After the CM export package has been created in the lower WebFOCUS 8 environment, the next step is to copy the CM export package to the higher WebFOCUS 8 environment for import.

There are several options available to copy the package:

• You can explicitly copy CM export packages from a lower WebFOCUS 8 environment to a higher WebFOCUS 8 environment. This provides a mechanism to control the explicit copy/move step in the process for integration with other change control systems. For instance, the CM package from DEV would be checked into a change control system, and from there, be promoted to a higher WebFOCUS 8 environment.
• You can use shared file systems to map the CM export directory in the DEV WebFOCUS 8 environment to the CM import directory in the QA WebFOCUS 8 environment. Using a shared CM location, the CM export packages are immediately available to the QA WebFOCUS 8 environment, eliminating the explicit step of copying files between machines. With this approach, it becomes more difficult to maintain the integrity of the CM export package and its original contents. For example, a CM export is exported from DEV and becomes immediately available in the CM import directory in QA. It is then imported in QA. In the meantime, the exported package is changed in DEV and no longer matches what was imported in QA, making it impossible to restore and audit.

  It is not recommended to use this option between QA and PROD.

• Another option is to write batch scripts to export, copy, and then import between environments. This preserves the integrity of the packages and the batch scripts can also be coded to integrate with other change control systems.

Considerations for Clustered Architecture Models

In a clustered, distributed WebFOCUS 8 architecture and within a given WebFOCUS 8 environment, it is best to share the CM import and export directories so packages are immediately visible to all cluster members. It also depends on whether the utilities or command CM scripts are used to import.

For instance, if you are copying the CM package to a particular cluster node (machine) and running the CM batch utilities from that machine, it is not necessary to share. If you are importing the CM package from the CM export utilities or with a RESTful web services call, you cannot predict which cluster node will run the import, so all cluster nodes in the WebFOCUS 8 environment must have the same import directory (or, at least, the same set of files).