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Setting up my first Network Attached Storage

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I was fortunate enough to get my hands on a brand-new Synology DS414 Network Attached Storage (NAS) device a few weeks back, and have finally had time to set it up.

Initially, I wanted to run it directly from the Ethernet port of my MacBook Pro, but I didn't have a spare Ethernet hub/switch kicking around.

Therefore, I was hoping that I could simply plug the Mac's Thunderbolt Ethernet cable into the DS414, and magically connect.

Well, it wasn't quite as simple as that.

I plugged the supplied Ethernet cable into one of the NAS' two ports, and also into the Thunderbolt adapter, which was plugged into my Mac.

I then launched the Synology Assistant software ( downloaded from their website, as I couldn't easily read the supplied CD-ROM on my diskless Mac ): -


and asked it to scan the network for the NAS.

Sadly, it responded with the electronic equivalent of a raspberry: -


I double-checked the Ethernet connection on the Mac: -


which suggests to me that the Synology box includes a DHCP server; I say that because (a) I didn't set the IP address of 169.254.47.63 and (b) I've seen reference to 169.254.x.x addresses on various Synology fora.

So what was going on ?

I rebooted the NAS a few times, and also did a reset ( using a safety pin stuck into the reset port on the backside of the device ), but to no avail.

Then I remembered something else I'd read on one of the Synology forums a week or so ago - my Mac was connected to not one, but TWO networks - Thunderbird Ethernet AND WiFi.

What if the Synology Assistant software was only looking on the WiFi LAN, and ignoring the Ethernet LAN ?

So, to test this, I turned off the WiFi adapter, meaning that Ethernet was the only LAN in town.

I re-ran the Search function and …. hey presto, abracadabra and voila …. HERE'S Johnny ( or, to be more precise, HERE'S SYNOLOGY !! ) : -

I double-clicked on the DiskStation line in the Assistant, and up popped a link, in Firefox, to the NAS: -



from where I could then install the DiskStation Manager (DSM) software: -


which I'd downloaded from the Synology site here.

I'm now up and running nicely, creating Shared Folders and updating DSM to the latest level ( even though I only downloaded it yesterday evening !! ).

PS For the record, I have my NAS connecting to my WiFI using the teeniest little WiFi adapter that I bought for my Raspberry Pi a while back: -




Building a Worklight mobile application without code in Worklight v6.1

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This from our very own Jon Marshall: -

Worklight v6.1 has a couple of interesting new capabilities (amongst many others of course!), which I wanted to explore here:

• Service Discovery – allows you to introspect an existing web service or SAP endpoint to automatically create a Worklight adapter to interface to it
• WebSphere Application Framework – allows you to create a mobile application framework without coding to interface with the discovered service.  This is currently in beta

We are going to use an existing weather forecast web service to create a very simple weather forecast mobile application.

WebSphere Application Server 8 - Unpacking the Binaries

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Just going the build process for IBM Business Process Manager 8.5, IBM Operational Decision Manager 8.5 and IBM Business Monitor 8.0, and need to install both WAS 8.0 and 8.5.

This blog post is an aide memoire to remind me what to unpack from my trusty USB drive: -

WAS 8.0

IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.0 (1 of 4)CZM9KML.zip
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.0 (2 of 4)CZM9LML.zip
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.0 (3 of 4)CZM9MML.zip
IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.0 (4 of 4)CZVG4ML.zip
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Supplements (1 of 4)CZM91ML.zip  
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Supplements (2 of 4)CZM94ML.zip
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Supplements (3 of 4)CZM95ML.zip
IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Supplements (4 of 4)CZXR9ML.zip

Happily WAS 8.5 uses a much more sensible file naming convention: -

WAS 8.5

WAS_ND_V8.5_1_OF_3.zip
WAS_ND_V8.5_2_OF_3.zip
WAS_ND_V8.5_3_OF_3.zip
WAS_V85_SUPPL_1_OF_3.zip
WAS_V85_SUPPL_2_OF_3.zip
WAS_V85_SUPPL_3_OF_3.zip

( and there are fewer of them ! )

Obfuscating JavaScript code in Worklight applications

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Saw this on Twitter via IBM developerWorks: -


The goal of this post is to shed some light on what obfuscation is, what JavaScript obfuscation is, how to obfuscate your JavaScript code using Google Closure Compiler app, how to integrate JavaScript code obfuscation into a larger build process and how it all comes together in a Worklight context.

For me, this is a useful guide to obfuscation of JS code, regardless of the target platform - it may also be relevant to IBM BPM Coaches, which make heavy use of JS.


Knowledge Collection: Troubleshooting documents for IBM Business Monitor

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From @IBM_BPM on Twitter: - 

Abstract

This Knowledge Collection is a focused compilation of links to documents for troubleshooting.

Content

A Knowledge Collection is a focused compilation of links to documents that share a common theme. Knowledge Collections are navigation aids that organize content to help users quickly find relevant information. Knowledge Collections are not designed to be an all-inclusive list of all documents dealing with the specific theme.



IBM Redbooks - There's an app for that - dare I say "iRedbook" ??

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This from my IBM frolleague, Jon Marshall : -

IBM Redbooks® publications give you what you need, when and where you need it. 

The IBM Redbooks mobile app provides on-the-go access to Redbooks publications, announcements, and social sites. Available for iOS devices.

For nearly 50 years, IBM Redbooks publications have provided trusted product positioning, expert guidance, and installation and implementation experiences. Responding to the evolving needs of our users, we now also offer materials that provide the "just in time" technical information users need to quickly understand offerings and to make effective decisions. From classic books and papers to new Solution Guides and Product Guides, Point-of-View publications, blogs, and videos, we provide what you need, when and where you need it. And now you can access all of this content in one mobile app on your iOS device. 

Features of the app include:

•Read thousands of Redbooks publications, from classic Redbooks to the latest Solution Guides, Product Guides, Redguides, and more
•Find Redbooks publications by those most recently published or updated, most popular, subject area, or publication type
•Search within publications and create bookmarks 
•Save your favorite publications and organize them in convenient, customizable folders
•Share what you're reading through Facebook, Twitter, and email 
•Get the latest news from Redbooks, including announcements and listings of new residencies and workshops
•Connect with Redbooks through social channels, from Facebook to Twitter and more
•Link to the latest Redbooks blog posts and videos

IBM BPM 8.5 - Learning about IBM Process Designer

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Saw this from IBM BPM Support on Twitter: -

Thirteen tutorials for IBM BPM's Process Designer V8.5 tooling

Process Designer
  • Adding ad hoc actions to process applications
  • Improving process applications to increase user efficiency
  • Getting Started with IBM Process Designer V8.5 Part 1
  • Getting Started with IBM Process Designer V8.5 Part 2
  • Creating a dashboard
  • Tracking groups
IBM Blueworks Live
  • IBM Blueworks Live integration with IBM BPM V8.5 Coaches
  • Coaches enhancements in IBM BPM V8.5
  • Introduction to coaches and coach views
  • Using coach templates
Web services

  • What is new in web services

Work management
 
  • Teams for flexibility

ECM consistent document management 

  • Introduction to ECM consistent document management

Solved! - Hmm, Firefox and Blogger not playing nicely

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For the past few months, I'd noticed that my Blogger account wasn't functioning perfectly when I accessed it using Firefox.

This problem persisted through multiple versions of FF, including the most recent version 27.

This is what I see: -



whereas this is what I should see: -



I've let the problem go for quite a while ( using Chrome as one of my backup browsers ) but I decided to crack it today.

I assumed that it was one of my plugins or add-ons.

Assuming that add-ons were more likely villains, I started by disabling Adblock Plus 2.4.1 but to no avail.

I then tried the excellent Disconnect plugin: -

We crawl the web to find the companies that track people, then Disconnect blocks those companies' tracking requests in your browser.


and boom the Blogger search bar and Sign In features started working again.

I'll tinker with the Disconnect configuration, but at least I have a circumvention.

:-)

*UPDATE*

Sorted - I merely need to tell Disconnect to whitelist rather than blacklist the Blogger site: -







Developing portlet applications with WDT and Liberty profile

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Thanks to @WASdevnet for posting this: -

A quick introduction to using Eclipse with WebSphere Application Server Developer Tools (WDT) to develop portlet applications on Liberty profile with the Portlet Container feature. It provides a simple step-by-step description about how to create a simple new portlet application.




Installing and configuring an IBM Operational Decision Management golden topology

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From IBM developerWorks: -

Learn how to choose and configure deployment topologies for IBM® Operational Decision Management (IBM ODM) in distributed environments. This article explains the essential concepts needed to understand highly available and scalable WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment environments, then introduces the IBM ODM server components and explains the characteristics or constraints of those components that affect deployment decisions. This content is part of the IBM Business Process Management Journal.


Relevant to me as I put together a set of estimates for an upcoming ISSW engagement, installing IBM BPM Advanced 8.5, IBM ODM 8.5 and IBM Business Monitor 8.0.1.

WebSphere User Group @ IBM South Bank, London on 25th March, 2014

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A timely reminder from Mr Alan Chambers: -

We are pleased to confirm that the next meeting of the WebSphere User Group (UK) will take place on 25th March 2014, to be held in the IBM Client Centre at IBM South Bank, London. There will be no charge for this meeting and as usual we aim to have an excellent agenda lined up, covering a range of current and emerging WebSphere technologies.



CWWIM4564I The user registry is now connected to ....

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A few of my colleagues have been seeing this "error" message in their WAS SystemOut.log files: -

[2/4/14 13:01:27:694 EST] 00000043 LdapConnectio I com.ibm.ws.wim.adapter.ldap.LdapConnection getDirContext CWWIM4564I  The user registry is now connected to 'ldap://hostname.domainname.com:389' LDAP Server.

repeatedly, in blocks of a few hundred, BUT with over 40K of messages in one hour :-(

Another chap came back and said that he'd seen, and mitigated, this with a wimconfig.xml change.

Initially, I thought it might be my old friend - allowOperationIfReposDown="true"

<snip>
...
<config:realmConfiguration defaultRealm="Collaboration">
<config:realms delimiter="/" name="Collaboration" securityUse="active" allowOperationIfReposDown="true">
<config:participatingBaseEntries name="ou=groups,o=foo"/> <config:participatingBaseEntries name="ou=users,o=foo"/> <config:participatingBaseEntries name="ou=systems,o=foo"/> <config:participatingBaseEntries name="ou=admins,o=foo"/>
...
</snip>

as documented in this Technote: -

What are the consequences of one repository becoming unavailable in a federated environment?

however, it wasn't that one - it was one of which I've not previously been aware: -

<snip>
...
 <config:repositories xsi:type="config:LdapRepositoryType" adapterClassName="com.ibm.ws.wim.adapter.ldap.LdapAdapter"
        id="MyLdap" isExtIdUnique="true" supportAsyncMode="false" supportExternalName="false"
        supportPaging="false" supportSorting="false" supportTransactions="false" supportChangeLog="none"
        certificateFilter="" certificateMapMode="exactdn" ldapServerType="AD" translateRDN="false">
      <config:baseEntries name="DC=myldap,DC=com" nameInRepository="DC=myldap,DC=com"/>
      <config:loginProperties>uid</config:loginProperties>
      <config:ldapServerConfiguration primaryServerQueryTimeInterval="15" returnToPrimaryServer="false"
          sslConfiguration="">
        <config:ldapServers authentication="simple" bindDN="myldap\user"
            bindPassword="{xor}asdfgasdfgasdf==" connectionPool="false" connectTimeout="20"
            derefAliases="always" referal="ignore" sslEnabled="false">
          <config:connections host="myldap.net" port="389"/>
        </config:ldapServers>
      </config:ldapServerConfiguration>
</snip>

This allows WAS to maintain connectivity to failover LDAP servers; apparently, if it is set to TRUE, WAS jumps across to the failover servers more frequently. With it set to FALSE, then WAS will "poll" less frequently.

Obviously, if you only have one LDAP server, then it makes no difference.

I've not yet seen any response back from the original poster as to whether it helps, or not.

WAS - How to clear the WebSphere class caches

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This is something for which I've not yet had a requirement, but one day, my son, one day :-)

Problem

Instructions on clearing the java class caches in IBM WebSphere Application Server. Both the JVM's shared class cache and WebSphere Application Server's OSGi class cache.

Resolving the problem

IBM Support may ask you to clear the class cache. There are several reasons for this. After an upgrade, it is possible that the class cache's are still holding onto previous versions of classes. It is also possible that the caches became corrupted.

Please remember there are two caches that will need to be cleared, the JVM's cache and the OSGi cache. The server has to be stopped before clearing the cache
.

IBM PureApplication System (IPAS) - Getting started

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This year, I am starting to look at IPAS for, really, the first time.

Therefore, I'm building a list of things to read, and these two rather useful developerWorks articles popped into my focus, thanks to Twitter.


Part 1 of this article series teaches you how to develop plug-ins for virtual application patterns in IBM® Workload Deployer and IBM PureApplication™ Systems. The examples presented here are also applicable to IBM SmartCloud Application Workload Services. This article walks you through a simple example as it teaches you key concepts necessary to begin developing plug-ins and pattern types. This series complements the Navigating the IBM Cloud article series.


A virtual application pattern defines an abstract application model that is disconnected from the underlying topology. What if you want to enable your solution as a virtual application pattern, but it requires additional functionality not offered by the plug-ins in the existing pattern types? In this case, you need an extension to the out-of-the-box functionality. This second article of the series gives you a concrete, hands-on example on how to extend and customize an existing pattern type.

These are in addition to a previous blog post of mine: -

plus a number of other useful Redbooks ( on iOS, of course ) and developerWorks articles: -

Redbooks

Adopting IBM PureApplication System V1.0

Overview of IBM PureSystems

Platform as a Service with IBM PureApplication System

IBM PureApplication System Best Practices

Creating Composite Application Pattern Models for IBM PureApplication System

developerWorks

Preparing for IBM PureApplication System, Part 1: Onboarding applications overview

Preparing for IBM PureApplication System, Part 2: Is your application ready to become virtual?

Preparing for IBM PureApplication System, Part 3: Choosing a database option

Preparing for IBM PureApplication System, Part 4: Onboarding applications to the cloud using the Advanced Middleware Configuration tool V1.1

Preparing for IBM PureApplication System, Part 5: Developing virtual application patterns for IBM Workload Deployer with Rational Application Developer

The WebSphere Contrarian: Options for accelerating application deployment

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This from the uber-genius Tom Alcott: -

Looking for ways to speed up application deployment in IBM® WebSphere® Application Server? In this installment, The WebSphere Contrarian outlines how applications are deployed and offers options for accelerating the deployment process. This content is part of the IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal.

It's time for the holidays again, which means everyone is hurrying to finish up projects for the year, take care of shopping, and a variety of other traditional year-end tasks. All this activity likely means that you'd welcome any time saving tips, since you're probably dealing with too much to do and too little time to get it all done. In doing my part to improve your efficiency, I'll spend some time in this month's column offering some tips for speeding up application deployment in IBM WebSphere Application Server, which will also apply to products such as IBM WebSphere Portal, IBM Process Server, and others that are based on WebSphere Application Server.


"SECJ0371W: Validation of the LTPA token failed because the token expired with the following info..." - much more useful with WAS 8.5

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I'm just getting to grips with WebSphere Application Server (WAS) 8.5.5.1 for the very first time, as part of my first IBM Operational Decision Manager (ODM) 8.5.1.0 delivery.

I just happen to note this WARNING in my SystemOut.log file: -

[12/02/14 18:17:58:817 GMT] 000000b1 LTPAServerObj W   SECJ0371W: Validation of the LTPA token failed because the token expired with the following info: Token expiration Date: Wed Feb 12 16:52:00 GMT 2014, current Date: Wed Feb 12 18:17:58 GMT 2014 Token attributes:  port=8880, username=user:defaultWIMFileBasedRealm/uid=rtsAdmin,o=defaultWIMFileBasedRealm, hostname=rhel6.uk.ibm.com.. This warning might indicate expected behavior. Please refer to technote at http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg21594981.

Now that is what I call a very useful warning - it's chock full o'detail, includes the details of the WAS port, username, hostname, clearly indicates that this MAY be expected behaviour, and then directs one to an IBM Technote: -


This is a great example of how to do it.

Thanks, WebSphere development team.

PS For the record, this is what I'm running: -

Name                  IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment
Version               8.5.5.1
ID                    ND
Build Level           cf011341.03
Build Date            10/18/13
Package               com.ibm.websphere.ND.v85_8.5.5001.20131018_2242
Architecture          x86-64 (64 bit)
Installed Features    IBM 64-bit WebSphere SDK for Java
                      WebSphere Application Server Full Profile
                      EJBDeploy tool for pre-EJB 3.0 modules
                      Embeddable EJB container
                      Stand-alone thin clients and resource adapters

IBM Operational Decision Manager 8.5.1.0 - Problems with missing DB2 Buffer Pool

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One about which I'd forgotten.

I saw this exception: -

Failed to execute SQL statement "CREATE TABLESPACE RESDWTS PAGESIZE 32K BUFFERPOOL BP32K".
DB2 SQL Error: SQLCODE=-204, SQLSTATE=42704, SQLERRMC=BP32K, DRIVER=3.65.97

when configuring the DB2 database for an IBM Operational Decision Manager (ODM) 8.5.1.0 Decision Server ( aka Rules Execution Server == RES ) environment.

ODM provides a nice GUI for configuration, and I got hit with this: -

 

I validated this on the DB2 server directly: -

$ db2 connect to resdb
$ db2 "CREATE TABLESPACE RESDWTS PAGESIZE 32K BUFFERPOOL BP32K"

DB21034E  The command was processed as an SQL statement because it was not a 
valid Command Line Processor command.  During SQL processing it returned:
SQL0204N  "BP32K" is an undefined name.  SQLSTATE=42704

Yes, you've guessed it - I'd forgotten to create the Buffer Pool BP32K.

This I did: -

$ db2 create bufferpool BP32K size 8000 pagesize 32 K

DB20000I  The SQL command completed successfully.

and re-ran the ODM wizard; this time it all ended happily :-)

Training Paths - IBM Integration Bus / IBM Business Process Manager / IBM Operational Decision Manager

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Redbook - Configuring and Deploying Open Source with WebSphere Application Server Liberty Profile

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Saw this via one of my Twitter correspondents: -

This IBM® Redbooks® publication explains the capabilities of WebSphere® Application Server Liberty profile, whereas, the product is extremely lightweight, easy to install, and very fast to use. It provides a convenient and capable platform for developing and testing your web and OSGi applications. The Liberty profile server is built using OSGi technology and concepts. The fit-for-purpose nature of the run time relies on the dynamic behavior inherent in the OSGi framework and service registry. As bundles are installed or uninstalled from the framework, their services are automatically added or removed from the service registry. The result is a dynamic, composable run time that can be provisioned with only what your application requires and responds dynamically to configuration changes as your application evolves.

This IBM Redbooks publication will help you install, tailor and configure several popular Open Source technologies that can be deployed effectively with the WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile. The following list represents a selection of popular open source toolkits for the Liberty profile server:
>Apache Maven
>Spring Framework
>Hibernate
>Jenkins
>Opscode Chef
>Arquillian
>MongoDB

Each product was selected based on the significant enhancements they provide to the web application development process.

In this IBM Redbooks publication the 'Todo' sample to is used to demonstrate the usage of multiple open source framework/toolkit with Liberty profile server including: Maven, MongoDB, Spring, JPA, Arquillian, Wicket, etc. The 'Todo' sample is a simple application, it can be used to create, update and delete todo items, todo lists, and put the todo items into related todo list.

Chapter 1 - WebSphere Application Server Liberty profile
Chapter 2 - Open Source Frameworks and Toolkit Selection
Chapter 3 – Implementing and testing backend services on Liberty profile server 
Chapter 4 - Continuous integration with Jenkins on Liberty
Chapter 5 - Front-end development on the Liberty profile server
Chapter 6 - Deploying Liberty profile server with Chef
Chapter 7 - Working with 3rd party tools (Apache ActiveMQ, Apache James) on Liberty profile server

IBM Operational Decision Manager 8.5 - Exception seen on first startup of Decision Server cluster

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I've now seen this twice ( and, therefore, it is repeatable ) when I first start my Decision Server cluster - to be more specific, the cluster is automatically started by the build process, via this script: -

export ODM_HOME=/opt/IBM/ODM85/
/opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/Dmgr01/bin/configureDSCluster.sh -dmgrAdminUsername wasadmin -dmgrAdminPassword passw0rd -clusterPropertiesFile ./configureDSCluster.properties -createNode -targetNodeName DecisionServerNode01 -dmgrHostName rhel6.uk.ibm.com -dmgrPort 8879

This is what I see in the SystemOut.log file: -

view /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/DecisionServerNode01/logs/DecisionServerNode01-DSServer/SystemOut.log

...
[13/02/14 13:06:48:807 GMT] 00000067 webapp E com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp logError SRVE0293E: [Servlet Error]-[Failed to load listener: ilog.rules.res.console.IlrServletContextListener]: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: class java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: ilog.rules.res.console.IlrServletContextListener
...
[13/02/14 13:06:48:831 GMT] 00000067 webapp E com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp logError SRVE0293E: [Servlet Error]-[Failed to load listener: ilog.rules.jsf.listeners.IlrSessionManagerListener]: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: class java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: ilog.rules.jsf.listeners.IlrSessionManagerListener
...
[13/02/14 13:06:53:164 GMT] 00000068 webapp E com.ibm.ws.webcontainer.webapp.WebApp logError SRVE0293E: [Servlet Error]-[Failed to load listener: com.ibm.rules.htds.servlet.DecisionServiceManager]: java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: class java.lang.ClassNotFoundException: com.ibm.rules.htds.servlet.DecisionServiceManager

I don't know precisely why it does this BUT the solution is simple :-)

Restart the cluster: -

$ /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/DecisionServerNode01/bin/stopServer.sh DecisionServerNode01-DSServer -user wasadmin -password password

ADMU0116I: Tool information is being logged in file
           /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/DecisionServerNode01/logs/DecisionServerNode01-DSServer/stopServer.log
ADMU0128I: Starting tool with the DecisionServerNode01 profile
ADMU3100I: Reading configuration for server: DecisionServerNode01-DSServer
ADMU3201I: Server stop request issued. Waiting for stop status.
ADMU4000I: Server DecisionServerNode01-DSServer stop completed.


$ /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/DecisionServerNode01/bin/startServer.sh DecisionServerNode01-DSServer

ADMU0116I: Tool information is being logged in file
           /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/DecisionServerNode01/logs/DecisionServerNode01-DSServer/startServer.log
ADMU0128I: Starting tool with the DecisionServerNode01 profile
ADMU3100I: Reading configuration for server: DecisionServerNode01-DSServer
ADMU3200I: Server launched. Waiting for initialization status.
ADMU3000I: Server DecisionServerNode01-DSServer open for e-business; process id
           is 61952

and all is well.

PS Love the scripting to cluster Decision Center and Decision Server, makes ODM builds far more fun :-)
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