4.9.3 Exporting and importing profiles

WAS V6.x provides a mechanism that allows you to export certain profiles, or server objects from a profile to an archive. The archive can be distributed and imported to other installations.

An exported archive is a zip file of the config directory with host-specific information removed. The recommended extension of the zip file is .car. The exported archive can be the complete configuration or a subset. Importing the archive creates the configurations defined in the archive.

The target configuration of an archive export / import can be a specific server or an entire profile.

To use an archive, you would:

1.	Export a WebSphere configuration. This creates a zip file with the configuration.

2.	Unzip the files for browsing or update for use on other systems. For example, you might need to update resource references.

3.	Send the configuration to the new system. An import can work with the zip file or with the expanded format.

4.	Import the archive. The import process requires that you identify the object in the configuration you want to import and the target object in the existing configuration. The target can be the same object type as the archive or its parent:

If you import a server archive to a server configuration, the configurations are merged.

If you import a server archive to a node, the server is added to the node.