Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved


Chapter 3 Configuring the Rulebase Repository : Choosing a Configuration Mode

Choosing a Configuration Mode
On your network, configuration objects such as schedules and rulebases are retrieved using either manual or automatic configuration. The mode you choose might depend on the number of TIBCO Hawk agents running on your network, and the number and complexity of configuration objects.
You specify a configuration mode and other parameters when starting a TIBCO Hawk agent, and the agent searches the configuration source for configuration objects. A configuration source is one or more directories on the agent machine, or one or more Repository names on the network.
This section describes how configuration objects are stored and retrieved.
Using Automatic Configuration
Automatic Configuration is the default mode for storing configuration objects. In Automatic Configuration mode, the configuration source is a single directory specified in the -auto_config_dir startup option. The agent locates the automatic configuration directory at startup and loads schedules first, then rulebases. Since all rulebases found are loaded, a rulebase map is not used in Automatic Configuration mode.
After an agent is started, in this mode additional rulebases can be loaded by deploying rulebases through Hawk Console, or by invoking the RuleBaseEngine:loadRuleBaseFromFile() method. For more information about specific methods, see the TIBCO Hawk Microagent Reference.
Using Manual Configuration
 
In Manual Configuration mode, the configuration source is one of the following:
These two options are mutually exclusive. If no path is specified, the current directory is used by default.
In Manual Configuration mode, the agent performs the following sequence of tasks to load startup rulebases:
1.
2.
3.
4.
After an agent is started in Manual Configuration mode, additional rulebases can be loaded by deploying rulebases through WebConsole or by invoking the RuleBaseEngine: loadRuleBase() or
RuleBaseEngine:loadRuleBaseFromFile() methods. For more information about RuleBaseEngine() methods, see the TIBCO Hawk Microagent Reference.
If a rulebase loaded using one of these procedures has an Include list, included rulebases are also loaded.
Using the Configuration Path Option
With the Configuration Path option, the configuration source is one or more directories specified in -config_path. With this option, any rulebases loaded by the agent are not written out to a local cache. The only rulebases an agent loads at startup are those specified in the rulebase map, by the –rulebases parameter, and in the Include lists of those rulebases.
Using the Repository Option
With the Repository option, the configuration source is one or more Repositories specified in -repository_path. All agents that use the same Repository load all changes saved to the Repository on startup.
A Repository is a network application that distributes configuration objects to agents. Users send new and updated objects to the Repository, and it responds to configuration requests from TIBCO Hawk agents. You specify a Repository for an agent to use with the –repository_path parameter, and one or more Repository names. A particular agent on the network hosts each Repository and has a Repository microagent with methods for accessing configuration objects. For more information about microagents, see the TIBCO Hawk Microagent Reference.
In addition, you can configure an agent to maintain a backup of configuration objects in local cache with the -repository_cache parameter. This feature is useful for implementing fault-tolerance and for minimizing unnecessary object transfer across the network. Agents compare locally cached rulebases with those stored in the Repository, and retrieve only new or updated objects. If a Repository defined in the -repository_path option for an agent does not respond to a request within 15 seconds, the agent searches the local cache directory for the configuration object.
Understanding Configuration Scenarios
Complicated scenarios can result from the various rulebase tasks and configuration modes. Table 7 describes some of these scenarios and their consequences in Manual and Automatic Configuration modes.
Load a rulebase using the RuleBaseEngine: loadRuleBase() method.
 

Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved
Copyright © TIBCO Software Inc. All Rights Reserved