General Deployment

This topic contains general information for the deployment of your Orchestration Server (ORS). In addition, you may have to complete additional configuration and installation steps specific to your Orchestration Server and devices.

Note: You must read the Framework 8.1 Deployment Guide before proceeding with this Orchestration Server guide. That document contains information about the Genesys software you must deploy before deploying Orchestration Server.

Prerequisites

Orchestration Server has a number of prerequisites for deployment. Read through this section before deploying your Orchestration Server.

Framework Components

You can only configure ORS after you have deployed the Configuration Layer of Management Framework as described in the Management Layer User's Guide. This layer contains DB Server, Configuration Server, Configuration Manager, and, at your option, Deployment Wizards. If you intend to monitor or control ORS through the Management Layer, you must also install and configure components of this Framework layer, such as Local Control Agent (LCA), Message Server, Solution Control Server (SCS), and Solution Control Interface (SCI), before deploying ORS. Refer to the Framework 8.1 Deployment Guide for information about, and deployment instructions for, these Framework components.

When deploying ORS 8.1.3 or later, Local Control Agent and Solution Control Server version 8.1.2 or later are required.

Orchestration Server and Local Control Agent

To monitor the status of Orchestration Server through the Management Layer, you must load an instance of Local Control Agent (LCA) on every host running Orchestration Server components. Without LCA, Management Layer cannot monitor the status of any of these components.

Persistent Storage

Important

• Genesys no longer recommends using Cassandra for session recovery. Refer to Recovery of Voice Calls Without Persistence for more information on voice call processing recovery upon an ORS primary/backup switchover without Cassandra persistence.
• Starting from 8.1.401.10, ORS supports using Redis for session persistence and recovery. For more information, see ORS with Redis Cluster.

Determine whether you will use persistent storage (Apache Cassandra). If you chose to do so, then installing Cassandra should be performed as the first step before you deploy ORS. See the Cassandra Installation/Configuration Guide.

Supported Platforms

For the list of operating systems and database systems supported in Genesys releases 8.x. refer to the Genesys System-Level Guides, such as Supported Operating Environment Reference Guide and Interoperability Guide on the Genesys documentation website at docs.genesys.com/System.

Task Summary: Prerequisites for ORS Deployment

Objective	Related Procedures and Actions
Deploy Configuration Layer and ensure that Configuration Manager or Genesys Administrator is running.	See the Framework 8.1 Deployment Guide for details.
Deploy Network objects (such as Host objects).	See the Framework 8.1 Deployment Guide for details.
Deploy the Management Layer.	See the Framework 8.1 Deployment Guide for details. Also see the Management Layer User's Guide.
Deploy Local Control Agent on every host where Orchestration Server components to be running.	See the Framework 8.1 Deployment Guide for details. Also see the Management Layer User's Guide.
Deploy persistent storage.	See the Cassandra Installation and Configuration Guide. See ORS with Redis Cluster.

About Configuration Options

Configuring Orchestration Server is not a one-time operation. It is something you do at the time of installation and then in an ongoing way to ensure the continued optimal performance of your software. You must enter values for Orchestration Server configuration options on the Options tab of your Orchestration Server Application object in Configuration Manager. The instructions for configuring and installing Orchestration Server that you see here are only the most rudimentary parts of the process. You must refer extensively to the configuration options section of this wiki.

Familiarize yourself with the options. You will want to adjust them to accommodate your production environment and the business rules that you want implemented.

Important

Starting with release 8.1.400.64, you can configure an ORS cluster using a dedicated Transaction object of type List. In addition, options for all ORS applications in a cluster may be configured within that object. This eliminates the need to individually configure the options in every ORS application. For more information, see Clustering, Enhanced Cluster Configuration section.

Deployment Tasks

You can configure ORS entirely in Configuration Manager or in Genesys Administrator. This chapter describes ORS configuration using Configuration Manager.

The table below presents a high-level summary of ORS deployment tasks.

Task	Related Procedures or Actions
In Configuration Manager, import the Application Template for ORS. The file name is OR_Server_814.apd.	If you need help with this task, consult the Configuration Manager Help available on the Management Framework page. See Configuration Database Objects > Environment > Application Templates.
Create the ORS Application object. Configure Server Info and Tenants tabs.	Configure the Server Info tab: Host: Select name of the Host where the ORS Application will be running. Port: Enter the available Listening Port of ORS. Configure http port: Port ID: http Communication port: Enter any available port. Connection protocol: select http. Configure the Tenants tab: Set up the list of Tenants that ORS works with. See the section on Creating the ORS Application object.
Create a connection for the ORS Application object to the following servers: T-Server(s) Universal Routing Server Interaction Server (if needed for multimedia)	Use the Connection tab of the Application object in Configuration Manager to set up connections to other servers. See Creating the ORS Application object.
Configure the ORS Application to work with persistence storage.	For Redis: See ORS with Redis Cluster. For Cassandra: Go to the Orchestration Server Application object > Options tab > persistence section: cassandra-listenport: Set to the value of Cassandra port. cassandra-nodes: Enter semi-colon separated list of host names of Cassandra nodes in cluster. cassandra-keyspace-name: Specify the name of Cassandra keyspace.      cassandra-schema-version: Enter Cassandra schema version. cassandra-strategy-class: Set to SimpleStrategy if Cassandra is deployed as a single cluster, Set to *NetworkTopologyStrategy in the case of Data Centers Cassandra cluster deployment. cassandra-strategy-options: Set the replication factor for a given keyspace. Examples: If SimpleStrategy: cassandra-strategy-options = replication_factor:2 If NetworkTopologyStrategy: cassandra-strategy-options = DC1:2;DC2:3|
Configure ORS cluster.	See Clustering.
Manually loading an SCXML application on objects other than ORS.	See the following: Manually Loading an SCXML application on a DN. Manually Loading an SCXML Application on an Enhanced Routing Script object. Configuring the ApplicationParams Section of an Enhanced Routing Script Object.
Configure the ORS Application to work with multimedia interactions and/or multiple Interaction Servers (if needed).	If the ORS Application should work with multimedia interactions: Go to the Orchestration Server Application object, Options tab, orchestration section and set mcr-pull-by-this-node to true. Set up a connection to the Interaction Server Application of Interaction Server type. To support more than one Interaction Server for the same Switch: Set the switch-multi-links-enabled option to true in the ORS Application object, orchestration section. In the ORS Application, set up a connection to each Interaction Server Application of Interaction Server type. For more information, see Pulling from Multiple Interaction Servers.
Set a Redundancy type (if needed).	In the Server Info tab: Primary server: Redundancy type field, set to Warm Standby. Backup server: select the backup server application Backup server: Redundancy type field, set to Warm Standby See High Availability.
Add the ORS Application into the ORS cluster.	See Configuring an ORS Cluster.
Install Orchestration Server.	See Installation.
Configure the Universal Routing Server Application.	In the default section, configure the following: option: strategy: Set to ORS.
Test your ORS Deployment.	See Debugging SCXML Applications with Composer.

 

Note: The above ORS Deployment Tasks assumes you have installed/configured any other Genesys components which interact with Orchestration Server, for example, T-Server/SIP Server, Stat Server, Universal Routing Server, Interaction Server (if needed), Composer (if needed), Genesys Administrator (if needed), Genesys Voice Platform (if needed).

Creating the ORS Application Object

1. In Configuration Manager, select Environment > Applications.
2. Right-click either the Applications folder or the subfolder in which you want to create your Application object.
3. From the shortcut menu that opens, select New > Application.
4. In the Open dialog box, locate the template that you just imported, and double-click it to open the ORS Application object.  For Configuration Server versions before 8.0.3, the Type field will display Genesys Generic Server.
5. Select the General tab and change the Application name (if desired).
6. Make sure that the State Enabled check box is selected.
7. In a multi-tenant environment, select the Tenants tab and set up the list of Tenants that use ORS.

   Note: Order matters. The first Tenant added will become the default Tenant for Orchestration Server. Please ensure that the list of Tenants is created in the same order for both Orchestration Server and Universal Routing Server.

8. Click the Server Info tab and select the following: Host, select the name of the Host on which ORS resides; Ports, select the Listening Port. Note that a default port is created for you automatically in the Ports section after you select a Host. Select the port and click Edit Port to open the Port Info dialog box.
9. Enter an unused port number for the Communication Port. For information on this dialog box, see the Port Info Tab topic in the Framework 8.1 Configuration Manager Help.
10. For Web Service access to this ORS Application, configure the HTTP port:
    • In the New Port Info dialog box, in Port ID, enter http.
    • For Communication Port, enter an unused port number.
    • For Connection Protocol, select http from the drop-down menu list.
    • Click OK.
11. Select the Start Info tab and specify the following:
    • Working Directory, enter the Application location (example: C:/GCTI/or_server)
    • Command Lineenter the name of executable file (example: orchestration.exe).

      Note: If there is a space in the ORS Application name, you must place quotation marks before and after the name of the ORS Application.

    • Command Line Arguments, enter the list of arguments to start the Application (example: -host <name of Configuration Server host> -port <name of Configuration Server port>-app <name of ORS Application>

      Note: If you are using Configuration Server Proxy and do not use Management Layer, enter the name of Configuration Server proxy for host and the port of the Configuration Server Proxy.

    • Startup time, enter the time interval the server should wait until restarting if the server fails.
    • Shutdown time, enter the time interval the server takes to shut down.
    • Auto-Restart setting, selecting this option causes the server to restart automatically if the server fails.
    • Primary setting, selecting this option specifies the server as the primary routing server (unavailable).
12. Select the Connections tab and specify all the servers to which ORS must connect:
    • T-Server
    • Interaction Server
    • Universal Routing Server

Configuring an ORS Cluster

ORS provides a new configuration Transaction of the type List, called ORS in the Environment tenant , to determine the ORS cluster configuration. Each section in the List represents a single Orchestration cluster. Each of the key/value pairs in that section links a specific Orchestration application to a Data Center (legacy method).

Starting with release 8.1.400.64, you can configure an ORS cluster using a dedicated Transaction object of type List.In addition, options for all ORS applications in a cluster may be configured within that object. This eliminates the need to individually configure the options in every ORS application. For more information, see Clustering, Enhanced Cluster Configuration section.

Notes:

• All ORS nodes with the Data Center set to an empty string will belong to one "nameless” Data Center.
• ORS 8.1.3 and later requires creating an ORS Transaction List even if the deployment has only one ORS node.

Adding an ORS Application to Cluster and Data Center

Configure each section to represent a single Orchestration cluster, and each of the key/value pairs to link a specific Orchestration Application to a Data Center.

1. In Configuration Manager, select the Tenant Environment and navigate to the Transactions folder.
2. Right-click inside the Transactions window and select New > Transaction from the shortcut menu.
3. On the General tab, enter the following information:
   • Name: ORS
   • Alias: ORS
   • Type: List (pulldown menu)
   • Recording Period: 0
   • State Enabled should be checked.
4. Click the Annex tab to enter the cluster information.Right-click inside the Section window and select New from the shortcut menu. Enter the name of your cluster.
5. Double-click the cluster name.
6. Right-click inside the Section window and select New from the shortcut menu.
7. In the Option Name field, enter the name of an Orchestration application configured as Primary.
8. In the Option Value field, enter the name of the Data Center associated with the Orchestration Node.
9. Click OK to save.
10. Repeat Steps 7 - 10 for all Orchestration Nodes that belong to this cluster.
11. Click Up One Level.
12. Repeat Steps 5 - 12 for all clusters.
13. Click OK to save and exit. An example is shown below.

 

In the above example, Cluster1 consists of six nodes presented by Primary instances of Orchestration Servers:

• node001 and node002, which are linked to Data Center London.
• node003 and node004, which are linked to Data Center Paris.
• node005 and node006, which are linked to a "nameless” Data Center.

When a Data Center value is left empty, the nodes default to a "nameless" Data Center.

Note: In ORS 8.1.3 and later, work allocation happens automatically, based on the configuration of the cluster described above.

Important

ORS 8.1.3 and later requires creating an ORS Transaction List even if the deployment has only one ORS node.

Manually Loading an SCXML Application on a DN

This section describes manually loading an SCXML application on a DN.  The following types of DNs can be configured: Extension, ACD Position, Routing Point. See DN-Level Options.

1. In Configuration Manager, select the appropriate Tenant folder, Switch name, and DN folder.
2. Open the appropriate DN object.
3. Select the Annex tab.
4. Select or add the Orchestration section.
5. Right-click inside the Options window and select New from the shortcut menu.
6. In the resulting Edit Option dialog box, in the Option Name field, type application.
7. In the Option Value field, type the URL of the SCXML document to load.
8. Refer to the application option description for a full description of this configuration option and its valid values.
9. Click OK to save

Manually Loading an SCXML Application on an Enhanced Routing Script

See Enhanced Routing Script Options.

1. In Configuration Manager, select the appropriate Tenant and navigate to the Scripts folder.
2. Open the appropriate Script object of type Enhanced Routing Script (CfgEnhancedRouting).
3. Select the Annex tab.
4. Select or add the Application section.
5. Right-click inside the options window and select New from the shortcut menu.
6. In the Option Value field, create the url option.
7. Refer to the url option description in the Application section for a full description of this configuration option and its valid values.
8. Click OK to save

In addition, an option can be used to specify a string that represents a parameter value that is to be passed to the Application. The ApplicationParms section contains the values for data elements that can be referred to within the SCXML application. The Enhanced Routing Script object is named as such to identify SCXML applications and Routing applications. Existing IRD-based IRL applications are provisioned as Script objects.

Configuring the ApplicationParms Section of an Enhanced Routing Script Object

1. In Configuration Manager, select the appropriate Tenant and navigate to the Scripts folder.
2. Open the appropriate Script object of type Enhanced Routing Script (CfgEnhancedRouting).
3. Select the Annex tab.
4. Select or add the ApplicationParms section.
5. Right-click inside the options window and select New from the shortcut menu.
6. In the resulting Edit Option dialog box, in the Option Name field, type a name for the parameter option.
7. In the Option Value field, type the value for the option.

   Note: Refer to the option description for {Parameter Name} for a full description of this configuration option its valid values. The table Parameter Elements for ApplicationParms provides useful information about parameters that can be added. The figure below shows an example of the use of the ApplicationParms section.

   

8. Click OK to save.
9. Repeat from Step 5 to add another option in this section.

Orchestration Server REST API Security Considerations and Basic Hardening Steps

Orchestration Server implements RESTful API via HTTP protocol, described in detail here. It is possible that through this RESTful API, sensitive data stored in the JavaScript context of an active routing strategy might be accessed, and ORS can be forced to perform resource-consuming activities (DoS attack).

Major security vulnerabilities of the RESTful API implementation are:

• No authentication of any kind.
• No ability to provision HTTP responses with security headers of any kind.
• No firewall features of any kind (port filtering, etc.).

Hardening Steps for ORS REST API

You can perform the following steps to harden the ORS REST API (that is, secure the ORS REST API by reducing its surface of vulnerability):

1. Provision only one listening port for the REST API (the ORS application in CME must have only one port with the protocol http (named default) in the Server Info tab).
2. Provision TLS/SSL transport-level security for communications via that HTTP port as described in the Genesys Security Deployment Guide.
3. Configure the firewall to allow connections to ORS ports only from 100% trusted zones with no exceptions. This is very important because, access to the ORS HTTP port means access to all features of the ORS REST API.