How to run a cluster of EPP 5 or JPP 6 instances with TCP only

Solution Verified - Updated -

Environment

  • JBoss Enterprise Portal Platform (EPP)
    • 5.1.x
    • 5.2.x
  • JBoss Portal Platform (JPP)
    • 6.0.x

Issue

  • We need to run our EPP 5 / JPP 6 cluster based on TCP only, instead of using UDP multicast. Please let us know which configuration changes are needed, as adding -Djboss.default.jgroups.stack=tcp to the startup options seems to be insufficient.

Resolution

Applying only the instructions from EAP for TCP based clustering is not sufficient for EPP/JPP. Please follow the steps as shown below:

General prerequisites:

  • Follow the configuration steps listed in the Installation Guide of EPP 5 1 or JPP 6 2 to set up a cluster of EPP instances.
  • Follow the general instructions on switching to TCP based clustering for EAP 5 3 or EAP 6 4.

Version specific instructions:

EPP 5.1.x

To use TCP based clustering with the EPP 5.1.x versions, it is required to apply a couple of manual changes to different configuration files. As this is a complex and error-prone change, we recommend to upgrade to EPP 5.2 to use TCP based clustering.

EPP 5.2 / JPP 6.0

Switching from UDP to TCP in EPP 5.2 or JPP 6.0 can be done by adding the following configuration parameter to the startup parameters:

  -Dgatein.default.jgroups.stack=tcp

Optionally switch the default TCP channels from multicast UDP discovery to a hard-coded server list:

  1. In the $EPP5_HOME/jboss-as/server/$CONFIG/deploy/gatein.ear/02portal.war/WEB-INF/classes/jgroups/gatein-tcp.xml or $JPP6_HOME/gatein/gatein.ear/portal.war/WEB_INF/classes/jgroups/gatein-tcp.xml config file comment out the MPING protocol and uncomment TCPPING. For example:
               <!-- Alternative 1: multicast-based automatic discovery. -->
             <!--
             <MPING timeout="3000"
                    num_initial_members="3"
                    mcast_addr="${gatein.jgroups.tcp.mping_mcast_addr:235.15.15.15}"
                    mcast_port="${gatein.tcp.mping_mcast_port:46700}"
                    ip_ttl="${jgroups.udp.ip_ttl:2}"/>            
             -->
             <!-- Alternative 2: non multicast-based replacement for MPING. Requires a static configuration
                  of *all* possible cluster members.
              -->
             <TCPPING timeout="3000"
                      initial_hosts="${gatein.jgroups.tcp.tcpping.initial_hosts:localhost[8600],localhost[8601]}"
                      port_range="1"
                      num_initial_members="3"/>
  1. Add the system property gatein.jgroups.tcp.tcpping.initial_hosts to the list of cluster members. For example:
        -Dgatein.jgroups.tcp.tcpping.initial_hosts="hostA[8600],hostB[8600]"

  1. EPP 5.2 Installation Guide - 6.9. Clustering Configuration
    https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/docs/en-US/JBoss_Enterprise_Portal_Platform/5.2/html/Installation_Guide/Clustering_Configuration.html ↩︎

  2. JPP 6 Installation Guide - 6.5. Clustering in JBoss Portal Platform
    https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/docs/en-US/JBoss_Portal_Platform/6/html/Installation_Guide/Clustering_in_JBoss_Portal_Platform.html ↩︎

  3. How do I switch clustering to TCP instead of multicast UDP in JBoss 5.x ?
    https://access.redhat.com/site/solutions/21160 ↩︎

  4. How do I switch clustering to TCP instead of multicast UDP in EAP 6.x?
    https://access.redhat.com/knowledge/solutions/140103 ↩︎

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