A generic server is a server that is managed in the WebSphere® Application Server administrative
domain even though the server is not a server that is supplied by WebSphere Application Server. The WebSphere Application Server generic servers
function enables you to define a generic server as an application
server instance within the WebSphere Application Server administration,
and associate it with a non-WebSphere WebSphere Application Server or process.
About this task
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 Application
Server environment, including:
- A Java server
- A C or C++ server or process
- A CORBA server
- A Remote Method Invocation (RMI) server
You can use the wsadmin tool or the administrative console
to create a generic server.
Avoid trouble: For the Base
WebSphere Application Server, you cannot use
the administrative console to create a generic application server
definition or use the administrative console to start, stop or, in
any way, control or manage that application server. To create a generic
server, use the wsadmin tool. To manage Base generic application servers,
you need to use the command prompt environment, such as
startServer <genericServerName>
or
stopServer <genericServerName>
or
serverStatus <genericServerName>
.
Procedure
- Create a non-Java application as a generic server.
The following steps describe how to use the administrative console to create a non-Java
application as a generic application server.
- Select Servers > Generic servers
- Click New.
- Type in a name for the generic server.
The name must be unique within the product environment. It is
recommended that you use a naming scheme that makes it easy to distinguish your generic application
servers from regular WebSphere Application Server servers.
- Click Next
- Click Finish.
The generic server now appears as an option on the
Generic servers page in the administrative console.
- On the Generic servers page, click on the name of the generic
server.
- Under Additional Properties, click Process Definition.
- 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 you are using a perl script as a generic server, enter the path to the perl.exe
module in the Executable name field.
If you 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 your 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.
- Click OK.
- Create a Java application as
a generic server:
The following steps describe how
to use the administrative console to create a Java application as
a generic application server.
- Select
- Click New.
- Type in a name for the generic server.
The name must
be unique within the application server. It is highly recommended
that you use a naming scheme that makes it easy to distinguish your
generic application servers from regular WebSphere Application Server servers.
- Click Next
- Click Finish.
The generic server now
appears as an option on the Application servers page in the
administrative console.
- Click Finish.
The generic server now
appears as an option on the Generic servers page in the administrative
console.
- On the Generic servers page, click on the name of the
generic server.
- Under Additional Properties, click Process definition.
- In the Executable name field under General Properties,
enter the path for the WebSphere Application Server default
JVM, ${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java, which is used to
run the Java application when you start this generic server.
- 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 the product is JAVA_CLASS.
- 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 WebSphere Application Server is com.ibm.ws.runtime.WsServer.
- Click OK.
Note: If the generic server
is to run on an application server other than a WebSphere Application Server server, leave
the Executable name field set to the default value and specify the
Java class containing the main function for your application serve
in the Executable target field.
What to do next
After you define a generic server, use the Application Server
administrative console to start, stop, and monitor the associated
non-WebSphere Application Server server
or process when stopping or starting the applications that rely on
them.Avoid trouble: You use the Terminate or Stop buttons
in the administrative console to stop any application server, including
a generic application server.