the files to the remote system. Related Posts:

XMLAccess Samples

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 18:32:00 -0800

By default, portal provides a set for standard XML sample with WPS installation, we can find them in :

 <PortalServer-root>/doc/xml-samples.  
              (or)  
 \IBM\WebSphere\PortalServer\doc\xml-samples.

How to invoke or run XMLAccess?

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 18:18:00 -0800

XMLAccess command is located in the directory /bin:

 <PortalServer-root>/bin/xmlaccess.bat.  
              (or)  
 \IBM\WebSphere\PortalServer\bin\xmlaccess.bat.

Executing XMLAccess command without any command line parameters displays a list of available parameters:

Command line arguments described:
-in	:	This is the only required parameter to specify the input XML file name;
-user	:	This is the user id to run this command. It will be queried over the console, if omitted.
-password (or -pwd)	:	This is the password of the user running the command. It will be queried over the console, if omitted.
-useEncryptedCredentials	:	Retrieve user name and password (encrypted or unencrypted) from the properties file. Update file with encrypted password.
-noUpdateProperties	:	Do not save encrypted password back to properties file.
-out	:	Specify the output XML file. If omitted, write output to the command window or terminal.
-url	:	Specify the Portal “config” URL. It's defaulted to http://localhost/wps/config
-attempts	:	Specify how many times the command will be tried. The default is 1, no retries.
-truststore	:	When HTTPS is used in -url parameter, this specify the trust certificate store. If omitted, $JAVA_HOME/lib/security/cacerts will be assumed.
-trustpwd	:	The password to open the truststore file. The default password for JKS files in WebSphere is “WebAS” and for cacerts “changeme”.
-trusttype	:	Specify the type of the truststore file. If omitted, JKS is assumed. Another often used type is PKCS12. Most of WebSphere trust and key stores are in this format with extension .p12.
-keystore	:	Specify the keystore file when client certificate is required for client authentication on server. If omitted, $JAVA_HOME/lib/security/cacerts is assumed.
-keypwd	:	The password to open the keystore files.
-keytype	:	The keystore file type. If omitted, JKS is assumed.
-credentialexport	:	This parameter enables export and import of credential secrets from or to the credential vaults. Required properties must be configured in WP VaultService.
-encryptionPassphrase	:	The passphrase used to encrypt and decrypt the password to be imported or exported.
-echo	:	Simply return input instead of processing it. This is useful sometimes. For example, when you are not sure whether a special character can be correctly accepted in the password.

XMLAccess

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 20 Feb 2015 04:47:00 -0800

XMLAccess (XML Configuration Service) is a command-line batch-processing utility for exporting & importing various portal configuration settings in an XML format. It can export specific pages, complete or partial configuration from one portal to another.

The utility takes an XML file as input and produces an XML file, which is the results of the input and can be used to transfer:

Portlets
Access Control List
Portal Web application configurations (portlet applications)
Portal skin definitions
Portal theme definitions
Portal portlet configurations
Portal site map (pages, labels, & links)
Portal URL mappings

Portlet Lifecycle

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 05:25:00 -0800

A portlet is managed through a well defined life cycle that defines how it is loaded, instantiated and initialized, how it handles requests from clients, and how it is taken out of service. This life cycle of a portlet is expressed through the init, render, processAction, and destroy methods of the Portlet interface.

Method signature:

init(PortletConfig config)
render(RenderRequest request, RenderResponse response)
processAction(ActionRequest request, ActionResponse response)
processEvent(EventRequest request, EventResponse response)
serveResource(ResourceRequest request, ResourceResponse response)
destroy()

The init(PortletConfig config) is called once, immediately after a new portlet instance is created. It can be used to perform startup tasks and is akin to a servlets init method. PortletConfig represents read-only configuration data, specified in a portlet's descriptor file, portlet.xml(more on this file later). For example, PortletConfig provides access to initialization parameters.
The render(RenderRequest request, RenderResponse response) method follows processAction in the chain of lifecycle methods. Render generates the markup that will be made accessible to the portal user. RenderRequest and RenderResponse methods, also subinterfaces of PortletRequest and PortletResponse, are available during the rendering of a portlet. The way in which the render method generates output may depend on the portlet's current state.
The processAction(ActionRequest request, ActionResponse response) method is called in response to a user action such as clicking a hyperlink or submitting a form. In this method, a portlet may invoke business logic components, such as JavaBeans, to accomplish its goal. The ActionRequest and ActionResponse Interfaces are subinterfaces of PortletRequest and PortalRequest. In processAction, a portlet may modify its own state as well as persistent information about a portlet.
In addition to this your portlet can decide to implement EventPortlet interface which says that portlet can be target of event (Target of inter portlet communication). The EventPortlet interface defines processEvent(EventRequest request, EventResponse response) method that you should override to implement the logic that should be executed when portlet receives event. This is useful if you want to use inter portlet communication
If your portlet wants to support Ajax access then you can also implement ResourceServingPortlet interface, that defines serveResource(ResourceRequest request, ResourceResponse response) method. Once you define this method you can create a resource URL from your portlet using resourceURL tag and make request to the URL to get the fragment of portlet. This helps you avoid creating a Servlet in same application as that of the portelt just to support Ajax
The destroy() method is the last lifecycle method, called just before a portlet is garbage collected and provides a last chance to free up portlet resources.

Portlet Container

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 05:15:00 -0800

The Portlet Container is an extension of the servlet container. As such, a portlet container can be built on top of an existing servlet container or it may implement all the functionality of a servlet container. Regardless of how a portlet container is implemented, its runtime environment is assumed to support at least Servlet Specification 2.4.

A portlet container receives requests from the portal to execute requests on the portlets hosted by it. If you are familiar with servlet, you can easily understand portlet by correlate lifecycle methods of portlet and servlet.

The portlet lifecycle methods such as init(), render(), processAction(), processEvent(), serveResource() and destroy() are managed by Portlet Container. Portlet container is responsible for :

Loading class of portlet.
Creating and maintaining the portlet instance.
Initializing the Portlet.
Submitting user request to portlet instance.
Destroying portlet instance when it is undeployed.
Provides persistent storage for portlet preferences.

What is a Portal?

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 01:28:00 -0800

The idea of a Portal is to collect information from different sources and create a single point of access to information - a library of categorized and personalized content. A portal also provides other valuable functions such as security, search, and workflow.

A Portal is a web application focused on:

Creating dynamic website	:	User oriented and extreamly dynamic fragments.
Page-centric approach	:	Each page hosts presentation layer apps Portlets Apps (wrapping using bridge framework) Gadgets (based on XML and JavaScript)
Aggregation of contents	:	Aggregation is the process of integrating content from different sources within a Webpage.
Enterprise Services	:	Authentication Authorization Personalization Export/Import APIs for integrations Single sign-on

Portal Architecture Explained:

The portal Web application processes the client request.
Retrieves the portlets on the user's current page.
Calls the portlet container to retrieve each portlet's content.
The portlet container provides the runtime environment for the portlets and calls the portlets via the Portlet API.
The portlet container is called from the portal via the Portlet Invoker API.
The container retrieves information about the portal using the Portlet Provider SPI (Service Provider Interface).

What's new in WebSphere Portal 8.0 and Web Content Manager (WCM) 8.0

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Fri, 13 Feb 2015 00:37:00 -0800

Managed pages
Process Integration
JSF 2.0 and MyFaces Support
WCM Capabilities
Web Experience Factory (WEF) Capabilities

Managed pages are one of the many new capabilities in WebSphere Portal 8. A key goal of this capability is to provide a great user experience for business users managing pages and content. It simplifies release management and allows business users to have both finer and more flexible control over content and presentation in WebSphere Portal.

These are portal pages managed by WCM.
Pages can now have workflow and it can be any valid WCM workflow.
In version 8, it is not 100% feature complete, e.g. can’t edit them after publishing.
Only WCM personalization rules are applicable for content, no visibility rules.
WCM and pages are related to each other via content mappings.

Process Integration: V8 now includes Business Process Express, which allows you to deploy business process applications. Integration with IBM Business Process Manager has always been a feature of Portal, but now you get the express software when you purchase Portal.

JSF Support: Portal 8 supports JSF 2.0 and MyFaces

IBM WebSphere Portal 8.0 Product Editions

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 16:25:00 -0800

IBM WebSphere Portal products provide enterprise web portals that help companies deliver a highly-personalized, social experience for their customers and available in below editions:

WebSphere Portal Enable
WebSphere Portal Express
WebSphere Portal Extend

WebSphere Portal Enable :

IBM WebSphere Portal Enable is built on the IBM WebSphere Portal Server and features integrated Web Content Management capabilities that help enable rapid digital experience site generation. This web content management software helps you quickly build next-generation websites with enhancements that can be used throughout the content lifecycle. Now you can manage web content more efficiently and effectively.

WebSphere Portal Enable web content management software gives you:

Core portal services that aggregate applications and content as role-based applications with personalization, security and Web 2.0 features.
Portal content management tools that enable rapid website generation. Enhanced workflow tools help you manage content more smoothly throughout the content lifecycle.
Article, Blog and wiki content templates that are ready for use with your web portals.
Document libraries that allow users to share, view and organize files within the portal community.
Advanced enterprise portal search services that allow search throughout a wide variety of web portal and enterprise sources.

WebSphere Portal Express :

IBM WebSphere Portal Express is the small-to-midsize business edition of WebSphere Portal Server. This Website Builder software provides an expansive set of portal services for organizations with fewer than 1,000 users. WebSphere Portal Express helps teams work together more efficiently by providing collaboration capabilities, content management, document sharing and instant messaging in a single product designed for easy deployment.Now you can meet your web portal needs with a single product.

WebSphere Portal Express website builder software includes:

Simplified installation and administration. Website development tools include prebuilt, interactive Internet and intranet websites designed for easy deployment and customization to help reduce costs and deployment time.
Popular social capabilities including blogs, wikis, tagging and ratings combined with enhanced analytics to offer support for online participation and communities.
Support for document libraries that allows individuals and teams to share and save documents within the portal.
A unified page presentation service. This website builder software renders components developed with different tools and frameworks, such as portlets, feeds and HTML pages.
A highly reliable and scalable platform that is built on open standards to let you add capabilities as your business grows.

WebSphere Portal Extend :

IBM WebSphere Portal Extend combines features of IBM WebSphere Portal Enable with enhanced collaboration features.

WebSphere Portal Extend website development software allows you to:

Use portal content management tools that enable rapid website generation.
Work with prebuilt article, blog and wiki content templates that are ready to use with your web portals.
Share, view and organize documents within the portal community.
Collaborate and exchange ideas on projects with individual and shared workspaces, social rendering services, and instant messaging.
Create editable electronic forms to facilitate transactions and to view and store forms electronically.

What are Portlets?

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 16:25:00 -0800

The term portlet refers to a small reusable program that can be placed on the portal page to perform a specific function, such as retrieve and display a piece of information.

Similar to servlets, Portlets are web components that are deployed inside of a container and generate dynamic content. On the technical side, a portlet is a class that implements the javax.portlet.Portlet interface and is packaged and deployed as a .war file inside of a portlet container.

Portlets are similar to servlets, in that:

Portlets are managed by a specialized container.
Portlets generate dynamic content.
A portlet's life cycle is managed by the container.
Portlets interact with web client via a request/response paradigm.

Portlets are different from servlets, in that:

Portlets only generate markup fragments, not complete documents.
Portlets are not directly URL addressable. You cant send somebody URL of a portlet. You can send him the URL of the page containing a portlet.
Portlets cannot generate arbitrary content, since the content generated by a portlet is going to be part of portal page. If a portal server is asking for html/text, then all portlets should generate text/html content. On the other hand, if the portal server is asking for WML, then each portlet should generate WML content.

What is WebSphere Portal?

shylendra.tm@gmail.com (Shylendra) — Thu, 29 Jan 2015 16:24:00 -0800

IBM WebSphere Portal is a set of software tools that enables companies to build and manage web portals. It provides a single access point to web content and applications, while delivering differentiated, personalized experiences for each user.

The tool:

Helps build scalable and reliable portals that help improve employee productivity and increase customer loyalty.
Delivers a single point of personalized interaction with applications, content, processes, and people.
Integrates business processes and portal users through orchestrated workflow.
Features IBM Workplace Web Content Management for keeping your portal up-to-date, accurate, and in control.
Provides powerful collaboration capabilities such as instant messaging, team workplaces, people finder, and e-meetings.
Enables quick portal integration with back-end systems through portlet builders and open standards.

NOTE:

WebSphere Portal takes the advantage of the WebSphere Application Server, making use of its J2EE services.
WebSphere Portal itself installs as an Enterprise application in WebSphere Application Server.