How Server Roles are Managed by Enterprise Manager
The Enterprise Manager application uses XML files to manage the server role Entity that contains a logical, predefined set of components (system software or certified third-party software) deployed in the Data Center and Site Zones that provide specific functionality for the system. configuration settings. As an Enterprise Manager administrator, you do not see or interact with these XML files directly. However, to understand the Enterprise Manager architecture, you must have an understanding of how the Enterprise Manager uses XML to manage the server role configuration settings.
The two basic concepts to understand relating to how the Enterprise Manager uses XML files to manage server roles include:
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Server role instance data
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Server role metadata
When you configure a server role, you select the Server Role node in the Installations tree of the Enterprise Manager. Then you specify the configuration settings for the server role in the right pane.
The settings you make for a server role are stored in an XML file. This data is called server role instance data. This data reflects a specific instance of a server role with its configuration settings set in a particular way. Essentially, the server role instance data holds the current configuration settings for a particular server role.
Enterprise Manager maintains one server role instance data XML file for every server role that is deployed across the entire enterprise.
Enterprise Manager stores these server role instance data XML files in the Framework Database Server role in the Data Center (also known as BPMain) that stores user, organization and group data, including user preferences and security data (roles, permissions, and license information). on the Enterprise Manager server.
Each server role has default settings that are programmatically set during the installation process.
Server role metadata is also maintained in XML files by the Enterprise Manager. Server role metadata controls everything else about a server role except for its instance data.
For example, the server role XML metadata controls all the following pertaining to each server role:
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Screen settings - The metadata determines the settings for the server role that appear in the right pane of the Enterprise Manager. You use these settings to configure the server role. (The values you provide for these settings become the server role instance data.)
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Associations - The metadata determines the server role associations a role can have, or is required to have. The metadata also determines the scope of the server role associations.
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Constraints - The metadata specifies the constraints that apply to the server role.
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Services to be restarted - The metadata maintains a list of all services that must be restarted when a server role configuration is changed. This list displays to an administrator in the Enterprise Manager user interface when the administrator changes the configuration of the server role. Not all the server roles require services to be restarted following configuration changes.
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Components - The metadata specifies all the components on which a server role is dependent (or that are dependent on the server role).
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Upgrade transformations - The metadata contains a list of all transformations that must be applied to an earlier version of a role to upgrade the role to the current version.
The server role metadata determines the server role type. For example, the IP Recorder server role XML metadata file contains the screen settings, associations, default settings, and constraints needed by an IP Recorder role.
The server role metadata is the same for every server role of that type and version that is installed in the Enterprise. For example, an IP Recorder server role installed on Server A has the exact same metadata as an IP Recorder server role installed on Server B (as long as the two roles are of the same version). However, the server role instance data for these two server roles can be different. The server role instance data depends on the settings you have configured for each of the server roles in the Enterprise Manager.
When you upgrade a server role to a higher version, it is the metadata of the server role that is changed.
The Enterprise Manager uses both the server role instance data and the server role metadata to display the server role configuration to the Enterprise Manager user. This data (the server role configuration settings and their specific values) appears in the right pane of Enterprise Manager when you select a Server Role node in the Installations tree.
The Enterprise Manager maintains one server role metadata XML file for each server role of the same type and version that exists in the enterprise. For example, assume that you have activated eight IP Recorder server roles of version 15.2 and two Recorder Integration Service server roles of version 15.2. In this case, only two server role metadata XML files are maintained: one for the IP Recorder server role version 15.2 and one for the Recorder Integration Services server role version 15.2.
The Enterprise Manager stores (caches) these server role metadata XML files in the Framework Database on the Enterprise Manager server.