WebSphere Application Server

Muhammad Qasim
IBM Resource

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OUTLINE

WebSphere Application Sever Basics

Architecture
Administration
Troubleshooting
Backup and Recovery

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 WebSphere Application Sever

WebSphere Application Sever

Basics

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WebSphere Application Sever Basics

 Application servers provide a place to

execute policies, to enforce terms and
conditions, and to apply business rules.

 WebSphere is an application server that

runs business applications and supports
the J2EE and web services standards.

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WebSphere Application Sever Basics
WebSphere Application Server Directory Structure

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 WebSphere Application Sever

Architecture

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 Architecture
A single node WebSphere architecture

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 Architecture
 Node and Cell
 HTTP server
 WebSphere plug-in
 Web Container
 EJB Container
 Application database
 Administration service
 Configuration repository
 Administration console

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 Architecture

 Nodes: WebSphere architectures contain one or

more computer systems, which are referred to in
WebSphere terminology as nodes.

 Cell: A WebSphere cell can contain one node

on which all software components are installed or
multiple nodes on which the software components are
distributed.

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 Architecture
 HTTP Server: The HTTP server, more typically
known as the Web server, accepts page requests from
Web browsers and returns Web page content to Web
browsers using the HTTP protocol.

 Requests for Java servlets and JavaServer Pages

(JSPs) are passed by the Web server to WebSphere
for execution. WebSphere executes the servlet or JSP
and returns the response to the Web server, which in
turn forwards the response to the Web browser for
display.

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 Architecture
 WebSphere plug-in : The WebSphere plug-in
integrates with the HTTP Server and directs requests
for WebSphere resources (servlets, JSPs, etc.) to the
embedded HTTP server.
 The WebSphere plug-in uses a configuration file called
plugin-cfg.xml file to determine which requests are to
be handled by WebSphere.
 As applications are deployed to the WebSphere
configuration, this file must be regenerated (typically
using the Administration Console) and distributed to all
Web servers, so that they know which URL requests
to direct to WebSphere.

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 Architecture

 Web Container: The Web container processes

servlets, JSP files and other types of server-side
includes.

 EJB Container: The EJB container provides all the

runtime services needed to deploy and
manage enterprise beans.

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 Architecture
 Application database : WebSphere applications
such as IBM's commerce and portal products use a
relational database for storing configuration
information and data.

 WebSphere supports a wide range of database

products, including the following:

ORACLE

IBM DB2

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 Architecture
 Administration service: Each application server
contains an administration service that is responsible for
reading and maintaining the configuration information and
run-time status of the application server.
 Configuration repository: The configuration repository
is a collection of XML files that contains the configuration
information for all application servers on a given node. The
administration service reads the configuration information
for its application server from the configuration repository.
 Administration console: The administration console
provides a Web-based interface for managing a
WebSphere cell from a central location.

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 WebSphere Application Server

Administration

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 Administration
 Each application server has an administration service
that provides the necessary functions to manipulate
configuration data for the server and its components.
The configuration is stored in the repository.

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 Administration
 Administrative console: The administrative console
is a Web browser based interface that provides
configuration and operation capability.
 Commands: WebSphere Application Server provides
a set of commands in the <server_install>/bin
directory that allow you to perform a subset of
administrative functions.
 wsadmin scripting client The wsadmin scripting
client provides extra flexibility over the Web-based
administration application, allowing administration
using the command-line interface.

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 WebSphere Application Server

Troubleshooting

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 Troubleshooting
 Problems within an e-business environment can take
many forms, including poor performance, application
unavailability, or unexpected results.
 WebSphere provides some sources of feedback to help
with problem determination.
 Administrative console messages. These provide
important information regarding runtime events and
configuration problems.
 Log files. Several general-purpose logs are provided,
such as JVM standard logs, process (native) logs, and
IBM service logs.

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 Troubleshooting
 Traces: Traces provide more detailed information about
WebSphere components to determine what is wrong with your
WebSphere environment.
 Log Analyzer: The Log Analyzer is a GUI tool that permits the
user to view any logs generated with log analyzer trace format,
such as the IBM service log file. This tool allows the user to get
error message explanations and information such as why the
error occurred and how to recover from it.
 Thread Analyzer. The Thread Analyzer technology preview
assists analyzing Java stack trace files and viewing the threads,
both for hung or deadlock conditions.
 There are some other tools as well such as Collector tool &
FFDC.

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 WebSphere Application Server

Backup and Recovery

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 Backup and Recovery
The configuration repository is stored in Extensible
Markup Language (XML) files in the
configuration directory tree.

To back up the configuration, use one (or a

combination) of the methods.

 Backup Through OS commands

 Backup through backupConfig utility

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 Backup and Recovery
 Backup Through OS commands: Stop the
application server process, and make a copy
of the entire <WASV61-ROOT> directory.
 Backup through backupConfig utility: Go to the
<WASV61-ROOT>\bin or <PROFILE-ROOT>\bin
directory, and run backupConfig. The backupConfig
utility generates a ZIP archive file called
WebSphereConfig_date.zip
 To restore the configuration from the backup, run the
command: restoreConfig.sh filename.zip

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