Creating an application server profile

The Profile Creation wizard can create an application server profile on any machine where the core product files exist.

 

Before you begin

Before using the Profile Creation wizard, install the core product files.

The Profile Creation wizard is the graphical interface to the wasprofile command. See the description of the wasprofile command for more information.

You must provide enough system temporary space to create a profile. For information on the requirements, see the Profiles: file system requirements topic.

 

About this task

After installing the core product files for the Network Deployment product, you must create a profile. It can be a deployment manager profile, an application server profile, or a custom profile.

This procedure describes creating an application server profile using the graphical user interface provided by the Profile Creation wizard.

An application server profile has a default server, which is server1, the default application that includes the Snoop servlet and the Hitcount servlet, and application Samples. We can federate the application server or use it as a stand-alone application server.

You can use the Profile Creation wizard in silent mode with a response file instead of a graphical user interface. See responsefile.pct.NDstandAloneProfile.txt for examples of using the Profile Creation wizard in silent mode.

We can also use the wasprofile command to create an application server profile. See the description of the wasprofile command for more information.

 

Procedure

  1. Start the Profile Creation wizard to create a new runtime environment.

    Several ways exist to start the wizard:

    • At the end of installation, select the check box to launch the Profile Creation wizard.

    • Issue the command directly from a command line.

      The command is in the install_root/bin/ProfileCreator directory. The name of the command varies per platform:

      • pctAIX.bin

      • pctHPUX.bin

      • 64-bit platforms: pctHPUXIA64.bin

      • pctLinux.bin

      • 64-bit platforms: pct.bin S/390 platforms: pctLinux390.bin

      • Power platforms: pctLinuxPPC.bin

      • pctSolaris.bin

      • pctWindows.exe

      • 64-bit platforms: pctWindowsIA64.exe

    • Select the Profile Creation wizard from the First steps console.

    • Use the Start menu to access the Profile Creation wizard. For example, click Start > Programs or All Programs > IBM WebSphere > your product > Profile Creation wizard.

    This task selects the Profile Creation wizard from the First steps console:

    1. Open a command window.

    2. Change directories to the firststeps directory in the installation root directory:

      The installation root varies by platform:

      • /usr/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/firststeps

      • /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/firststeps

      • C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\firststeps

    3. Issue the firststeps command to start the console:

      • ./firststeps.sh

      • firststeps.bat

    4. Select the Profile Creation wizard option on the console.

      The Profile Creation wizard is an InstallShield for Multiplatforms application. The wizard loads the Java 2 SDK and then displays its Welcome panel.

    See the description of the firststeps command for more information.

  2. Click Next on the Welcome panel.

    The wizard displays the Profile type selection panel.

  3. Select the application server profile; click Next.

    The Profile name panel is displayed.

  4. Specify a name for the profile, or accept the default: click Next.
    Profile naming guidelines: Double-byte characters are supported. The profile name can be any unique name with the following restrictions. Do not use any of the following characters when naming your profile:

    • Spaces

    • Illegal special characters that are not supported within the name of a directory on your operating system, such as *&?

    • Slashes (/) or (\)

    The default profile

    The first profile that you create on a machine is the default profile. The default profile is the default target for commands that are issued from the bin directory in the product installation root. When only one profile exists on a machine, every command works on the only server process in the configuration.

    Addressing a profile in a multiprofile environment

    When two or more profiles exist on a machine, certain commands require that you specify the profile to which the command applies. These commands use the -profileName parameter to identify which profile to address. You might find it easier to use the commands that are in the bin directory of each profile.

    The commands are found in the:

    A command has two lines. The first line sets the WAS_USER_SCRIPT environment variable for the command window. The variable sets up the command environment to address the profile. The second line calls the actual command in the

    The actual command queries the command shell to determine the calling profile and to autonomically address the command to the calling profile.

    The wizard then displays the Profile directory panel.

  5. Accept the default directory or specify a non-default location, then click Next. Or click Browse to select a different location.

    If you click Back and change the name of the profile, manually change the name on this panel when it displays again.

    The wizard displays the Node and host name panel.

  6. On the Node and host names panel, specify the characteristics for the application server; click Next.

    Use unique names for each application server that you create.

    Reserved names: Avoid using reserved folder names as field values. The use of reserved folder names can cause unpredictable results. The following words are reserved:

    • cells

    • nodes

    • servers

    • clusters

    • applications

    • deployments

    Field name Default value Constraints Description
    Node name

    Name of your machine

    		Avoid using the reserved words. Pick any name you want. To help organize your installation, use a unique name if you plan to create more than one application server on the machine.
    Host name

    DNS name of your machine

    		Addressable through your network. Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your machine to enable communication with your machine. See additional information about the host name following this table.

    Node name considerations: If you plan to migrate an installation of V5.x Network Deployment to V6 and migrate one of the managed nodes in the cell, use the same node name for the V6 application server that you used for the V5.x managed node.

    Directory path considerations: The installation directory path must be less than or equal to 60 characters.

    Host name considerations:

    The host name is the network name for the physical machine on which the node is installed. The host name must resolve to a physical network node on the server. When multiple network cards exist in the server, the host name or IP address must resolve to one of the network cards. Remote nodes use the host name to connect to and communicate with this node. Selecting a host name that other machines can reach within your network is extremely important. Do not use the generic identifier, localhost, for this value. Also, do not attempt to install WebSphere Application Server products on a machine with a host name that uses characters from the double-byte character set (DBCS). DBCS characters are not supported when used in the host name.

    If you define coexisting nodes on the same computer with unique IP addresses, define each IP address in a domain name server (DNS) look-up table. Configuration files for stand-alone Application Servers do not provide domain name resolution for multiple IP addresses on a machine with a single network address.

    The value that you specify for the host name is used as the value of the hostName property in configuration documents for the stand-alone Application Server. Specify the host name value in one of the following formats:

    • Fully qualified domain name server (DNS) host name string, such as xmachine.manhattan.ibm.com

    • The default short DNS host name string, such as xmachine

    • Numeric IP address, such as 127.1.255.3

    The fully qualified DNS host name has the advantages of being totally unambiguous and flexible. You have the flexibility of changing the actual IP address for the host system without having to change the Application Server configuration. This value for the host name is particularly useful if you plan to change the IP address frequently when using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to assign IP addresses. A format disadvantage is a dependency on DNS. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.

    The short host name is also dynamically resolvable. A short name format has the added ability of being redefined in the local hosts file so that the system can run the Application Server, even when disconnected from the network. Define the short name to 127.0.0.1 (local loopback) in the hosts file to run disconnected. A format disadvantage is a dependency on DNS for remote access. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.

    A numeric IP address has the advantage of not requiring name resolution through DNS. A remote node can connect to the node that you name with a numeric IP address without DNS being available. A format disadvantage is that the numeric IP address is fixed. You must change the setting of the hostName property in Express configuration documents whenever you change the machine IP address. Therefore, do not use a numeric IP address if you use DHCP, or if you change IP addresses regularly. Another format disadvantage is that we cannot use the node if the host is disconnected from the network.

    After specifying application server characteristics, the wizard displays the Port value assignment panel.

  7. Verify that the ports specified for the stand-alone application server are unique; click Next.

    Ports are recognized as being in use if

    • They are assigned to a profile created under an installation performed by the current user.

    Validation of ports occurs when you access the Port value assignment panel. Conflicts can still occur between the Port value assignment panel and the Profile Creation Complete panel because ports are not assigned until profile creation completes.

  8. Choose whether to run the Application server as a Windows service on a Windows platform, then click Next.

    • WebSphere Application Server attempts to start Windows services for application server processes that are started by a startServer command. For example, if you configure an application server as a Windows service and issue the startServer command, the wasservice command attempts to start the defined service.

      If you chose to install a local system service, you do not have to specify your user ID or password. If you create a specified user type of service, specify the user ID and the password for the user who runs the service. The user must have Log on as a service authority for the service to run properly.

      To perform this installation task, the user ID must not have spaces in its name. The ID must also belong to the administrator group and must have the advanced user rights Act as part of the operating system and Log on as a service. The Installation wizard grants the user ID the advanced user rights if it does not already have them, if the user ID belongs to the administrator group.

      We can also create other Windows services after the installation is complete, to start other server processes. See Automatically restarting server processes for more information.

      IPv6 considerations

      Profiles created to run as a Windows service fail to start when using IPv6 if the service is configured to run as Local System. Create a user-specific environment variable to enable IPv6. Since this environment variable is a user variable instead of a Local System variable, only a Windows service that runs as that specific user can access this environment variable. By default, when a new profile is created and configured to run as a Windows service, the service is set to run as Local System. When the WAS Windows service tries to run, the service is unable to access the user environment variable that specifies IPv6, and thus tries to start as IPv4. The server does not start correctly in this case. To resolve the problem, when creating the profile, specify that the WAS Windows service runs as the same user ID under which the environment variable that specifies IPv6 is defined, instead of as Local System.

    The next wizard panel shows which components are selected for installation in a pre-installation summary panel.

  9. Click Next to create the application server or click Back to change the characteristics of the application server.

    The wizard displays the Installation status panel that shows which components are installing.

    When the installation is complete, the wizard displays the Profile creation is complete panel.

  10. Optionally select to launch the First steps console, then click Finish to exit.

    The First steps console allows you to do such actions as create additional profiles and start the application server.

 

Results

You created an application server profile. The node within the profile has an application server named server1.

Refer to the description of the wasprofile command to learn about creating a profile using a command instead of a wizard.

 

What to do next

Deploy an application to get started.

See Fast paths for WebSphere Application Server to get started deploying applications.

 

See also


responsefile.pct.NDstandAloneProfile.txt
Related tasks
wasprofile command Creating profiles through the graphical user interface Related reference
Profiles: file system requirements