Testing portlets remotely

Before testing portlets with a Server Attach server, you may need to configure the remote server as described in Preparing WebSphere Portal for remote testing and debugging. In the previous versions of this product, this function was called portlet preview. Follow these steps to test a portal project with a WebSphere Portal Server Attach server:

  1. If multiple users are testing portlets to the same portlet server, ensure that the UIDs of the portlets are unique. Otherwise, when the portlet is installed on the portlet server, it may replace the original portlet using that UID. To modify the UID of a portlet:

    • For the IBM portlet API, modify the UID using the portlet deployment descriptor editor. Refer to Customizing IBM API portlets

    • For the JSR 168 portlet API, the UID is constructed using the id attribute of the portlet-app element. If the id attribute is not specified, the UID is generated automatically using the login user id and project name.

  2. From the Project Explorer view, highlight a portlet project and select Run > Run on Server.

  3. To use an existing server, select Choose an existing server and choose a WebSphere Portal Server Attach server from the list.

  4. To define a new external test server, see Configuring remote servers for testing portlets.

  5. Click Finish. After the server starts and the portal is deployed, the Web browser that you defined opens to the URL of the portal application on the external server.

For limitations regarding firewalls and Linux, refer to Configuring networks for deployment.

Note: An XML Exception occurs and the server attach fails to start if the project name, the filename, the file directory structure or the User ID for WebSphere Portal login name is excessively long. To correct this, shorten the length of the filename, the file directory structure or the User ID for WebSphere Portal login at the WebSphere Portal Server Attach server configuration.

 

Related tasks

Configuring remote servers for testing portlets
Preparing WebSphere Portal for remote testing and debugging
Resetting portlets on remote servers
Configuring Web browsers and device emulators