SIP2 Server and service

Learn about the Amlib SIP2 server process and find information about error handling and maintenance.

The SIP2 Server is an application that runs as a Windows Service. The service name is AmlibSIP2Service. After installation the service can be started and stopped in the Services area in Windows

The SIP2 server uses:

Settings in the AmlibConfig.xml file maintained by the Configuration Manager
SIP2 Parameters and Message Values stored in the local database and maintained by the SIP2 Manager
Amlib Circulation Settings and parameters to check Circulation privileges for the borrower. If different Settings are based on Location the system uses the Login Location of the SIP2 Manager to verify the Circulation settings to use

SIP2 Server Process

Before the service starts, the amlibconfig.xml is opened, database connectivity is checked and the Amlib database is at least Version 6.0
After starting, the server listens on the defined Port Number for incoming TCP/IP connections from SIP2 clients. The maximum number of concurrent connections is defined in the Configuration manager SIP2 Server tab
When an incoming connection occurs from a SIP2 client, the server determines the IP address of the client and performs a DNS lookup to get the Host name. The Client Address column on the SIP2 Listener table is then checked for either the IP or the host name and if found, the SIP2 parameters are loaded for the instance defined
Once connected the server receives SIP2 request messages from the client and using the instance parameters does the required database lookups, processing etc. and returns the appropriate response message. The parameters define how the data for each field in the response message is derived.

Error Handling & Maintenance

In the event of the IP or the host name not being found, the connection is closed by the server and the error logged
While loading the SIP2 parameters for the instance from the database, checks are performed to verify their integrity. If not valid, the connection is closed and the SIP2 parameter errors logged
Logging for the service is saved to the amlib.log file in the folder where the AmlibConfig.xml file is located.

By default the installers copy this file to the Data directory for the application. This is operating system dependent. For example in Windows XP it is found in

Documents and Settings/All Users/Application Data/OCLC/Amlib SIP2 Manager/amlib.log

For Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 the default is C:\Program Data\OCLC\Amlib SIP2 Server for the Server and C:\Program Data\OCLC\Amlib SIP2 Manager for the manager.
After a successful connection, logging specific to the Listener is written to a folder below the main application data folder outlined above. The folder name is the IP address or host name configured for the Listener. The log file name is the same ie amlib.log)
For diagnostic purposes, the service can also be run in a console by double clicking on the exe in the installation folder. The service must be stopped before doing this. When running as a console, no logging occurs as all messages and errors are displayed
When parameters are changed, the Client Connection(s) using that Instance have to closed and reopened. This will reload the SIP2 parameters and circulation parameters for the instance and no restart of the SIP2 Server service is required