Configuring binary location and use

You can designate where binary files (binaries) used by your application reside, whether the product distributes binaries for you automatically, and otherwise configure the use of binaries.

Before you begin

Your application or module is already deployed on a server.

About this task

You can change the settings of an application or module using the administrative console.

Attention: If an application is running, changing an application setting causes the application to restart. On stand-alone servers, the application restarts after you save the change. On multiple-server products, the application restarts after you save the change and files synchronize on the node where the application is installed. To control when synchronization occurs on multiple-server products, deselect Synchronize changes with nodes on the Console preferences page.

Procedure

  1. Click Applications > Application Types > WebSphere enterprise applications > application_name > Application binaries in the console navigation tree.

    The Application binaries page is displayed.

  2. Specify the directory to hold the application binaries.

    The default is ${APP_INSTALL_ROOT}/cell_name, where the ${APP_INSTALL_ROOT} variable is profile_root/installedApps. For example:

    [AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows][z/OS]
    C:/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/profile_name/installedApps/cell_name
    [IBM i]
    profile_root/installedApps/cell_name

    Refer to Application binary settings for a detailed description of the Location (full path) setting.

  3. Specify the bindings, extensions, and deployment descriptors that an application server uses.

    By default, an application server uses the bindings, extensions, and deployment descriptors located with the application deployment document, the deployment.xml file.

    To specify that the application server use the bindings, extensions, and deployment descriptors located in the application archive (EAR) file, select Use configuration information in binary.

  4. Specify whether the product distributes application binaries automatically to other nodes on the cell.
    By default, Enable binary distribution, expansion and cleanup post uninstallation is selected and binaries are distributed automatically.
    Note: The Enable binary distribution, expansion and cleanup post uninstallation value is not intended to be changed after the application is installed. If you need to change this attribute, uninstall the application and install it with the new value for the attribute.

    If you disable this option, then you must ensure that the application binaries are expanded appropriately in the destination directories of all nodes where the application runs.

    Important: If you disable this option and you do not copy and expand the application binaries to the nodes, a later saving of the configuration or manual synchronization does not move the application binaries to the nodes for you.
  5. Specify access permissions for binaries.
    1. Ensure that the Enable binary distribution, expansion and cleanup post uninstallation option is enabled.
      That option must be enabled to specify access permissions for binaries.
    2. For File permissions, specify a string that defines access permissions for binaries that are expanded in the named location.

      You can specify file permissions in the text field. You can also set some of the commonly used file permissions by selecting them from the multiple-selection list. List selections overwrite file permissions set in the text field.

      For details on File permissions, refer to Application binary settings.

  6. Click OK.

Results

The application or module configuration is changed. The application or stand-alone web module is restarted so the changes take effect.

What to do next

If the application or module is deployed on a cluster and you have no more configuration changes to make, click Rollout Update on the Enterprise applications page to propagate the changed configuration on all cluster members of the cluster on which the application or module is deployed. Rollout Update sequentially updates the configuration on the nodes that contain cluster members.

Save changes to your administrative configuration.

In multiple-server products, the application binaries are transferred to nodes when the configuration changes on the deployment manager synchronize with configurations for individual nodes on which the application will run.