November 24, 2006

All upgrade channel, all the time

Filed under: Directory/LDAP, JES, Java Enterprise System, Messaging, Travel — morgan @ 19:12

I recently completed a minor upgrade to a mid-sized messaging installation:

Java Messaging Server 6.1 to 6.2 (patch 118207-58)
Java Directory 5.2 (patch 115614-26)
Symantec Brightmail 6.0.0.123 to 6.0.4

prerequisites:
Java Admin Server 115610-23
LDAP JDK 118615-01

The infrastructure consists of 4 mtas (Sun 280Rs), 4 mail stores (v880s) clustered with Veritas. LDAP is on separate hosts, 280Rs.

Brightmail scanners are installed on the MTAs.

The upgrade consists mostly of reading the patch READMEs and following the instructions. It’s surprisingly complicated logistically.

Symantec support is broken out into at least 2 tiers: Gold and Platinum. Gold support knows nothing of their enterprise products. It is impossible to be passed to platinum support from gold. The gold support people are also unaware that Brightmail suports Sun Java Messaging Server.

We originally had a contract problem that prevented us from getting to platinum support. Once we resolved that it took Symantec platinum support the better part of a day to discover that we needed their Brightmail software development kit (SDK) to integrate with Java Messaging Server. In retrospect Sun documents the process pretty completely in their how-to. You will need to get the SDK from Symantec.

Be sure to read the release notes for Brightmail 6.0.4. The install guide indicates that you can upgrade from version 6.0.x. You cannot upgrade from 6.0.0.x. You can install 6.0.4 over 6.0.0.123 but it will not scan properly. You need to completely uninstall, rm -r /opt/brightmail and install 6.0.4. from scratch. We probably re-installed about a dozen times until all the pieces were working properly. I do not think we did anything wrong.

The post-install instructions for 115610 call for running mpsadminserver sync-cds:


usr/sbin/mpsadmserver sync-cds
Admin Id: admin
Admin Password:
Error: Ldap authentication failed (151:Unknown error.).
Do you want to try again ? [y/n]:

A look at the LDAP logs indicated authentication problems. It turned out the admin server ldap configuration was misconfigured. It always takes me a long time to figure this out so I’m writing it down. The admin server ldap configuration is stored in 2 places:
/var/opt/mps/serverroot/shared/config/dbswitch.conf
/var/opt/mps/serverroot/admin-serv/config/adm.conf

Update those two files and the mpsadmserver sync-cds will complete correctly.

Have a happy thanksgiving weekend. I’m just about finished visiting family in the south. I found out that in Georgia ‘dressing’ isn’t something you put on salad and crazy family gatherings are much less fun sober. They should really consider serving liquor to the guests. We fly home early tomorrow. I’m sure the airline industry is carefully preparing a miserable trip for us both as I type..

November 12, 2006

Brewery and Bar in Jackson, MS and Book Recommendations

Filed under: Books, Eating in Jackson MS — morgan @ 1:58

Better late than never..

I was in Jackson the week before last. I am new to Jackson so I checked the free weekly: The Jackson Free Press. The issue I picked up included a dining guide. Perfect. Armed with their map of downtown with over a dozen restaurants marked I headed south on 55.

Suffice to say, not much is open in Jackson, MS on a weeknight. After some looking I found Hal and Mal’s Restaurant and Brewery.

The catfish sandwich is good. The bread left a little to be desired but the rest made it worth it.

I even received a marriage proposal. Now, she had been drinking most of the day but was a lawyer and and a reader. She recommended:

A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Wolf,
The Moviegoer by Walker Percy,
Women by Charles Bukowski and
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers

I have not read any of them but they’re now on my list.

Hockey!

Filed under: Eating in Philadelphia, Sports? — morgan @ 1:41

I am not a sports fan at all. I can’t honestly tell you how football works, I’ve been to baseball games but it general I don’t get America’s obsession for sports.

I have always had a thing for hockey though.

A friend of mine who was born in and recently spent several years living in Canada visited and brought a Canadian friend. What does a Canadian and a Canadian-in-spirit do when they visit Philadelphia? They go to a Flyers game of course.

Craigslist provided a pair of tickets at half face value 17 rows from the ice. We ate with the Canadians at Sabrina’s, rode the motorcycle down to the stadiums, found a break in the fence to slip the bike into the pay lot and headed for the Wachovia Center.

Within 20 minutes there were two fights. My Candian friend immediately sent a text message: “Welcome to the NHL.”

We even had a belligerent fan a few rows in front of us. He was working very hard to pick a fight with the Buffalo fans to our left.

The Flyers lost in sudden death overtime and we went home. It was a good time.

We ate at Sabrina’s before the game. It’s exceptionally good. The olive oil that comes with the bread and the vegetable spring rolls are notable. Next time I’m going to try the Vegetarian Philly Cheese Steak with Seitan.

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