HCL Connections

Preamble Before i begin with my securing article, i want to say something on security on IBM Connections. Mainly i don’t like the thing, that IBM only support very special versions of software. So we must use WebSphere 7.0.0.21, DB2 9.7.0.5, IHS 7.0.0.11 and so on. Each product had updates the last months and i think we won’t get support when we use other versions. So i have to chances. On the first side i can update my software to limit vulnerabilities and get perhaps no support, or i will have vulerable software with support. Just my 2 cent and i hope i will get answer, if i will get support with higher program versions.

I had an issue with daily newsletters in Connections 3.x, where newsletters were sent every 25 and not 24 hours. This is fixed in Connections 4, now newsletters are arriving every 24 hours.

Today IBM released CR1 on IBM Fixcentral. CR1 is a set of 17 cumulative fixes and enable Mobile Admin (didn’t verified this, hope it will be there) too. Links for all CR1 Downloads (Multi OS Fixes) Fix list for IBM Connections 4.0 CR1 – Very long, seems to fix a lot IBM Connections 4.0 CR1 Post-install Deployment Configuration Steps Update strategy for IBM Connections 4.0 Cross-product relationship information You have to download 18 packages, because a new update installer is mandatory!

The last days i used to integrate Sametime in IBM Connections. I did this a few times the last two years, but i used ST 8.5.1 and older Connections Versions. First of all, it is much easier to apply now. You mustn’t add Proxy entries to your IHS (IBM HTTPServer) or activate awareness lookup in profiles-config.xml – BUT you have to install exactly the right versions. I mapped the wc_defaultport of Sametime Proxy to 80 and 443, so i mustn’t have special thoughts on firewalls. Now i checked out uiextensions-config.xml and added the URL of my Sametime Proxy Server. A good description can be found in Connections Wiki .

Since version 3.0 bookmarks (dogear) module of Connections can be configured to open bookmarks in a new window, but the configuration does not include bookmarks in the Community module. To get this function consistent and it would be good, when IBM adds the dogear configure switch to communities too. Until this, you can follow this: Go to [AppServer-Root]/profiles/[Communities-WAS]/installedApps/[cellname]/Communities.ear/comm.web.war/WEB-INF/tags Edit displaybookmark.tag and change following line: <a id="b_uri_${bookmark.uuid}" href="<tango:safeURL>${bookmark.uri}"> to <div id="b_entry_${bookmark.uuid}"> <h4> <a target="_blank" id="b_uri_${bookmark.uuid}" href="<tango:safeURL>${bookmark.uri}> </a> </h4> </div> To recompile the jsps and activate this changes, edit and save the bookmarks.jsp. Windows Edit and save following files: [AppServer-Root]\profiles\[Communities-WAS]\installedApps\[cellname]\Communities.ear\comm.web.war\WEB-INF\jsps\html\scenes\dashboard\sidebarRight.jsp [AppServer-Root]\profiles\[Communities-WAS]\installedApps\[cellname]\Communities.ear\comm.web.war\WEB-INF\jsps\html\scenes\bookmarks.jsp Linux: touch these files:

Today i installed Kudos at a customer site. As always i come to the point to add the Leaderboard Widget to Connections Homepage, so i mapped my user in ISC – Applications – Homepage – Map User roles to the Admin Role. The existing entry for wasadmin (a non ldap user) was still present after adding my account. I logged in to Connections Homepage, but Administration Tab was missing. When i call the Administration Link https://connections.customersite.com/homepage/admin/openAdminPage.action i get a not authorized message. Restarting homepage didn’t solve the issue. After some tests i removed the local wasuser from admin role and logged in again.