Using the Administration Thin Client

With the Administration Thin Client, you can run the wsadmin tool or a standalone administrative Java™ program with only a couple of Java archive (JAR) files. This reduces the amount of time that it takes for the wsadmin tool to start and improved performance. This information should be used to set up JMX client programs.

1. Make the Administration Thin Client JAR files available by copying com.ibm.ws.admin.clientXXX.jar from a WebSphere® Application Server environment to an environment outside of WebSphere Application Server, for example, c:\MyThinClient.
   The com.ibm.ws.admin.client_8.5.0.jar Administration Thin Client JAR file is located in one of the following locations:

   • The AppServer/runtimes directory.
   • The AppClient/runtimes directory, if you optionally selected the Administration Thin Client when you installed the application client.
2. Use the Administration Thin Client JAR files to compile and test administration client programs. For Java applications, you can compile and run the JAR files within a standard Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition environment. For more information, see the Compiling an administration application using the Thin Administration Client topic.
3. Copy the messages directory from the app_server_root/properties directory to the C:\MyThinClient\properties directory.
4. If security is turned on, you also need the following files:
   • Copy the com.ibm.ws.security.crypto.jar file from either the AppServer/plugins directory or the AppClient/plugins directory and put it in the C:\MyThinClient directory.
   • If you are using the IPC connector, optionally copy the ipc.client.props file from the AppServer\profiles\profileName/properties or the AppClient\properties directory and put it in the C:\MyThinClient\properties directory. Alternatively, you can set the properties in the ipc.client.props file programmatically in your Java code.
   • If you are using the SOAP connector, optionally copy the soap.client.props file from the AppServer\profiles\profileName\properties directory and put it in the C:\MyThinClient\properties directory. Then, enable the client security by setting the com.ibm.CORBA.securityEnabled property to true. Alternatively, you can set the properties in the soap.client.props file programmatically in your Java code.
   • If you are using RMI or JSR160RMI connectors, copy the sas.client.props file from the AppServer/profiles/profileName/properties directory and put it in the C:\MyThinClient\properties directory.

     If there is a firewall in your installation and your application client uses RMI to receive notifications, you might get a RemoteException error after trying to deploy an application. A notifications listener with RMI does not work across a firewall because it requires a listener port on the client listening for notifications. This listener port is not directly accessible when the server tries to send notifications back to the client port. Instead of RMI, use a SOAP connector, which polls for notifications.

     Deprecated feature: Convert your RMI connectors to JSR160RMI connectors because support for the RMI connector is deprecated.
   • Copy the wsjaas_client.conf files from either the AppServer\profiles\profileName/properties directory or the AppClient/properties directory, and put them in the C:\MyThinClient\properties directory.
   • Copy or generate the ssl.client.props file from either the AppServer\profiles\profileName/properties directory or the AppClient/properties directory and put it in the C:\MyThinClient\properties directory.
     Attention: This file contains the user.root property. You must modify the value to your thin client directory, for example, C:\MyThinClient.
   • If you are using the IBM SDK, copy the key.p12 and trust.p12 files from AppServer\profiles\profileName\etc directory and put it to C:\MyThinClient\etc directory. To complete this task, copy the file to your thin client directory or run a script to generate the file. For more information, see the following topics:
     • ssl.client.props client configuration file
     • Interoperating with previous product versions
     • retrieveSigners command
     • Secure installation for client signer retrieval in SSL
   • If you are using the Sun JDK, change the following properties in the ssl.client.props file so that it uses JKS key and truststores and Sun Microsystems implementations on the key and trust managers (This change assumes that you have the JKS files available for use. If you do not have the JKS files, you can create them using the ikeyman tool.):

     com.ibm.ssl.alias=DefaultSSLSettings
     com.ibm.ssl.protocol=SSL
     com.ibm.ssl.securityLevel=HIGH
     com.ibm.ssl.trustManager=SunX509
     com.ibm.ssl.keyManager=SunX509
     com.ibm.ssl.contextProvider=SunJSSE
     com.ibm.ssl.enableSignerExchangePrompt=gui
     
     # Keystore information
     com.ibm.ssl.keyStoreName=ClientDefaultKeyStore
     com.ibm.ssl.keyStore=${user.root}/etc/keystore.jks
     com.ibm.ssl.keyStorePassword=keystore_password
     com.ibm.ssl.keyStoreType=JKS
     com.ibm.ssl.keyStoreProvider=SUN
     com.ibm.ssl.keyStoreFileBased=true
     
     # Truststore information
     com.ibm.ssl.trustStoreName=ClientDefaultTrustStore
     com.ibm.ssl.trustStore=${user.root}/etc/truststore.jks
     com.ibm.ssl.trustStorePassword=truststore_password
     com.ibm.ssl.trustStoreType=JKS
     com.ibm.ssl.trustStoreProvider=SUN
     com.ibm.ssl.trustStoreFileBased=true

5. Launch the Administration Thin Client or run the wsadmin tool remotely in a Java 2 Platform, Standard Edition environment.
   To launch your administration application, use the following sample launch scripts:

   Note: If you are using the Oracle JDK, set the com.ibm.websphere.thinclient JVM property to true.

   

   set WAS_HOME=c:\MyThinClient 
   set USER_INSTALL_ROOT=%WAS_HOME% 
   set JAVA_HOME=location_of_the_JRE_file 
   
   @REM C_PATH is the class path.  Add to it as needed. 
   set C_PATH=%WAS_HOME%\com.ibm.ws.admin.client_8.5.0.jar;%WAS_HOME%\com.ibm.ws.security.crypto.jar 
   set SOAPURL=-Dcom.ibm.SOAP.ConfigURL=%WAS_HOME%\properties\soap.client.props 
   
   set TC=-Dcom.ibm.websphere.thinclient=true
   
   if exist %JAVA_HOME%\bin\java.exe ( 
      set JAVA_EXE=%JAVA_HOME%\bin\java 
   ) else ( 
      set JAVA_EXE=%JAVA_HOME%\jre\bin\java 
   ) 
   
   %JAVA_EXE%  -classpath "%C_PATH%" %TC% -Duser.install.root=%USER_INSTALL_ROOT% 
   -Dcom.ibm.SSL.ConfigURL=file:%WAS_HOME%/properties/ssl.client.props %SOAPURL% your_class_file

   

   #!/bin/bash
   WAS_HOME=/MyThinClient 
   USER_INSTALL_ROOT=${WAS_HOME}
   JAVA_HOME=location_of_the_JRE_file
   
   # C_PATH is the class path.  Add to it as needed. 
   C_PATH=${WAS_HOME}/com.ibm.ws.admin.client_8.5.0.jar:${WAS_HOME}/com.ibm.ws.security.crypto.jar 
   SOAPURL=-Dcom.ibm.SOAP.ConfigURL=${WAS_HOME}/properties/soap.client.props 
   
   TC=-Dcom.ibm.websphere.thinclient=true
   
   if [[ -f ${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java ]]; then
      JAVA_EXE="${JAVA_HOME}/bin/java"
   else
      JAVA_EXE="${JAVA_HOME}/jre/bin/java"
   fi
   
   ${JAVA_EXE}  -classpath "${C_PATH}" $TC -Duser.install.root=${USER_INSTALL_ROOT} 
   -Dcom.ibm.SSL.ConfigURL=file:${WAS_HOME}/properties/ssl.client.props ${SOAPURL} your_class_file