6
Managing Communities

If you have a multinode system you can define communities to let eMail Server know which nodes can communicate directly with each other. This means that eMail Server can select the best routes for transferring messages and system information.

Use the following tasks discussed in this chapter to manage communities:

• Creating a Community

• Subscribing a Node to a Community

• Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community

• Displaying Message Delivery Route Information

• Renaming a Community

• Unsubscribing a Node from a Community

• Deleting a Community

• Merging Two Communities

• Assigning Cost to a Node

Creating a Community

You can create a new community if you need to add one or more nodes that do not use the same networking protocol as your existing node(s).

Steps for Creating a Community

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

See Also: "Guidelines for Creating a Community" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Routing > Communities.

3. In the toolbar, click (Create).

4. Complete the Insert Community dialog box.

   See Also: "Parameters for Creating a Community" for more information about the parameters in this dialog box

5. Click OK.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the SCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>insert community name=<community_name>
   2>description=<description>;
   

   See Also: "Parameters for Creating a Community" for more information about the parameters available with this command

Parameters for Creating a Community

Parameters	Description
description	Description of the community for the benefit of others who are accessing the system and need to know the purpose of the community.
name	Name of the new community you are creating. Each community should have a different name.

After creating the community record, you should complete the following tasks:

• Subscribe at least one node to the community. Refer to "Subscribing a Node to a Community" for instructions.

• Create a message delivery route (or commroute) between the two communities. Refer to "Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community" for instructions.

Guidelines for Creating a Community

If you are creating a connect node, make sure it is a member of each community to which it connects and that it uses the communications protocol of each community that it connects.

See Also: "Subscribing a Node to a Community" to learn how to

Subscribing a Node to a Community

You must subscribe at least one node to a community to connect the community to your eMail Server system.

Caution: After subscribing a node to a community, wait until the replicator process propagates the change to all other nodes before beginning another configuration task. The replicator log file will return the message "transfer complete" when it is finished replicating.

See Also: "Using Server Process Logs" for more information about the replicator log file

Steps for Subscribing a Node to a Community

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

See Also: "Guidelines for Subscribing a Node to a Community" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Routing > Communities > community_name.

3. In the toolbar, click (Subscribe).

4. Complete the Subscribe Node dialog box.

5. Click OK.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the SCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>subscribe community node=<node_name>
   2>DBconnect=<connect_string>
   3>community=<community_name>;
   

Guidelines for Subscribing a Node to a Community

If you are creating a connect node, make sure it is a member of each community to which it connects and that it uses the networking protocols of each community to which it connects.

Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community

Message delivery routes (commroutes) specify how information travels from one community to another. If you do not add message delivery routes to and from a community, messages and replicator packages cannot be delivered to or sent from the community.

Steps for Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

See Also: "Guidelines for Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Routing > Message Delivery Routes.

3. In the toolbar, click (Create).

4. Complete the Add a New Message Delivery Route dialog box.

   See Also: "Parameters for Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community" for more information about the parameters in this dialog box

5. Click OK.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the SCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>insert commroute 
   2>sourcecomm=<source_community_name> 
   3>targetcomm=<target_community_name>
   4>connectcomm=<connect_community_name> 
   5>cost=<cost>;
   

   See Also: "Parameters for Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community" for more information about the parameters available with this command

Parameters for Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community

Parameter	Description
connectcomm	Name of the community to use as the intermediate step to get from the source community to the target community. If the message delivery route you are indicating is a direct route with no intermediate community, enter the name of the target community.
cost (Optional)	Number representing the cost of using this message delivery route. If you specify message delivery route costs, eMail Server automatically chooses the lowest cost message delivery route when sending information. The higher the number, the higher the cost.
sourcecomm	Name of the community from which information is sent.
targetcomm	Name of the community that is the ultimate destination for the information.

Guidelines for Creating a Message Delivery Route for a Community

• To send information back and forth, communities you must have message delivery routes defined in both directions. That is, not only must Community1 know how to get to Community2, but Community2 must know how to get to Community1.

• You can assign optional costs to message delivery routes based on how many communities the information must travel through before reaching its destination. A direct message delivery route should have a lower cost than a message delivery route that requires routing through a second community to reach a third community.

Displaying Message Delivery Route Information

You can display message delivery route information to verify message delivery route settings. This command displays the source community, destination community, connect community, and cost.

Steps for Displaying Message Delivery Route Information

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Routing > Message Delivery Routes.

   The message delivery route information appears in the right pane.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the SCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>fetch commroute community=<community_name>;
   

Renaming a Community

You can change the name of a community, if necessary.

Steps for Renaming a Community

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Routing > Communities > community_name.

3. In the right pane, enter the new name in the Name text box.

4. Click Apply.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the SCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>update community name=<community_name> to name=<new_community_name>;
   

Unsubscribing a Node from a Community

You can unsubscribe a node from a community if you want to change the community to which a node is subscribed, or if you are deleting a community.

Prerequisites to Unsubscribing a Node from a Community

Before you unsubscribe a node from a community, determine the services this node provides to the community and assign these services to other nodes.

For example, if the node is a connect node for two or more communities, you must change the message delivery routes so that previously-connected communities remain connected. If you do not change message delivery routes, a community can be disconnected, preventing communication with the rest of the system.

Use the Administration Tool to view the nodes subscribed to a community and to determine the services that a node provides. See the online help in the Administration Tool for more information.

Caution: After unsubscribing a node from a community, wait until the replicator process propagates the change to all other nodes before beginning another configuration task. The replicator log file will return the message "transfer complete" when it is finished replicating.

See Also: "Using Server Process Logs" for more information about the replicator log file

Steps for Unsubscribing a Node from a Community

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

See Also: "Guidelines for Unsubscribing a Node from a Community" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Routing > Communities > community_name.

3. In the toolbar, click (Unsubscribe).

4. Complete the Unsubscribe Node dialog box.

5. Click OK.

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the SCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>unsubscribe community node=<node_name> 
   2>community=<community_name>;
   

Guidelines for Unsubscribing a Node from a Community

Make sure that the node you are unsubscribing from the community is a member of at least one other community. A node must be subscribed to at least one community at all times.

Deleting a Community

There are two reasons to delete communities:

• When you merge two communities

• If a group in your company upgrades its equipment and no longer needs to use a certain network protocol

When you delete a community, you remove it from the eMail Server system.

Prerequisites to Deleting a Community

Before you delete a community, unsubscribe all nodes subscribing to this community. Otherwise, you will receive a message that there are still nodes subscribing to this community and the Delete operation will be abandoned. Refer to "Unsubscribing a Node from a Community" for instructions.

Caution: After deleting a community, wait until the replicator process propagates the change to all other nodes before beginning another configuration task. The replicator log file will return the message "transfer complete" when it is finished replicating.

See Also: "Using Server Process Logs" for more information about the replicator log file

Steps for Deleting a Community

This task can be performed through either the Administration Tool GUI, or the OOMGR command-line interface.

In the Administration Tool (GUI)

1. Start the Administration Tool GUI.

2. In the navigation tree, select Messaging System > Routing > Communities > community_name.

3. In the toolbar, click (Remove).

In OOMGR

1. Start OOMGR on the SCN.

2. Enter the following command at the OOMGR prompt:

   IOFCMGR>delete community name=<community_name>;
   

Merging Two Communities

To merge communities, you must delete one community after subscribing the nodes of the deleted community to the other.

Steps for Merging Two Communities

This task can be performed through the Administration Tool GUI, the Administration Tool command-line, and the OOMGR command-line.

See Also: "Guidelines for Merging Two Communities" for more information about performing this task

In the Administration Tool GUI and OOMGR

1. Determine which of the two communities you want to delete.

2. Subscribe each of the nodes in this community to other communities that use the same network protocol. Refer to "Subscribing a Node to a Community" for instructions.

3. Delete the empty community. Refer to "Deleting a Community" for instructions.

Guidelines for Merging Two Communities

You can only merge communities if the nodes that subscribe to those communities use the same network protocol.

Assigning Cost to a Node

Like message delivery routes, nodes have an associated cost that determines which connect node is used when more than one is available. eMail Server automatically chooses the lowest cost node. Therefore, if there are multiple connect nodes between two communities, you can control the connect node chosen by setting the node costs appropriately.

You assign node cost while installing the node. See the Oracle eMail Server Installation Guide for more information.

Guidelines for Assigning Cost to a Node

• You assign costs to nodes based on disk space and throughput of the associated computer and the number of nodes it includes. For example, a workstation would have a higher cost than a file server. A computer that includes two large nodes would have a higher cost than another computer of the same type containing only one small node. eMail Server automatically chooses the lowest cost message delivery route.

• Once you have assigned costs, you must be careful to balance duties across your nodes. If a single node provides too many connections, the node performance may decrease.