XML-SOAP Admin tool

The administrative console is available for administering enterprise applications, and the Application Assembly tool (AAT) is available for configuring and modifying the contents of Enterprise Archive (EAR) files. However, individual Web services are not visible in the administrative console or in the Application Assembly Tool.

The SOAPEarEnabler tool gives you the opportunity to add administrative interfaces to an EAR file. For this purpose, WAS provides a modified version of the Apache SOAP XML Admin interface for each SOAP enabled EAR file. This interface allows you to do the following for each context root:

• List configured services, showing active and stopped services
• Start a service
• Stop a service
• View the Apache SOAP deployment descriptor for a service

Accessing the XML-SOAP Admin tool Access the XML-SOAP Admin tool through a Web browser. For example, to use this interface with the soap samples, type:

http://your_node_name:port/soapsamples/admin/index.html

where your_node_name is the host name of your WAS instance and port is the port number that corresponds to that instance.

Note: You must start your WAS instance as well as the default application server before you attempt to access the URL.

You cannot use the XML-SOAP Admin tool to add or remove a service. Use the SOAPEarEnabler tool to add or remove services.

Note: To remove a service, first start with the original EAR file and then add only the services you want. The SoapEarEnabler tool does not accept a SOAP enabled EAR file as input.

A stopped service is persisted across starts and stops of the application server. Therefore, if you stop a service, it remains stopped until the next time you use the XML-SOAP Admin tool to start it.

You can add the XML-SOAP Admin tool interface to an enterprise application when you SOAP-enable the EAR file using the SOAPEarEnabler Tool. In interactive mode, you are asked whether you want to add the XML-SOAP Admin tool interface. When you reply, yes,the necessary JSP files and bindings are added that allow you to access the XML-SOAP Admin tool interface for the application. The interface is an optional addition because you might not want to expose it in a production environment. Optionally, you can choose to use the AAT to assign roles to the XML-SOAP Admin tool so that it is secure.

Update an existing SOAP enabled Enterprise Application

Use the Application Assembly Tool to update the contents and configuration of an enterprise application. For example, to secure the XML-SOAP Admin tool interface for a particular EAR file, use the AAT to secure the resource. However, you cannot use the AAT to add or remove a Web service.

To add or remove a service to the XML-SOAP Admin tool, start with the original EAR file and run the enabling process again.

Note: The SOAP Ear Enabler tool saves a backup copy of the EAR file.