Removing attributes

Due to a Virtual Member Manager (VMM) limitation, there is currently no task to update an attribute. Therefore, if you added an attribute to your property extension database or when adapting attributes to match your LDAP server that were spelled incorrectly or already added due to migration, you must remove the attribute from the database. Use caution when performing these steps.

About this task

Perform the following steps to remove an attribute from your database:

Important: Do not remove attributes that have already been populated with user values because this can cause database inconsistencies.

Cluster note: In a clustered environment, complete the following steps on the deployment manager and then resynch the nodes.

Procedure

Before you configure security, you must use the IBM® WebSphere® Application Server backupConfig task to create and store a backup of the IBM WebSphere Portal configuration; see backupConfig command for information.
Complete the following steps to remove an attribute stored in a property extension database:
1. Open the tool you use to edit your database.
2. Verify that your attribute name is available in the LAPROP table.
3. Delete the required attributes from the LAPROP table.
4. Open the wimxmlextension.xml file, located in the dmgr_profile_root/config/cells/cellname/wim/model directory.
5. Locate and delete the propertySchema definition for the attributes that you deleted from the LAPROP table; for example:
```
    <wim:propertySchema nsURI="http://www.ibm.com/websphere/wim" dataType="String"
        multiValued="true" propertyName="attribute_name">
      <wim:applicableEntityTypeNames>PersonAccount</wim:applicableEntityTypeNames>
    </wim:propertySchema>
```
6. Save your changes to the wimxmlextension.xml file.
7. Open the wimconfig.xml file, located in the dmgr_profile_root/config/cells/cellname/wim/config directory.
8. Locate and delete the attributes or propertiesNotSupported definitions for the attributes that you deleted from the LAPROP table. For example:
```
<config:attributes name="attribute_name" propertyName="attribute_name">
<config:entityTypes> PersonAccount </config:entityTypes>
<config:entityTypes> Group </config:entityTypes>
</config:attributes>
```
  or
```
<config:propertiesNotSupported name="attribute_name">
```
9. Save your changes to the wimconfig.xml file.
10. Stop and restart all the deployment manager, node agents, and WebSphere_Portal server to propagate the changes.
Complete the following steps to remove an attribute that is not stored in a property extension database:
1. Open the wimxmlextension.xml file.
2. Locate and delete the propertySchema definition for the attributes you previously added:
```
<wim:propertySchema nsURI="http://www.ibm.com/websphere/wim" dataType="String"
        multiValued="true" propertyName="attribute_name">
   <wim:applicableEntityTypeNames>PersonAccount</wim:applicableEntityTypeNames>
    </wim:propertySchema>
```
3. Save your changes to the wimxmlextension.xml file.
4. Open the wimconfig.xml file.
5. Locate and delete the stanza that corresponds to the custom attribute you deleted from the wimextension.xml file; for example:
```
<config:attributes name="attribute_name" propertyName="property_name">
          		<config:entityTypes>PersonAccount</config:entityTypes>
	</config:attributes>
```
6. Save your changes to the wimconfig.xml file.
7. Stop and restart the WebSphere_Portal server.