Importing enterprise applications

Importing an enterprise archive (EAR) file migrates the EAR file to the assembly tool and defines a new enterprise application project using the tool.

This article assumes that you have an existing enterprise application that you want to work on in an assembly tool such as Application Server Toolkit (AST) or Rational Web Developer and that you want to deploy onto an application server.

You can import an EAR file and define a new enterprise application project using an assembly tool.

1. Start an assembly tool.

2. If you have not done so already, configure the assembly tool for work on J2EE modules.

3. Click File > Import > EAR file > Next . Alternatively, you can right-click Enterprise Applications in a view such as the Project Explorer view and click Import > EAR file . Or, on Windows platforms, you can drag the EAR file and drop it on a view.

4. In the Import dialog, define the EAR file:

   1. Specify the EAR file to import. Use Browse to locate the EAR file and specify its full path name.

   2. Optional: Specify a new enterprise application project name. A project name is assigned automatically. The project name you specify must be unique within the directory.

   3. Specify whether to import an EAR project.

   4. Optional: Specify whether to overwrite and delete existing resources.

   5. Select a target server. Select the WebSphere Application Server v6.0 target server to use services such as the following:

      • ActivitySession

      • Application profiling

      • Internationalization

      • Last participant support

   6. Optional: Click Next.

   7. Optional: Specify whether to allow nested projects to be overwritten.

   8. Optional: Specify whether to import a file for partial development of an EAR file.

   9. Optional: Select JAR files to be imported.

   10. Optional: Specify the project location. Use Browse to locate the directory for the project files.

   11. Click Finish .

ResultFiles for the enterprise application are shown in the Project Explorer view under Enterprise Application .

What to do next

Related tasks
Assembling applications