Cant configure the node of my Integration Gateway

Question

So I've been trying to get web services exposed from my test PeopleSoft Installation so that they can be used by another PeopleSoft Installation. After some reading and searching I found that I have to configure the Integration Broker in order to do that. From there I've been trying for a while now (unsuccessfully as you can imagine) to configure the Integration Gateway of my PeopleTools installation. Right now I can ping my Integration Gateway which comes back with...
PeopleSoft Integration Gateway
PeopleSoft Listening Connector
Tools Version : 8.53
Status:ACTIVE
and from there I can load the connectors, of which there are 11 different ones. After that I go to "Gateway Setup Properties", log in, and from there I have everything filled out with the following...
Gateway Default App. Server_
App Server URL: <the machinename>:<the port#>
User ID: PS
Password: <the password>
Tools Release: 8.53
Domain Password: <none>
Virtual Server Node: <none>
PeopleSoft Nodes_
Node Name: PSFT_HR
App Server URL: <the machinename>:<the port#>
User ID: PS
Password: <the password>
Tools Release: 8.53
Domain Password: <none>
After that, I try to ping the node but it always errors with the following and I have no idea why...
PeopleSoftTargetConnector - The appserver may be down.  Check Appserver URL or Domain Password.
The problem is that I know I have the right URL and that the AppServer is running because I can see it's status in Command Prompt after running PSADMIN.EXE and navigating to the status of the server (not to mention I'm able to log into it). I've also looked at the "Configuration Status" in "Main Menu > PeopleTools > Integration Broker > Integration Network" and got checks on "Gateway Configured" and "Domain Active" but there's an X next to "Node Network Not Configured" which I'm not sure why it's there so if somebody could explain that to me, that'd be really helpful.
So from "Node Network", I can see all the nodes and can see the node that I'm trying to use for the Integration Gateway, "PSFT_HR", that has checks in the boxes under everything except "Remote Gateway Node". After I click on the PSFT_HR node I can see the "Node Definitions" tab that has the Authentication set to "Password", the password set to what I'm entering with the "Gateway Setup Properties", the "Default User ID" set to "PS" and everything after that (Hub Node, Master Node, etc.) is blank. The check-boxes next to "Default Local Node", "Local Node", "Active Node", and "Segment Aware" are checked.
In the "Connectors" tab I've tried pinging the node but came up with the same error from before. Also, towards the bottom there's a line that says "This connector does not have properties. Use Gateways Page to setup." where I log in to the "Gateway Setup Properties" again, the same info is used from before, and pinging the node gives the same error. As for the other tabs "Portal", "WS Security", and "Routings" I haven't done anything with them as I never read anything that said I needed too.
Also, as a side note, every time I try to ping the node the application stops responding even after I click cancel or try to click the "x" on the window. I cant do anything until it times out and gives me the error so if somebody could tell me how to change that or stop it from happening, that'd also be really helpful in saving time with troubleshooting this issue
I hope this wasn't too long with TOO MUCH information (or quotation marks) but I thought I'd get everything I've got right now out the way since I've tried a lot of different things and may get some suggestions that I've already found/tried up until now. I feel like it's something small that I'm missing (because that's always the case) so hopefully one of you can remedy my situation.
Thanks a lot for any help/suggestions (even if I've tried them, but I'll try them again in case something changes because computers work that way :/ ).
Edited by: 1006417 on May 17, 2013 10:59 AM
Fixed the typos with "machinename:port#" to fit the overall naming convention I used.

Answer 1

Since you didn't provide the "machinename" I'm wondering if that's your problem... you mention hanging while pinging... that sounds like name lookup or port connectivity problems, as if the gateway is waiting for something to time out in that arena. For communicating to yourself, depending on your config, that setting should match exactly whats in the <PS_HOME/PS_CFG_HOME>/webserv/peoplesoft/applications/peoplesoft/PORTAL.war/WEB-INF/psftdocs/ps/configuration.properties psserver line. Now if you created a domain just for PUBSUB it would need to match the jolt port for that domain (not the WSL). Since your logging in online already, we know the configuration.properties file has a good value, if your trying a different domain, I'd try switching back to using your domain for servicing online requests and try again.
I recommend looking at Nicolas's write up on this topic, it's very detailed.
http://gasparotto.blogspot.com/2013/05/integration-network-workcenter-853.html you may need to reference his 8.52 version for some pre-reqs as well but the link is in the 8.53 one. Also look for answers in the log file <PS_HOME/PS_CFG_HOME>/webserv/peoplesoft/applications/peoplesoft/PSIGW.war/errorLog.html (if you took default weblogic domain name). I just went through this process on a fresh demo 8.53 demo install and was able to start pinging the node after only a few steps. they were,
1. define the gateway
2. load the connectors
3. define the default and additional node
4. verified the PS user was able to logon (originally the password was expired)
5. set the auth type to Password for the node I was using.
6. success on ping, interestingly enough I didn't even have PUBSUB processes running yet, node network and active domain both show not configured at this time
On your node network not getting the green check, look on the Node Network status page just below the title, there is a check box for Secure Keystore Value Defined. Is that checked? If not it needs to be. You probably need to set the secureFileKeystorePassword to your keystore password. The default is still password, you can change this from the Advanced Properties Page link of the Gateway Setup Properties page. Use the encryption tool because the password can't be clear text, it has to be saved encrypted to work. Then go back to the node network page and see if it's cleared up. I mentioned this briefly in a write I did on Unified Navigation http://remotepsadmins.com/2013/03/04/peoplesoft-unified-navigation-with-peoplesoft-applicatations-portal-interaction-hub. Nicolas's 8.52 write up has screenshots and such though he does it prior to showing that it will prevent configuration from passing. I've also seen in properly configured systems you may need to just save this page without changes to populate some data, but that was on upgrading to 8.52, i would expect 8.53 would not need that.
continuing on, I did exactly what I just mentioned, and I've got a configured node network.
i just bounced the domain, adding the PUB/SUB servers, and activating them on the Domain Status page. I've now got green lights across the board and I can still ping successfully. I used no domain password, but I also verified that none was set in the psappsrv.cfg file. I just hit the Network Integration Status button on my system and got the Status check successful message.
Let us know how it goes.
Edited by: RCC on May 17, 2013 1:13 AM
Fixed a typo and changed a sentence to make it more clear