Create a cell profile

Create a cell profile

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Overview

The Profile Management tool can create a cell profile on any machine where the core product files exist.
The Profile Management tool is the graphical interface to the manageprofiles command.
You must provide enough system temporary space to create a profile.
After installing the core product files for the ND product, create a profile. It can be a...

deployment manager profile
cell profile
appserver profile
custom profile

This procedure describes how to create a cell profile with the Profile Management tool, which is a graphical user interface. A cell profile contains a deployment manager profile and a federated Application Server node profile. You can federate additional Application Server node profiles into this deployment manager profile after initial creation of the cell profile.
You can also use the manageprofiles command to create a cell profile.

Procedure

Start the Profile Management tool to create a new runtime environment. Several ways exist to start the wizard:

At the end of installation, select the check box to launch the Profile Management tool.
Issue the command directly from a command line.
cd app_server_root/bin/ProfileManagement
pmt.sh

Select the Profile Management tool from the First steps console.

Open a command window.

Change directories to the firststeps directory in the profile root directory:
cd profile_root/firststeps firststeps.sh|bat

Select the Profile Management tool option on the console.

On Windows use the Start menu to access the Profile Management tool. For example, click...
Start | Programs | IBM WebSphere | your product | Profile Management tool

Use the Linux operating system menus that you use to start programs in order to start the Profile Management tool. For example, click...
OS menu | IBM WebSphere | your product | Profile Management tool

Click Next on the Welcome panel.
The wizard displays the Profile type selection panel.

Select the cell profile, then click Next.
The Profile creation options panel is displayed.

Select either Typical profile creation or Advanced profile creation; click Next.
The Typical profile creation option creates a profile that uses default configuration settings. With the Advanced profile creation option, you can specify your own configuration values for a profile.
If you chose not to deploy the console, the console ports are grayed out on the Ports panel.

If you selected Typical profile creation, go to the step on administrative security.

If you selected Advanced profile creation, select the applications to deploy, then click Next.
The wizard displays the Profile name and location panel.

If you selected Advanced profile creation, specify the deployment manager profile name, the appserver profile name and the profile directory on the Profile name and location panel, or accept the defaults; click Next.
Profile naming guidelines:
Double-byte characters are supported. The profile name can be any unique name with the following restrictions. Do not use any of the following characters when naming your profile:

Spaces

Illegal special characters that are not supported within the name of a directory on your operating system, such as *&?

Slashes (/) or (\)

The default profile
The first profile that you create on a machine is the default profile. The default profile is the default target for commands that are issued from the bin directory in the product installation root. When only one profile exists on a machine, every command works on the only server process in the configuration. To make another profile the default profile during subsequent profile creation, check Make this profile the default on the Profile name and location panel of the Advanced profile creation path.

Addressing a profile in a multiprofile environment:
When two or more profiles exist on a machine, certain commands require specified the profile to which the command applies. These commands use the -profileName parameter to identify which profile to address. You might find it easier to use the commands that are in the bin directory of each profile. The commands are found in the:
profile_root/profile/bin

A command has two lines. The first line sets the WAS_USER_SCRIPT environment variable for the command window. The variable sets up the command environment to address the profile. The second line calls the actual command in...
app_server_root/bin directory

The actual command queries the command shell to determine the calling profile and to autonomically address the command to the calling profile.

Default profile information:
The default profile name is...
profileTypeProfileName

...where...

profileType is a value of AppSrv, DMgr, or Custom.
ProfileName is a sequential number that is used to create a unique profile name.

The default profile directory is...
app_server_root/profiles

The wizard then displays the Node, host, and cell names panel.

Specify a unique deployment manager node name, a unique appserver node name, the actual host name of the machine, and a unique cell name for the cell; click Next.
The cell profile has the following characteristics:
Reserved names: Avoid using reserved folder names as field values. The use of reserved folder names can cause unpredictable results. The following words are reserved:

cells
nodes
servers
clusters
applications
deployments

Field name Default value Constraints Description

Deployment manager node name shortHostNameCellManagerNodeNumber where:

shortHostName is the short host name.
NodeNumber is a sequential number starting at 01.

Use a unique name for the deployment manager. The name is used for administration within the deployment manager cell.
Application server node name shortHostNameNodeNodeNumber where:

shortHostName is the short host name.
NodeNumber is a sequential number starting at 01.

Use a unique name for the appserver. The name is used for administration within the deployment manager cell.
Host name The long form of the DNS name The host name must be addressable through your network. Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your machine to enable communication with your machine. See additional information about the host name that follows this table.
Cell name shortHostNameCellCellNumber where:

shortHostName is the short host name.
CellNumber is a sequential number starting at 01.

Use a unique name for the deployment manager cell. If you plan to migrate a V5 deployment manager cell to this V6 deployment manager, use the same cell name as the V5 deployment manager. A cell name must be unique in any circumstance in which the product is running on the same physical machine or cluster of machines, such as a sysplex. Additionally, a cell name must be unique in any circumstance in which network connectivity between entities is required either between the cells or from a client that must communicate with each of the cells. Cell names also must be unique if their name spaces are going to be federated. Otherwise, you might encounter symptoms such as a javax.naming.NameNotFoundException exception, in which case, create uniquely named cells. All federated nodes become members of the deployment manager cell, which you name in this panel.

Directory path considerations:

For Windows, the number of characters in the profiles_directory_path\profile_name directory must be less than or equal to 80 characters.

Host name considerations:
The host name is the network name for the physical machine on which the node is installed. The host name must resolve to a physical network node on the server. When multiple network cards exist in the server, the host name or IP address must resolve to one of the network cards. Remote nodes use the host name to connect to and communicate with this node. Selecting a host name that other machines can reach within your network is extremely important. Do not use the generic identifier, localhost, for this value. Also, do not attempt to install WAS products on a machine with a host name that uses characters from the double-byte character set (DBCS). DBCS characters are not supported when used in the host name.
If you define coexisting nodes on the same computer with unique IP addresses, define each IP address in a DNS look-up table. Configuration files for stand-alone Application Servers do not provide domain name resolution for multiple IP addresses on a machine with a single network address. The value specified for the host name is used as the value of the hostName property in configuration documents for the stand-alone Application Server. Specify the host name value in one of the following formats:

Fully qualified DNS host name string, such as xmachine.manhattan.ibm.com
The default short DNS host name string, such as xmachine
Numeric IP address, such as 127.1.255.3

The fully qualified DNS host name has the advantages of being totally unambiguous and flexible. You have the flexibility of changing the actual IP address for the host system without having to change the Application Server configuration. This value for the host name is particularly useful if you plan to change the IP address frequently when using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to assign IP addresses. A format disadvantage is a dependency on DNS. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.
The short host name is also dynamically resolvable. A short name format has the added ability of being redefined in the local hosts file so that the system can run the Application Server, even when disconnected from the network. Define the short name to 127.0.0.1 (local loopback) in the hosts file to run disconnected. A format disadvantage is a dependency on DNS for remote access. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.
A numeric IP address has the advantage of not requiring name resolution through DNS. A remote node can connect to the node that you name with a numeric IP address without DNS being available. A format disadvantage is that the numeric IP address is fixed. You must change the setting of the hostName property in Express configuration documents whenever you change the machine IP address. Therefore, do not use a numeric IP address if you use DHCP, or if you change IP addresses regularly. Another format disadvantage is that you cannot use the node if the host is disconnected from the network.
After displaying the cell characteristics, the wizard displays the Administrative security panel.

Optionally enable administrative security; click Next.
You can enable administrative security now during profile creation, or later from the console. If you enable administrative security now, supply a user name and password to log onto the console.
If you installed the Samples and you chose to deploy them, the Samples require an account under which to run. Supply the Samples password for the account. You cannot change the user name of the account.
After specifying security characteristics, the wizard displays the Port value assignment panel if you previously selected Advanced profile creation.

If you selected Typical profile creation at the beginning of these steps, go to the step that displays the Profile summary panel.

Verify that the ports specified for the deployment manager and the ports specified for the appserver are unique; click Next.
If you chose not to deploy the console, the console ports are grayed out on the Ports panel.
Port conflict resolution: Ports are recognized as being in use if

They are assigned to a profile created under an installation performed by the current user.

The port is currently in use.

Validation of ports occurs when you access the Port value assignment panel. Conflicts can still occur between the Port value assignment panel and the Profile Creation Complete panel because ports are not assigned until profile creation completes. If you suspect a port conflict, you can investigate the port conflict after the profile is created. Determine the ports used during profile creation by examining the
profile_root/properties/portdef.props file

Included in this file are the keys and values used in setting the ports. If you discover ports conflicts, you can reassign ports manually. To reassign ports, run the updatePorts.ant file through the ws_ant script.
For Windows, after specifying port assignments, the wizard displays the Windows service definition panel, if you are installing on a Windows platform.

Choose whether to run the Application Server as a Windows service on a Windows platform or as a Linux service on a Linux platform; click Next.

The Windows service definition panel displays for the Windows platform only if the ID that installs the Windows service has the administrator group privilege. However, you can run the WASService.exe command to create the Windows service as long as the installer ID belongs to the administrator group. See Automatically restarting server processes for more information.
WAS attempts to start Windows services for appserver processes that are started by a startServer command. For example, if you configure an appserver as a Windows service and issue the startServer command, the wasservice command attempts to start the defined service.
If you chose to install a local system service, you do not have to specify your user ID or password. If you create a specified user type of service, specify the user ID and the password for the user who runs the service. The user must have Log on as a service authority for the service to run properly. If the user does not have Log on as a service authority, the Profile Management tool automatically adds the authority.
To perform this installation task, the user ID must not have spaces in its name. In addition to belonging to the administrator group, the ID must also have the advanced user right Log on as a service. The Installation wizard grants the user ID the advanced user right if it does not already have it, if the user ID belongs to the administrator group.
You can also create other Windows services after the installation is complete, to start other server processes.
You can remove the Windows service that is added during profile creation during profile deletion.

IPv6 considerations:
Profiles created to run as a Windows service fail to start when using IPv6 if the service is configured to run as Local System. Create a user-specific environment variable to enable IPv6. Since this environment variable is a user variable instead of a Local System variable, only a Windows service that runs as that specific user can access this environment variable. By default, when a new profile is created and configured to run as a Windows service, the service is set to run as Local System. When the WAS Windows service tries to run, the service is unable to access the user environment variable that specifies IPv6, and thus tries to start as IPv4. The server does not start correctly in this case. To resolve the problem, when creating the profile, specify that the WAS Windows service runs as the same user ID under which the environment variable that specifies IPv6 is defined, instead of as Local System.

Default Windows service information:
The defaults for the Windows service definition panel are as follows:

The default is to run as a Windows service.
The service process is selected to run as a system account.

The user account is the current user name. User name requirements are the requirements that the Windows operating system imposes for a user ID.

The startup type is automatic. The values for the startup type are those values that the Windows operating system imposes.

The Linux service definition panel displays if the current operating system is a supported version of Linux and the current user has the appropriate permissions.
WAS attempts to start Linux services for appserver processes that are started by a startServer command. For example, if you configure an appserver as a Linux service and issue the startServer command, the wasservice command attempts to start the defined service.
By default, WAS is not selected to run as a Linux service.
To create the service, the user that runs the Profile Management tool must be the root user. If you run the Profile Management tool with a non-root user ID, the Linux service definition panel does not display, and no service is created.

You must specify a user name under which the service runs.
To delete a Linux service, the user must be the root user or have proper privileges for deleting the service. Otherwise, a removal script is created that the root user can run to delete the service on the user's behalf.

The next wizard panel displays the Web server definition panel if you previously selected Advanced profile creation.

For Advanced profile creation, if you choose to include a Web server definition in the profile now, specify the Web server characteristics on the panels, and click Next until you are through the Web server definition panels.
If you use a Web server to route requests to WAS, include a Web server definition. You can include the definition now, or define the Web server to WAS later. If you define the Web server definition during the creation of this profile, you can install the Web server and its plug-in after you create the profile. However, install both to the paths specified on the Web server definition panels. If you define the Web server to WAS after you create this profile, define the Web server in a separate profile.
The wizard displays the Profile Creation Summary panel.

Click Create to create the cell profile or click Back to change the characteristics of the cell profile.
The Profile creation progress panel, which shows the configuration commands running, is displayed.
When the profile creation completes, the wizard displays the Profile Creation Complete panel.

Optionally select Create another profile; click Finish.
If you select Create another profile, you go to the beginning of the Profile management tool so that you can create another profile. If you do not, you exit the wizard.

Results

You created a cell profile.
Refer to the description of the manageprofiles command to learn about creating a profile using a command instead of a wizard.

What to do next

Deploy an application to get started.

Related tasks
manageprofiles command
Set up and enable security
Communicate with Web servers
Create profiles through the graphical user interface

Related Reference
Profiles: file system requirements
removeNode command

Field name	Default value	Constraints	Description
Deployment manager node name	shortHostNameCellManagerNodeNumber where: shortHostName is the short host name. NodeNumber is a sequential number starting at 01.	Use a unique name for the deployment manager.	The name is used for administration within the deployment manager cell.
Application server node name	shortHostNameNodeNodeNumber where: shortHostName is the short host name. NodeNumber is a sequential number starting at 01.	Use a unique name for the appserver.	The name is used for administration within the deployment manager cell.
Host name	The long form of the DNS name	The host name must be addressable through your network.	Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your machine to enable communication with your machine. See additional information about the host name that follows this table.
Cell name	shortHostNameCellCellNumber where: shortHostName is the short host name. CellNumber is a sequential number starting at 01.	Use a unique name for the deployment manager cell. If you plan to migrate a V5 deployment manager cell to this V6 deployment manager, use the same cell name as the V5 deployment manager. A cell name must be unique in any circumstance in which the product is running on the same physical machine or cluster of machines, such as a sysplex. Additionally, a cell name must be unique in any circumstance in which network connectivity between entities is required either between the cells or from a client that must communicate with each of the cells. Cell names also must be unique if their name spaces are going to be federated. Otherwise, you might encounter symptoms such as a javax.naming.NameNotFoundException exception, in which case, create uniquely named cells.	All federated nodes become members of the deployment manager cell, which you name in this panel.