Set up Admin Center on stand-alone servers


Overview

Admin Center is a web user interface that runs on Liberty V8.5.5.2 and later servers.

To install Admin Center on hosts that cannot access the internet-based Liberty repository, first install Liberty and the Admin Center feature on a host that can access the internet. Then transfer the installation package to the target hosts.

To enable Admin Center on a collective controller, see...

Ensure server.xml of the collective controller includes <feature>adminCenter-1.0</feature> in the featureManager configuration. Set a host value in the httpEndpoint element, such as host="*" so all hosts can access the collective controller.


Pre-requisites

  1. Install WebSphere Application Server Liberty V8.5.5.2 or later.

  2. Install the adminCenter-1.0 feature.

    For Version 8.5.5.6 or later...

    For Version 8.5.5.5 or earlier...

      bin/featureManager install adminCenter-1.0 --when-file-exists=ignore

  3. For the Liberty Developers edition, install the collectiveController-1.0 feature.

    For Version 8.5.5.6 or later...

      bin/installUtility install collectiveController-1.0

    For Version 8.5.5.5 or earlier...

    This step applies only to the Developers edition and not to the Network Deployment, z/OS or Core editions of Liberty. Optionally, we can install the collectiveController-1.0 feature before installing the adminCenter-1.0 feature.


Install Admin Center on a standalone server

  1. Create a Liberty server.

      server create myServer

    This adds server files to...

      wlp/usr/servers/myServer

  2. Edit server.xml and configure the server for Admin Center.

    1. Add the adminCenter-1.0 feature to the feature manager. 

        <featureManager>
   <feature>adminCenter-1.0</feature> 
</featureManager>

      Optional: Add the websocket-1.1 or websocket-1.0 feature to the server configuration. 

        <featureManager>
   <feature>adminCenter-1.0</feature>
   <feature>websocket-1.1</feature> 
</featureManager>

      WebSocket provides a live view of the topology regardless of size. Without the WebSocket feature, Admin Center periodically and frequently polls for changes.

    2. Add one or more users to configure a secure login. For example:

      If user names or passwords include non-English characters, create the jvm.options file for the server and define the default client encoding as UTF-8:

        -Ddefault.client.encoding=UTF-8

      Configure administrative roles. 

        <basicRegistry realm="basicRealm">
   <user name="admin" password="adminpwd" />
   <user name="reader" password="readerpwd" />
</basicRegistry>

      If user names or passwords include non-English characters, create the jvm.options file for the server and define the default client encoding as UTF-8:

        -Ddefault.client.encoding=UTF-8

    3. Configure administrative roles required to access the Admin Center.

      A user with the administrator-role has full access to the Admin Center. 

        <administrator-role>
   <user>admin</user>
</administrator-role>

      A user with the reader-role has read-only access to the Admin Center. 

        <reader-role>
   <user>reader</user>
</reader-role>

    4. To protect keystore files that have server authentication credentials, define a keystore and assign it a password. 

        <keyStore id="defaultKeyStore" password="Liberty" />

      For an example server.xml file see the Example in this topic.

      See also: Example: Use BasicRegistry and role mapping on Liberty.

    5. To access Admin Center from a smartphone, tablet, or remote computer, ensure that server.xml sets the host attribute of the httpEndpoint element to * (asterisk) or to a defined host name. By default, the host attribute is set to localhost. 

        <httpEndpoint id="defaultHttpEndpoint"
      host="*" 
      httpPort="9080"
      httpsPort="9443" />

    6. Save changes to server.xml.

      If we defined the default client encoding as UTF-8 for non-English characters in the jvm.options file and the user registry is in quickStartSecurity or basicRegistry elements, which store user names and passwords in server.xml, then save server.xml in UTF-8 encoding.

  3. Start the server.

      cd wlp/bin
      server run myServer

    Look for server messages that show the adminCenter web application is running. After Admin Center is running, we can point a web browser at the application and log in.

    See Logging in to Admin Center.


Example: server.xml file that defines two authorized users

    <server description="new server">

   <!-- Enable features -->
   <featureManager>
      <feature>adminCenter-1.0</feature>
   </featureManager>

   <!-- Define the host name for use by the collective.
        If the host name needs to be changed, the server should be         
        removed from the collective and re-joined. -->
   <variable name="defaultHostName" value="localhost" />

    <!-- Define an Administrator and non-Administrator -->
   <basicRegistry id="basic">
      <user name="admin" password="adminpwd" />
      <user name="nonadmin" password="nonadminpwd" />
   </basicRegistry>

   <!-- Assign 'admin' to Administrator -->
   <administrator-role>
      <user>admin</user>
   </administrator-role>

   <keyStore id="defaultKeyStore" password="Liberty" />

   <httpEndpoint id="defaultHttpEndpoint"
         host="*"
         httpPort="9080"
         httpsPort="9443" />

</server>


See also