WebSphere Application Server 7.0 Administration Guide (Paperback)

Manage and administer your WebSphere application server to create a reliable, secure, and scalable environment for running your applications

• Create a reliable, secure, and flexible environment to build and run WebSphere applications efficiently
• Learn WebSphere security, performance tuning, and debugging concepts with a variety of real-life examples
• Thoroughly covers Java messaging, administrative agent, and product maintenance features
• No previous knowledge of WebSphere is expected

In Detail

As an administrator you need a secure, scalable, resilient application infrastructure to support the developers building and managing J2EE applications and Service Oriented Architecture services. WebSphere application server, a product from IBM, is optimized to ease administration and improve runtime performance. It helps you run applications and services in a reliable, secure, and high-performance environment to ensure business opportunities are not lost due to application downtime.

It's easy to get started and tame this powerful application server when you've got this book to hand. This administration guide will help you provide an innovative, performance-based foundation to build, run, and manage J2EE applications and SOA services, offering the highest level of reliability, security, and scalability.

This book will take you through the different methods for installing WebSphere application server and demonstrate how to configure and prepare WebSphere resources for your application deployments. During configuration you will be shown how to administer your WebSphere server standalone or using the new administrative agent, which provides the ability to administer multiple installations of WebSphere application server using one single administration console. WebSphere security is covered in detail showing the various methods of implanting federated user and group repositories. The facets of data-aware and message-aware applications are explained and demonstrated giving the reader real-world examples of manual and automated deployments. Key administration features and tools are introduced, which will help a WebSphere administrator manage and tune their WebSphere implementation and application for success.

What you will learn from this book?

• Install your applications manually and learn to automate the process using scripts
• Secure the WebSphere application server's administrative console with different levels of access for administration
• Save many hours of manual administrative efforts by automating the configuration of WebSphere
• Learn how to read, configure, and search your server logs
• Allow communication between applications by implementing Java messaging
• Monitor performance and tune your applications and WebSphere for best performance
• Remotely install applications on application servers using the administrative agent
• Change application server configurations, stop and restart application servers, and create additional application servers from a single administrative console
• Administer multiple application servers by using a single administrative console
• Diagnose the problems using command-line tools when your WebSphere or applications are not running as they should
• Keep your products up to date by using WebSphere product maintenance features

Chapter 1 - Installation

Chapter 1 covers how to plan and prepare your WebSphere installation and shows how to manually install WebSphere using the graphical installer and how to use a response file for automated silent installation. The fundamentals of application server profiles are described and the administrative console is introduced.

Chapter 2 - Application Deployment

Chapter 2 explains the make up of EAR files, how to manually deploy applications, and how JNDI is used in the configuration of resources. Connecting to Databases is explained via the configuration of JDBC drivers and data sources used in the deployment of a data-aware application.

Chapter 3 - Security

Chapter 3 demonstrates the implementation of global security and how to federate LDAP and file-based registries for managing WebSphere security. Roles are explained where users and groups can be assigned different administrative capabilities.

Chapter 4 - Administrative Scripting

Chapter 4 introduces ws_ant, a utility for using apache Ant build scripts to deploy and configure applications. Advanced administrative scripting is demonstrated by using the wsadmin tool with Jython scripts, covering how WebSphere deployment and configuration can be automated using the extensive WebSphere Jython scripting objects.

Chapter 5 - WebSphere Configuration

Chapter 5 explains the WebSphere installation structure and key XML files, which make up the underlying WebSphere configuration repository. WebSphere logging is covered showing the types of log and log settings that are vital for administration. Application Server JVM settings and Class Loading are explained.

Chapter 6 - WebSphere Messaging

Chapter 6 explains basic JMS messaging concepts and demonstrates both JMS messaging using the default messaging provider and WebSphere MQ along with explanations of message types. Use of Queue Connection Factories, Queues, and Queue Destinations are demonstrated via a sample application.

Chapter 7 - Monitoring and Tuning

Chapter 7 shows how to use Tivoli Performance Monitor, Request Metrics, and JVM tuning settings to help you improve WebSphere performance and monitor the running state of your deployed applications.

Chapter 8 - Administrative Features

Chapter 8 covers how to enable the administrative agent for administering multiple application servers with a central administrative console. IBM HTTP Server and the WebSphere Plugin are explained.

Chapter 9 - Administration Tools

Chapter 9 demonstrates some of the shell-script based utilities vital to the WebSphere administrator for debugging and problem resolution.

Chapter 10 - Product Maintenance

Chapter 10 shows how to maintain your WebSphere application server by keeping it up to date with the latest fix-packs and feature packs.

Approach

This book is an example-driven tutorial that introduces you to the WebSphere application server and then takes you through all the major aspects of server configuration. It covers everything you need to deploy and tune your applications for best performance.

Who this book is written for?

This book is for administrators with some experience in Java who want to get started with WebSphere. Existing WebSphere users will also find this book useful, especially as there are so many new features in the new version.

No previous knowledge of WebSphere is assumed.