Starting a server

When you are ready to test your projects, start a server. In some situations, listed below, the server tools start a server for you automatically. For more information on which test server will start, refer to the list of related topics at the end of this topic.

Prerequisites:

• If you are trying to run the WebSphere Application Server as a non-root user ID, this might fail. By default, WebSphere Application Server on UNIX platforms uses the root user ID to run the servers. For details on running WebSphere Application Server with a non-root user ID, visit the WebSphere InfoCenter and search for the topic "Running Application Servers with a non-root user ID".

• (Restriction) Start a remote WebSphere Application Server v6 using the development environment is not supported. To start a remote WebSphere Application Server v6 server, you have to start the server on the remote machine. If you want to start the server in start, debug or run mode, you have the following options:
  • Use the WebSphere administrative console to set the correct VM parameters, for example, the debug or profile parameters.

  • Start the WebSphere Application Server v6.0 on the remote machine. After the server is started on the remote machine, on the Servers view of the workbench, right-click the server and select Restart > Debug, Restart > Profile , or Restart > Run to restart the server in the mode that you want.

• Create a server.

• Add a project to the server.

Once you have started the server you can test the projects that are associated with the server. You can stop and restart the server at any time. The status of the server is displayed in the Status column of the Servers view.

To manually start a server:

1. Switch to the Servers view.

2. In the Servers view, right-click the server you want to start.

3. Select Start. The following things happen:
   • If you have selected the Automatically publish before starting servers check box on the Server preferences page (Window > Preferences > Server), the server tools check to see if your project and files on the server are synchronized prior to starting the server. If they are not, the project and the files are automatically updated on the remote server when it is started.

   • A Console view opens in the workbench. It will take a minute to start the server. If the server fails to start, check for the reason that it failed in the Console.

   • In the Status column of the Servers view, the status of the server changes to Started.

Tip: The server is automatically started when you right-click on a file and then select Run > Run on Server.