WebSphere brand IBM WebSphere IP Multimedia Subsystem Connector, Version 6.2

Configuring connections and routes

Connections and routes to Diameter peers must be configured in the Diameter_Rf.properties, Diameter_Ro.properties, and Diameter_Sh.properties files.

About this task
Connections and routes are initially configured when you install and set up Diameter Enabler. You can configure additional connections and routes as needed. Independently configure each connection by substituting the connection number for the x in conx. Configure the remotePeerOriginHostName for your first connection using con1.remotePeerOriginHostName=name.domain.com. All other properties for that connection begin with con1. Use con2 for the next connection, and continue numbering the connections sequentially. Add routes to the routing table for each of Rf accounting Web service, Ro online charging Web service, and Sh subscriber profile Web service. A route ties the final destination (realm name) to the specific connection where Diameter Enabler will send the Diameter packet.
Important:

RFC 3588 defines a maximum of one connection between any two Diameter peers. Therefore, if you are using Rf accounting Web service, Ro online charging Web service, and Sh subscriber profile Web service to access a peer, they must share a single connection. For shared connections, the connection configuration information must be identical in each of the properties files that plans to use the connection.

Note: In case of a clustered installation, repeat these steps for each node in the cluster.
  1. Open Diameter_Rf.properties, Diameter_Ro.properties, and Diameter_Sh.properties in a text editor. The files can be found in the following location:
    • AIXLinuxSolaris was_profile_root/properties/
    Note: was_profile_root is the directory for a WebSphere® Application Server Network Deployment profile called profile_name. By default, this directory is:
    • AIX /usr/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/profile_name
    • Linux /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/profile_name
    • Solaris /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/profile_name

    For example, AppSrv01 in a standalone environment, or Custom01 as the name of a federated node profile in a clustered environment.

  2. Modify the value of conx.remotePeerOriginHostName to change the name of the peer that you will be setting your TCP connection with. The remotePeerOriginHostName is required for the connection conx, and must be a fully qualified domain name.
  3. Optional: Modify the value of conx.remotePeerIpAddress to set the IP address of the peer. If you do not configure the remotePeerIpAddress, Diameter Enabler base will perform a name resolution on the remotePeerOriginHostName. If Diameter Enabler base performs the resolution successfully, it will use the resolved IP address to set up the connection.
  4. Optional: Modify the value of conx.remotePeerPort to change the TCP port number of the peer. The default value is 3868. If specified, Diameter Enabler base will set up the TCP connection using this port number.
  5. Optional: Modify the value of conx.inbandSecurityPolicy to change whether or not TLS is required for all transactions. Valid settings are 0 or 1. The value 0 = PROHIBIT_TLS will not allow Diameter Enabler base to use TLS for this connection. The value 1 = REQUIRE_TLS requires Diameter Enabler base to use TLS for this connection. The default value is 0 (PROHIBIT_TLS).
  6. Optional: Modify the value of conx.watchDogTimeout to change the number of seconds a connection can be inactive before Diameter Enabler base sends a watchdog packet to the peer. Valid values are 0 and any whole integer between 6 and 2147483647. The default value is 30. If you set the value to 0, Diameter Enabler base does not send a watchdog packet to the peer.
  7. Optional: Modify the value of conx.maxWatchDogExpirations to change the number of watchdog timeouts after which Diameter Enabler base declares the connection suspect and starts failover processing to the secondary connection. The default value is 2. The valid values are 0, and any value between 2 to 2147483647. If you set this value to 0, Diameter Enabler base will suspend the failure monitoring, and it will not start failover processing on this connection.

    Example: For a setting of 2, when the watchdog timeout occurs, Diameter Enabler will send the first watchdog request. When the second watchdog timeout occurs, this connection and the associated routes will start failover processing.

  8. Optional: Modify the value of conx.includeOriginStateId to indicate whether or not Diameter Enabler should transmit the Origin-State-Id AVP in Diameter base packets (CER/CEA) for this connection. A setting of true indicates Diameter Enabler should transmit the Origin-State-Id AVP in Diameter base packets (CER/CEA). A setting of false indicates the WebSphere Diameter Enabler should not transmit the Origin-State-Id AVP in Diameter base packets (CER/CEA). The default value is false.
  9. Optional: Modify the value of conx.includeFirmwareRevision to indicate whether or not Diameter Enabler should transmit the Firmware-Revision AVP in Diameter base packets (CER/CEA) for this connection. A setting of true indicates Diameter Enabler should transmit the Firmware-Revision AVP in Diameter base packets (CER/CEA). A setting of false indicates the WebSphere Diameter Enabler should not transmit the Firmware-Revision AVP in Diameter base packets (CER/CEA). The default value is false.
  10. Optional: Modify the value of conx.maxPendingQueueLength to change the number of requests the pending queue stores before rejecting new requests. The default setting is 30.

    Each request, when processed by the Diameter Enabler, is stored to the Pending Queue until the response to that request is received back or the request times out. So, if you are designing a system that requires a large number of requests, you may want to increase this value to a large number such as 15000. However, large queues will take up a greater amount of memory depending on the sizes of the messages held in these queues. Consequently, fine-tuning may be required to balance the trade-off in memory usage versus the number of packet transactions that can be in progress at any one time.

  11. Optional: Modify the value of conx.sourcePort to change the source port that is used when initiating a connection to a Diameter peer. The default value is 0.

    Valid values are any integer from 1 to 65535 that is not already in use. A value of zero (0) is valid, but configures the connection to be set up with an ephemeral source port chosen by the operating system. An ephemeral source port changes every time the connection is brought up.

  12. Optional: Modify the value of conx.reconnectInterval to change the number of seconds a connection will wait before attempting to reconnect with a peer. The default setting is 30. Valid values are any integer between 30 and 2147483647.
  13. Optional: Modify the value of conx.packetTimeout to indicate the number of seconds that a request packet will remain on the pending queue waiting for a response packet before Diameter Enabler removes it and notifies the application of a timeout. The default value is 30.

    The packet timeout works in conjunction with the pending queue length to keep the system from backing up. You should set the timeout based on the expected response times from the Diameter Server that you are working with. In general, you should set this value substantially higher than the expected average response time. Packets that expire are removed from the pending queue, and an exception is thrown to the application that placed the initial request.

  14. Set three values for each of a maximum 20 routes with the property named routex, where x is a number between 1 and 20. All three fields are required:
    • The first field is the realm name that the route represents.
    • The second field is the connection that the packet should go through to get to this realm.
      Note: The connection identifier must match the conx identifier that you used to configure the associated connection.
    • The third field is an indication that this route will be either a primary or a secondary route.
  15. Save and close Diameter_Rf.properties, Diameter_Ro.properties, or Diameter_Sh.properties.
  16. Restart Rf accounting Web service, Ro online charging Web service, or Sh subscriber profile Web service.
Example

Here is a example of one connection configuration:

con1.remotePeerOriginHostName = shserver.yourcompany.com
con1.remotePeerIpAddress = 1.2.3.4   
con1.remotePeerPort = 3868
con1.inbandSecurityPolicy = 1
con1.watchDogTimeout = 30
con1.maxWatchDogExpirations = 2
con1.includeOriginStateId = false
con1.includeFirmwareRevision = false
con1.maxPendingQueueLength = 30
con1.sourcePort = 4444
con1.reconnectInterval = 30
con1.packetTimeout = 30

Here is an example of three possible route configurations:

route1 = DEFAULT:con1:PRIMARY
route2 = serviceprovider.example.com:con2:PRIMARY
route3 = serviceprovider.example.com:con3:SECONDARY



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