Obtaining online help using scripting

There are three levels of online help available with the administrative commands. The top level help provides general information for the AdminTask object and the commands associated with it. The second level help provides information about all of the available administrative commands and command groups. The third level help provides specific help on a command group, a command, or a step. Command group specific help provides descriptions for the command group that you specify and the commands that belong to the associated group. Command specific help provides description for the specified command, its parameters, and steps, if any. Step specific help provides a description for the specified step and the associated parameters. For command and step specific help, required parameters are marked with a * in the help output.

• To obtain general help, use the following examples:Using Jacl:

  $AdminTask help

  Using Jython:

  print AdminTask.help()

  Example output:

  WASX8001I: The AdminTask object enables the execution of available            admin commands. AdminTask commands operate in two modes:
             the default mode is one which AdminTask communicates with the            WebSphere server to accomplish its task. A local mode is also 
             available in which no server communication takes place. The local            mode of operation is invoked by bringing up the scripting client            using the command line "-conntype NONE" option or setting the            "com.ibm.ws.scripting.connectiontype=NONE" property in            wsadmin.properties file.
  
  The number of admin commands varies and depends on your WebSphere install. 
  Use the following help commands to obtain a list of supported commands 
  and their parameters:
  
  help -commands       list all the admin commands help -commandGroups  
        list all the admin command groups help commandName 
        display detailed information for         the specified command help commandName stepName  
        display detailed information for       the specified step belonging to 
        the specified command help commandGroupName 
        display detailed information for                the specified command group 
  There are various flavors to invoke an admin command:
  
  commandName    
        invokes an admin command that does not require any argument. 
  
  commandName targetObject  
        invokes an admin command with the specified target object 
        string, for example, the configuration object name of a 
        resource adapter. The expected target object varies with 
        the admin command invoked. Use help command to get 
        information on the target object of an admin command.
  
  commandName options       
        invokes an admin command with the specified option 
        strings. This invocation syntax is used to invoke an 
                 admin command that does not require a target object. It 
                 is also used to enter interactive mode if "-interactive" 
                 mode is included in the options string.
  
  commandName targetObject options  
        invokes an admin command with the specified target 
        object and options strings. If "-interactive" is 
        included in the options string, then interactive mode 
        is entered. The target object and options strings vary 
        depending on the admin command invoked. Use help 
        command to get information on the target 
        object and options.
  

• To list the available command groups, use the following examples:Using Jacl:

  $AdminTask help -commandGroups

  Using Jython:

  print AdminTask.help('-commandGroups')

  Example output:

  WASX8005I: Available admin command groups:
  
  ClusterConfigCommands - Commands for configuring application 
  server clusters and cluster members.
  JCAManagement - A group of admin commands that helps to configure 
  Java2 Connector Architecture(J2C) related resources.
  

• To list the available commands, use the following examples:Using Jacl:

  $AdminTask help -commands

  Using Jython:

  print AdminTask.help('-commands')

  Example output:

  WASX8004I: Available administrative commands:
  
  copyResourceAdapter - copy the specified J2C resource adapter to the specified scope createCluster - Creates a new application server cluster.
  createClusterMember - Creates a new member of an application server cluster.
  createJ2CConnectionFactory - Create a J2C connection factory deleteCluster - Delete the configuration of an application server cluster.
  deleteClusterMember - Deletes a member from an application server cluster.
  listConnectionFactoryInterfaces - list all of the 
  defined connection factory interfaces on the 
  specified J2C resource adapter.
  listJ2CConnectionFactories - List J2C connection factories that have a specified 
  connection factory interface defined in the specified J2C resouce adapter createJ2CAdminObject - Create a J2C administrative object.
  listAdminObjectInterfaces - List all the defined administrative object interfaces 
  on the specified J2C resource adapter. 
  interface on the specified J2C resource adapter.
  listJ2CAdminObjects - List the J2C administrative objects that have a specified 
  administrative object interface defined in the specified J2C resource adapter.
  createJ2CActivationSpec - Create a J2C activation specification.
  listMessageListenerTypes - list all of the defined messageListener 
  type on the specified J2C resource adapter.
  listJ2CActivationSpecs - List the J2C activation specifications that have a 
  specified message listener type defined in the specified J2C resource adapter.

• To obtain help about a command group, use the following examples:Using Jacl:

  $AdminTask help JCAManagement

  Using Jython:

  print AdminTask.help('JCAManagement')

  Example output:

  WASX8007I: Detailed help for command group: JCAManagement 
  Description: A group of administrative commands that help to 
  configure Java 2 Connector Architecture (J2C)-related resources.
  
  Commands:
  createJ2CConnectionFactory - Create a J2C connection factory listConnectionFactoryInterfaces - list all of the defined connection 
  factory interfaces on the specified J2C resource adapter.
  listJ2CConnectionFactories - List J2C connection factories that have 
  a specified connection factory interface defined in the 
  specified J2C resouce adapter. 
  createJ2CAdminObject - Create a J2C administrative object.
  listAdminObjectInterfaces - List all the defined administrative 
  object interfaces on the specified J2C resource adapter.
  listJ2CAdminObjects - List the J2C administrative objects that have a 
  specified adminstrative object interface defined in the 
  specified J2C resource adapter.
  createJ2CActivationSpec - Create a J2C activation specification.
  listMessageListenerTypes - list all of the defined 
  message listener types on the specified J2C resource adapter.
  listJ2CActivationSpecs - List the J2C activation specifications that 
  have a specified message listener type defined in the 
  specified J2C resource adapter. 
  copyResourceAdapter - copy the specified J2C resource 
  adapter to the specified scope.

• Obtaining help about an administrative command:Using Jacl:

  $AdminTask help createJ2CConnectionFactory

  Using Jython:

  print AdminTask.help('createJ2CConnectionFactory')

  Example output:

  WASX8006I: Detailed help for command: createJ2CConnectionFactory 
  Description: Create a J2C connection factory 
  *Target object: The parent J2C resource adapter of the created J2C connection factory.
  
  Arguments:
  *connectionFactoryInterface - A connection factory interface that is defined in the deployment description of the parent J2C resource adapter.
  *name - The name of the J2C connection factory.
  *jndiName - The JNDI name of the created J2C connection factory.
  description - The description for the created J2C connection factory.
  authDataAlias - the authentication data alias of the created J2C connection factory.
  
  Steps:
  None 

  In the command specific help output previously listed, an administrative command is divided into three input areas: target object, arguments, and steps. Each area can require input depending on the administrative command. If an area requires input, each input is described by its name and a description; except for the target object area which only contains the description of the target object. When you use an administrative command in batch mode, you can use any input name that resides in the argument area as the argument name. If an input is required, a * will be before the name. If an area does not require an input, it is marked None. The following example uses the help output for the createJ2CConnectionFactory command:

  • Target object area requires the configuration object name of a J2CResourceAdapter to be provided.

  • In the arguments area, there are five inputs with three being required inputs. The argument names are connectionFactoryInterface, name, jndiName, description, and authDataAlias. These names are used as the parameter names in the option string to execute an admin command in batch mode, for example:

    -connectionFactoryInterface javax.resource.cci.ConnectionFactory -name newConnectionFactory -jndiName CF/newConnectionFactory

    See Administrative command invocation syntax for more information about specifying argument options.

  • There is no step associated with this administrative command.

• Obtain help on a command step.Step specific help provides the following:

  • A description for the command step.

  • Information indicating if this step supports collection. A collection includes objects of the same type. In a command step, a collection contains objects that have the same set of parameters.

  • Information regarding each step parameter with its name and description. If a step parameter is required, a * exists in front of the name.

  The following example obtain help on a command step: Using Jacl:

  $AdminTask help createCluster clusterConfig

  Using Jython:

  print AdminTask.help('createCluster', 'clusterConfig')

  Example output:

  WASX8013I: Detailed help for step: clusterConfig 
  Description: The configuration of the new server cluster.
  
  Collection: No 
  Arguments:
    *clusterName - Name of server cluster.
    preferLocal - Enables node-scoped routing optimization for the cluster.
  

  This example indicates the following:

  • It does not support collection. Only one set of parameter values for the clusterName and perferLocal parameters is allowed.

  • It contains two input arguments with one argument indicated as required. The required arguments is clusterName and the non-required parameter is perferLocal. The syntax to provide step parameter values is different from the command argument values. You have to provide all argument values of a step and provide them in the exact order as displayed in the step specific help. For any optional argument that you do not want to specify a value, put double quotes ("") in place of a value. If a command step is a collection type, for example, it can contain multiple objects where each object has the same set of arguments, you can specify multiple objects with each object enclosed by its own pair of braces. To execute an administrative command in batch mode and to include this step in the option string, use the following syntax:

    Using Jacl:

    -clusterConfig {{newCluster false}}

    Using Jython:

    -clusterConfig [[newCluster false]]

    See Administrative command invocation syntax for more information about specifying parameter options.

Related concepts
AdminTask object for scripted administration

Related reference
Commands for the AdminTask object