Create generic servers

A generic server is a server that is managed in the WebSphere Application Server administrative domain even though the server is not a server supplied by WAS. The WAS generic servers function enables us to define a generic server as an application server instance within the WAS administration, and associate it with a non-WebSphere WAS or process.

There are two basic types of generic application servers:

• Non-Java applications or processes.
• Java applications or processes

Therefore, a generic server can be any server or process necessary to support the Application Server environment, including:

• A Java server
• A C or C++ server or process
• A CORBA server
• A RMI server

(ZOS) Generic application servers must be non-Java application processes that are either a started task or a shell script. We cannot create a Java application as a generic server for the product.

(ZOS) The following processes can be created as a generic server provided that they are either started tasks or a shell scripts:

• A C or C++ server or process
• A CORBA server
• A RMI server

Use the wsadmin tool or the administrative console to create a generic server.

Tasks

• Create a non-Java application as a generic server. The following steps describe how to use the administrative console to create a non-Java application as a generic application server.

  1. Select Servers > Generic servers

  2. Click New.

  3. Type in a name for the generic server.

     The name must be unique within the node. IBM recommends using a naming scheme that makes it easy to distinguish your generic application servers from regular WAS servers.

  4. Click Next

  5. Click Finish. The generic server now appears as an option on the Generic servers page in the administrative console.

  6. On the Generic servers page, click on the name of the generic server.

  7. Under Additional Properties, click Process Definition.

  8. In the Executable name field, enter the name of the non-java process that is launched when we start this generic server.

     For example, if we are using a perl script as a generic server, enter the path to the perl.exe module in the Executable name field.

     If we have additional arguments, such as the name of the perl script and its parameters, enter them in the Executable arguments field. Multiple arguments must be separated by carriage returns. Use the Enter key on your keyboard to create these carriage returns in the Executable arguments field. The following example illustrates how a perl script application that requires two arguments should appear in this field:

     perl_application.pl
     arg1
     arg2
     

     The Executable target type and Executable target properties are not used for non-Java applications. Executable target type and Executable target properties are only used for Java applications.

  9. Click OK.

• (iSeries) (Dist) Create a Java application as a generic server: The following steps describe how to use the administrative console to create a Java application as a generic application server.

  1. Select Servers > Server Types > Generic servers

  2. Click New.

  3. Type in a name for the generic server.

     The name must be unique within the node. IBM recommends that we use a naming scheme that makes it easy to distinguish your generic application servers from regular WAS servers.

  4. Click Next

  5. Click Finish. The generic server now appears as an option on the Application servers page in the administrative console.

  6. Click Finish. The generic server now appears as an option on the Generic servers page in the administrative console.

  7. On the Generic servers page, click on the name of the generic server.

  8. Under Additional Properties, click Process definition.

  9. In the Executable name field under General Properties, enter the path for the WAS default JVM, ${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java, which is used to run the Java application when we start this generic server.

  10. In the Executable target type field under General Properties, select whether a Java class name, JAVA_CLASS, or the name of an executable JAR file, EXECUTABLE_JAR, is used as the executable target of this Java process. The default value for the product is JAVA_CLASS.

  11. In the Executable target field under General Properties, enter the name of the executable target. Depending on the executable target type, this is either a Java class containing a main() method, or the name of an executable JAR file.) The default value for WAS is com.ibm.ws.runtime.WsServer.

  12. Click OK.

      If the generic server is to run on an application server other than a WAS server, leave the Executable name field set to the default value and specify the Java class containing the main function for the application serve in the Executable target field.

What to do next

After defining a generic server, use the Application Server administrative console to start, stop, and monitor the associated non-WAS server or process when stopping or starting the applications that rely on them.

We use the Terminate or Stop buttons in the administrative console to stop any application server, including a generic application server.

Subtopics

• Starting and terminating generic application servers
  
• Generic server settings
  

Manage generic servers using scripting

Create a server using scripting

Get started with wsadmin scripting