I used the last day before holiday for a first installation of HCL Connections 6.5 on a test system.
Wizards #
dbWizard.sh creates all databases for the core Connections products.
I found a folder icec in Wizards/connections.sql, but tried the installation of Connections without it first.
I could remember, that the installation of Connections 6.0 CR4 or CR5 didn’t run successfully, when the XCC/ICEC database was missing.
I reviewed the documentation about the database creation, but there was no entry that we need to create the XCC/ICEC database manually.
Update: Documentation contains note now, that you have to create ICEC database manually https://help.hcltechsw.com/connections/v65/admin/install/c_inst_create_database_sql.html?hl=icec
populationWizard.sh asked for the configuration properties of databases and LDAP.
On this screen a click on Next does nothing in the GUI. I ran the wizard from the console, so I found following message there:
So the Wizard checks the LDAP vendor here, I use OpenLDAP in the test environment, so I’m not surprised that the vendor is not recognized, but I would expect a more visible error message in the UI.
Create profiles manually #
I went to Wizards/TDIPopulation/linux/TDI/ and configured profiles_tdi.properties and map_dbrepos_from_source.properties. Double checked with collect_dns.sh if the LDAP connection works and fired up sync_all_dns.sh. All users were provisioned and I could went to the next step of the installation.
profiles_tdi.properties most important parts
source_ldap_url=ldap://stoeps-cnx-ldap.devops.example.local
source_ldap_search_base=dc=devops,dc=example,dc=local
source_ldap_search_filter=(uid=u0000*)
source_ldap_user_login=cn=ldapadm,dc=devops,dc=example,dc=local
{protect}-source_ldap_user_password={encr}nuncPh0xtEJp00bgeT/wfw8NEwVhlfD=
dbrepos_jdbc_url=jdbc:db2://cnx65-db2.devops.example.local:50000/peopledb
dbrepos_jdbc_driver=com.ibm.db2.jcc.DB2Driver
dbrepos_username=db2inst1
{protect}-dbrepos_password={encr}ca38EsQUBvK0=
dbrepos_mark_manager_if_referenced=true-
TDI encrypts/hashes your password, so just use the cleartext password on the first run
-
Database connection string
Installation #
Installing Connections with the Installation Manager validates the databases:
You see here the XCC database is checked and when I tried to validate it, I got the error that the Highlights database is missing.
Create ICEC Highlights database #
The database creation scripts are included in the Wizards package, but we need to start them manually.
cd Wizards
cd Wizards/connections.sql/icec/db2
db2 -tvf createDb.sql
db2 -tvf appGrants.sqlNow the validation runs through and I could start the installation.
I exported the databases scripts with dbWizard.sh, but even there the script is not called.
As always the real installation ran around half an hour and ends with
Sidebar, Touchpoint, Invite #
Like HCL promised the last weeks, all announced apps (Touchpoint, Sidebar, Invite and ICEC) were installed with Connections 6.5 and no additional download or install was necessary.
Until now I just tested the legacy WebSphere parts, I will do the Orient Me and Kubernetes parts in some days.
Invite with new Layout #
I like the new layout of invite:
Social Sidebar #
The social sidebar seems to need some configuration, so I will check the documentation next year.
