Add assisted lifecycle middleware servers
By configuring assisted lifecycle middleware servers, we can manage representations of externally created middleware servers that were created outside of the administrative domain.
Read about adding middleware servers to configurations for information about installing the node agent on nodes, and federating those nodes into the configuration.
With assisted lifecycle middleware servers, we can create a representation of the server. The node agent provides the information that Intelligent Management needs to manage these servers. We can configure the following assisted lifecycle middleware server types:
- Apache Tomcat
- JBoss Application Server
- Custom HTTP servers
- BEA WebLogic Server
- WebSphere Application Server Community Edition
- Apache HTTP Server
- External WebSphere application server (application servers that run outside the Intelligent Management
cell)
-
- Liberty profile server
- Apache Tomcat
- BEA WebLogic
- JBoss
- External WebSphere application server (application servers that run outside the Intelligent Management cell)
Avoid trouble: On the console, when you select Servers > All servers > middleware_server, and then click Stop for a middleware server that displays a status of Started, we can intermittently receive an error. The following message is an example of the error:
- Error xdblade31b04/WASMaintModeDC1_xdblade31b04 has not been started.
The server cannot be stopped from this page when this situation occurs.
As a work-around, complete one of the following actions to stop the started middleware server:
- Click Servers > Server Types > type_of_middleware_server > middleware_server. Then click Stop for a middleware
server that displays a status of Started.
- Stop and then start the servers from the command line.
gotcha
After you install the node agent on WebSphere Application Server Community Edition nodes and federate the nodes, middleware discovery can automatically create representations of these servers in the console. You do not need to perform the manual steps to create the representation of the server in the console. We can continue to manage these servers in the WAS Community Edition console. Make any representative changes in the console.
- Create a representation of the middleware server.
- If we use wsadmin scripting commands:
- For Apache Tomcat servers, use createTomCatServer.
- For BEA WebLogic servers, use createWebLogicServer.
- For JBoss servers, use createJBossServer.
- For external WebSphere application server (application servers that run outside the Intelligent Management
cell), use createForeignServer.
-
For Liberty profile servers, use createLibertyServer.
- For Apache Tomcat servers, use createTomCatServer.
- If we use the console.
- Add an existing server.
In the console, click Servers > Add a server and select Add an existing server.
- Select the node on which the middleware server that you are configuring runs.
The node must be running a node agent. Create a name for the server that is unique among all servers in the cell.
- Specify the server template to use for the middleware
server.
- Click Finish.
- Click Save to save the changes to the master configuration.
- Add an existing server.
- If we use wsadmin scripting commands:
- Perform additional configuration steps for the middleware
server, including adjusting the values for the WebSphere variables for each server type and configuring server operations to stop and start the servers:
- For Apache Tomcat servers, read about configuring Apache Tomcat
servers.
- For BEA WebLogic servers, read about configuring BEA WebLogic
servers.
- For JBoss servers, read about configuring JBoss servers.
- For WebSphere Application Server Community Edition servers, read about configuring assisted life-cycle WebSphere Application Server Community Edition servers.
- For custom HTTP servers, read about configuring custom HTTP servers.
- For external WebSphere application server (application servers that run outside the Intelligent Management
cell), we can manage previous versions of WebSphere application servers, from Version 5.1 and later. For more information, read about configuring external WebSphere application servers.
-
For Liberty profile servers, read about configuring Liberty servers.
The WebSphere variables define settings for the middleware server such as the installation location and vary depending on the middleware server type. By editing the server start and stop operations, we can specify the username and password required to start and stop the servers in the middleware server.
- For Apache Tomcat servers, read about configuring Apache Tomcat
servers.
- Start the middleware server.
- For Apache Tomcat servers, BEA WebLogic servers, JBoss servers, Liberty profile servers, and external WebSphere application servers, use the startMiddlewareServer command.
- In the console, click Servers > All servers. Select the server to start and click Start.
The start server operation defined for the server runs.
If the node agent and the server are stopped at the same time, the last known status of the server is reported. Because the last known status is reported as started, the on-demand router (ODR) tries to route to the server.
- For Apache Tomcat servers, BEA WebLogic servers, JBoss servers, Liberty profile servers, and external WebSphere application servers, use the startMiddlewareServer command.
What to do next
We can create a middleware server template based on the configured server. After creating a middleware server template, we can create additional servers using the template, which creates servers with the same settings as the original server.
To easily manage groups of existing servers to host an application, configure dynamic clusters. By configuring a dynamic cluster, the product can adjust the number of running servers to meet the application service policy. For assisted lifecycle middleware servers, you group together the representations created. These servers must have the same applications installed.
The logs and trace views in the console are not supported for assisted lifecycle middleware servers. For Apache Tomcat servers, BEA WebLogic servers, JBoss servers, Liberty profile servers, and external WebSphere application servers (application servers that run outside the Intelligent Management cell), we can view logs for these middleware servers on the machines that host them. For other assisted lifecycle middleware servers, configure the external log viewing service to view the log files in the console.
Subtopics
- (dist)(zos) Configure assisted life-cycle WebSphere Application Server Community Edition servers
After you manually create a middleware server representation of a WebSphere Application Server Community Edition server in the console, you must update a few configuration settings so that they are defined specifically for the WAS Community Edition installation. If the middleware discovery function is enabled, we do not need to perform these steps. - (dist)(zos)
- Configure Liberty profile servers
After creating a middleware server representation of a Liberty profile server, update the configuration settings so that they match the Liberty profile installation. - (dist)(zos) Configure Apache Tomcat servers
After creating a middleware server representation of an Apache Tomcat server, update the configuration settings to match your Apache Tomcat installation. - (dist)(zos) Configure BEA WebLogic servers
After creating a middleware server representation of a BEA WebLogic server, update the configuration settings so that they match the BEA WebLogic installation. - (dist)(zos) Configure JBoss servers
After creating a middleware server representation of a JBoss server, you must update a few configuration settings so that they are defined specifically for the JBoss installation. - (dist)(zos) Configure custom HTTP servers
After creating a middleware server representation of a custom HTTP server in the console, you must update a few configuration settings so that they are defined specifically for the custom HTTP server installation. - (dist)(zos) Configure external WebSphere application servers
We can create middleware server representations of WebSphere application servers that are in other cells. - (dist)(zos) MirrorCell script
We can use the MirrorCell script to create representations of servers that are running previous versions of WAS in the Intelligent Management environment.
Related concepts
Related tasks