Administer the Liberty profile
A server configuration consists of a server.xml file, a bootstrap.properties file, and any optional files that are included by the two main configuration files. We can use WebSphere Application Server Developer Tools for Eclipse or a text editor to edit the configuration files. There is no administrative console for the Liberty profile, but we can use Admin Center to administer Liberty profile servers and applications and other resources from a web browser on a cell phone, tablet, or computer.
The Liberty profile is configured by exception. The runtime environment operates from a set of built-in configuration default settings, and we only need to specify configuration that overrides those default settings. You do this by editing either server.xml or another XML file included in server.xml at run time.
Features are the units of functionality for the runtime environment loaded into a particular server. They are the primary mechanism that makes the server composable. The list of features specified in the server configuration provides a functional server.
When we first install and start the server, a feature manager and a default server configuration are available:
- By default, a server contains the jsp-2.2 feature, to support servlet and JSP applications. We can use the feature manager to add the features needed.
- Server configuration is by exception. When we specify the features needed, the default configuration of those features provides a rich environment designed to cover most common requirements, therefore we only need to specify changes from the default configuration.
We can organize Liberty servers into collectives to administer multiple Liberty servers at a time efficiently and accurately. For information about collectives, see Set up collectives.
Subtopics
- Configuration elements in server.xml
The application server configuration is described in a series of elements in server.xml. Each element has one or more attributes or sub-elements. This topic contains details of the possible elements, attributes, and sub-elements that can be configured.
- Administer the Liberty profile using developer tools
We can modify how the workbench interacts with the Liberty profile using the server editor.
- Administer the Liberty profile manually
We can administer the Liberty profile from the command prompt, configure it with web server plug-ins, and capture its status. We can package a Liberty server configuration along with the applications that it runs, for distribution to colleagues, or installation on other systems. If available, we can use the Equinox OSGi console to aid with debugging.
Administer the Liberty profile using Admin Center
We can use WebSphere Liberty Administrative Center ("Admin Center") to administer Liberty profile servers and applications and other resources from a web browser on a cell phone, tablet, or computer.
- Configuration updates
We can make updates to the configuration using the developer tools or from the command line.
- Liberty profile and Chef
Chef software is an open source configuration management tool we can leverage to create and manage the installation of an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS). We can use Chef to provision a Liberty profile installation.
Tasks:
Submitting jobs to manage Liberty profile servers