Changing the WebSphere Application Server configuration using wsadmin

Before starting this task, the wsadmin tool must be running. See the Starting the wsadmin scripting client article for more information. For this task, the wsadmin scripting client must be connected to the deployment manager server in a network deployment environment.

You can use the wsadmin AdminConfig and AdminApp objects to make changes to the WebSphere Application Server configuration. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the relationship between the commands used to change the configuration and the files used to hold configuration data. This discussion assumes that you have a network deployment installation, but the concepts are very similar for a WebSphere Application Server installation.

1. Set a variable for creating a server:

   • Using Jacl:

     set n1 [$AdminConfig getid /Node:mynode/]

   • Using Jython:

     n1 = AdminConfig.getid('/Node:mynode/')

   where:

   set	is a Jacl command
   n1	is a variable name
   $	is a Jacl operator for substituting a variable name with its value
   AdminConfig	is an object representing the WebSphere Application Server configuration
   getid	is an AdminConfig command
   Node	is the object type
   mynode	is the name of the object that will be modified

2. Create a server with the following command:

   • Using Jacl:

     set serv1 [$AdminConfig create Server $n1 {{name myserv}}]

   • Using Jython list:

     serv1 = AdminConfig.create('Server', n1, [['name', 'myserv']])

   • Using Jython string:

     serv1 = AdminConfig.create('Server', n1, '[[name myserv]]')

   where:

   set	is a Jacl command
   serv1	is a variable name
   $	is a Jacl operator for substituting a variable name with its value
   AdminConfig	is an object representing the WebSphere Application Server configuration
   create	is an AdminConfig command
   Server	is an AdminConfig object
   n1	evaluates to the ID of host node specified in step number 2
   name	is an attribute
   myserv	is the value of the name attribute

   After this command completes, some new files can be seen in a workspace used by the deployment manager server on behalf of this scripting client. A workspace is a temporary repository of configuration information that administrative clients use. Any changes made to the configuration by an administrative client are first made to this temporary workspace. For scripting, only when a save command is invoked on the AdminConfig object, these changes are transferred to the real configuration repository. Workspaces are kept in the wstemp subdirectory of a WebSphere Application Server installation.

3. Make a configuration change to the server with the following command:

   • Using Jacl:

     $AdminConfig modify $serv1 {{stateManagement {{initialState STOP}}}}

   • Using Jython list:

     AdminConfig.modify(serv1, [['stateManagement', [['initialState', 'STOP']]]])

   • Using Jython string:

     AdminConfig.modify(serv1, '[[stateManagement  [[initialState  STOP]]]]')

   where:

   $	is a Jacl operator for substituting a variable name with its value
   AdminConfig	is an object representing the WebSphere Application Server configuration
   modify	is an AdminConfig command
   serv1	evaluates to the ID of host node specified in step number 3
   stateManagement	is an attribute
   initialState	is a nested attribute within the stateManagement attribute
   STOP	is the value of the initialState attribute

   This command changes the initial state of the new server. After this command completes, one of the files in the workspace is changed.

4. Install an application on the server.

5. Save the configuration changes. See the Saving configuration changes with the wsadmin tool article for more information.

6. In a network deployment environment only, synchronize the node. See the Synchronizing nodes with the wsadmin tool article for more information.

Related concepts
AdminConfig object for scripted administration

Related reference
Commands for the AdminConfig object