Using administrative programs (JMX)

This topic describes how to use Java application programming interfaces (APIs) to administer WebSphere Application Server and to manage your applications.

You can administer WebSphere Application Server and your applications through tools that come with the product or through programming with the Java APIs.

The wsadmin scripting tool, the administrative console, and the administrative command-line tools come with the product. These administrative tools provide most of the functions that you need to manage the product and the applications that run in WebSphere Application Server. You can use the command-line tools from automation scripts to control the servers. Scripts that are written for the wsadmin scripting tool offer a wide range of possible custom solutions that you can develop quickly.

Investigate these tools with the Java APIs to determine the best ways to administer WebSphere Application Server and your applications. For information on the Java APIs, view Java Management Extensions (JMX) API documentation

WebSphere Application Server supports access to the administrative functions through a set of Java classes and methods. You can write a Java program that performs any of the administrative features of the WebSphere Application Server administrative tools. You can also extend the basic WebSphere Application Server administrative system to include your own managed resources.

You can prepare, install, uninstall, edit, and update applications through programming. Preparing an application for installation involves collecting various types of WebSphere Application Server-specific binding information to resolve references that are defined in the application deployment descriptors. This information can also be modified after installation by editing a deployed application. Updating consists of adding, removing or replacing a single file or a single module in an installed application, or supplying a partial application that manipulates an arbitrary set of files and modules in the deployed application. Updating the entire application uninstalls the old application and installs the new one. Uninstalling an application removes it entirely from the WebSphere Application Server configuration.

Perform any or all of the following tasks to manage WebSphere Application Server and your Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) applications through programming.

(dependent on configuration)

• Create a custom Java administrative client program using the Java administrative APIs.

  This topic describes how to develop a Java program that uses the WebSphere Application Server administrative APIs to access the administrative system of WebSphere Application Server.

• Extend the WebSphere Application Server administrative system with custom MBeans.

  This topic describes how to extend the WebSphere Application Server administration system by supplying and registering new JMX MBeans in one of the Application Server processes. In this case, you can use the administrative classes and methods to add newly managed objects to the administrative system.

• Deploy and manage a custom Java administrative client program for use with multiple Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition application servers.

  This topic describes how to connect to a J2EE server, and how to manage multiple vendor servers.

• Manage applications through programming

  This topic describes how, through Java MBean programming, to install, update, and delete a J2EE application on WebSphere Application Server.

ResultDepending on which tasks you complete, you have created your own administrative program, extended the WebSphere Application Server administrative console, connected and managed vendor servers, or managed your applications through programming.

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