Configure WebSphere variables

You can define a WAS variable to provide a parameter for a value in the system. After you define the name and value for a variable, the value is used in place of that name wherever the variable name is located within the configuration files. The scope of a variable can be cell-wide, node-wide, or applicable to only one server process.

  1. Click Environment > Manage WebSphere Variables in the console navigation tree. On the WebSphere Variables page, click New.

  2. Specify the scope of the new variable. Indicate if new variable should be for the Cell, Node, or Server and click Apply. The scope control enables you to choose the variable level in which you wish to work. Choosing to apply to a cell, node or server allows you to put the variable on all servers at that particular level. If you specify the same variable on a cell or node as on a server, the server level variable overrides the cell or node variable. Similarly, a variable at the node level overrides the instance specified at the cell level.

  3. On the Variable page, specify a name and value for the variable. So other people can understand what the variable is used for, also specify a description for the variable. Then click OK.

    • Use cell-wide customization values.

    • Use WebSphere variables to modify the daemon configuration. By appending a server custom property onto a daemon tag, you can designate that variable specifically for that daemon. Enter DAEMON_<server custom property> in the Name field. For example, if you enter DAEMON_ras_trace_outputlocation in the Name field and SYSOUT in the Value field, you can direct that particular daemon's trace output to SYSPRINT.

    • WebSphere variables support substitution. The name of a variable can be formed by substituting the value of another variable. If you enter ${<variable name>} in the Name field, the value of <variable name> will be the name of your new WebSphere variable. For example ${JAVA_HOME} will create a WebSphere variable with a name that is equal to the Java home directory.

    • There are also WebSphere internal variables. The appserver uses these variables for its own purposes. The prefixes that indicate that a variable is WebSphere internal are WAS_DAEMON_<server custom property>, WAS_DAEMON_ONLY_<server custom property>, and WAS_SERVER_ONLY_<server custom property>. Any variables with these tags are not intended for your use. They are reserved exclusively for use by the server runtime. Modifying these variables may cause unexpected errors.

  4. Verify that the variable is shown in the list of variables.

  5. Save your configuration.

  6. To have the configuration take effect, stop the server and then start the server again.

 

See Also

Variables
IBM Toolbox for Java JDBC driver
Configuring the cell-wide environment
WebSphere variables collection
Session management custom properties