WEM Configuration

In order to talk about WEM configuration it is important to understand the mechanics of JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and how it is used to nest configuration information. While the system provides a user interface for manipulating the configuration files, this section is focused on how the various configuration elements are utilized. For more information on the configuration user interface visit the Windows desktop configuration editor.

Configuration Files

WEM consists of a few configuration files, unlike SWEM, these files are all found in one location: *\Configuration*. This location is the WEM Configuration Root and it comprises the following files:

• logger.config
• shared-connection-strings.config
• shared-settings.config
• wem-config.json

The different WEM components reflect this file in their root paths as well, but the files there are simply symbolic links to the original files found in the configuration root. That is to say, a change to logger.config in the configuration root changes it in the Message Processor, File Processor, Socket Processor, SOAP processor and the web application.

Also, different from SWEM, these files are not overwritten during an installation, so once they are changed they will not be overwritten by an upgrade installation.

logger.config

The logger configuration file configures log4net. This file can be used to tweak the logging mechanics of WEM. This is a standard log4net configuration file, but the logging system is very complex and robust. To get a broader understanding of log4net, visit their manual pages.

For the logger configuration file, there is already a significant amount of documentation online courtesy of Apache Log4Net and their manual pages. Please visit their documentation for all the needed configuration information prior to making any changes to the logger.config file. Note this file contains a connection string and it should be the same connection string used in the shared connection strings file.

Below is a list of the default log levels, in order of verbosity - highest to lowest:

• ALL
• DEBUG
• INFO
• WARN
• ERROR
• FATAL
• OFF

Within the logger.config xml document, there is a root node. By default, it appears as the sample below:

 <root>
    <level value="DEBUG" />
    <appender-ref ref="AdoNetAppender" />
    <appender-ref ref="ColoredConsoleAppender"/>
 </root>

The level can be changed by changing the value for the level element. During a period of about 2 - 4 weeks from the initial setup, WEM should be kept at the DEBUG level. This will allow for the most robust logging verbosity available. However, after that incubation period it is recommended to reduce the level to ERROR to significantly impact the number of log messages transmitted between the WEM software and the backing SQL Server database. Please note, if relying on the logger for email content, this should instead be set to INFO, not ERROR.

shared-connection-strings.config

All the various components use the same connection strings, so rather than breaking those out into the individual application configuration they have all been pooled into this centralized file. Changing a connection string in this file changes it for all of the subcomponents of WEM.

At the time of this writing only a single connection string lives in this document. It is the "DefaultConnection" and should be pointed at the database onto which WEM is being installed. It is important to note that when used in an environment utilizing Distributed Transaction Coordination, that the connection string should contain the "enlist=false" parameter to prevent connectivity issues.

The file should look like the file below.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<connectionStrings>
  <add name="DefaultConnection" connectionString="data source=localhost;initial catalog=wem;integrated security=false;persist security info=True;User ID=wemuser;Password=wemuser;enlist=false" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />
</connectionStrings>

*Note: This file doesn't include the connection strings for log4net at this time. A future update is planned that will incorporate logging as well.

shared-settings.config

Like connection strings, there are numerous settings that the application requires. These are global, and were deemed special configuration elements, therefore they are not part of the wem-config.json file. Also like connection strings, a change in this file changes it everywhere.

The shared settings file contains the following configuration elements:

wem-config-json

This file is the primary configuration file. Most of the configuration changes made after initial installation will be made here. It controls how WEM operates at a very granular level. While this document covers all the files, this file should be considered the most significant file of the set. Like the others, changes here will change it for all the subcomponents.

This file requires a bit more explanation before it is broken out into elements. It is important to understand the structure of the file. At the root, the file contains a collection of agencies, some settings are defined at the agency level. Also defined at the agency level is the collection of EBT Hosts that are in use by the agency, and a collection of MIS Clients used by the agency. In some cases, WEM may need to route files from one or more MIS endpoints to one or more EBT endpoints. This approach allows each of the endpoints for a single agency to be configured separately. This document will now break down the elements at their respective levels.

E-mail Settings

The e-mail settings node of the wem-config.json file holds the information used by the various processing methods to send e-mail messages. Largely this is limited to file processing at this time. E-mail will be generated when an expected file is not generated or when certain errors occur.

Note: If the logger.config is set to INFO or lower logging levels, any email sent by the system will also be logged this also provides a means for organizations that cannot send email using the provided mechanism can still access this information. In particular an entry with the "INFO" level should appear in the ApplicationErrorLogs table, and it should contain the full body of the email.

Agency

The agency node of the wem-config.json file comprises the following elements (in alphabetical order):

Note: There can be multiple agencies at the root node.

EBT Hosts

The EBTHosts node of the agency node contains the following elements (in alphabetical order):

Note: There can be multiple EBT Hosts defined per agency.

MIS Clients

The MISClients node of the agency node contains the following elements (in alphabetical order):

Note: There can be multiple MIS Clients defined per agency.