Migrate to a V6.1 appserver using the Migration wizard

Migrate to a V6.1 appserver using the Migration wizard

Use the Migration wizard to migrate from a WebSphere Application Server V5.x or 6.0.x appserver to a V6.1 appserver.
See Overview of migration, coexistence, and interoperability and Premigration considerations. Collect the following information before you begin this procedure (the Migration wizard prompts you for the information during the migration):

Installation root directory

See WASPreUpgrade command for a description of the -currentWebSphereDirectory parameter.

Migration backup directory name

See WASPreUpgrade command for a description of the -backupDirectory parameter.

Source profile name

See WASPostUpgrade command for a description of the -oldProfile parameter.

Target profile name

See WASPostUpgrade command for a description of the -profileName parameter.

Applications to be migrated

See WASPostUpgrade command for a description of the -includeApps parameter.

Port value assignments

See WASPostUpgrade command for a description of the -replacePorts parameter.

Before using the Migration wizard, you should have installed V6.1 already. See Installing the product and additional software.
You can first use the Profile Management tool to create a valid new target Version 6.1 appserver profile if one does not already exist, or you can create a target profile later using the Migration wizard. See Creating profiles through the graphical user interface.
During installation, the WAS ND product gives you the choice of creating a standalone appserver, a deployment manager profile, a cell, a custom profile, or no profile. The Installation wizard also prompts you to use the Profile Management tool at the end of installing the core product files; however, using the Profile Management tool at that time is optional. If the deployment manager profile was not created during the installation, you can create one using the Profile Management tool.
Before migrating a WAS V5.x or 6.0.x appserver, use the backupConfig command or your own preferred backup utility to back up your existing configuration if you want to be able to restore it to its previous state after migration. See backupConfig command. Make sure that you note the exact name and location of this backed-up configuration.

Overview

The Migration wizard was introduced in WAS V6.0. The wizard is the graphical interface to the primary Version 6.1 command-line migration tools, which are the WASPreUpgrade command and the WASPostUpgrade command.
After gathering all of the information that is required during the migration, use the wizard to migrate a WAS V5.x or 6.0.x appserver to a V6.1 standalone appserver.
For help in troubleshooting problems when migrating, see Troubleshooting migration.

Procedure

When migrating a standalone appserver from WAS V5.1.0 or earlier Version 5.x releases, look for the app_server_root/properties/version/ND.product file and delete it if it exists.
The file is created if the standalone appserver was ever federated into a deployment manager cell. V5.1.1 deletes the file when a node is unfederated; earlier versions do not. The Migration wizard reacts to the presence of the file by identifying the standalone node as a federated node. If the node names do not match, an erroneous failure occurs.

Start the Migration wizard. Perform one of the following actions to access the Migration wizard:

Go to Start > Programs > IBM WebSphere > Application Server V6.1 Network Deployment, and click Migration wizard.

Run the following command:

app_server_root\bin\migration.bat

app_server_root/bin/migration.sh

Read the Welcome panel to learn about the migration process, and then click Next.

Select or specify a previous version of WAS from which to migrate, and then click Next.
Select the check box and enter the location of the previous installation if it does not appear in the selection list.

Specify a migration backup directory in which to place a backup copy of the configuration from the previous version, and then click Next.
The directory is created if it does not already exist. If the directory exists, it should be empty because the backup operation might overwrite existing backup files.

Select the source profile to migrate, and then click Next.

Select the target profile from the list of valid profiles for the installation or select Create new profile, and then click Next.
Select the check box to create a backup copy of the target profile's configuration before migrating the source profile. If you select the check box, the backup copy of the target profile will be written to profile_root/temp/MigrationBackup.time_stamp.zip.

If you selected Create new profile on the last panel, enter the parameters for creating the new profile and then click Next.

Select one of the options for migrating the applications installed on the source profile, and then click Next. You can choose to do any one of the following with the applications:

Include your enterprise applications as part of the migration.

Prepare your enterprise applications for installation in the WebSphere Application Server V6.1 installableApps directory without actually installing them during migration processing.
JACL scripts that can be used to install these applications are generated and saved in the migration backup directory. You can then run these files at any point and in any combination after the migration. You can also reorganize and combine these JACL files for better applications installation efficiency if you want.

Do nothing with your enterprise applications during migration processing.

If you selected the option to install your applications, specify where the migrated applications should be located and then click Next. You can choose any one of the following options:

Keep the applications in the same directories in which they are currently located. Restrictions: If you choose this option, the location is shared by the existing WAS V5.x or 6.0.x installation and the V6.1 installation. If you keep the migrated applications in the same locations as those of the previous version, the following restrictions apply:

The WAS V6.1 mixed-node support limitations must be followed. This means that the following support cannot be used when evoking the wsadmin command:

Precompile JSP

Use Binary Configuration

Deploy EJB

You risk losing the migrated applications unintentionally if you later delete applications from these locations when administering (uninstalling for example) your V5.x or 6.0.x installation.

Choose to install the applications in the default directory of the target version.

Specify the directory in which to install the migrated applications.

Select one of the options for assigning port values, and then click Next. You can choose to do any one of the following with the port values:

Use the port values assigned to the previous installation.

Use the port values assigned to the target profile.

Define the port values as a block.
If you select this option, specify the first value of the block of consecutive port numbers to assign.

Select the check box if you want to migrate to support script compatibility, and then click Next. If you select this option, migration creates the following V5.x or 6.0.x configuration definitions:

Transport

ProcessDef

V5.x or 6.0.x SSL

V5.x or 6.0.x ORB service threadpool

instead of the following V6.1 configuration definitions:

Channels

ProcessDefs

V6.1 SSL

V6.1 ORB service threadpool

Select this option in order to minimize impacts to existing administration scripts. If you have existing wsadmin scripts or programs that use third-party configuration APIs to create or modify the Version 5.x or 6.0.x configuration definitions, for example, you might want to select this option during migration.
This is meant to provide a temporary transition until all of the nodes in the environment are at the V6.1 level. When they are all at the V6.1 level, you should perform the following actions:

Modify your administration scripts to use all of the V6.1 settings.

Use the convertScriptCompatability command to convert the configurations to match all of the V6.1 settings.
See convertScriptCompatibility command.

Check the information in the summary panel and make sure that it is correct, and then click Next to start the migration.
If you selected the option to create a new target profile, panels show the beginning and results of that creation.
Panels show the progress of the migration process.
If the migration is not successful, the wizard displays a failure panel. If the migration is partially successful, the wizard displays a warning panel. Correct any problems and retry the migration.
If the post-migration is successful, the wizard displays an indication of success.

Click Finish to exit the Migration wizard.

Results

You can now start the migrated standalone appserver in the WAS V6.1 environment.

What to do next
You might need to do some things that are not done automatically by the migration tools.

Examine any LTPA (LTPA) security settings that you might have used in WebSphere Application Server V5.x or 6.0.x, and make sure that V6.1 security is set appropriately.
See LTPA.

Check the WASPostUpgrade.log file in the logs directory for details about any JSP objects that the migration tools did not migrate.
If V6.1 does not support a level for which JSP objects are configured, the migration tools recognize the objects in the output and log them.

Review your Java virtual machine settings to verify that you are using a heap size of at least 50 for improved startup performance.
See Java virtual machine settings.
If you have used a smaller heap size in the past, you can use the default heap size of 50.

Configure WAS to use a database.
For example, you can configure WAS to use DB2.

Verify the results of the automatic Cloudscape database migration, and manually migrate any Cloudscape databases that are not automatically migrated by the tools.
See Migrating Cloudscape databases.

Use the Migration wizard to migrate product configurations
Creating profiles through the graphical user interface

Related Reference

manageprofiles command