Create generic servers

A generic server is a server that is managed in the WAS admin domain even though the server is not a server that is supplied by WAS. The WAS generic servers function enables you to define a generic server as an application server instance within the WAS administration, and associate it with a non-WebSphere WebSphere Application server or process.

There are two basic types of generic application servers:

• Non-Java applications or processes.

• Java applications or processes

Therefore, a generic server can be any server or process that is necessary to support the appserver environment, including:

• A Java server

• A C or C++ server or process

• A CORBA server

• A RMI server

Use wsadmin or the admin console to create a generic server.

 

• Create a non-Java application as a generic server.

  The following steps describe how to use the admin console to create a non-Java application as a generic appserver.

  1. Select Servers > Generic servers

  2. Click New.

  3. Type in a name for the generic server.

     The name must be unique within the node. IBM recommends that you use a naming scheme that makes it easy to distinguish the generic appservers from regular WAS servers.

  4. Click Next

  5. Click Finish. The generic server now appears as an option on the Generic servers page in the admin console.

  6. On the Generic servers page, click on the name of the generic server.

  7. Under Additional Properties, click Process Definition.

  8. In the Executable name field, enter the name of the non-java process that is launched when you start this generic server.

     For example, if we are using a perl script as a generic server, enter the path to the perl.exe module in the Executable name field. If we have additional arguments, such as the name of the perl script and its parameters, enter them in the Executable arguments field. Multiple arguments must be separated by carriage returns. Use the Enter key on the keyboard to create these carriage returns in the Executable arguments field.

     The following example illustrates how a perl script application that requires two arguments should appear in this field:

     perl_application.pl arg1 arg2
     

     Avoid trouble: The Executable target type and Executable target properties are not used for non-Java applications. Executable target type and Executable target properties are only used for Java applications.

  9. Click OK.

• Create a Java application as a generic server:

  The following steps describe how to use the admin console to create a Java application as a generic appserver.

  1. Select Servers > Server Types > Generic servers

  2. Click New.

  3. Type in a name for the generic server.

     The name must be unique within the node. It is highly recommended that you use a naming scheme that makes it easy to distinguish your generic appservers from regular WAS servers.

  4. Click Next

  5. Click Finish. The generic server now appears as an option on the Application servers page in the admin console.

  6. Click Finish. The generic server now appears as an option on the Generic servers page in the admin console.

  7. On the Generic servers page, click on the name of the generic server.

  8. Under Additional Properties, click Process definition.

  9. In the Executable name field under General Properties, enter the path for the WAS default JVM, ${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java, which is used to run the Java application when you start this generic server.

  10. In the Executable target type field under General Properties, select whether a Java class name, JAVA_CLASS, or the name of an executable JAR file, EXECUTABLE_JAR, is used as the executable target of this Java process. The default value for WAS is JAVA_CLASS.

  11. In the Executable target field under General Properties, enter the name of the executable target. Depending on the executable target type, this is either a Java class containing a main() method, or the name of an executable JAR file.) The default value for WAS is com.ibm.ws.runtime.WsServer.

  12. Click OK.

      If the generic server is to run on an appserver other than a WAS server, leave the Executable name field set to the default value and specify the Java class containing the main function for the application serve in the Executable target field.

 

Next steps

After you define a generic server, use the appserver admin console to start, stop, and monitor the associated non-WAS server or process when stopping or starting the applications that rely on them.

Avoid trouble: Use either the Terminate or Stop buttons in the admin console to stop any appserver, including a generic appserver.

Starting and terminating generic appservers
Generic server settings

 

Related tasks

Manage generic servers using scripting
Create a server using scripting
Getting started with scripting
Administer appservers