Switching from TIBCO Activation Service Remote Activation (TAS) to In-Product Activation (IPA) for TIBCO Messaging Products (EMS,RV,FTL)

Switching from TIBCO Activation Service Remote Activation (TAS) to In-Product Activation (IPA) for TIBCO Messaging Products (EMS,RV,FTL)

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Article ID: KB0138366

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Updated On:

Products Versions
TIBCO Enterprise for JMS 10.4.x 10.5.0
TIBCO Rendezvous 8.8.x 9.0
TIBCO FTL 7.1.x 7.2.0

Description

Procedures for transitioning TIBCO Messaging product activation from TIBCO Activation Service (TAS mode) to In-Product Activation (IPA mode)

TIBCO Enterprise Message Service (EMS)

General prerequisites

  1. Obtain the IPA license file and copy it to each host that will run tibemsd or tibftlserver.
  2. Record the current TAS-based configuration to verify that all explicit TAS references are removed after the migration.
  3. Plan the migration during a window where a standalone restart or an FT failover is acceptable.
  4. After each change, verify the result with the show server command of tibemsadmin and confirm that License Location points to the IPA file or to the expected default file path.

Expected confirmation after a successful migration

license has been changed to file://<full path of IPA file>

Entitlement to TIBCO Enterprise Message Service for <COMPANY> is confirmed through <IPA expiry date>

show server should report both License Location and License Expiration with the new IPA values.

For FTL-store deployments that inherit the license from tibftlserver, also verify that the tibftlserver startup or tibftladmin --status shows the new file-based source.

Standalone EMS using static configuration

Applies to: Static Config (.conf), Static Config (.json)

The server does not need to be restarted.

    1. Use tibemsadmin, the equivalent Admin API, or the REST API to update the configured license source. If using tibemsadmin, the commands are:

set server license=file://<full path of IPA file>

load_license

    1. Confirm that the running server reports the new file-based source and the new expiration date.

Standalone EMS using environment variable, command line, or defaults

Applies to: Environment Variable, Command Line Parameter, Defaults

These are startup-sourced settings, so a restart is required.

    1. Stop the standalone server.
    2. Change the startup source to IPA.

For environment variable:

Set TIBEMS_LICENSE=file://<full path of IPA file>

For the command line:

Start tibemsd with -license file://<full path of IPA file>

For defaults:

Remove all explicit license settings and make sure no tibemslic.bin is present on the server process PATH so the server is using the default license server URL https://tib-activate:7070. Then place tibemslic.bin in a directory on the server process PATH so the next restart uses the IPA file instead of the default license server URL.

    1. Start the server.
    2. Verify License Location and License Expiration with show server.
    3. Optionally restart once more to confirm that the same IPA source is used consistently after the initial migration.

EMS FT pair using static configuration

Applies to: Static Config (.conf), Static Config (.json)

At least one failover is required to migrate both sides of the pair.

    1. On the active server, use tibemsadmin, the equivalent Admin API, or the REST API to change the configured license source. If using tibemsadmin, the commands are:

set server license=file://<full path of IPA file>

load_license

    1. Verify the active server with show server.
    2. Restart the active server so the standby becomes active.
    3. Repeat the same set server and load_license commands on the newly active server.
    4. Verify both servers after the failover cycle.

EMS FT pair using environment variable, command line, or defaults

Applies to: Environment Variable, Command Line Parameter, Defaults

This is a rolling restart migration. Update the standby first, then fail over, then update the former active.

    1. Change the startup source on the standby host only.

For environment variable:

Set TIBEMS_LICENSE=file://<full path of IPA file>

For the command line:

Start the standby with -license file://<full path of IPA file>

For defaults:

Remove any explicit license settings and make sure the pair is running without tibemslic.bin on PATH, so the servers use the default license server URL: https://tib-activate:7070. Before each side is restarted during the migration sequence, place tibemslic.bin in a directory on that server's PATH so that the restarted side can access the IPA file.

    1. Restart the standby and verify that it returns to standby with the IPA source.
    2. Shut down the active server so the already migrated standby takes over as active.
    3. Apply the same startup-source change to the former active and start it.
    4. Optionally fail back once to prove that both sides now restart cleanly on IPA.
    5. Verify License Location and License Expiration on both servers.

EMS FT pair using FTL stores

Applies to: FT pair x FTL store

There are two distinct migration models for FTL-store deployments.

    1. EMS inherits its license source from tibftlserver. In that model, migrate the tibftlserver startup source from TAS to IPA and then verify the inherited EMS result.
    2. EMS uses its own explicit EMS-side license source. In that model, update EMS with set server license and load_license, and do not rely on tibftlserver inheritance.

If the EMS server has its own explicit license configured through an EMS static config, the EMS server command line, or TIBEMS_LICENSE, that EMS-side setting takes precedence over the tibftlserver-provided license. Remove those EMS-side overrides first if the intended result is for EMS to inherit the migrated tibftlserver license.

FT pair x FTL store using environment variable or command line

This is a rolling tibftlserver restart migration.

    1. Prepare the IPA license file on every host that runs tibftlserver.
    2. Remove EMS-side overrides first if EMS is expected to inherit the tibftlserver license.
    3. Restart any additional tibftlserver nodes that are not currently hosting the FT active or FT standby EMS instances.
    4. Restart the tibftlserver hosting the EMS standby side with the IPA startup source.

For environment variable:

Restart tibftlserver with TIBFTL_LICENSE=file://<full path of IPA file>

For the command line:

Restart tibftlserver with -license file://<full path of IPA file>

    1. Verify that the restarted tibftlserver is running with tibftladmin --status or in the startup messages.
    2. Confirm from EMS that the restarted standby server still reports it is in the standby state and that show server now points to the IPA file.
    3. Restart the tibftlserver hosting the active EMS server so the already migrated standby EMS server becomes active.
    4. Restart the former active side with the same IPA startup source.
    5. Verify in EMS that both sides now report the IPA License Location and License Expiration after the failover cycle.
FT pair x FTL store using static JSON configuration

This path uses an EMS-side override. EMS, therefore, continues to use the explicit EMS license source rather than inheriting the tibftlserver startup source.

    1. On the active EMS server, use tibemsadmin, the equivalent Admin API, or the REST API to change the configured EMS license source. If using tibemsadmin, the commands are:

set server license=file://<full path of IPA file>

load_license

    1. Verify the active EMS server with show server.
    2. Restart or fail over the active EMS server so the standby server becomes active.
    3. Repeat the same set server and load_license commands on the newly active EMS server.
    4. Verify License Location and License Expiration in EMS after both sides have completed the failover cycle.


TIBCO Platform EMS

  1. If your dataplane has been configured to use an Activation Server URL, use the delete option to delete the AS URL.

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      2. Upload the IPA file.

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     3. 
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      4. Click on the refresh pending badge on the EMS card and wait for a couple of minutes for the servers to redeploy.

      5. If an EMS server was configured to use an Activation Server URL prior to Activation Server Support on the Platform UI using a custom config during provisioning, it will need to be removed.

              a. To identify: On the dataplane, check the EMS helm values. The helm chart is in the pattern:

                          i.   helm values <ems name>-<dp id>

                          ii.  Identify if an ems.activationUrl is set. Example:

                                1. ems:
                                    activationUrl: https://badactivationurl:7070

                          iii. If set, remove using the instructions: https://support.tibco.com/support-home/kbsearch/article?articleNumber=KB0138419

      6. Click on the EMS card and then click on the server on the left navigation menu and verify that Activation Server URL is now using the newly uploaded IPA file.


TIBCO FTL

FTL server will need to be restarted for transitioning from TAS->IPA. Perform rolling upgrade to IPA license using following steps  for all the FTL servers in your deployment.

1) Kill tibftlserver which was activated using TAS URL.

There are multiple ways to activate FTL (i.e. specify license to tibftlserver)

Example below shows using command line parameter -license.

2) Restart tibftlserver using IPA URL.

       tibftlserver -license file://<full path of license file>

3) FTL server startup messages will print as below:

Using License Source file://<complete path of IPA license file>

Acquired License from cache: No.

Entitlement to TIBCO FTL for <COMPANY> is confirmed through <IPA expiry date>

4) tibftladmin –status (and equivalent rest api command) will show new ‘License Expiration Date’ and ‘License Location ‘

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TIBCO Rendezvous

RV daemons will need to be restarted for transitioning from TAS->IPA

1) Kill rvd which was activated using TAS URL.

There are multiple ways to activate RV (i.e. specify license to rvd)

Example below shows using command line parameter -license

2) Restart rvd using IPA URL.

       rvd -foreground -license file://<full path of license file>

3) rvd startup messages will print as below:

Using license source [file://<full path of IPA file>]

Acquired license from cache: No.

Entitlement to TIBCO Rendezvous for <COMPANY> is confirmed through <IPA expiry date>

4) Use REST API to check the status

   curl -kv <http interface url>/api/status

Above command will show license field with updated value of source (<full path of IPA file>) and expiration

Issue/Introduction

Switching from TIBCO Activation Service Remote Activation (TAS) to In-Product Activation (IPA) for TIBCO Messaging Products (EMS,RV,FTL)