Starting the application server in debug mode

To be able to debug Web applications that are running on the WebSphere Application Server, you need to configure the application server so that it starts in debug mode. Starting the application server in debug mode is supported in WebSphere Application Server versions 4.0 and 5.0, as described below.

WebSphere Application Server version 5.0

  1. Start the application server.

  2. Launch and log in to the Administrative Console.

  3. In the left-hand frame, expand the Servers node and then select the Manage Application Servers link. This will open the Application Servers page.

  4. In the Application Servers page, all application servers are listed by Name and Node. In the Name column, each server name appears as a link which, when selected, takes you to configuration pages for the server. Follow the link for the server that you wish to set up for debug mode.

  5. Ensure that the Configuration tab is selected and scroll to the Debugging Service link in the Additional Properties section. Select this link to open the Debugging Service configuration page.

  6. In the General Properties section of the Configuration tab, select the Startup check box. This will cause debugging service to be enabled when the server starts.

  7. Note the values of the JVM debug port (default 7777) and BSF debug port (default 4444) fields, which may be needed when connecting to the application server with the debugger. If desired, you can alter the values of these ports at this time (for example, you may wish to change the value of either port, if that port number is being used by another application).

  8. Click Apply to make the changes to your local configuration, and then click Save to apply the configuration changes.

  9. Proceed with other actions in the Administrative Console or log out, as desired.

  10. You must restart the application server before the changes that you have made take effect.

WebSphere Application Server Advanced Edition version 4.0

  1. Launch and log in to the Administrative Console.

  2. In the left side of the console, expand WebSphere Administrative Domain and then Nodes.

  3. Select the Default Server for your node and then select the JVM Settings tab in the right side of the console.

  4. Click the Advanced JVM Settings push button and then, in the Advanced JVM Settings dialog box, select the Enable IBM Distributed Debugger check box.

  5. You will be prompted with a Confirm dialog message, asking if you would like to enable OLT. Click Yes to enable OLT.

  6. Start the Default Server in debug mode by right-clicking it and selecting Start from the pop-up menu.

WebSphere Application Server Application Server Advanced Single Server Edition

  1. Start the application server.

  2. Launch and log in to the Administrative Console.

  3. In the left side of the console, expand WebSphere Administrative Domain and then Application Servers.

  4. Select the Default Server for your node and then select IBM Debug and OLT.

  5. In the IBM Distributed Debugger and Object Level Trace Settings page to display on the right side of the console, select Enable IBM Distributed Debugger check box.

  6. The entry in the Source Path field indicates to the debugger where servlet source files, EJB source files, and JSP files can be found. Use semicolons to separate all entries in this field.

  7. Click OK.

  8. To save your configuration, click Save and then click OK in the Save Configuration frame.

  9. You must restart the application server before the changes that you have made take effect.

 

Related tasks

Preparing to debug
Creating a new Java and mixed language debug launch configuration