The information in this article applies to:
Product: MIM and PM4Data
Version: 8.1 - 8.1.8 SR 4
Platform: Open Systems
Issue
The system stops processing work. In-progress work stops and no new processes are serviced. The cause of this problem is the Coordinator Dispatcher, which is being removed from the product in a future release. In the meantime, Metastorm recommends that all customers disable the dispatcher and start-up individual Coordinators.
This article describes how to disable the dispatcher and how to start up Coordinators directly. Stand-alone Coordinators have the ability to process more work in a shorter time than the Coordinator Dispatcher.
Coordinator Dispatcher Description
The Coordinator Dispatcher, which is only available on open systems, provides a management layer that controls starting, stopping, and the time duration of active Coordinators. Coordinators started by the Dispatcher will only accept work from the Dispatcher. The Dispatcher takes requests from the Coordinator input queue and assigns them to Coordinators that are inactive or that meet computed criteria. The Dispatcher monitors load on the Coordinator input queue and if preconfigured limits are breached it may start or stop Coordinators as needed, ensuring that there are always a minimum number of active Coordinators. Coordinators load processes on demand and then keep them in memory for subsequent calls.
The out-of-box configuration starts up a single Coordinator Dispatcher that can be seen in the Process Monitor. The Coordinator Dispatcher starts Coordinators on demand as work enters the system. This article will show you how to replace the Coordinator Dispatcher with stand-alone Coordinators.
Resolution
Locate Services/Config/Launcher.xml in the Registry. This definition points to the Enterprise Server's node definition, which contains another instance of Launcher.xml. Locate this file in the Registry. It should contain the following definition:
C:\\CQ/bin xmocrds CoordinatorDispatcher xmoscrpt StopDispatcherService.xms Coordinator xmoscrpt ManageService.xms Coordinator true false
Remove the above Coordinator Dispatcher definition from the file. Replace it with the following stand-alone Coordinator definition:
C:\\CQ/bin xmocoord xmoscrpt StopService.xms XMOCOORD true false
Determine how many Coordinators should be running on your system. This will vary depending on processing power and the number of business processes/file transfers that will need to be serviced. The recommendation is to have at least 2 Coordinators and no more than 6. To add new Coordinators to the system replicate the above Coordinator definition in the file and change the display name to a new value such as display="Coordinator2". This name must be unique.
After the configuration changes have been made, stop and re-start the Process Monitor to pick up the new changes.
Note that development of a replacement component dispatching mechanism is under way. Check the Metastorm Customer Zone periodically for updates.
