Using the Network Director Feature

Learn how to install and configure Network Director.

Note: This document references the version of the Admin Console that is the default up to and including version 2022.1.0, but does not show the redesigned Admin Console available as an option in version 2022.1.0. For an overview of the new user interface, plus illustrations, see Admin Console 2022.1.0—Overview.

Table of Contents

Introduction

The Network Director feature enables a Container to host Virtual Services. The Virtual Services are defined in the Policy Manager Management Console. When the Network Director feature is enabled, the Container's metadata is updated to reflect this support. The metadata must be updated in the Management Console so that it is aware that Virtual Services can be hosted on the Container. The feature also enables support for default Bindings (SOAP 1.1, SOAP 1.2, HTTP, POX, and XML) and Policies that are part of the Policy Manager default installation. This topic provides instructions for configuring a Network Director container instance, and installing and configuring the Network Director feature.

Step 1: Installation Prerequisites

  • Installtion of one of the supported platform versions.
  • A Policy Manager container instance must be defined and the Policy Manager Console and Policy Manager Services features must be installed and configured.

Step 2a: Configure Container (GUI Option)

  1. Launch the Configure Container Instance Wizard. Navigate to the Platform release directory c:\{release_directory}\bin and enter:
    • startup.bat configurator (Windows
    • startup.sh configurator (UNIX)
  2. Define the Network Director container (ND1) and Default Admin User.
  3. On the Instance Configuration Options screen, select the Standalone deployment option.
  4. On the Default HTTP Listener screen, set the default HTTP Port and Host IP Address for this instance. The listener configuration will be used as the address for the Admin Console.
    • Port - Represents the default HTTP Port.
    • Bind to all interfaces - The listener binds to the 0.0.0.0 address. "localhost" or any other valid IP for the machine can be used to connect to the client/browser.
    • Bind to a specific interface - The selected host name is used to connect to the client/browser.

    The Default HTTP Listener information is used to compose the URL for the Admin Console as follows:

    http://{hostname}:{port}/admin/

    Note: The trailing forward slash is required in the Admin Console URL (admin/).

  5. After the Network Director container has successfully started, launch the Admin Console using the following URL format http://[computer name]:[port]/ContextPath/admin/

    Example:

    http://localhost:9905/nd1/admin/login.html

    After the Admin Console launches, navigate to the Available Features tab and install and configure the Network Director feature. Refer to the "Install Feature (Network Director)" section.

Step 2b: Configure Container (Silent Option)

The Configure Container Instance Wizard can be set up to run in an automated mode (silent mode). This is done by defining a properties file and pre-defining a set of property values to be used by the wizard to automatically configure a container instance.

  1. Define a properties file (e.g., myprops.properties)
  2. Add the following default content: 
    container.instance.name=instancename
credential.username = administrator
credential.password = password
default.host=localhost
default.port=9905

    Base Properties

    The following properties are used for Standalone deployments.

    • container.instance.name - Name of the Container.
    • credential.username - Username for logging into the Admin Console.
    • credential.password - Password for logging into the Admin Console.
    • default.host - Host for the Container Instance.
    • default.port - Port for the Container Instance.
  3. Run the silent configuration. The silent configuration file accepts three system properties which together are used to perform a silent configuration:
    • silent - If True, silent configuration will be performed)
    • deploymentName - Standalone)
    • properties - location on filesystem of property file to be used for configuration)
  4. Windows and UNIX script examples:

    Windows:

    \{release_directory}\bin>startup.bat configurator "-Dsilent=true" "-Dproperties=C:/{property file directory location}/myprops.properties"

    UNIX

    \{release_directory}\bin>startup.sh configurator -Dsilent=true -Dproperties=/export/home/username/{property file directory location}\myprops.properties

Step 3: Post Admin Console Launch Prerequisites / Start Container / Launch Admin Console

  1. Perform the following prerequisite steps before launching the Admin Console:
    • Deploy Database Driver - Before performing the database configuration in the Admin Console, verify that a database driver for the database used with the current container configuration is deployed to the \instances\{container instance}\deploy folder. If a database driver is not deployed, copy the database driver to the \deploy directory. For information about supported database versions and drivers, go to the System Requirements doc, and then refer to the database section.
    • Clear Browser Cache - Before launching the Admin Console, clear the browser cache. This is necessary to ensure that user interface changes included in the Platform update(s) display properly.
    • Manually Installing Policy Manager Schemas - If you have a requirement to manually install the Policy Manager schemas, contact Customer Support prior to beginning this installation to obtain a series of schema installation scripts and additional instructions.
  2. Start the container instance. Refer to Starting and Stopping a Platform Container Instance for a list of start methods.
  3. After successfully starting the container instance, deploying the database driver, and clearing the browser cache, launch the Admin Console for the updated container instance and log in:

    Enter: http://{hostname}:{port}/admin

Step 4: Install Network Director Feature

  1. Launch the Admin Console (http://{hostname}:{port}/admin/).
  2. On the Installed Features screen, from the Filter menu, select Feature.
  3. Select the Network Director feature and click Install Feature.
  4. After the installation is complete, click Configure and continue to Step 5.

Step 5: Configure Network Director Feature

  1. Continue the Network Director feature configuration.
  2. On the WS-MetaDataExchange Options screen, specify the URL of the Policy Manager Metadata Exchange Service, then click Finish and Go To Next Task.
  3. On the Select Key Management Options screen, select a Key Management Option and click Next to continue. The Generate PKI Keys & X.509 Certificate option is the most commonly used default option. Refer to Managing Keys and Certificates for information about available options.
  4. After completing the key configuration, click Finish, then OK to restart the container. After the container restarts, click Close on the Completion Summary screen.
  5. Log back into the Admin Console to perform administration tasks as needed.

Step 6: Register Network Director Container

  1. Log in to the Policy Manager Management Console (http://{hostname}:{port}/ms/index.do/), and navigate to Organization > Containers.
  2. On the Containers Summary screen click Add Container.
  3. Specify the container type, container metadata, add metadata certificate to trusted CA (if applicable), and container details.
  4. Complete your entries and click Finish, then Close. The Container Details page for the Network Director displays.

Step 7: Host Virtual Services in Network Director Container

  1. Navigate to Containers > Hosted Services and click Host Virtual Service. On the Select Virtual Service screen, select a virtual service from the Organization tree, and map one or more bindings from the selected virtual service to the access points of the current container.