Administrative Console: WAS v5.1

Administrative Console

Contents

Overview
Buttons
Filter settings
Preference settings
Scope settings
Troubleshoot
Login settings

Overview

The administrative console is a browser-based menu system used to administer WebSphere Application Server and Network Deployment. It can generally be found at:
http://host:9090/admin

When you click save in the console, configuration XML files under $WAS_HOME/config are updated.
The console application starts when you start a base WAS server or when you start a Network Deployment instance.
A 128-bit cipher capable browser is required to access the console page.
You can change the default port number by editing...
$WAS_HOME/config/cells/cell/nodes/node/servers/server/server.xml

...and...
$WAS_HOME/config/cells/cell/virtualhosts.xml

The console becomes password protected when you...

Specify security user IDs and passwords
Enable global security

Buttons

Abort Aborts a transaction that is not yet in the prepared state. All operations that the transaction completed are undone.
Add Adds the selected or typed item to a list, or produces a dialog for adding an item to a list.
Apply Saves changes to a page without exiting the page.
Back Display the previous page or item in a sequence. Note that the administrative console does not support using the Back and Forward buttons of a browser.
Browse Look for a file.
Cancel Exits the current page or dialog, discarding unsaved changes. Note that the administrative console does not support using the Back and Forward buttons of a browser.
Change In the context of security, lets you search the user registry for a user ID for an application to run under. In the context of container properties, lets you change the data source the container is using.
Clear Clear changes and restores the most recently saved values.
Clear Clear any selected cells in the tables on this tabbed page.
Close Exits the dialog.
Commit Releases all locks held by a prepared transaction and forces the transaction to commit.
Copy Creates copies of the selected appservers.
Create Saves changes to all tabbed pages in a dialog and exits the dialog.
Delete Removes the selected instance.
Details Shows the details about a transaction.
Done Saves changes to all tabbed pages in a dialog and exits the dialog.
Down Moves downward through a list.
Dump Activates a dump of a traced appserver.
Edit Lets you edit the selected item in a list, or produces a dialog box for editing the item.
Export Accesses a page for exporting EAR files for an enterprise application.
Export DDL Accesses a page for exporting DDL files for an enterprise application.
Export Keys Exports LTPA keys to other domains.
Filter Produces a dialog box for specifying the resources to view in the tables on this tabbed page.
Finish Forces a transaction to finish, regardless of whether its outcome has been reported to all participating applications.
First Display the first record in a series of records.
Generate Keys Generates new LTPA keys.
When security is turned on for the first time with LTPA as the authentication mechanism, LTPA keys are automatically generated with the password entered in the panel. If new keys need to be generated, use this button after the server is back up with security turned on. Clicking this button generates the keys and propagates them to all active servers (cell, node, and appservers). The new keys can be used to encrypt and decrypt the LTPA tokens. Click Save on the console taskbar to save the new keys and the password in the repository.
Immediate Stop Stop the server, bypassing the normal server quiesce process that would allow in-flight requests to complete before shutting down the whole server process. This shutdown mode is faster than the normal server stop processing, but some application clients may receive exceptions.
Import Keys Import new LTPA keys from other domains. To support single sign on in WebSphere across multiple WebSphere domains (cells), LTPA keys and a password should be shared among the domains. After exporting the keys from one of the cells into a file, clicking this button imports the keys into all active servers (cell, node and appservers). The new keys can be used to encrypt and decrypt the LTPA token. Click Save on the console taskbar to save the new keys and the password in the repository.
Install Display the Preparing for application install page, which you use to deploy an application or EJB or Web component onto an appserver.
Install RAR The Install RAR button opens a dialog used to install a JCA connector and create a resource adapter for it.
Manage Transactions Display a list of active transactions running on a server. You can forcibly finish any transaction that has stopped processing because a transactional resource is not available.
Modify Opens a dialog used to change a specification.
Move Moves the selected appservers to a different location in the administrative cell. When prompted, specify the target location.
New Display a page which you use to define a new instance. For example, clicking New on the Application Servers page displays a page on which can configure a new appserver.
Next Display the next page, frame, or item in a sequence.
OK Saves changes and exits the page.
Ping Attempts to contact selected appservers.
Previous Display the previous page, frame, or item in a sequence.
Quit Exits a dialog box, discarding any unsaved changes.
Refresh Refreshes the view of data for instances currently listed on this tabbed page.
Remove Deletes the selected item.
Reset Clear changes on the tab or page and restores the most recently saved values.
Restart Stop the selected objects and starts them again.
Retrieve new Retrieves a new record.
Save Saves the changes from the local configuration to the master configuration.
Select For resource analysis, lets you select a scope in which to monitor resources.
Set Saves changes to settings in a dialog.
Settings Display a dialog for editing servlet-related resource settings.
Settings in use Display a dialog showing the settings now in use.
Start In the context of appservers, starts selected appservers. In the context of data collection, starts collecting data for the tables on this tabbed page.
Stop In the context of server components such as appservers, stops the selected server components. In the context of a data collection, stops collecting data for the tables on a tabbed page.
Uninstall Deletes a deployed application from the WAS configuration repository. Also deletes application binary files from the file system.
Update Replaces an application deployed on a server with an updated application. As part of the updating, you might need to complete steps on the Preparing for application install and Update Application pages.
Update Resource List Updates the data on a table. Discovers and adds new instances to the table.
View Opens a dialog on a file.

See Also

List of all IBM WAS Redbooks
System Administration for WebSphere Application Server V5 -- Part 1: Overview of V5 Administration

Filter settings

Use the Filter settings to specify how to filter entries shown in a collection view.
Select the column to filter, then enter the filter criteria.

Column to filter Use the drop-down list to select the column to filter. When you apply the filter, the collection table is modified accordingly.
For example, select Application Servers if you plan to enter criteria by which to filter appserver names.

Filter criteria In the field beside the drop-down list, enter a string that must be found in the name of a collection entry to qualify the entry to appear in the collection table. The string can contain %, *, or ? symbols as wildcard characters. For example, enter *App* to find any appserver whose name contains the string App.
Prefix each of the characters ( ) ^ * % { } \ + $ with a \ so that the regular expression engine performing the search correctly matches the supplied search criteria. For example, to search for all JDBC providers containing (XA) in the provider name, specify the following string
*$XA$

Preference settings

Specify display characteristics.

Maximum rows Maximum number of rows to display per page when the collection is large.

Filter history Whether to use the same filter criteria to display this page the next time you visit it.
Retain the last filter criteria entered. When you return to the page later, retained filter criteria control the application collection that appears in the table.

Scope settings

Filter the contents of an administrative console collection table to a particular cell, node, or server.

Cell Limit visibility to all servers on the named cell.

Node Limit visibility to all servers on the named node.

Server Limit visibility to the named server.

Troubleshoot

If you have problems starting or using the administrative console or wsadmin utility, verify that the supporting server process is started and that it is healthy.
For the base product, look at...
$WAS_HOME/logs/server/startServer.log

...for the message that indicates that the server started successfully...
ADMU3000I: Server server open for e-business; process id is nnnn...

...and in...
$WAS_HOME/logs/server/SystemOut.log

...for another message that indicates that the server started successfully...
WSVR0001I: Server server open for e-business.

For the Network Deployment product, look at...
$WAS_HOME/logs/dmgr/startServer.log

...for the message that indicates that the server started successfully...
ADMU3000I: Server dmgr open for e-business; process id is nnnn

...and...
$WAS_HOME/logs/dmgr/SystemOut.log

...for another message indicating that the server started successfully...
WSVR0001I: Server dmgr open for e-business.

You can look up error messages by selecting
Reference | Messages

If none of these steps solves the problem, see if the specific problem one is having is addressed in the Installation completes but the administrative console does not start.
For current information available from IBM Support on known problems and their resolution, see the following topics on the IBM support page...

Administrative interface
System management

Before opening a PMR, see the following topics on information gathering on the IBM support page...

Administrative interface
System management

Login settings

User ID Specifies a string identifying the user. The user ID must be unique to the administrative server.
Work that you do with the product and then save before exiting the product will be saved to a configuration identified by the user ID that you enter. To later access work done under that user ID, specify the user ID in the Login page.
If one is logging in from a client machine that currently has a browser open on the administrative console and you connect to the same server, your two connections might share the same HTTP session object, whether or not one is logging in under different user IDs. You must use two different types of browsers (for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator) to log in to the administrative console from the same client machine in order to work from two different HTTP session objects, whether or not you use the same user ID. That is, if you need two concurrent sessions on the same client machine, access the administrative console from two different browser types.
Note that you can use the same browser type to log in twice to the console, but log in from different physical hosts and use different user IDs. For example, suppose that Joe logs into the administrative console under the user ID joe on the physical host myhost1 using an Internet Explorer browser. Joe can log into the same console a second time using an Internet Explorer browser, but he must use a different user ID (such as peggy) and a different physical host (such as myhost2).

Another user is currently logged in with the same user name Specifies whether to log out the user and continue work with the user ID specified or to return to the Login page and specify a different user ID or wait for the user to log out.
This field appears if the user closed a Web browser while browsing the administrative console and did not first log out, then opened a new browser and tried accessing the administrative console.

Work with the master configuration When enabled, specifies that you want to use the default administrative configuration and not use the configuration last used for the user's session. Changes made to the user's session since the last saving of the administrative configuration will be lost.
This field appears only if the user changed the administrative configuration and then logged out without saving the changes.
The default is false

Recover changes made in prior session When enabled, specifies that you want to use the same administrative configuration last used for the user's session. Recovers changes made by the user since the last saving of the administrative configuration for the user's session.
This field appears only if the user changed the administrative configuration and then logged out without saving the changes.
The default is true.

Abort	Aborts a transaction that is not yet in the prepared state. All operations that the transaction completed are undone.
Add	Adds the selected or typed item to a list, or produces a dialog for adding an item to a list.
Apply	Saves changes to a page without exiting the page.
Back	Display the previous page or item in a sequence. Note that the administrative console does not support using the Back and Forward buttons of a browser.
Browse	Look for a file.
Cancel	Exits the current page or dialog, discarding unsaved changes. Note that the administrative console does not support using the Back and Forward buttons of a browser.
Change	In the context of security, lets you search the user registry for a user ID for an application to run under. In the context of container properties, lets you change the data source the container is using.
Clear	Clear changes and restores the most recently saved values.
Clear	Clear any selected cells in the tables on this tabbed page.
Close	Exits the dialog.
Commit	Releases all locks held by a prepared transaction and forces the transaction to commit.
Copy	Creates copies of the selected appservers.
Create	Saves changes to all tabbed pages in a dialog and exits the dialog.
Delete	Removes the selected instance.
Details	Shows the details about a transaction.
Done	Saves changes to all tabbed pages in a dialog and exits the dialog.
Down	Moves downward through a list.
Dump	Activates a dump of a traced appserver.
Edit	Lets you edit the selected item in a list, or produces a dialog box for editing the item.
Export	Accesses a page for exporting EAR files for an enterprise application.
Export DDL	Accesses a page for exporting DDL files for an enterprise application.
Export Keys	Exports LTPA keys to other domains.
Filter	Produces a dialog box for specifying the resources to view in the tables on this tabbed page.
Finish	Forces a transaction to finish, regardless of whether its outcome has been reported to all participating applications.
First	Display the first record in a series of records.
Generate Keys	Generates new LTPA keys. When security is turned on for the first time with LTPA as the authentication mechanism, LTPA keys are automatically generated with the password entered in the panel. If new keys need to be generated, use this button after the server is back up with security turned on. Clicking this button generates the keys and propagates them to all active servers (cell, node, and appservers). The new keys can be used to encrypt and decrypt the LTPA tokens. Click Save on the console taskbar to save the new keys and the password in the repository.
Immediate Stop	Stop the server, bypassing the normal server quiesce process that would allow in-flight requests to complete before shutting down the whole server process. This shutdown mode is faster than the normal server stop processing, but some application clients may receive exceptions.
Import Keys	Import new LTPA keys from other domains. To support single sign on in WebSphere across multiple WebSphere domains (cells), LTPA keys and a password should be shared among the domains. After exporting the keys from one of the cells into a file, clicking this button imports the keys into all active servers (cell, node and appservers). The new keys can be used to encrypt and decrypt the LTPA token. Click Save on the console taskbar to save the new keys and the password in the repository.
Install	Display the Preparing for application install page, which you use to deploy an application or EJB or Web component onto an appserver.
Install RAR	The Install RAR button opens a dialog used to install a JCA connector and create a resource adapter for it.
Manage Transactions	Display a list of active transactions running on a server. You can forcibly finish any transaction that has stopped processing because a transactional resource is not available.
Modify	Opens a dialog used to change a specification.
Move	Moves the selected appservers to a different location in the administrative cell. When prompted, specify the target location.
New	Display a page which you use to define a new instance. For example, clicking New on the Application Servers page displays a page on which can configure a new appserver.
Next	Display the next page, frame, or item in a sequence.
OK	Saves changes and exits the page.
Ping	Attempts to contact selected appservers.
Previous	Display the previous page, frame, or item in a sequence.
Quit	Exits a dialog box, discarding any unsaved changes.
Refresh	Refreshes the view of data for instances currently listed on this tabbed page.
Remove	Deletes the selected item.
Reset	Clear changes on the tab or page and restores the most recently saved values.
Restart	Stop the selected objects and starts them again.
Retrieve new	Retrieves a new record.
Save	Saves the changes from the local configuration to the master configuration.
Select	For resource analysis, lets you select a scope in which to monitor resources.
Set	Saves changes to settings in a dialog.
Settings	Display a dialog for editing servlet-related resource settings.
Settings in use	Display a dialog showing the settings now in use.
Start	In the context of appservers, starts selected appservers. In the context of data collection, starts collecting data for the tables on this tabbed page.
Stop	In the context of server components such as appservers, stops the selected server components. In the context of a data collection, stops collecting data for the tables on a tabbed page.
Uninstall	Deletes a deployed application from the WAS configuration repository. Also deletes application binary files from the file system.
Update	Replaces an application deployed on a server with an updated application. As part of the updating, you might need to complete steps on the Preparing for application install and Update Application pages.
Update Resource List	Updates the data on a table. Discovers and adds new instances to the table.
View	Opens a dialog on a file.

Maximum rows	Maximum number of rows to display per page when the collection is large.
Filter history	Whether to use the same filter criteria to display this page the next time you visit it. Retain the last filter criteria entered. When you return to the page later, retained filter criteria control the application collection that appears in the table.

Cell	Limit visibility to all servers on the named cell.
Node	Limit visibility to all servers on the named node.
Server	Limit visibility to the named server.

User ID	Specifies a string identifying the user. The user ID must be unique to the administrative server. Work that you do with the product and then save before exiting the product will be saved to a configuration identified by the user ID that you enter. To later access work done under that user ID, specify the user ID in the Login page. If one is logging in from a client machine that currently has a browser open on the administrative console and you connect to the same server, your two connections might share the same HTTP session object, whether or not one is logging in under different user IDs. You must use two different types of browsers (for example, Microsoft Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator) to log in to the administrative console from the same client machine in order to work from two different HTTP session objects, whether or not you use the same user ID. That is, if you need two concurrent sessions on the same client machine, access the administrative console from two different browser types. Note that you can use the same browser type to log in twice to the console, but log in from different physical hosts and use different user IDs. For example, suppose that Joe logs into the administrative console under the user ID joe on the physical host myhost1 using an Internet Explorer browser. Joe can log into the same console a second time using an Internet Explorer browser, but he must use a different user ID (such as peggy) and a different physical host (such as myhost2).
Another user is currently logged in with the same user name	Specifies whether to log out the user and continue work with the user ID specified or to return to the Login page and specify a different user ID or wait for the user to log out. This field appears if the user closed a Web browser while browsing the administrative console and did not first log out, then opened a new browser and tried accessing the administrative console.
Work with the master configuration	When enabled, specifies that you want to use the default administrative configuration and not use the configuration last used for the user's session. Changes made to the user's session since the last saving of the administrative configuration will be lost. This field appears only if the user changed the administrative configuration and then logged out without saving the changes. The default is false
Recover changes made in prior session	When enabled, specifies that you want to use the same administrative configuration last used for the user's session. Recovers changes made by the user since the last saving of the administrative configuration for the user's session. This field appears only if the user changed the administrative configuration and then logged out without saving the changes. The default is true.