Introduction

Looking for the Sametime 8.5.2 Tuning guide? Go here: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/stwiki.nsf/dx/Sametime_8.5.2_Tuning_Guide

Before you begin, backup your Sametime system configuration using backupConfig in the event that you need to restore the system to its prior state.

To begin the tuning process, you must first access the admin console of your server by going to this address in a browser:

http://server1.acme.com:8500/ibm/console

Then log in with your IBM WebSphere® Application Server (WAS) username and password.

Increasing system diagnostic settings

To increase your system diagnostic settings:

1. Click the Troubleshooting tab, go to Logging and Tracing, and then Click the STMeetingServer link (see figure 1).

Figure 1. Logging and Tracing window


2. On the next window, click the Diagnostic Trace link (see figure 2).

Figure 2. STMeetingServer window


3. Under General Properties (see figure 3), set the Maximum File Size field to 200 MB, and set the Maximum Number of Historical Files to 50.
4. Click Apply and then click the Save link.

Figure 3. General Properties for Diagnostic Trace




1. Now, click the Troubleshooting tab and go to Logging and Tracing.
2. Click the STMeetingServer link and then click the JVM Logs link.
3. Under General Properties, System.out and System.err sections (see figure 4), set the values of the following fields:

• Maximum File Size to 200 MB
• Maximum Number of Historical Files to 50
• Maximum File Size to 200 MB
• Maximum Number of Historical Files to 50

4. Click Apply and then click the Save link.
5. Repeat these steps for STMeetingHttpProxy.

Figure 4. General Properties for JVM Logs

Adjusting WAS parameters

In order to handle a large set of LDAP operations, the Context Pool between WAS and LDAP needs to be optimized.

NOTE: This process may also require an LDAP server optimization as well, in order to handle a large number of LOGIN/BIND requests simultaneously. This particular setting only manages the POOL between WAS and LDAP. For LOGIN/BIND operations, this pool is bypassed, and WAS connects directly to LDAP (so make sure your LDAP server can handle the volume of connections based on your log-in rate / profile).

First, access the admin console of your server by going to this address in a browser:
and then logging in with your WAS username and password.

1. Go to the Security tab and select Global security.
2. Under the User account repository section, click the Configure button beside the Available realm definition (set to Federated repositories).
3. Click your LDAP Repository Identifier link (the default installer currently names this item "MeetingLdap").
4. At the bottom of the page under the Additional Properties section, click the Performance link.
5. Under the General Properties Caches section (to accommodate 10,000 users logging into this server), set the "Cache the Attributes" Cache size to 40000 Entries, and set the "Cache the search results" Cache size to 40000 Entries (see figure 5).
6. Click Apply and click the Save link.

Figure 5. General Properties Caches section

STMeetingServer application

To monitor the WAS Java Virtual Machine (JVM) Heap for specific applications, we need to enable the JVM verbose garbage collection logging for the desired WebSphere Application Servers:

1. Select Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers; click the STMeetingServer link.
2. Under the "Server Infrastructure" section, expand the Java and Process Management tree.
3. Click the Process definition link
4. Under the "Additional properties" section, click the Java Virtual Machine link.
5. Under the "General Properties" section, make sure the Verbose garbage collection checkbox is checked and that the Maximum heap size is set to 768 MB (see figure 6).

Figure 6. Enabling verbose garbage collection

Security cache properties

1. Select the Servers tab > Server Types > WebSphere application servers, and click the STMeetingServer link.
2. Under the "Server Infrastructure" section, expand the Java and Process Management tree, and click the Process definition link.
3. Under the "Additional properties" section, click the Java Virtual Machine link, and then click the Custom Properties link.
4. Click the NEW button to create a new property and add the Property Name, com.ibm.websphere.security.util.authCacheMaxSize (see figure 7).
5. Set the Value field to 40000.

Figure 7. New Property window

WebContainer HTTP session management

1. Select the Servers tab > Server Types > WebSphere application servers; click the STMeetingServer link.
2. Under the Container Settings section, expand the Web Container Settings tree, and click the Web container link.
3. Under the Additional Properties section, click the Session management link.
4. Under the General Properties section, set the “Maximum in-memory session count” field to 3000 (see figure 8). Apply and save.

Figure 8. Session management window

Installing the WAS Cache Monitor (DynaCache monitoring utility)

NOTE: This process is not usually performed when tuning the Meeting server for Sametime system verification testing. Also, the process is only necessary if you want to monitor the various DynaCache items leveraged within the STMeetingServer application.

WebSphere Cache Monitor

The Cache Monitor application is not installed by default as part of WAS; rather, it is packaged and available to be installed. The Cache Monitor application provided with WAS is a "basic" version that monitors only a subset of the DynaCache items within the system.

To monitor "all" DynaCache items---including the extended DynaCache objects used by Sametime eMeetings--you must install an available extended update on top of this baseline WebSphere version.

To install the Cache Monitor, follow these steps:

A) First, enable servlet caching by selecting the Servers tab > Server Types > WebSphere application servers:

1. Locate and click the STMeetingServer link.
2. Under the Container Settings section, under the Web Container Settings area, click the Web container link.
3. Under the General Properties section, ensure the “Enable servlet caching” checkbox is checked.
4. Click Apply and click Save.

B) Perform the install by selecting Applications > Application Types > WebSphere enterprise applications:

1. Locate and click the Install button.
2. Browse the local system file system and select the CacheMonitor.ear located in the default WebSphere directory: C:\ProgramFiles\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\installableApps.
3. Select the Fast Path installation and accept the NEXT > NEXT > NEXT defaults; finally, click the FINISH button.
4. Click the Save link to complete the installation.

Before starting the application, download and install the following update that adds "extended" DynaCache monitoring features, available in the developerWorks document, “IBM Extended Cache Monitor for IBM WebSphere Application Server technology preview.”

Unzip the download file named “cachemonitor7_update.zip;” there is another ZIP file contained within it. Follow these steps to install:

A) Select Applications > Application Types > WebSphere enterprise applications:

1. Click the checkbox beside the Dynamic Cache Monitor application.
2. Locate and click the Update button, and select the “Replace, add, or delete multiple files” option.
3. Browse to the unzipped update file on the local file system cachemonitor7_update.zip.
4. Click the Next button and click the Save link.
5. From the WAS Console Enterprise Application page, click the checkbox beside the Dynamic Cache Monitor application.
6. Locate and click the Start button.

B) Again, select Applications > Application Types > WebSphere enterprise applications:

1. Click the Dynamic Cache Monitor application link to enter its configuration.
2. Under the Detail Properties section, click the "Security role to user/group mapping* link.
3. Click the checkbox beside the Administrator role, and then click the Map Users button.
4. On the Search and Select Users page, issue a search for the "wasadmin" user, using the Search string field and Search button.
5. When the search completes, select the wasadmin user, and move it from the LEFT hand list to the RIGHT hand side of the list.
6. Click OK to select this change, click OK again to confirm it, and click Save.

Now reboot/restart the entire Sametime eMeetings set of servers. To access the CacheMonitor utility, use the following URL:
and log in with your wasadmin credentials.

Conclusion

Using the tuning procedures in this article, you should be able to achieve maximum performance from the Lotus Sametime 8.5.1 Meeting server.

Resources

developerWorks Lotus Sametime product page:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/products/instantmessaging/

Lotus Sametime Forum:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/products/instantmessaging/

Sametime wiki Product Documentation:
http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/stwiki.nsf/xpViewCategories.xsp?lookupName=Product%20Documentation

IBM Redbooks® publication: “Lotus Sametime Application Development Guide:”
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/SG245651.html?Open

developerWorks WebSphere Application Server zone:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/websphere/zones/was/

About the authors

Naveed Yousuf is a Software Engineer working on various teams at IBM's Dublin Software Lab since 1999. He has worked with the Sametime Verification Test team for the past 4 years, focusing on integration and interoperability across Lotus Sametime products.

Conall O'Cofaigh is a Software Engineer working on the Sametime Verification Test team. He's been with IBM since 2008, focusing on integration and interoperability across Lotus Sametime products.