LiveCycle Product Blog

LiveCycle ES Update 1 (8.2.1) is supported on 64-bit JDKs. 64-bit JDKs liberate us from the 1.2 GB maximum heap size limitation experienced on 32-bit JDKs on Windows. With all LiveCycle components deployed (including Content Services ES), LiveCycle's heap size requirements are now close to the limits afforded by 32-bit JDKs. However, the installation of the JBoss Turnkey will fail under a 64-bit JDK at the point where it tries to create a Windows service.

It is assumed that you are running on 64-bit CPU(s) and a 64-bit version of Windows. To confirm, download CPU-Z and run it. On an Intel CPU, the instruction sets supported will list EM64T, if the CPU is 64-bit. For an AMD CPU, it should say AMD64.

If you don't care whether JBoss is configured as a Windows service to start automatically on server re-start, you can easily bypass this step and continue. All you have to do are the following:

- Download and install the 64-bit version of Sun's HotSpot JDK from http://java.sun.com Please note the 6.0 (1.6) version of any JDK is not tested or supported by LiveCycle 8.2.1

- Configure the %JAVA_HOME% and %Path% system environment variables properly

- Run 'Group Policy Editor' (gpedit.msc)
- Assign the following user rights to the user that will be launching and running JBoss:
: Lock pages in Memory
: Adjust memory quotas for a process
: Act as part of the operating system

- Start the Turnkey install and continue until it fails on the creation of the JBoss windows service
- Exit the LiveCycle Configuration Manager
- Edit JBoss' run.bat and add the following entries. These lines configure JBoss to start with a minimum and maximum heap size of 2 GB. This means that your system should have at least 4 GB of physical RAM installed. This also assumes a single dual-core CPU. If you've got a single quad-core CPU, change -XX:ParallelGCThreads from 2 to 4.

set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -server
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dadobeidp.serverName=lc_server1
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dfile.encoding=utf8
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -XX:PermSize=256m -XX:MaxPermSize=256m
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Xms2048m -Xmx2048m -XX:+UseLargePages
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Djboss.partition.name=partitionLIVECYCLE
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Djava.io.tmpdir=C:\Adobe\LiveCycle8.2\lc_java_io_tmpdir
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -XX:+UseParallelGC -XX:ParallelGCThreads=2
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -DCASBOOTPROPS=bam.properties
set JAVA_OPTS=%JAVA_OPTS% -Dcom.celequest.bootstrap.envpropname=CASBOOTPROPS

- From a command prompt, start JBoss with the command run -c all
- Once JBoss is fully initialized, start LiveCycle Configuration Manager again
- Skip all steps until "Initialize Database'
- Continue from there

Please note that with this configuration, although MySQL will be configured as a Windows service to startup automatically on server re-start, JBoss has to be manually started every time. You have the option of configuring it as a 'scheduled task' to start on server re-start. For instructions, see here.

Posted by Jayan Kandathil at 01:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Testing with Adobe LiveCycle ES shows that performance on servers that carry Sun UltraSPARC T1 and T2 processors is not great. IBM's Processor Value Unit (PVU) calculation bears this out.

PVU is used by IBM to license its middleware and is based on the relative performance of processors. IBM assigns a PVU of only 30 to the T1, 50 to the T2 but 100 to the UltraSPARC IV. SPARC64 VI and VII processors also get a PVU of 100.

If you plan to deploy LiveCycle on Solaris on SPARC, you will get more value for your money by deploying it on servers with UltraSPARC IV, SPARC64 VI or VII processors.

Posted by Jayan Kandathil at 11:54 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you have a fully configured installation of LiveCycle ES and would like to add the IBM FileNet Connector to it, here are high level steps you need to follow:

- Re-run the install.
- Provide the new serial number for the IBM FileNet Connector for LIveCycle ES.
- On completion, run LiveCycle Configuration Manager (LCM).
- LCM will remmeber your previous choices but the IBM FileNet Connector will now be active. Check its checkbox.
- Re-build the EAR files.
- Undeploy the LiveCycle EAR file from your appserver.
- Deploy the new one. No need to replace the native EAR or the other EAR files.
- No need to initialize the database tables but check the checkbox to deploy Components (crucial step).

- Follow LiveCycle documentation for your respective appserver.

You need to read and follow instructions in two separate documents, namely the 'Preparing to Install LiveCycle ES' guide as well as the 'Installing and Deploying LiveCycle ES' guide.

- Copy the FileNet client library JAR files to all nodes on the server.
- Create an adobe-component-ext.properties file and copy it to the recommended location.

For IBM WebSphere, this is the root folder of the appserver profile which hosts LiveCycle. The file's contents should look something like this (should be all in one line, unlike what is shown below):
com.adobe.livecycle.ConnectorforIBMFileNet.ext=
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/activation.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/connector.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/javaapi.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/listener.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/log4j-1.2.8.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/mailapi.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/p8cjares.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/soap.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/xercesImpl.jar,
/opt/adobe/livecycle8.2was/FileNet_client_libs/xml-apis.jar

There is an additional JAR file that is needed that is not listed above, only if you plan to integrate LiveCycle with the FileNet Process Engine.

- Re-start the appserver.
- Login to the LiveCycle AdminUI.
- In the 'Services' panel, there should now be a new option (link) for 'LiveCycle ES Connector for IBM FileNet'.
- Click it and configure the options. You will require the assistance of your FileNet system administrator for this.

The Process Engine configuration fields can be left empty if you don't plan to integrate LiveCycle with it. If you plan to keep your forms in the FileNet ObjectStore, choose the radiobuton for 'IBM FileNet Repository Provider'. However, if you only plan to archive your documents (end of business process) in FileNet but keep the source forms in the LiveCycle repository, choose the radiobutton 'LiveCycle ES Repository Provider'.

- Click Save and make sure there are no errors.
- Navigate to Home->Services->Applications and Services->Service Management.
- Choose the Category 'Connector for IBM FileNet' and click 'Filter'.
- Start the services
: IBMFileNetAuthProviderService
: IBMFileNetContentRepositoryConnector
: IBMFileNetRepositoryProvider

Start the service 'IBMFileNetProcessEngineConnector' only if you plan to integrate with the IBM FileNet Process Engine.

- Verify that the services now display a status of 'Running'. If you get an error at this point, the configuration is not correct.
- Login to Workbench. In the Services window, verify that a new category for the IBM FileNet Connector is displayed.

Posted by Jayan Kandathil at 10:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We recently posted a document on translating forms that I'd like to call you attention to. The LiveCyle ES Update 1 Designer (aka 8.2) provides a method of generating unique ids in the form template to identify text strings . The strings can then be extracted using an XSLT into a common tranlsation format know as XLIFF , translated and then inserted into a new copy of the template using another XSLT. This type of automation allows you to quickly produce multiple languages of a form from a single source without manually maintaining multiple versions. There are sample XSLTs provided as attachments to the document along with full instructions on how to use the feature.

Posted by Jeff Stanier at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Once you have finished installing, configuring and integrating LiveCycle ES in your DEV, TEST, STAGING or PROD environments, here are some of the things you can quickly do to validate that you have a working configuration:

- Load the LiveCycle AdminUI Login page (http://server_name:port_name/adminui) and login as the Super Administrator user (Administrator) with the default password (password). If you can successfully login, the connection from the J2EE appserver to the database is working.

- Navigate to Services->Applications and Services->Service Management. Make sure that all of the services listed are in the 'Running' state. If at least one is not in the 'Running' state, you have problems. If you get an error instead of a list of services, your Global Storage Folder is probably not accessible.

- If you licensed PDF Generator ES, navigate to Services->LiveCycle PDF Generator ES->HTML to PDF. In the 'Specify URL' field, type in the URL of a well-known website (http://slashdot.org) and click 'Create'. If you get a URL for the new PDF, click on it and verify its contents. If it looks like the webpage at http://slashdot.org, PDF Generator is working.

- If you licensed Process Management ES, load Workspace (http://server_name:port_name/workspace) and verify that you can successfully login as the Super Administrator user.

- If you licensed Reader Extensions ES, load the ReaderExtensions sample application (http://server_name:port_name/readerextensions), login as the Super Administrator user, browse to a PDF document and apply Reader Extensions rights to it. If this is successful, Reader Extensions ES is working.

- Using Workbench, login as the Super Administrator user. Verify that all of the services you have licensed are listed.

- Deploy the FormsIVS sample application. You can find it at $LIVECYCLE_INSTALL_ROOT/deploy/adobe-forms-ivs-your_appserver.ear Access it at http://server_name:port_name/FormsIVS. Choose a form template and its associated data XML and render it via EJB. Try the same using Web Services. If these are successful, Forms ES is working.

- Deploy the OutputIVS sample application. You can find it at $LIVECYCLE_INSTALL_ROOT/deploy/adobe-output-ivs-your_appserver.ear. Access it at http://server_name:port_name/OutputIVS. Choose a form template and its associated data XML. Choose an appropriate record level (2) and render it via EJB. Try the same using Web Services. If these are successful, Output ES is working.

- Also, an IVS sample application is available for Assembler (adobe-assembler-ivs.ear - http://server_name:port_name/Assembler). IVS is an acronym for Installation Verification Sample.

For multi-server clusters (vertical or horizontal), shut down all cluster members except one and repeat the above tests for each server in the cluster. To verify that load-balancing across the cluster is working, you would need a load generator tool. Most load-balancers do not evenly split the load until there is consistent heavy load on the cluster.

Posted by Jayan Kandathil at 04:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)