Introduction: Administrative configuration data

WebSphere® Application Server configuration data is kept in files. All administrative actions that you perform involve changes to these files.

Administrative tasks typically involve defining new configurations of the product or performing operations on managed resources within the environment. WebSphere Application Server configuration data is kept in files. Because all product configuration involves changing the content of those files, it is useful to know the structure and content of the configuration files.

The WebSphere Application Server product includes an implementation of the Java™ Management Extension (JMX) specification. All operations on managed resources in the product go through JMX functions. This setup means a more standard framework underlying your administrative operations as well as the ability to tap into the systems management infrastructure programmatically.