Add nodes to a Network Deployment instance

When you add an application server (or node) to a deployment manager cell, WebSphere Application Server creates a node agent, named nodeagent, to perform administrative functions for the application server. The node agent uses its own set of ports to perform these administrative functions. For descriptions of the ports used by node agents, see WebSphere Application Server node agent default port definitions. For more information on deployment managers, nodes, and node agents, see Overview of WebSphere Application Server architecture.

Adding (or federating) node to a cell does not merge any cell level configuration. If the virtual host for the new Network Deployment cell does not match the virtual host for the application server, you cannot access the applications that are migrated to the Network Deployment cell. You must use the deployment manager's administrative console to manually add the virtual host or host aliases to the new cell. For information on managing virtual hosts, see Administer virtual hosts.

The addNode script is located in the /QIBM/ProdData/WebAS5/Base/bin directory of the machine that hosts your application server instance. You must run the script on the machine that hosts your application server instance, not the machine that hosts the deployment manager instance.

By default, when you install an application in an application server instance, it is placed in the /QIBM/UserData/WebAS5/Base/instance/installedApps/baseCellName directory, where instance is the name of our application server instance. After you federate the node with the addNode script, the cell name for the node's configuration changes from the base cell name to the deployment manager cell name. The application binaries remain in the /QIBM/UserData/WebAS5/Base/instance/installedApps/baseCellName directory.

If the application was installed by explicitly specifying the location for binaries as the following:

${APP_INSTALL_ROOT}/${CELL}

where the variable ${CELL} specifies current cell name, then the addNode script moves the binaries to the following directory:

${APP_INSTALL_ROOT}/currentCellName

Note:

Note: Use the administrative console to add a node to a Network Deployment cell. However, to avoid port conflicts, use the addNode script and specify the -startingport parameter when you federate a non-default application server into a Network Deployment cell. For information on adding a node with the console, see Administer nodes.

To use the addNode script to add a node to a Network Deployment instance, follow these steps:

  1. Start the Network Deployment instance to which you want to add the node.

  2. Stop the application server instance that you want to add to the Network Deployment cell. The script uses the -instance parameter to determine where to get the configuration information for the application server instance. The script does not need to connect to the instance.

    Note: This step is optional. If the application server is running, the script stops it before it adds the node.

  3. On the OS/400 command line, run the STRQSH (Start Qshell) command.

  4. On the Qshell command line, use the cd command to change to the directory that contains the script: 
    cd /QIBM/ProdData/WebAS5/Base/bin

  5. Run the addNode script: 
    addNode cell_host cell_port -instance instance
 -includeapps -startingport startportnumber

    where cell_host is the name of the machine that hosts the Network Deployment instance, cell_port is the SOAP port number for the Network Deployment instance, instance is the name of the application server instance that you want to add to the cell, and startportnumber is the first in a block of unused ports. This block of ports is assigned to the node agent. For more information on the addNode script and additional parameters, see The addNode script.

    Notes:

    • If you do not specify the -includeapps parameter, the script removes any applications that are currently deployed in your application server instance. To migrate the applications to the Network Deployment cell, specify the -includeapps parameter. You must use the -includeApps option to migrate all the applications to the new cell. Federating a node into a Network Deployment cell with the addNode script does not merge any cell level configuration, including virtual host information. If the virtual host and aliases for the new cell do not match those of the application server, you can not access the applications running on the application server node. In that case, use the administrative console for your deployment manager instance to manually add the virtual host and host alias settings to the new cell.
    • The -startingport parameter is optional. If you are adding a non-default instance to a deployment manager cell, it is recommended that you specify this parameter. If you add multiple instances from a single machine to any deployment manager cell, specify this parameter to avoid port conflicts.

    The node agent is started during addNode processing. After the script successfully federates the node, it displays the new information for the node, including port numbers and new servers.

In this example, the instance myNode is federated into a Network Deployment cell that runs on the myServer system. The SOAP port for the deployment manager is 11381. The node agent is assigned ports starting at 12400. 

addNode myServer 11381 -instance myNode -includeapps -startingport 12400