InfoSphere Master Data Management - Support for SSL enabled databases

InfoSphere Master Data Management v11.4 FP3 supports SSL enabled DB2 and SQL Server databases.

Obtain the certificate from an SSL enabled database, and use the keytool to create a trust file from the certificate. 
keytool.exe -import -alias db2_ca -keystore trust.der  -storetype PKCS12 -file cert.der

Provide the trust file path and the password in the Database Panel of the Installation Manager for InfoSphere Master Data Management.  Gold data is loaded and the product is configured to work with the SSL enabled database.

The Database Panel provides fields to provide SSL related data.

Database Panel in Installation Manager

 

 

When Silent Install is used, the below keys can be used to configure SSL.

• user.db.ssl.enabled
• user.db.ssl.file.path
• user.db.ssl.password
• user.db.ssl.store.type(JKS or PKCS12)

For example:
When SSL is enabled:
<data key="user.db.ssl.enabled,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="true"/>
<data key="user.db.ssl.file.path,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="D:/Work/SSL/trust.p12"/>
<data key="user.db.ssl.password,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="xxxxxxxx"/>
<data key="user.db.ssl.store.type,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="PKCS12"/>

When SSL is disabled:
<data key="user.db.ssl.enabled,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="false"/>
<data key="user.db.ssl.file.path,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="none"/>
<data key="user.db.ssl.password,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="none"/>
<data key="user.db.ssl.store.type,com.ibm.mdm.advanced" value="none"/>
Please note that user.db.ssl.enabled is a mandatory attribute from MDM v11.4 FP3.

Links:
Support for SSL encryption
Configuring SSL support in a DB2 instance

IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management Silent Installation

In a silent installation, the IBM Installation Manager is invoked passing in a file (called the response file) containing parameter values required for installing Master Data Management.  This includes the Install Location, the location at which the MDM installable is available, the location at which the Shared resources can be stored, the features to be installed and configuration parameter value for each feature.

Sample response files for installing MDM are available in the MDM Startup Toolkit.  The Installation Manager can also be of help in creating a response file.  The record option can be used and a file name can be specified.  The Installation Manager operations will be recorded and the parameter values provided during installatin will be stored in the response file.  This file can be used as is, or with required modifications.

Recording from Installation Manager to create response file for Silent Install
C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\Installation Manager\eclipse>IBMIM.exe -dataLocation D:/InstanceLogs/MDMLogs -record MDMInput.res

Silent install using a response file
C:\Program Files (x86)\IBM\Installation Manager\eclipse>IBMIM.exe -dataLocation D:/InstanceLogs/MDMLogs -silent -input MDMInput.res -acceptLicense -nosplash

The Silent installation process is quicker, although the validations provided by the Installation Manager GUI are not available with it.  Silent installation response files can be generated and used when installation has to be performed multiple times. 

The most important advantage of Silent install is that it allows the user to provide customized values for certain inputs, which is not possible with the Installation Manager GUI.  For example, when a custom WebSphere Application Server profile trust file is created, the path of this file and the password for this file cannot be provided when Installation Manager GUI is used.  However, these values can be modified and specified when Silent installation is used, using the below parameters.

<data key='user.L2.was.node.client.trust.file.url,com.ibm.mdm.advanced' value='etc/DummyClientTrustFile.jks'/>
<data key='user.L2.was.truststore.pwd,com.ibm.mdm.advanced' value='WebAS'/>

Key parts of the response file
variables 
  <variables>
    <variable name='sharedLocation' value='D:/Instances/Shared'/>
  </variables>
Declares the Shared Location used by the Installation Manager

server
  <server>
    <repository location='D:\Installables\MDM\Cuba\MDM\disk1'/>
  </server>
Holds the details of the MDM repository

profile
  <profile id='InfoSphere MDM Standard Edition or Advanced Edition' installLocation='D:\Instances\MDM114'>
    <data key='eclipseLocation' value='D:/Instances/MDM114'/>
...
</profile>
Holds the profile id, the install location and the entire set for parameters for configuring the instance

install
  <install modify='false'>
    <!-- InfoSphere MDM Standard Edition or Advanced Edition  11.4.0.0 -->
    <offering profile='InfoSphere MDM Standard Edition or Advanced Edition' id='com.ibm.mdm.advanced' version='11.4.0.FP00IF000_20140924-0832' features='com.ibm.im.mdm.db.feature,com.ibm.im.mdm.app.feature,com.ibm.mdm.ba.webapp.feature,com.ibm.mdm.ev.webapp.feature' installFixes='none'/>
  </install>
Holds the details of the offering, the id, the version and the features to be installed.  It also indicates whether the installation is a new one, or it is a modification of an existing instance, using the flag modify.

uninstall
Indicates that the instance has to be uninstalled.

preferences
A set of preferences are mentioned.

Links:
Silent installations using response files
Installation Manager command line arguments