KC02: WebSphere Appliance Management Toolkit for WebSphere Appliances

WebSphere Appliance Management Toolkit is an API package that Java and Jython applications can use to manage appliances.

It provides fast time to value with firmware deployment, domain and configuration services and deployment policy management capabilities.

Centrally manage appliance firmware and configurations across groups of WebSphere DataPower appliances:

• Support for multiple generations of WebSphere DataPower appliances, including XS40, XG45, XB60, XB62, XM70, XI50, XI50b, XI50z, XI52, XC10.
• Firmware management.
• Domain and configuration management including support for deployment policies across multiple environments.
• Automatic synchronisation across multiple appliances.
• Version control for deployment artifacts.
• Service configuration management including support for deployment policies across multiple environments.
• Operating Systems: Windows, Linux, and AIX.

Possible Uses
You can write software that uses the WebSphere Appliance Management Toolkit to manage collections of devices, called ManagedSets. The software must insatiate and complete the configuration steps to use the device management functions. Each ManagedSet can consist of heterogeneous DataPower devices with different hardware types, firmware levels, and licenses. The Toolkit lets you easily synchronise configuration changes across a set of devices, support configuration life cycle deployment at both domain and service levels, centralise firmware management, and perform disaster recovery. It also helps you quiesce and un quiesce DataPower devices and domains for maintenance, and it supports operations on single unmanaged devices that do not belong to a ManagedSet.

New in this Release
06Mar13:
• More status available via SOMA support.
13Dec12:
Support for IBM WebSphere DataPower Virtual Edition appliances:
• IBM WebSphere DataPower Service Gateway XG45 Virtual Edition.
• IBM WebSphere DataPower Integration Applicance XI52 Virtual Edition.

Details
Author: Jason C S Yang, DataPower Development (jasony@tw.ibm.com)
Category: 2
Released: 17Jul12
Last updated: 21Mar13
Current SupportPac Version: 1.6.3.1
»Note the Software version number shown in the side-bar is the most recent version of the WebSphere DataPower firmware product to which this offering applies. The Modified date is the date of the last web page refresh.

1. Java version:
You must use Java Version 1.5 or later.
If you have Java installed, to determine the version of Java you have installed, type the following command: java -version.
You can also download it from the link in the downloads section.

2. JVM settings:
Due to the large size of firmware files, it is recommended that the heap size of the JVM be set to at least 768 MB. Otherwise, you may encounter out-of-memory errors, especially when dealing with large firmware images. The following example causes Java to set an initial heap size of 768MB and a maximum of 1024 MB. (These values are sample values -- suitable values may differ for other applications.) Example: java -Xms768m -Xmx1024m YourClass.

3. Java classpath:
Java classes that use the Toolkit require the following JAR files in their classpath:
WAMT-1.6.2.1.jar
stax-api-1.0.1.jar
xbean.jar
ssh-1.2.2.jar (Only required when you want to manage XC10 devices)

Please refer to WAMT developerWorks.