For up-to-date product documentation, see the IBM MobileFirst Foundation Developer Center.

Deploy MobileFirst Server on clusters of WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment servers

We can use a predefined template to deploy MobileFirst Server on clusters of WebSphere® Application Server Network Deployment servers. This application pattern template does not support token licensing.

Before you begin

This procedure involves uploading certain artifacts to IBM® PureApplication® System such as the required application and adapter. Before you begin, ensure that the artifacts are available for upload.

If you are running the System Monitoring for WebSphere Application Server shared service, the MobileFirst runtime environment might fail to start correctly when you deploy the pattern. If possible, stop the shared service before you continue with this procedure. If we cannot stop the shared service, you might need to restart the IBM MobileFirst™ Platform runtime from the WebSphere Application Server administrative console to fix the problem. For more information, see MobileFirst runtime synchronization limitation with WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment.

Important token licensing restriction: This pattern template does not support token licensing. You must be using perpetual licensing when you deploy patterns based on the MobileFirst Platform (WAS ND) pattern template.

Note:

Some parameters of script packages in the template are configured with recommended values and are not covered in this topic. For fine-tuning purposes, see more information about all the parameters of script packages in Script packages for MobileFirst Server.

For more information about the composition and configuration options of the predefined template that is used in this procedure, see MobileFirst Platform (WAS ND) template.

Procedure

1. Create a pattern from the predefined template:
   1. In the IBM PureApplication System dashboard, click Patterns > Virtual System Patterns. The Virtual System Patterns page opens.
   2. On the Virtual System Patterns page, click Create New, and then in the pop-up window, select MobileFirst Platform (WAS ND) from the list of predefined templates. If the name is only partially visible due to its length, we can confirm that the correct template is selected by viewing its description on the More information tab.
   3. In the Name field, provide a name for the pattern.
   4. In the Version field, specify the version number of the pattern.
   5. Click Start Building.
2. Mandatory for AIX®: In IBM PureApplication System running on Power®, the MobileFirst Platform DB node needs to use the AIX-specific add-on component "Default AIX add disk" to replace the "Default add disk" component in the template to support the jfs2 file system:
   1. In the Pattern Builder, select the MobileFirst Platform DB node.
   2. Click the Add a Component Add-on button (the button is visible above the component box when you hover the cursor over the MobileFirst Platform DB node).
   3. From the Add Add-ons list, select Default AIX add disk. The component is added as the lowest component of the MobileFirst Platform DB node.
   4. Select the Default AIX add disk component and specify the following attributes:

      DISK_SIZE_GB

      Storage size (measured in GB) to be extended to the DB server. Example value: 10.

      FILESYSTEM_TYPE

      Supported file system in AIX. Default value: jfs2.

      MOUNT_POINT

      Align with the attribute Mount point for instance owner in the Database Server component in the MobileFirst Platform DB node. Example value: /dbinst.

      VOLUME_GROUP

      Example value: group1. Contact your IBM PureApplication System administrator for the correct value.

   5. In the MobileFirst Platform DB node, select the Default add disk component, and then click the X button to delete it.
   6. Save the pattern.
3. Optional: Configure MobileFirst Server administration. We can skip this step if we want to specify the user credential with MobileFirst Server administration privilege later during the pattern deployment configuration phase in step 9. To specify it now, complete these steps:

   Note: If we want to configure administration security with an LDAP server, you need to supply extra LDAP information. For more information, see Configure MobileFirst administration security with an external LDAP repository.

   1. In the DmgrNode node, click the MFP Server Administration component. The properties of the selected component are displayed next to the canvas.
   2. Next to the admin_user and admin_password fields, click the Delete button to clear their pattern level parameter settings.
   3. In the admin_user and admin_password fields, specify the administration user name and password.
   A default administration account for MobileFirst Server is created during pattern deployment.
4. Optional: Configure MobileFirst Server runtime deployment. We can skip this step if we want to specify the context root name for the runtime later during the pattern deployment configuration phase in step 9. To specify the context root name now, complete these steps:
   1. In the DmgrNode node, click the MFP Server Runtime Deployment component. The properties of the selected component are displayed next to the canvas.
   2. Next to the runtime_contextRoot field, click the Delete button to clear the pattern level parameter setting.
   3. In the runtime_contextRoot field, specify the runtime context root name. The context root name must start with a forward slash (/). For example, /HelloWorld.
5. Optional: Adjust the number of application server nodes in your WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment clusters for the MobileFirst Administration component and the MobileFirst runtime environment.

   By default, the Administration component and runtime environment each have two application server nodes in their respective clusters.

   1. In the DmgrNode node, click the MFP Server Administration component. The properties of the component are displayed next to the canvas.
   2. In the NUMBER_OF_CLUSTERMEMBERS field, specify the number of application server nodes that we want in your WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment cluster for the MobileFirst Administration component.
   3. In the DmgrNode node, click the MFP Server Runtime Deployment component. The properties of the component are displayed next to the canvas.
   4. In the NUMBER_OF_CLUSTERMEMBERS field, specify the number of application server nodes that we want in your WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment cluster for the MobileFirst runtime environment.
   5. In the CustomNode node, click the Base Scaling Policy component.
   6. Adjust the Number of Instances value to account for the total number of application server nodes that you entered in the NUMBER_OF_CLUSTERMEMBERS field for each component.

      The minimum value for Number of Instances is the total number of server nodes for the MobileFirst Administration component and the MobileFirst runtime environments.

      For example, the default value for Number of Instances is 4 for the default topology with two nodes for the administration component and two nodes for the runtime environment. If you change NUMBER_OF_CLUSTERMEMBERS values for the administration component to 3 and for the runtime environment to 5, the minimum value for Number of Instances is 8.

6. Upload application and adapter:

   Important: When we specify the target path for applications and adapters, make sure all the applications and adapters are placed in the same directory. For example, if one target path is /opt/tmp/deploy/HelloWorld-common.wlapp, all the other target paths should be /opt/tmp/deploy/*.

   1. In the DmgrNode node, click the MFP Application or MFP Adapter component. The properties of the selected component are displayed next to the canvas.
   2. In the Additional file field, click the Browse button to locate and upload the application or adapter artifact.
   3. In the Target path field, specify the full path for storing the artifact, including its file name. For example, /opt/tmp/deploy/HelloWorld-common.wlapp.
   4. If no application or adapter is to be deployed in the pattern, remove the relevant component by clicking the X button inside it. To get an empty MobileFirst Operations Console deployed without any app or adapter installed, remove the MFP Server Application Adapter Deployment component by clicking the X button inside it.
7. Optional: Add more application or adapter artifacts for deployment:
   1. From the COMPONENTS toolbar, expand Software Components, and then drag and drop an Additional file component onto the DmgrNode node in the canvas. Rename it MobileFirst App_X or MobileFirst Adatper_X (where X stands for a unique number for differentiation).
   2. Hover the cursor over the newly added App or Adapter component, and then click the Move Up and Move Down buttons to adjust its sequence in the node. Make sure that it is placed after the MFP Runtime Deployment component but before the MFP Server Application Adapter Deployment component.
   3. Click the newly added application or adapter component. The properties of the selected component are displayed next to the canvas.
   4. In the Additional file field, click the Browse button to locate and upload the application or adapter artifact.
   5. In the Target path field, specify the full path for storing the artifact, including its file name. For example, /opt/tmp/deploy/HelloWorld-common.wlapp.

   Repeat this step if we want to add more applications and adapters for deployment.

8. Optional: Configure application and adapter deployment to MobileFirst Server. We can skip this step if we want to specify the user credential with deployment privilege later during the pattern deployment configuration phase in step 9. If you specified the default administrative user credential in step 3, we can now specify the deployer user, which must align with the administration user credential:
   1. In the DmgrNode node, select the MFP Server Application Adapter Deployment component. The properties of the selected component are displayed next to the canvas.
   2. Find the parameters that are named deployer_user and deployer_password, and then click the adjacent Delete buttons to clear the pattern level parameter settings.
   3. In the deployer_user and deployer_password fields, specify the user name and password.
9. Configure and launch the pattern deployment:
   1. In the IBM PureApplication System dashboard, click Patterns > Virtual System Patterns.
   2. On the Virtual System Patterns page, use the Search field to find the pattern you created, and then select the pattern.
   3. In the toolbar above the panel that displays detailed information about the pattern, click the Deploy button.
   4. In the Deploy Pattern window, in the Configure panel, select the correct environment profile from the Environment Profile list, and provide other IBM PureApplication System environment parameters. To obtain the correct information, consult your IBM PureApplication system administrator.
   5. In the middle column, click Pattern attributes to display attributes such as user names and passwords.

      Supply the following information in the fields provided:

      Note: Make appropriate changes to the default values of the pattern-level parameters even if an external LDAP server is configured. If you configure administration security by using an LDAP server, you need to supply extra LDAP information. For more information, see Configure MobileFirst administration security with an external LDAP repository.

      WebSphere administrative user name

      Administrative user ID for the WebSphere administrative console login. Default value: virtuser.

      WebSphere administrative password

      Administrative user password for the WebSphere administrative console login. Default value: passw0rd.

      runtime_contextRoot_list

      Context root names of the MobileFirst Server runtimes in case multiple runtimes exist. Use a semicolon (;) to separate each runtime context root; for example, HelloMobileFirst;HelloWorld

      Important: This value must align with the context root specified in the MobileFirst Platform Server Runtime Deployment node that you set in the runtime_contextRoot field (either earlier in step 4 or later in this step); otherwise, IBM HTTP Server cannot correctly route requests that contain the runtime context root.

      admin_user

      Not visible if configured in step 3. Create a default MobileFirst Server administrator account. Default value: demo.

      admin_password

      Not visible if configured in step 3. Default admin account password. Default value: demo.

      runtime_contextRoot

      Not visible if configured in step 4. Context root name for the MobileFirst Server runtime. The name must start with "/".

      deployer_user

      Not visible if configured in step 8. User name for the account with deployment privilege. If an external LDAP server is not configured, we must enter the same value as was specified when you create the default administrative user for the administration service, because in this case, the only authorized user for app and adapter deployment is the default administrative user.

      deployer_password

      Not visible if configured in step 8. User password for the user with deployment privilege.

      MFP VMs Password(root)

      Root password for the DmgrNode, CustomNode, IHSNode, and MobileFirst Platform DB nodes. Default value: passw0rd.

      MFP VMs Password(virtuser)

      Password for the virtuser user of the DmgrNode, CustomNode, IHSNode and MobileFirst Platform DB nodes. Default value: passw0rd.

      Open firewall ports for WAS

      The WebSphere Application Server nodes that are deployed in the CustomNode VM nodes require open firewall ports to connect to the database server and the LDAP server (if configured for LDAP). If you need to specify multiple port numbers, separate the port numbers with a semicolon (;). For example, 50000;636The default value is 50000 (the default port for DB2® server).

      Important restriction:

      When you set these attrbutes, do not change the following attributes in the DmgrNode or CustomNode sections:

      • Cell name
      • Node name
      • Profile name

      If you change any of these attributes, your pattern deployment will fail.

   6. Click Quick Deploy to launch your pattern deployment. After a few seconds, a message is displayed to indicate that the pattern started to launch. We can click the URL provided in the message to track your pattern deployment status or go to Patterns > Virtual System Instances open the Virtual System Instances page and search for our pattern there.
10. Access the MobileFirst Operations Console:
    1. Click Patterns > Virtual System Instances to open the Virtual System Instances page and search for our pattern there. Make sure that it is in "Running" state.
    2. Select the pattern name and expand the Virtual machine perspective option in the panel that displays details of the selected instance.
    3. Find the IHS Server VM that has a name similar to IHS_Server.* and make a note of its Public IP address: you need this information in the following step.
    4. In the browser, open the MobileFirst Operations Console with one of the following URLs:
       • http://{IHS Server VM Public IP}:80/mfpconsole
       • https://{IHS Server VM Public IP}:443/mfpconsole

    5. Log in to the Console with admin user and password that you specified in step 3 or step 9.

       If the console does not display the MobileFirst runtimes, restart the IBM MobileFirst Platform runtime node from the WebSphere Application Server administrative console. For instructions about restarting the runtime node from the administrative console, see Restarting the IBM MobileFirst Platform runtime from the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.

Related concepts:

MobileFirst runtime synchronization limitation with WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment

Related tasks:

Restarting the IBM MobileFirst Platform runtime from the WebSphere Application Server administrative console