Create a custom profile

+

Search Tips   |   Advanced Search

 

 

Overview

Before using the Profile Management tool, install the core product files.

The Profile Management tool is the graphical interface to the manageprofiles command.

Provide enough system temporary space to create a profile.

After installing the core product files for the ND product, create one of the following types of profiles...

• deployment manager profile
• appserver profile
• custom profile

This topic describes creating a custom profile using the Profile Management tool.

A custom profile is an empty node that you can customize to include...

• appservers
• clusters
• messaging servers

You can also use the manageprofiles command to create a custom profile.

By default, the Profile Management tool federates a custom node when you create a custom profile. Federating the node makes the node operational. You must have access to a running deployment manager to federate the node.

Otherwise, a connection error displays.

If the custom profile is on a machine that does not have a deployment manager, the deployment manager must be accessible over the network to allow the federation of the node.

 

Procedure

1. Install the product to create the core product files.

2. Start the Profile Management tool to create a new runtime environment. There are several ways to start....

   • At the end of installation, select the check box to launch the Profile Management tool.

   • Execute...
     cd app_server_root/bin/ProfileManagement
     pmt.bat

   • Select the Profile Management tool from the First steps console.
     cd profile_root/firststeps
     firststeps.sh

   • On Windows use the Start menu to access the Profile Management tool. For example, click...

     Start | Programs | IBM WebSphere | your product | Profile Management tool

   • For Linux, you can use the operating system menus.

3. Click Next on the Welcome panel.

   The wizard displays the Profile type selection panel.

4. Select the custom profile; click Next.

   The Profile creation options panel is displayed.

5. Select either...

   Typical profile creation

   ...or...

   Advanced profile creation

   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.

6. If you selected Typical profile creation, go to the step on federating the node.

7. If you selected Advanced profile creation, specify..
   • custom profile name
   • profile directory

   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. Which 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.

   

   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. Scripts are available in...

   profile_root/profile_name/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 a script in...

   cd app_server_root/bin

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

   The default profile name is profileType#

   profileType	One of... AppSrv DMgr Custom
   #	Sequential number

   The default profile directory is...

   app_server_root/profiles

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

8. Node and host characteristics for the custom profile and click Next.

    

   Migration considerations

   If you plan to migrate an installation of V5.x ND to V6, use the same cell name for the V6 deployment manager that you used for the V5.x cell. 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.

   After migrating the cell, the V5 managed nodes are now managed by the V6 deployment manager in compatibility mode. You can migrate individual V5 managed nodes in the cell to V6. To do so, create a V6 profile with the same node name as the V5 managed node.

    

   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

   The custom profile has the following characteristics:

   Field name	Default value	Constraints	Description
   Node name	Host# Host Short host name. Node number Sequential number starting at 01.	Avoid using the reserved words. Use a unique name within the deployment manager cell. If you plan to migrate a V5 managed node, use the same node name for this V6 custom profile.	The name is used for administration within the deployment manager cell to which the custom profile is added. Use a unique name within the deployment manager cell. After migrating a V5 deployment manager cell to a V6 deployment manager, you can migrate the V5 custom profiles running in compatibility mode in the V6 deployment manager.
   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.

    

   Directory path considerations

   The number of characters in...

   profiles_directory_path\profile_name

   ...must be less than or equal to 80 characters.

    

   Host name considerations

   Do not use the generic identifier, localhost, for this value.

   Do not attempt to install WAS products on a machine with a host name that uses characters from DBCS, which 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.

   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 specifying custom profile characteristics, the wizard displays the Federation panel.

9. Specify the host name and SOAP port of the deployment manager, and the user name and password for the deployment manager if administrative security is enabled for the deployment manager. Click Next.

   After federation, the process in the custom profile is the node agent process. The node agent process is the agent of the deployment manager for the custom node. The node agent responds to commands from the deployment manager to perform tasks that include the following actions:

   • Creating appserver processes, clusters, and cluster members

   • Start and stopping appserver processes

   • Synchronizing configurations between the current edition on the deployment manager and the copy that exists on the node

   • Deleting appserver processes

    

   Should you federate the node?

   The recommendation is that you federate the custom node at this time. The deployment manager must be running and accessible when you click Next on the Federation panel to federate the custom node. If the custom profile is on a machine that does not have a deployment manager, the deployment manager must be running and accessible over the network to allow the federation of the node. If the deployment manager is not running or not accessible before you click Next, but you can start it and make it accessible at this time, do so. Otherwise, select the check box to federate the node later.

   If you are unsure whether the deployment manager is running or accessible, do not federate now. Federate the node later.

   A possibility exists that the deployment manager is reconfigured to use the non-default RMI as the preferred JMX connector. Click...

   System Administration | Deployment manager | Administrative services

   ...in the console of the deployment manager to verify the preferred connector type.

   If RMI is the preferred JMX connector, use the addNode command to federate the custom profile later. Use the addNode command so that you can specify the JMX connector type and the RMI port.

   If the deployment manager uses the default SOAP JMX connector type, specify the host name and SOAP port and federate the node now to create a functional node that you can customize.

    

   Federating when the deployment manager is not available

   If you federate a custom node when the deployment manager is not running or is not accessible, an error message displays. If the deployment manager becomes unavailable during the profile creation process, the installation indicator in the logs is INSTCONFFAIL, to indicate a complete failure. The resulting custom profile is unusable. You must delete the profile.

   If you chose to federate now, and you previously selected Advanced Profile creation, the Port Values Assignment panel displays next. Go to the step on assigning port values. Otherwise, the Profile Creation Summary panel displays.

   The deployment manager must be running and accessible when you click Create so that the profile creation succeeds. Since the deployment manager had to be running and accessible when you clicked on the previous panel, it is most likely still running and accessible. If you think the deployment manager might not be running or might be inaccessible, follow the recommendations in this step to start and make accessible the deployment manager.

   Go to the step on on creating the custom profile.

10. Verify that the ports specified are unique and click Next.

    Port conflict resolution: 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

    profile_root/properties/portdef.props

    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.

    The Profile Creation Summary panel displays.

    The deployment manager must be running and accessible when you click Create so that the profile creation succeeds. Since the deployment manager had to be running and accessible when you clicked on the previous panel, it is most likely still running and accessible. If you think the deployment manager might not be running or might be inaccessible, follow the recommendations in this step to start and make accessible the deployment manager.

11. Click Create to create the custom profile or click Back to change the characteristics of the custom 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.

12. 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 custom profile. The node within the profile is empty until you federate the node and use the deployment manager to customize the node.

The directory structure shows the new profile folder within the profiles directory. The profile folder has the same name as the profile that you create.

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

The Profile Management tool creates a log during profile creation. The logs are in...

install_dir/logs/manageprofiles

The files are named in this pattern:

manageprofiles_create_profile_name.log

 

What to do next

Federate the node into the deployment manager cell if you did not already do so when you created the node. Then use the deployment manager to create an appserver on the node.

Deploy an application to get started.

---

Related tasks

manageprofiles command
Create profiles through the graphical user interface

Related Reference

Profiles: file system requirements

Related information

Delete a profile