Configuring Dimensions CM ALF Settings

Identifying Required ALF Locations

For Release Control to receive all the information needed, you must identify the location of the ALF service and the event configuration file.

To identify the ALF locations:

1. Edit the dm.cfg file in your Dimensions CM installation. By default, this file is in the following directory:

   ..\Program Files\Serena\Dimensions 12.2\CM

2. Add or modify the following parameters to point to the ALF service URL and event configuration file as shown in the following example:

    
   DM_ALF_ENDPOINT http://serverName:8085/rlc/dimensionsDeployALFServiceFlow
   DM_ALF_EVENT_CONFIG %DM_DFS%alf_events_config.xml 
   

   Note: For the ALF endpoint server name and port, use the server where SBM Common Services are installed. The port number is 8085 by default.
   Tip:

   You can point DM_ALF_ENDPOINT to multiple endpoints by specifying them on one line and separating them by whitespace, so that multiple integrations using different endpoints will work. For example, Serena Pulse and Release Control.

3. Identify the instance name to which Release Control should connect. Do the following:
   1. Specify the product instance name to be used for Release Control as shown in the following example:

      DM_ALF_PRODUCT_INSTANCE DimensionsUnderOrchestratedApps

   2. Specify the same instance name in the Product Instance Name field in the provider configuration. See Product Instance Name.
   Note: If the dm.cfg file has no product instance listed or has the DM_ALF_PRODUCT_INSTANCE line commented out, leave the Product Instance Name blank in the provider configuration.
4. Restart the Dimensions CM listener service.

For details on the dm.cfg file and Dimensions CM ALF settings, refer to the Dimensions CM documentation.

Configuring Required Events

Deploy is asynchronous, so this requires ALF events to be configured. When Release Control calls a deploy, it returns immediately and then Dimensions CM deploys the content in the background and sends an ALF event when it’s done.

You must ensure that the deploy ALF event is configured so that Release Control can receive asynchronous responses when deploying.

To configure the deploy ALF event:

1. Edit the alf_events_config.xml file in your Dimensions CM installation. By default, this file is in the following directory:

   ..\Program Files\Serena\Dimensions 12.2\CM\dfs

2. For the Baseline object type, if it's not already there, add an Event tag for deploy as shown in the following example:

   <!--
   Specify a specific object class
   -->
   <Object>
   <Type>Baseline</Type>
   <!-- 
   Example events to support for 
   	above object class
   -->
    <Events>
     <Event>build-allocated</Event>
     <Event>build-submitted</Event>
     <Event>build-completed</Event>
     <Event>deploy</Event>
     <Event>rollback</Event>
    </Events>
   </Object>
   

   Note:

   Promote is synchronous, so there is no need for ALF events for promote. When Release Control calls a promote it waits until it completes.

3. Restart the Dimensions CM listener service.

For details on the alf_events_config.xml file, refer to the Dimensions CM documentation.