I am building an Infor ION Grid laboratory manually without LifeCycle Manager (LCM) for my learning purposes. In the previous post I had installed a minimalist Grid using an old version. Today I will install the latest version.

1. Preparation

Choose values for the following properties (here are some sample values):

2. Download latest version

Download the latest version of the Grid; as of today (5/12/2017) it is 11.1.13.0.77:

3. Create folder structure

Choose a home directory for your Grid, e.g. C:\Infor\Grid\ where the folder must match the Grid name (e.g. Grid), and create these sub-folders:

Grid
+---config
+---drivers
+---resources
\---secure

4. Copy JAR files

Let’s find the main grid-core.jar and supporting JAR files:

1. Unzip the LCM file.
2. Go to folder: Grid_Installer_11.1.13.0.77.lcm\products\Infor_ION_Grid_11.1.13.0\tasks\
3. Select these JAR files:

   bcmail-jdk16.jar
   bcprov-jdk16.jar
   grid.httpclient.jar
   grid.liquibase.jar
   grid-core.jar
   javax.servlet-api.jar

   

4. Copy them to your Grid\resources\ folder:
   

5. Create database

Let’s create the Grid database:

1. Install SQL Server and SQL Management Studio (I installed SQL Server 2014 Express Edition at no cost), and ensure it works correctly:
2. Download and install the Microsoft SQL Server JDBC Driver, and ensure you can connect to the database via JDBC (e.g. with SQuirreL):
   
3. Create a new database (e.g. InforIONGrid):
   
4. Run the following SQL to create the configuration table:

   CREATE TABLE GRIDCONF (
       GRID varchar(64) NOT NULL,
       TYPE varchar(32) NOT NULL,
       NAME varchar(128) NOT NULL,
       TS numeric(20, 0) NOT NULL,
       DATA varbinary(max) NULL,
       SEQID numeric(5, 0) NOT NULL
   )

   

5. Run the following SQL to create a Grid configuration with name (e.g. Grid), runtime XML and topology XML (replace the Grid name and XML contents as needed):

   DECLARE @runtime VARCHAR(300)
   DECLARE @topology VARCHAR(300)
   SET @runtime =
   '<?xml version="1.0" ?>
   <runtime xmlns="http://schemas.lawson.com/grid/configuration_v3">
       <bindings />
       <sessionProviders />
       <routers />
       <contextRoots />
       <propertySettings />
   </runtime>'
   SET @topology =
   '<?xml version="1.0" ?>
   <topology xmlns="http://schemas.lawson.com/grid/configuration_v3">
       <hosts>
           <host name="localhost" address="127.0.0.1" gridAgentPort="50003" />
       </hosts>
       <registry host="localhost" port="50004" />
   </topology>'
   INSERT INTO GRIDCONF (GRID, TYPE, NAME, TS, DATA, SEQID) VALUES ('Grid', 'runtime' , 'null', 0, CONVERT(varbinary(max), @runtime), 0)
   INSERT INTO GRIDCONF (GRID, TYPE, NAME, TS, DATA, SEQID) VALUES ('Grid', 'topology' , 'null', 0, CONVERT(varbinary(max), @topology), 0)

   

6. Verify the result:

   SELECT GRID, TYPE, NAME, TS, DATA, LEFT(DATA, LEN(DATA)), SEQID
   FROM GRIDCONF

   

7. Copy the JDBC driver to your Grid\drivers\ folder:
   
8. Create the JDBC configuration file at Grid\config\jdbc.properties with the values you chose above and with your database password Base64-encoded (in a production environment, keep this file secure):

   driverDir=C:/Infor/Grid/drivers
   url=jdbc:sqlserver://localhost:1433;databaseName=InforIONGrid
   dbType=sqlserver
   user=sa
   encryptedPwd=cGFzc3dvcmQxMjM=
   schema=dbo

   

Configuration Import & Edit

CREATE TABLE EXISTING_GRIDS (
    GRID_NAME varchar(64) NOT NULL,
    GRID_VERSION varchar(32) NOT NULL,
    MODIFIED_BY varchar(128) NULL,
    TIMESTAMP numeric(20, 0) NOT NULL,
)
INSERT INTO EXISTING_GRIDS (GRID_NAME, GRID_VERSION, MODIFIED_BY, TIMESTAMP) VALUES ('Grid', 1, 'Thibaud', 0)

java -cp resources/grid-core.jar;resources/grid.liquibase.jar;drivers\sqljdbc42.jar com.lawson.grid.config.JDBCConfigAreaRuntime C:\Infor\Grid

java -cp resources/grid-core.jar;resources/grid.liquibase.jar;drivers\sqljdbc42.jar;resources/bcprov-jdk16.jar;resources/bcmail-jdk16.jar com.lawson.grid.config.client.ui.Launch

6. Security

The Grid uses cryptography to protect its network traffic. We need the following four files in the folder Grid\secure\ . For now, I will simply get these files from an existing Grid, and I will create new ones later.

Grid.ks
server.key
server.ks
server.pw

7. Start the Grid

Start the Grid:

java -cp resources/grid-core.jar;resources/bcprov-jdk16.jar;resources/bcmail-jdk16.jar;resources/grid.liquibase.jar;drivers\sqljdbc42.jar;resources/javax.servlet-api.jar;resources/grid.httpclient.jar com.lawson.grid.Startup -registry -configDir . -host localhost -logLevel ALL

8. Grid Management Pages

Start the Grid Management Pages and connect to the registry at localhost:50004:

java -jar resources/grid-core.jar

9. Topology View

For the Topology View, we need another table:

CREATE TABLE APPMAPPINGS (
    GRID varchar(256) NOT NULL,
    NAME varchar(256) NOT NULL,
    HOST varchar(256) NOT NULL,
    ID varchar(64) NULL,
    PENDINGID varchar(64) NULL,
    STATE varchar(32) NOT NULL,
    LOGNAME varchar(256) NULL,
    PROFILENAME varchar(64) NULL,
    PROFILEDATA varbinary(max) NULL,
    JVMID varchar(64) NULL
)

Result

We now have a minimalist Grid installed manually without LCM.

Future work

In the next post, I will show how to create the security files.

Conclusion

That was how to install a minimalist latest version of the Infor ION Grid manually without LifeCycle Manager. We have the minimalist folder structure, database, configuration, commands, Grid Management Pages, and Topology View. I will continue in the next post.

That’s it!

M3 Ideas, now 282 subscribers.

Related posts

• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 1 – early Grid version 0.x
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 2 – latest Grid version 11.x
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 2bis – Configuration Manager
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 3 – Cryptographic keys
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 4 – Grid installer
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 4bis – Console and silent install
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 5 – PostgreSQL database
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 6 – Ubuntu Linux
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 6bis – CentOS Linux
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 7 – Virtual Private Cloud

These days I am doing a lot of work with the Infor ION Grid – to learn, troubleshoot, and do penetration testing – and I need to setup my own laboratory. I will follow the footsteps of PotatoIT’s Lab.

Grid concepts

The Infor ION Grid is a proprietary application framework to run Java applications in a distributed, redundant, fail-over, load balanced, scalable, performant, and secure environment, sort of a crossing between IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS), for the purposes of Infor products, and that over the years has become a rich framework that helps power the Infor CloudSuite. Grid concepts are explained in the Infor documentation and in my previous work. Basically, there are: hosts (physical/virtual machines), a registry (to keep track of the nodes), nodes (JVM), applications (e.g. M3), routers (to direct network traffic), and more.

Download

The Grid is available for download from the Infor Xtreme Product Download Center:

Documentation

The Installation Guide has a chapter Installing Infor ION Grid:

LCM? No.

The documentation says Infor LifeCycle Manager (LCM) is a prerequisite to install the Grid. But in my previous encounter with LCM I had concluded I can reproduce installation steps manually without LCM, albeit with a lot of work. Anyway, for my purposes I just need a minimal Grid without Infor M3 which makes the installation easier. To that end, I set out to learn how to install a minimal Grid manually without LCM. I will split my learning into several blog posts.

Version 0.x

In my archives of 10 years ago I found an early internal development unreleased version of the Grid with some documentation. It was a pure Java application that started Grid hosts, nodes, routers, registry, and user interface. It did not have database, certificates, configuration, or web server. It was not available publicly. Thanks to its simplicity, I will use it as a starting point of my learning.

1) Start the registry

java -cp grid.jar com.lawson.grid.Startup -registry -groupName THIBAUD

2) Start a node

java -cp grid.jar com.lawson.grid.Startup

3) Start a router

java -cp grid.jar com.lawson.grid.Startup -router

4) Start the user interface

java -jar grid.jar localhost 44444

Result

We have a minimal Grid with a host, a registry, a node, a router, and a user interface.

Future work

In my next blog posts, I will:

• Install a later version of the Grid
• Use the new Grid installer
• Install the Grid on Linux and PostgreSQL

Conclusion

That was a starting point for me to learn how to install a minimal Infor ION Grid manually without LifeCycle Manager. I will continue in the next post.

That’s it!

Related posts

• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 1 – early Grid version 0.x
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 2 – latest Grid version 11.x
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 2bis – Configuration Manager
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 3 – Cryptographic keys
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 4 – Grid installer
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 4bis – Console and silent install
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 5 – PostgreSQL database
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 6 – Ubuntu Linux
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 6bis – CentOS Linux
• Building an Infor Grid Lab – Part 7 – Virtual Private Cloud

Here is how to create and invoke application proxies of the Infor Grid.

What is an application proxy?

An application proxy is an interface for a Grid application that other applications of the Grid or client applications outside the Grid can invoke; it is inter-process communication in a distributed environment.

How to create an application proxy?

To create a proxy for a Grid application:

package net.company.your;

import com.lawson.grid.node.application.ApplicationEntryPoint;
import com.lawson.grid.node.application.ModuleContext;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.ProxyException;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.ProxyServer;

public interface HelloWorldProxy {
    public String hello(String name) throws ProxyException;
}

public class HelloWorld implements HelloWorldProxy {
    public String hello(String name) {
        return "Hello, " + name;
    }
}

public class HelloWorldApp implements ApplicationEntryPoint {
    public boolean startModule(ModuleContext context) {
        ProxyServer.registerProxy(HelloWorldProxy.class, new HelloWorld());
        return true;
    }
    public void stopModule() {
    }
}

Note: For details on how to create a Grid application, refer to the previous post on the subject.

The proxy is now ready to be invoked:

How to call the proxy from a Grid application?

To invoke the proxy from a Grid application:

The short source code is:

Registry registry = Node.getRegistry();
HelloWorldProxy proxy = registry.getProxy(HelloWorldProxy.class);
String result = proxy.hello("Thibaud");

The long source code is:

package net.company2.your;

import com.lawson.grid.node.application.ApplicationEntryPoint;
import com.lawson.grid.node.application.ModuleContext;
import com.lawson.grid.node.Node;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.ProxyException;
import com.lawson.grid.registry.Registry;
import net.company.your.HelloWorldProxy;

public class HelloWorldApp2 implements ApplicationEntryPoint {
	public boolean startModule(ModuleContext context) {
		// connect
		Registry registry = Node.getRegistry();
		if (!registry.isConnected()) {
			System.err.println("failed to connect");
			return false;
		} else {
			System.out.println("connected to " + registry.getGridName());
		}
		// get the proxy
		HelloWorldProxy proxy = (HelloWorldProxy)registry.getProxy(HelloWorldProxy.class);
		if (proxy == null) {
			System.err.println("failed to get proxy...exiting");
			return false;
		} else {
			System.out.println("got proxy");
		}
		// invoke the proxy
		try {
			String result = proxy.hello("Thibaud");
			System.out.println(result);
		} catch (ProxyException e) {
			System.err.println(e.getMessage());
			e.printStackTrace();
			return false;
		}
		return true;
	}

	public void stopModule() {
	}

}

How to call the proxy from a client application?

To invoke the application proxy from a client application outside the Grid:

First, choose a Grid registry’s hostname and port number (a registry is a special node that keeps track of all nodes in a Grid):

Then, connect to the Grid, get the proxy and invoke its methods.

The short source code is:

ClientRegistry registry = new ClientRegistry("Test");
registry.connect(hostname, portNumber);
HelloWorldProxy proxy = registry.getProxy(HelloWorldProxy.class);
String result = proxy.hello("Thibaud");

The long source code is:

import com.lawson.grid.proxy.ProxyConnectionFailedException;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.ProxyException;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.access.GridPrincipal;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.access.SessionId;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.access.SessionProvider;
import com.lawson.grid.proxy.access.SessionUtils;
import com.lawson.grid.registry.ClientRegistry;
import net.company.your.HelloWorldProxy;

public class Test {
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        // connect
        ClientRegistry registry = new ClientRegistry("Test");
        try {
            registry.connect("host1623", 22102);
        } catch (ProxyConnectionFailedException e) {
            System.err.println(e.getMessage());
            e.printStackTrace();
            return;
        }
        if (!registry.isConnected()) {
            System.err.println("failed to connect");
            return;
        } else {
            System.out.println("connected to " + registry.getGridName());
        }

        // get the proxy
        HelloWorldProxy proxy = (HelloWorldProxy)registry.getProxy(HelloWorldProxy.class);
        if (proxy == null) {
            System.err.println("failed to get proxy...exiting");
            return;
        } else {
            System.out.println("got proxy");
        }

        // invoke the proxy
        try {
            String result = proxy.hello("Thibaud");
            System.out.println(result);
        } catch (ProxyException e) {
            System.err.println(e.getMessage());
            e.printStackTrace();
            return;
        }

        // disconnect
        registry.close();
        if (!registry.isClosed()) {
            System.err.println("failed to close");
        } else {
            System.out.println("registry closed");
        }
    }

}

That’s it. Please like, subscribe, share.