This chapter describes how to configure and manage the Instant Messaging and Presence (IMP) service for WebCenter Spaces and custom WebCenter applications.
Always use Fusion Middleware Control or WLST command-line tool to review and configure back-end services for WebCenter applications. Any changes that you make to WebCenter applications, post deployment, are stored in MDS metatdata store as customizations. See Section 1.3.5, "Oracle WebCenter Configuration Considerations."
Note:
Changes that you make to WebCenter services configuration, through Fusion Middleware Control or using WLST, are not dynamic so you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed for your changes to take effect. See Section 8.2, "Starting and Stopping Managed Servers for WebCenter Application Deployments."This chapter includes the following sections:
Section 14.1, "What You Should Know About Instant Messaging and Presence Connections"
Section 14.2, "Instant Messaging and Presence Server Prerequisites"
Section 14.3, "Registering Instant Messaging and Presence Servers"
Section 14.4, "Choosing the Active Connection for Instant Messaging and Presence"
Section 14.5, "Modifying Instant Messaging and Presence Connection Details"
Section 14.6, "Deleting Instant Messaging and Presence Connections"
Section 14.7, "Setting Up Instant Messaging and Presence Service Defaults"
Section 14.8, "Testing Instant Messaging and Presence Connections"
Section 14.9, "Troubleshooting Issues with Instance Messaging and Presence"
The content of this chapter is intended for Fusion Middleware administrators (users granted the Admin or Operator role through the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console). See also, Section 1.8, "Understanding Administrative Operations, Roles, and Tools."
The IMP service enables you to observe the presence status of other authenticated application users (online, offline, busy, or away) and provides instant access to interaction options, such as phone calls, instant messages (IM), and mails.
A single connection to a back-end presence server is required.
WebCenter is certified with Microsoft Office Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005, and it can integrate with other presence servers. Oracle WebLogic Communications Services (OWLCS) 11g is available for download on Oracle Technology Network (OTN) at http://www.oracle.com/technology/index.html. For information on OWLCS installation, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle WebCenter.
Note:
To add or remove buddies to your account, you must use the LCS/OWLCS client. In WebCenter applications you can see buddies but you cannot add or remove buddies. For more information, see the Oracle WebLogic Communication Services Administrator's Guide.You can register the presence server connection for your WebCenter application through the Fusion Middleware Control Console or using WLST. You must mark a connection as active for the service to work. You can register additional presence server connections, but only one connection is active at a time.
This section includes the following subsections:
Section 14.2.1, "Microsoft Live Communications Server (LCS) Prerequisites"
Section 14.2.2, "Oracle WebLogic Communications Server (OWLCS) Prerequisites"
This section describes the Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005 (LCS) prerequisites as the presence server for the Instant Messaging and Presence service
This section includes the following subsections:
Refer to the Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005 documentation for installation information.
To use Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005 as the presence server for the Instant Messaging and Presence service, you must install the Oracle RTC Web service for Microsoft LCS 2005.
To install the Oracle RTC Web service for Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005:
Extract the owc_lcs.zip file from the Oracle Fusion Middleware companion CD. It is located in the directory /Disk1/WebCenter/services/imp/NT. The zip file contains the following:
/Bin
/images
ApplicationConfigurationService.asmx
BlafPlus.css
ExtAppLogin.aspx
ExtAppLogin.aspx.cs
Global.asax
Log4Net.config
RTCService.asmx
Web.Config
WebcenterTemplate.master
Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.
Expand the server node and then Web Sites in the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager window.
Right-click Default Web Site, choose New, and then select Virtual Directory to create a site for the Oracle RTC Web service, as shown in Figure 14-1. The Virtual Directory Creation Wizard displays.
Click Next.
Enter an alias for the virtual directory in the Alias field, for example RTC.
Enter the path to the directory where you extracted the owc_lcs.zip file. Alternatively, use the Browse button to navigate to that directory.
Click Next.
Ensure that the virtual directory has the Read, Execute, and Browse privileges. (Figure 14-2)
Click Next.
Click Finish. The newly created virtual directory appears under Default Web Site in the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager window (Figure 14-3).
Right-click the newly created virtual directory for the Oracle RTC Web service, and then choose Properties to open the Properties dialog.
In the Virtual Directory tab, under Application settings, click Create. Notice that the button label changes to Remove, and the name of your newly created virtual directory appears in the Application name field.
Select Scripts and Executables from the Execute permissions dropdown list (Figure 14-4).
Under the ASP.NET tab, select the ASP.NET version as 2.0 or higher from the ASP.NET version dropdown list. IIS should be configured to consume ASP.NET 2.0 applications.
Click OK.
Ensure that the LSC pool name in the LCS connection has been set.
Test the Web service by accessing the Web site from the following URL format:
Sign In
Thank you for your feedback!
http://localhost/default_website/ApplicationConfigurationService.asmx
Where default_website refers to the virtual directory that you created for the Oracle RTC Web service.
For example:
http://localhost/RTC/ApplicationConfigurationService.asmx
You must configure an external application for Microsoft Live Communications Server connections so that users can supply credentials to authenticate themselves on the LCS server.
With a secured application, users get buddies and presence status. With LCS, if security is required, then LCS should be on a private trusted network.
LCS provides an option for changing external credentials, which works as an alternative to using an external application. A logged-in user can click any Presence tag and select Change Credentials from the menu.
For more information, see Section 14.3.1, "Registering Instant Messaging and Presence Servers Using Fusion Middleware Control."
WebCenter applications do not support phone conferencing.
For OWLCS prerequisites, see the Oracle WebLogic Communication Services Installation Guide.
This section includes the following subsections:
For detailed OWLCS installation instructions, see the Oracle WebLogic Communication Services Installation Guide.
OWLCS supports both identity propagation and external application-based connections. Oracle recommends using identity propagation for OWLCS connections, since additional security can be set with WS-Security.
OWLCS and the WebCenter application should point to the same LDAP-based identity store. If the OWLCS server and the WebCenter application use different LDAP-based identity stores, then you must configure an external application for the connection so that users can supply credentials to authenticate themselves on the OWLCS server.
For information on reassociating the WebCenter applications identity store, see Section 23.3, "Configuring the Identity Store."
If necessary, reconfigure OWLCS to use the same identity store. For more information, see the Oracle WebLogic Communication Services Administrator's Guide.
If the OWLCS server is running with WS-Security enabled, then the administrator must set the policyURI parameter in the presence server connection.
If WS-Security is not required, then the administrator should disable WS-Security on the OWLCS server.
For more information, see Section 23.8.4, "Securing Oracle WebLogic Communication Services (OWLCS) with WS-Security" and Section 23.6.10, "Securing the WebCenter Spaces Connection to OWLCS with SSL."
With OWLCS, user creation and deletion is manual. Any time a new user is added to (or removed from) the application's identity store, the same user must be created in (or removed from) the OWLCS user store.
Each OWLCS user has a watcher list, which is a list of the other users allowed to see his presence. This watcher list must be under 125 KB (approximately 400 users). In WebCenter, the presence of all users must be visible, even if they are not buddies of the logged-in user. To get their presence, WebCenter creates a new account on OWLCS with the group space GUID and adds this new user as a watcher of the visible users. In other words, each member of a group space has an entry of that group space GUID in his watcher list. A problem can arise when a user is part of many group spaces. Because the watcher list contains entries for each group space, its size can grow greater than 125KB. When that happens, updates to the watcher list are rejected, giving the user a "Subscription Request" popup with that scope GUID. If this happens, then the user should just cancel the subscription request.
You can register multiple presence server connections with a WebCenter application but only one of them is active at a time.
To start using the new (active) presence server you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed.
This section includes the following subsections:
Section 14.3.1, "Registering Instant Messaging and Presence Servers Using Fusion Middleware Control"
Section 14.3.2, "Registering Instant Messaging and Presence Servers Using WLST"
To register a presence server connection:
Log in to Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the home page for WebCenter Spaces or the custom WebCenter application. For more information, see:
Do one of the following:
For WebCenter Spaces - From the WebCenter menu, choose Settings > Service Configuration.
For WebCenter applications - From the Application Deployment menu, choose WebCenter > Service Configuration.
From the list of services on the WebCenter Service Configuration page, choose Instant Messaging and Presence.
To connect to a new presence server, click Add (Figure 14-5).
Enter a unique name for this connection, specify the presence server type, and indicate whether this connection is the active (or default) connection for the application (Table 14-1).
Table 14-1 Instant Messaging and Presence Connection - Name
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Name |
Enter a unique name for the connection. The name must be unique (across all connection types) within the WebCenter application. |
|
Connection Type |
Specify the type of presence server:
Out-of-the-box, two presence connection types are available— LCS and OWLCS. |
|
Active Connection |
Select to use this connection in the WebCenter application for instant messaging and presence services. While you can register multiple presence server connections for a WebCenter application, only one connection is used by the IMP service—the default (or active) connection. |
Enter connection details for the server hosting instant messaging and presence services (Table 14-2).
Table 14-2 Instant Messaging and Presence Connection - Connection Details
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Server URL |
Enter the URL of the sever hosting instant messaging and presence services. For example: |
|
Domain |
Enter the domain associated with this connection. The domain specified is used to construct each user's IM ID. For example, if the domain is If the user IM address must be resolved from the Oracle Internet Directory/LDAP server, then specify the user profile attribute that provides the IM address here as The IM ID for OWLCS and LCS is the SIP ID; that is, |
|
Connection Timeout (in seconds) |
Specify a suitable timeout for the connection. This is the length of time (in seconds) the WebCenter application waits for a response from the presence server before issuing a connection timeout message. The default is -1 which means that the service default is used. The service default is 10 seconds. |
|
Associated External Application |
Associate the instant messaging and presence server with an external application. External application credential information is used to authenticate users against the instant messaging and presence server. An external application is mandatory for LCS server connections. You can select an existing external application from the list, or click Create New to configure a new external application. The external application you configure for the Instant Messaging and Presence service must use the |
|
Authentication Method |
(OWLCS Only) Specify how to authenticate users against the instant messaging and presence server. Select from:
If an external application is used for authentication, use the Associated External Application list to identify the application. If the application you want is not listed, select Create New... to define the external application. |
|
Policy URI |
(OWLCS Only) Specify the URI to the WS-Security policy that is required for authentication on the Oracle WebLogic Communication Server. Specify |
|
LCS Pool Name |
(LCS Only) Enter the name of the Microsoft Live Communication Server pool used for this connection. The pool name is mandatory for LCS connections. See the Microsoft Live Communication Server documentation for details on the pool name. |
Sometimes, additional parameters are required to connect to the presence server.
If WS-Security is enabled on this connection, add a property named recipient.alias and enter the alias used to import the OWLCS certificate. Ensure that this value is unique and is not used by some other service. If no alias name is supplied, then the default value is used (webcenter_owlcs).
Table 14-3 lists additional parameters.
Table 14-3 Additional IMP Connection Properties
| Additional Connection Property | Description |
|---|---|
|
|
(OWLCS only) URL to the OWLCS Presence service. Required if the OWLCS Presence service is deployed on a separate node. When no value is specified, the |
|
|
(OWLCS only) URL to the OWLCS Contact Management service. Required if the OWLCS Contact Management service is deployed on a separate node. When no value is specified, the |
|
|
(OWLCS only) URL to the OWLCS Third Party Call service. Required if the OWLCS Third Party Call service is deployed on a separate node. When no value is specified, the |
|
|
(OWLCS only) Third party call method. Valid values are: When set to If it is set to |
|
|
(OWLCS only) Domain name of the PSTN gateway. Required when the |
|
|
(OWLCS only) User profile attribute used to store users' phone numbers. The default attribute is Required when the |
|
|
(OWLCS and LCS) User domain. This property is required when WebCenter user names are qualified with a domain. For example, when user names are This property is used by |
If additional parameters are required to connect to the presence server, expand Additional Properties and enter details as required (Table 14-4).
Table 14-4 Instant Messaging and Presence Connection - Additional Properties
| Field | Description |
|---|---|
|
Add |
Click Add to specify an additional connection parameter:
|
|
Delete |
Click Delete to remove a selected property. Select the correct row before clicking Delete. Note: Deleted rows appear disabled until you click OK. |
Click OK to save this connection.
To start using the new (active) connection you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed. For more information, see Section 8.2, "Starting and Stopping Managed Servers for WebCenter Application Deployments."
Use the WLST command createIMPConnection to create a presence server connection. For command syntax and examples, see the section, "createIMPConnection" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
For information on how to run WLST commands, see Section 1.12.3.1, "Running Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) Commands."
To configure the Instant Messaging and Presence service to actively use a new IMP connection, set default=true. For more information, see Section 14.4.2, "Choosing the Active Connection for Instant Messaging and Presence Using WLST."
Note:
To start using the new (active) connection you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed. For more information, see the section, "Starting and Stopping WebLogic Managed Servers Using the Command Line" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.You can register multiple instant messaging and presence server connections with a WebCenter application but only one connection is active at a time.
For WebCenter Spaces and any custom WebCenter application, the active connection becomes the back-end presence server for the Buddies task flow.
This section includes the following subsections:
To change the active connection:
Log in to Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the home page for WebCenter Spaces or the custom WebCenter application. For more information, see:
Do one of the following:
For WebCenter Spaces - From the WebCenter menu, choose Settings > Service Configuration.
For WebCenter applications - From the Application Deployment menu, choose WebCenter > Service Configuration.
From the list of services on the WebCenter Services Configuration page, select Instant Messaging and Presence.
The Manage Instant Messaging and Presence Connections table indicates the current active connection (if any).
Select the connection you want to make the active (or default) connection, and then click Edit.
Select the Active Connection checkbox.
Click OK to update the connection.
To start using the new (active) connection you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed. See Section 8.2, "Starting and Stopping Managed Servers for WebCenter Application Deployments."
Use the WLST command setIMPConnection with default=true to activate an existing presence server connection. For command syntax and examples, see the section, "setIMPConnection" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
To disable a presence server connection, either delete it, make another connection the 'active connection' or use the removeIMPServiceProperty command:
removeIMPServiceProperty('appName='webcenter', property='selected.connection')
Using this command, connection details are retained but the connection is no longer named as an active connection. For more information, see the section, "removeIMPServiceProperty" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
For information on how to run WLST commands, see Section 1.12.3.1, "Running Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) Commands."
Note:
To start using this active connection you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed. For more information, see the section, "Starting and Stopping WebLogic Managed Servers Using the Command Line" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.You can modify instant messaging and presence server connection details at any time.
To start using an updated (active) connection you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed.
This section includes the following subsections:
To update connection details for an instant messaging and presence server:
Log in to Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the home page for WebCenter Spaces or the custom WebCenter application. For more information, see:
Do one of the following:
For WebCenter Spaces - From the WebCenter menu, choose Settings > Service Configuration.
For WebCenter applications - From the Application Deployment menu, choose WebCenter > Service Configuration.
From the list of services on the WebCenter Service Configuration page, select Instant Messaging and Presence.
Select the connection name, and click Edit.
Edit connection details, as required. For detailed parameter information, see Table 14-2, "Instant Messaging and Presence Connection - Connection Details".
Click OK to save your changes.
To start using the updated (active) connection you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed. For more information, see Section 8.2, "Starting and Stopping Managed Servers for WebCenter Application Deployments."
Use the WLST command setIMPConnection to edit presence server connection details. For command syntax and examples, see the section, "setIMPConnection" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
If additional parameters are required to connect to your presence server, then use the setIMPConnectionProperty command. For more information, see the section, "setIMPConnectionProperty" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
For information on how to run WLST commands, see Section 1.12.3.1, "Running Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) Commands."
Note:
To start using the updated (active) connection you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed. For more information, see the section, "Starting and Stopping WebLogic Managed Servers Using the Command Line" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.You can delete instant messaging and presence connections at any time but take care when deleting the active connection. If you delete the active connection, Buddies task flows does not work and user presence options are not available, as these require a back-end instant messaging and presence server.
When you delete a connection, consider deleting the external application associated with the instant messaging and presence service if the application's sole purpose was to support this service. For more information, see Section 22.5, "Deleting External Application Connections."
This section includes the following subsections:
To delete an instant messaging and presence server connection:
Log in to Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the home page for WebCenter Spaces or the custom WebCenter application. For more information, see:
Do one of the following:
For WebCenter Spaces - From the WebCenter menu, choose Settings > Service Configuration.
For WebCenter applications - From the Application Deployment menu, choose WebCenter > Service Configuration.
From the list of services on the WebCenter Service Configuration page, select Instant Messaging and Presence.
Select the connection name, and click Delete.
To effect this change you must restart the managed server on which the WebCenter application is deployed. For more information, see Section 8.2, "Starting and Stopping Managed Servers for WebCenter Application Deployments."
Note:
Before restarting the managed server, mark another connection as active; otherwise, the service is disabled.Use the WLST command deleteConnection to remove a presence server connection. For command syntax and examples, see the section, "deleteConnection" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
For information on how to run WLST commands, see Section 1.12.3.1, "Running Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) Commands."
Use the WLST command setIMPServiceProperty to set defaults for the IMP service:
selected.connection: Connection used by the Instant Messaging and Presence service.
rtc.cache.time: Cache timeout for instant messaging and presence data.
resolve.display.name.from.user.profile: Whether the display name of the user should be resolved by making an LDAP lookup. Valid values are true and false. If enabled (true), then the IMP service makes an LDAP lookup to find each user's display name. This should be enabled only when the same LDAP store is used for both WebCenter and the presence server. If different LDAP servers are used, then irrelevant information may display. This property can impact performance.
For command syntax and detailed examples, see the section, "setIMPServiceProperty" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.
For information on how to run WLST commands, see Section 1.12.3.1, "Running Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) Commands."
To verify an OWLCS connection, try accessing the endpoint for the following Web services. For example:
protocol://host:port/PresenceConsumerService/services/PresenceConsumer
protocol://host:port/PresenceSupplierService/services/PresenceSupplier
protocol://host:port/ThirdPartyCallService/services/ThirdPartyCall
protocol://host:port/services
To verify an LCS connection, try accessing the endpoint for the WebCenter RTC Web services deployed on it. For example (assuming the application context path is /RTC):
protocol://host/RTC/ApplicationConfigurationService.asmx
protocol://host/RTC/RTCService.asmx
These Web services expose a set of Web methods that you can invoke to test the validity.
This section contains troubleshooting tips for the IMP service.
Buddies are not visible in a custom WebCenter application. Further, the presence status of users is not available.
Ensure the following:
IMP connection is configured properly and the base URL and domain values are correct. See Section 14.3, "Registering Instant Messaging and Presence Servers."
Web Services for the presence server is installed properly and is up and running. For Web Services installation for Oracle WebLogic Communications Server, see the Oracle WebLogic Communication Services Administrator's Guide. For Web Services installation for Microsoft Live Communications Server, see Section 10.2.2.2, "Microsoft Live Communications Server (LCS) Prerequisites."
Back-end presence server (Oracle WebLogic Communications Server or Microsoft Live Communications Server) is up and running. A quick way to verify this is to ensure that the user can connect to the communication server by using a supported SIP client (Oracle Communicator or Microsoft Communicator).
User is logged in with valid user credentials and the user exists on the communication server. For Microsoft LCS, verify that user has provided correct credentials in the external application.