Resources used by the Server Tools
To work with the server tools feature, you will need one or more of the following resources:
- A server and server configuration
- (Optional) A server project
In most situations, these resources are created for you automatically. You can also create them manually.
Servers
A server identifies where you want to test or publish your application. A server points to a specific run-time environment such as a local test environment, a full installation of WebSphere Application Server, or a server on another machine. A server contains the logic of how to publish to the server and what projects and configurations to run.
A server contains a reference to a configuration that it is currently using.
Types of servers
The server tools support the following types of servers:
- WebSphere test environment
- WebSphere local server
- WebSphere remote server
- Tomcat test environment 1
- Tomcat local server 2
- J2EE publishing server3
- Static Web publishing server4
- Remote server attach
Server configurations
Server configurations are files (such as .config and config-data folder) that contain information that is required to set up and publish to a server. For example, these files may include information about which port to run on, or in the case of WebSphere Application Server v5.x5, indicates which data sources or MIME types are supported.
For WebSphere Application Server v6.0, the development environment no longer has the server configuration in the workspace. Server-specific configurations are set in the WebSphere Administrative Console. The configuration settings that are specific to an enterprise application can be set using the WebSphere Enhanced EAR editor. The WebSphere Enhanced EAR editor is the Deployment page in the Application Deployment Descriptor editor. Use the WebSphere Enhanced EAR editor to configure the following configurations that are specific to an enterprise application:
- Data Sources
- Substitution Variables
- Authentications
- Shared Libraries
- Virtual Hosts
- Class loader policies
Server project
When the Create server resources in workspace check box is enabled (Windows >Preferences > Server), the servers and their configurations are contained in a server project (in the Project Explorer view under the Other Projects folder).
Relationship between the resources
For each server, you can specify the server configuration that should be used for that server. A server can only point to one or no server configuration. However, a server configuration can be pointed to from one or more servers.
A relationship between a server configuration and a project, for example an EAR project, is created when a project is added to the server configuration. A server can point to one or more projects. A project can be pointed to from one or more server configurations.
The following diagram illustrates the possible relationship between the server tools resources.
Related tasks
Adding projects to a server
Related reference
Servers view
Related information
Creating a server project
Creating a server
Switching server configurations
Removing a project from a server
Creating a server1 Not included in WebSphere Application Server - Express or WebSphere Application Server Toolkit
2 Not included in WebSphere Application Server - Express or WebSphere Application Server Toolkit
3 Not included in WebSphere Application Server Toolkit
4 Not included in WebSphere Application Server Toolkit
5 WebSphere Application Server v5.x test environments and