BlackBerryEnterpriseServerApplicationPushFAQ

WehaveacustomBlackBerryapplicationthatisdependentoncertainversionsoftheBlackBerryOS. CanweuseanITPolicytoinstalltheapplicationbasedontheBlackBerryOSthattheuserisrunning? WhenyouarewritingyourcustomBlackBerryapplication,itispossibletostipulatewhichsmartphones yourapplicationisintendedfor.DuringtheapplicationpollingthatisperformedbytheBlackBerry EnterpriseServer,informationregardingtheBlackBerrymodeltypethatusershaveisutilized,toensure thatthetargetBlackBerrysmartphonesmeetthecriteriaforthedeliveryofthesourceapplication. CanyoupreventBlackBerrysmartphonesfromresettingafterasoftwarepush? IftheapplicationthathasbeenpushedincludedfilelevelchangesthatrequirearesetoftheBlackBerry, thentheresetmustoccur,tomakesurethattherequisitefilesareupdated.Itisalsopossibleto provokearesetprogrammatically,ifthenewerBlackBerryJavaDevelopmentenvironment(JDE)isused whendevelopingacustomapplicationforBlackBerrysmartphones. WhataresomeexamplesofBlackBerryapplicationsthatarebeingpushedandenforced? BlackBerrycustomersarepushingandenforcingmanyapplications,accordingtotheuniqueneedsof theirrespectivebusinessenvironments.ExamplesincludevariousCRMandfinancialapplications, emergencycontactlists,gamesandusefulbusinessutilities.Ifanapplicationiscentraltothefunctionof yourbusiness,itisacommonpracticetoenforcetheassociatedapplications,sothatusersalwayshave accesstothoseapplicationsattheirfingertips.Theabilitytodisallowapplicationsgivesadministrators theflexibilitytoensurethatapplicationsthatarenotrequiredorthatposeasecurityorproductivityrisk canbecontrolledandkeptfromuseraccess. DousershavetodoanythingwhenwepushdowntheBlackBerrysmartphonesoftware? TheBlackBerrysmartphonesoftwareisnotpushedaccordingtothesamemechanismasapplications. Usersarenotresponsibleforperforminganyactions,howeverwhentheloadingoftheBlackBerry smartphonesoftwarecompletes,aresetmustbeperformed,sothattheBlackBerryOSisstartedwith theupdatedsoftware. AreMDSISBlackBerryapplicationsincludedinBlackBerryEnterpriseServerapplicationpush? BlackBerryEnterpriseServerapplicationpushisdonebyleveragingtheBlackBerryPolicyserver.Itis possibletousethismechanismtopushdownanapplicationandhavethedatapushedtothe applicationusingBlackBerryMDS;howeverthereisadifferenceinwhatBlackBerryMDSdoesandwhat theBlackBerryPolicyserverdoes.UsingBlackBerryMDS,youcanperformoperationssuchaschannel pushes,whichallowanadministratortopushacustomicontotargetBlackBerrysmartphonesandusing thaticon,theBlackBerryusercanaccessvariousresourcesthathavebeenconfiguredtobeaccessed (forexample,acustomintranetpageorbackendapplicationdata).

HowmuchRAMshouldyourBlackBerryEnterpriseServerhavetoaccommodatepushingapplications to500+BlackBerrysmartphones?Istherealimittohowmanypushescanbeperformed? TherequirementsfortheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerincludeenoughresourcestofacilitateapplication push.PleaserefertotheSystemRequirementsforfurtherdetailsaboutthesuggestedhardwarefor runningtheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer.Theappropriatedocumentationforyourspecificmessaging platform(IBMLotusDomino,MicrosoftExchangeorNovellGroupwise)canbefoundhere: http://na.blackberry.com/eng/support/docs/admin/?userType=2 Generallyspeaking,themoreRAMthatyoumakeavailabletotheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer,the betterperformanceyouwillobserve.Additionally,administratorscandeploytheirapplicationsin segments,ratherthantoallusersatonce.Thispracticewillminimizeanyconcurrentresourcestrainon theBlackBerryEnterpriseServer.Tomeasuretheexpectedresourcesduringanapplicationpush, administratorsareencouragedtoperformtestingandbenchmarkingbeforepursuingaproduction deployment.ThereisnolimitforhowmanyBlackBerryusersthatcanreceiveapplicationpushes, howeverperformingtheapplicationpushesinbatchesisrecommendfornetworkandserverresource conservationpurposes. AtwhichpointshouldIconsiderusingaseparatehostserverforourBlackBerryapplications?We have1BlackBerryEnterpriseServerwithabout300users? Customerswithlargeenterpriseenvironmentsaretypicallythosewhochoosetohostapplicationsona separatehostserver.ManyBlackBerryEnterpriseServers(coupledwithtargetusersacrossallormany ofthem)necessitatesthatcontinuedcommunicationtakeplacebetweeneachserver;thehostserver, theBlackBerryEnterpriseServerandtheBlackBerryconfigurationdatabase.Ifyoucurrentlyhaveone BlackBerryEnterpriseServerwithlessthan500BlackBerryusers,aseparatehostserverisnotneeded butiscertainlyoptional. Howdotheloader.exeutilityandtheApploaderfoldergetpositionedonthehostshareiftheshare isconfiguredtoresideonaserverthatisnothousingtheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer? TheindexingoftheBlackBerryapplicationsisperformedbyrunningtheloader.exeapplicationlocally ontheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer.Althoughtheloader.exeresidesontheBlackBerryEnterprise Server,sinceyouhaveconfiguredtheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerwiththelocationoftheapplications (duringthesetupoftheSoftwareConfiguration),theloader.exeknowsexactlywheretocheckforthe BlackBerryapplicationsthatmustbeindexed. Whenisitappropriatetousethe/indexand/reindexcommandsagainsttheloader.exe application?Ivehadsomeconfusioninthepastaboutwhentousethedifferentcommands. TheApplicationLoaderbuildsthedirectorystructureinthesharedsoftwaredirectoryandaddsany missingindexfilesforinstalledsoftwareupgrades.Ifyoumodifyanalxfileaftercreatingasoftware index,reindextheHandheldSoftware,usingtheloader/reindexcommand.Usingbothofthe aforementionedcommandswillultimatelyperformanindexingoperationagainsttheapplicationshare.

 HowdoIallowsomeBlackBerryapplications(downloadedbymyusers)withoutmaintaining.alx/.cod filesinternally?Isthereawaytodothis? IfanadministratorhasnotdisallowedsuchapplicationsfromresidingonBlackBerryusersmartphones, theyarefreetodownloadthemandusethemwithouttheinvolvementoftheBlackBerryEnterprise Server.OnlytheapplicationsthatanadministratorintendtopushviatheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer willhavetheassociatedfilesmonitoredonthehostapplicationshare. IfauserhasanexistingsoftwareconfigurationassignedtotheirBlackBerryEnterpriseServeraccount andtheyactivateanewBlackBerry,doesthesoftwareautomaticallygetrepushedtothenew BlackBerry?

Yes.DuringtheperiodicpollingthatisperformedbytheBlackBerryPolicyserver,anyuserwithan assignedsoftwareconfigurationwillhaveacheckperformed,todetermineiftheyaresupposedtohave anyapplicationsbutdonot.Whenthecheckhasbeencompleted,anyBlackBerryuserswhoneedto receivetheapplicationshavetheseapplicationqueuedandpushedtotheirBlackBerrysmartphone automatically. Isthereanyreconfiguringwewillneedtodoifweupgradealloursmartphonestoadifferentmodel BlackBerry? No.AllBlackBerrysmartphonesthatarerunningaminimumofBlackBerrysmartphonesoftware4.0(or higher)havetheabilitytoreceiveapplicationsviaapplicationpush.Noaddedconfigurationisrequired, beyondwhatistypicallydonetocreateasoftwareconfigurationandassignthatconfigurationtoa targetBlackBerryuser. Dotheseapplicationstakeupspaceonthesmartphoneordotheyrunoffthehostcomputer? TheapplicationsthatarepushedtothetargetBlackBerrysmartphoneswilldonotrunfromthehost server;theyaredeliveredtoandresideontheBlackBerrysmartphone.Itispossibletohavesuchan applicationleveragedatafromabackendapplicationserverbutthephysicalapplicationthattheuser hasdeliveredtothemisresidentontheirBlackBerrysmartphone. OurcompanywaspreviouslyusingLCS2005andrecentlyupgradedtoLCS2007.BlackBerry smartphonesthatoriginallyhadtheBlackBerryLCS2005clientapplicationinstalledonthemcannot beseamlesslyupgradedwirelessly.TheseBlackBerrysmartphoneshavetohavetheexistingclient deletedmanuallyorbothclientswillbepresent.Isthereaworkaroundforthis? ApplicationsthataredevelopedbyRIMaresigneddifferentlythanthosedevelopedexternally.This disallowsconventionalremovalofapplicationsusingthedispositionoptionswithintheBlackBerry EnterpriseServersoftwareconfigurations.Weareawareofthisbehaviorandareplanningtoaddressit intheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer5.0release(tentatively),inconjunctionwithBlackBerrysmartphone software4.5.Intheinterim,weareinvestigatingpossiblesolutions.

 Iveseenapplicationsnotgetpushed,afterwaitingformorethan4hours.Ultimately,weusedthe DeployApplicationsoptionandthatseemedtoworkfine.Why? Itislikelythataconditionwasencounteredthatpreventedasuccessfulsoftwarepush.Thedebuglogs fortheBlackBerryPolicyservershouldbereviewed,todeterminewhattheconditionis.Theremayalso berelevantinformationintheITAdminQueueintheBlackBerryconfigurationdatabase. Isitpossibletoincreasethe4hourAppProvisioningPollIntervalto24hours? Yes.TheAppProvisioningPollIntervalregistrykeyaffordsadministratorstheopportunitytoincreaseor decreasethepollinginterval.Ifyouwouldliketoincreasethepollingintervaltoavaluethatwould causethepollingtooccurevery24hours,thisisoptional. Howdoyouknowwhattheminimaltimerequirementisbeforebeginninganotherpush?Arethere anyfeedbackparametersthatwecanmonitortoknowthattheprocesshascompleted?Thegoalis tosafelyminimizethepushfrequency(reducefrom4hrsto30min)forurgentapppushrequirements. Thereisnomethodtouseforgatheringtheexacttimedifferentialbetweenapplicationpushes,asthisis highlyinfluencedbytheamountofusersthatarebeingpushedto,hardwarespecificationsandthe availabilityandresourcesontheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer.Thereishowever,adebugloglineinthe BlackBerrypolicyserverlogsthatcanbeutilizedtoknowwhenanindividualapplicationpushhasbeen completedsuccessfully:
[30000] (01/16 03:17:03):{0xFDC} {john.h.chacanaca@usps.gov, PIN=23C853ED, UserId=4288}RequestHandler::HandleAPPDDataCommand - Send Application to smartphone succeeded for entryid 256501.

Wherearetheconfigstatusmessagesactuallystored?IsitinITAdminQueueTable?

Yes.TheBlackBerryconfigurationdatabasecontainsdedicatedcolumnsintheITAdminQueue tablethatstorethestatusmessages(andtheapplicablestatuscodes).
Canauserbelongtomultiplegroups? Yes,aBlackBerryusercanbelongtomultiplegroups. MycompanyiscurrentlyusingBlackBerryEnterpriseServer4.1.3.18.HowdoIaccessthe ITAdminQueuetableintheBlackBerryconfigurationdatabase? TheITAdminQueuetableispresentintheBlackBerryconfigurationdatabase.Itispossibletoaccessand interrogatethisdatabaseusingvarioustools,suchasthoseprovidedbyMicrosoftwithSQLServerand MSDEorthoseprovidedbyIBMforusewithDB2databases.Anysoftwareapplicationthatcanmakea SQLconnectiontoadatabasecanaccessanyofthetablesintheBlackBerryconfigurationdatabase. DoestheBlackBerryMDSserviceneedtobestartedandconfiguredwhereIsPushserver=True?

ThepushserversettingthatisavailabletoconfigureintheBlackBerryMDSisnotthesamepush mechanism.ThepushserverroleforMDSisresponsiblefordatapushexclusivelyandapplicationpushis performedusingtheBlackBerryPolicyserver.WhenyouconfigureaMDSpushserver,youare configuringaMDSserverastheprincipalindatapush,leveragingabackendapplicationserver. Doesthe4hourpollintervalperformedbytheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerapplytothewired softwaredeliverymethodinasoftwareconfiguration? Yes.ThepollingperformedbytheBlackBerryEnterpriseServeroccursatthespecifiedpollinginterval, regardlessofthemethodofdelivery(wirelineorwireless). HowcanIpreventaBlackBerryusertheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerfromdeletinganapplication thathasbeendistributedasarequiredapplication? Ifanapplicationhasbeenconfiguredbyanadministratorasrequired,BlackBerryusersareprevented fromremovingit.Ifanadministratorwouldliketoprovidetheiruserswiththeoptiontoremovethe applicationafterithasbeendelivered,theapplicationmustbeconfiguredtooptionalinthedisposition oftheApplicationcontrolPolicy. IsthereanywaytoremoveBlackBerryapplicationsotherthanusingtheDisalloweddisposition settingintheApplicationControlPolicy? Theonlyotherwaytoremoveanapplicationinvolvesuserinteraction;theBlackBerryusermustdelete theapplicationontheBlackBerryorusetheBlackBerryDesktopManagertoremovetheapplicationvia theApplicationLoader. IsthereawaytoassignablanksoftwareconfigurationpolicytoaBlackBerryuser? Itispossibletoleavealloptionsblankinthesoftwareconfigurationpolicybutdoingsoisuncommon. Mostadministratorsarecreatingsoftwareconfigurationsthattheycanusetodeployandgovern existingBlackBerryapplications,sothisnecessitatessomemodificationofthesoftwareconfiguration. WhensettingupgroupsforspecificBlackBerryapplicationpushes,isitpossibletopullgroupsvia OpenLDAPordothegroupsneedtobecreatedmanually? ThegroupsthatyouintendtopushBlackBerryapplicationstoneedtobemanuallyconfiguredusingthe BlackBerryManagerorthroughusingtheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerResourceKit. IstheAppProvisioningPollIntervalDWORDvaluesetinminutesorhours? ThevaluefortheAppProvisioningPollIntervalregistrykeyisenteredinminutes. IsApplicationPushastandardpartofBlackBerryEnterpriseServer? YesApplicationPushisanativefunctionalityofBlackBerryEnterpriseServer4.0andlater.BlackBerry smartphonesmustberunningversion4.0orlateroftheBlackBerrySmartphonesoftware.

Isitpossibletodetermineatwhathoursthepolloccurs? InthedebuglogsfortheBlackBerryPolicyserver,thepollingsequencecanbereviewedbysearchingfor thestringPollForMissingApps.ThisistheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerfunctionthatisusedtoperform thepollingprocessandrunswithintheBlackBerryPolicyServer. HowcanIdeterminewhichapplicationsarecurrentlyinstalledforeachBlackBerryuseronthe BlackBerryEnterpriseServer? TheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerResourceKithasautilitynamedtheBlackBerryApplicationReporting ToolthatcanbeleveragedtoaudittheBlackBerryapplicationsthatareinusethroughoutthe BlackBerryDomain,andtoidentifyanyunapprovedapplications. HowwouldBlackBerryEnterpriseServerapplicationpushworkforBlackBerryusersthatareoverseas orcurrentlytravellinginaremotecountry(withBlackBerrycoverage)? TheBlackBerrysolutionisdesignedtoconnectuserswiththeirinformationwhiletheyaremobile. Similarlytohowtheothercorefunctionalitiesoperate(suchasemail,calendaringandwebbrowsing),a userdoesnothavetobelocaltotheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerinordertoreceiveanapplication push.TheBlackBerryuserissimplyrequiredtobeinanareaofadequateBlackBerrycoverageandthe sourceapplicationswillbepushedtothemautomatically. IstheimmediatepushfeatureavailableviatheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerResourceKit? No,thisfunctionalityisavailableexclusivelyintheBlackBerryManageroneachBlackBerryEnterprise Server(itiscalledDeployApplicationsintheassociatedmenu).Theoptiontocontrolthesoftware configurations(thatBlackBerryusersareassignedto)isavailableintheBlackBerryEnterpriseServer ResourceKit,however. WheredoyoufindtheDeployApplicationsfeaturethatavoidsthepollinginterval(fortesting)? TheDeployApplicationsfeaturecanbefoundintheBlackBerryManager,byrightclickingonthe desiredBlackBerryuser(intheUserstab)andselectingDeployApplicationsfromthecontextmenu. Whatoptionsaretherefordeployingapplicationswhichdonothavealx/codfiles? Iftheapplicationisacommercialone,contactthevendortoseeiftheycanhelpwithprovidingthese files.Whileaccesstothephysicalcodfilesisnecessary,analxfilecanbecreatedmanually,aswell. WhatisthebestwaytocleanupthepackagecachedirectoryoneachBlackBerryEnterpriseServer? Thehostfilesharemustbemaintainedmanually.Eachtimethatchangesaremade,itisrecommended thatthehostfoldersharebereindexed,toensurethattheBlackBerryEnterpriseServerhasthemost uptodateinventoryoftheapplicationsresidingwithinthehostfoldershare.

AfterattemptinganapplicationpushtoaBlackBerryuser,Ihaveseena907invalidcoderror.What wouldbeagoodmethodtocorrectthis? PleaserefertoBlackBerryTechnicalSolutionCenterarticleKB15438fordetailsonhowtoresolvethe 907invalidcoderrorthatcanbeexperiencedfollowinganapplicationpush: http://www.BlackBerry.com/btsc/search.do?cmd=displayKC&docType=kc&externalId=KB15438&sliceId =SAL_Public&dialogID=93605478&stateId=0%200%2093601620 HowareexistingBlackBerryapplicationsonBlackBerryusersmartphones(andinthehostapplication share)affectedbyBlackBerryEnterpriseServerupgrades?Willtherebeanyadverseeffects? ApplicationsthatexistonBlackBerryuserssmartphones(andinthehostapplicationshare)arenot affectedbyBlackBerryEnterpriseServerupgrades.