Product file system on z/OS

The z/OS file system contains the IBM WebSphere Portal product directory and at least one or more configuration directory.

WebSphere Portal product directory

All WebSphere Portal product files are in the product directory and its subdirectories. Throughout the product and documentation, install_root is used to represent the fully qualified path name of the WebSphere Portal product directory. In the examples in the documentation, the path /usr/lpp/zPortalServer/V8R0 is used as the location of the product file system.

Locate the product directory and all of its subdirectories in the same hierarchical file system (HFS) or zSeries file system (ZFS) data set. This data set can be the same as the WebSphere Portal root or version data set, which is not the preferred option. It can also be a separate data set used just for WebSphere Portal. The installation jobs and program directory assume that such a separate data set is allocated. This data set is named portal_hlq.SEJPZFS, where portal_hlq represents the product data set name high-level qualifiers. This directory gets created during the installation process.

Product directory and configuration directory

Each WebSphere Portal application server environment (stand-alone application server node or Network Deployment cell) has configuration files in one or more configuration directory. These configuration directories are created through the configuration process and contain symbolic links to files in the product directory.

Use indirection to isolate product directories

Instead of pointing directly to these product directories, application server environments can point to an intermediate symbolic link. The intermediate symbolic link then points to a particular product directory. We can use this level of indirection to switch to a new WebSphere Portal server level by stopping the servers that use that intermediate symbolic link. You then change the link to point to the new product directory and restart the affected servers.

Use the customization process for automatic creation of these intermediate symbolic links.

Parent: Install and configuring the WebSphere Portal environment on z/OS