Job manager

In a flexible management environment, a job manager allows us to submit administrative jobs asynchronously for application servers registered to administrative agents, for deployment managers, and for host computers. We can submit these jobs to a large number of servers over a geographically dispersed area.

We can register stand-alone application servers registered to administrative agents, deployment managers, and host computers with the job manager. After registering stand-alone application servers, deployment managers, or host computers as targets, we can queue administrative jobs directed at the targets through the job manager.

To register application server nodes and deployment managers with the job manager, use the Admin Agent administrative console...

... or the wsadmin registerWithJobManager command. The command is in the ManagedNodeAgent command group.

To register hosts with the job manager, use an administrative console or the registerHost command. The command is in the JobManagerNode command group.

We can complete job manager actions and run jobs from a deployment manager. The deployment manager administrative console has Jobs navigation tree choices similar to those in the job manager administrative console.

Use the job manager to asynchronously administer job submissions.

We can schedule the job...

• Set the job submission to take effect at a specified time.
• Set the job submission to expire at a specified time.
• Specify that the job submission occur at a specified time interval.
• Notify the administrator through email that the job has completed.

Each application server, deployment manager, or host registered with the job manager is known as a target to the job manager. Groups of targets are those groups that we create so that we can make job submission easier. We can submit a job for a group of targets instead of entering multiple target names for a job.

Many of the management tasks that we can perform with the job manager are tasks that we can already perform with the product, such as application management, server management, and node management. However, with the job manager, we can aggregate tasks and perform those tasks across multiple targets.

Example uses of job manager

The following hypothetical company environments are examples of situations where a job manager is useful:

Branch office environment

A business has a thousand stores geographically dispersed across the continent. Each store contains either a few application servers, or a small WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment cell consisting of two or three machines. Each store is managed locally for daily operations. However, each store is also connected to the data center at the company headquarters, potentially thousands of miles away. Some connections to the headquarters are at modem speeds. The headquarters uses the job manager to periodically submit administrative jobs for the stores.

Environment consisting of hundreds of application servers

An administrator sets up hundreds of low-cost machines running identical clones of an application server. Each application server node, which is registered with an administrative agent, is registered with the job manager. The administrator uses the job manager to aggregate administration commands across all the application servers, for example, to create a new server, or to install or update an application.

Environment consisting of dozens of deployment manager cells

An administrator sets up hundreds of application servers, which are divided into thirty different groups. Each group is configured within a cell. The cells are geographically distributed over five regions, consisting of three to seven cells per region. Each cell is used to support one to fifteen member institutions, with a total of 230 institutions supported. Each cell contains approximately thirty applications, each running on a cluster of two for failover purposes, resulting in a total of 1800 application servers. The administrator uses the job manager to aggregate administration commands across all the cells, for example, to start and stop servers, or to install or update an application.

Example topology

The following example topology shows a deployment manager and a federated node managed by the deployment manager on machine A; two application servers, Profile01 and Profile 02, registered with an administrative agent on machine C, a job manager on machine D, and a web server on machine B. Firewalls provide additional security for the machines. The administrative agent and the deployment manager are registered to the job manager. The administrative agent and deployment manager periodically poll the job manager to determine whether the job manager posted jobs that require action.

Related:

Administrative agent

Administer nodes remotely using the job manager

Administer jobs in a flexible management environment

Administer nodes and resources

Create management profiles for job managers

ManagedNodeAgent .