Creating a WebSphere Application Server on the cloud

You can create a server to specify a WebSphere® Application Server runtime environment for testing or publishing your project resources. Example usages of a runtime environment are compiling an application, connecting to a server, and publishing applications on a server.

Before you begin

About this task

The task of creating a WebSphere Application Server involves creating a reference from the workbench to an existing installation of an application server and its profile. You can use this reference to handle your server requests from the workbench. An example of visualizing this reference, is the server entry that displays in the Servers view:

This is a graphic of a screen capture of the WebSphere Application Server in the Servers view.

Procedure

  1. Select any of the following options:
    • In the Servers view (Window > Show View > Servers), right-click and select New > Server.
    • In the menu bar, click File > New > Other. Expand the Server folder, select Server and click Next.
  2. In the Select the server type list, under the IBM folder select the version of server you want to create. Only WebSphere Application Server v7.0 and v8.0 are supported by the IBM SmartCloud at this time.
  3. Select Server to be defined here is for use in a cloud environment. The Server's host name field will become read-only and be autofilled with Cloud Services.
  4. (Optional) In the Server name field, type a label to identify this server entry in the Servers view. By default, this field is completed with the following naming conventions: server type @ host name, for example WebSphere Application Server v7.0 at Cloud Services.
  5. If the workbench has a reference to a WebSphere Application Server runtime environment, a Server runtime environment list is available to select a runtime environment. In addition, you can add additional runtime environments by clicking the Add link or you can modify the runtime environments defined in the workbench by clicking the Configure runtime environments link.
  6. If the workbench does not have a reference to the server runtime environment, the New Server wizard is going to prompt you for this information in the WebSphere Application Server Runtime Environment page. Otherwise, this page does not display in the New Server wizard.
    1. (Optional) In the Name field, type a label to identify this server entry in the Server Runtime Environments preference page (Window > Preferences > Server > Runtime Environments ).
    2. In the Installation directory field, type or browse to the path where the WebSphere Application Server is installed. This path is the same as the WAS_ROOT path mappings as defined by the WebSphere Application Server configuration. For example, if you have installed WebSphere Application Server in c:/WebSphere/AppServer directory, then specify this in the Installation directory field.
    3. Click Next to configure WebSphere Application Server settings.
  7. On the Cloud Environment Settings page, enter the user name and password you use to access the IBM Cloud, or select to use a pre-existing connection to the cloud. Optionally you can choose to perform a more extensive search which will return all available images, including user-created images.
  8. You have the option of requesting a new WebSphere Application Server instance, or using an instance which you have already created.
    • If you choose to request a new instance, enter a name for the server, select a location and server template, and the size of the instance. Select a key from the server or locally installed. You can generate a key pair using the IBM Cloud Web client on the Account page.
    • If you choose to use an existing instance, select from the list of available instances and browse to the private key that you have installed locally.
  9. On the WebSphere Application Server Settings page, specify one or more of the following settings:
    Option Description
    Profile name

    This option is available only when running a local server and not available when running a remote server.
    Server connection type and administrative port The administrative ports are used to communicate requests between the workbench and the server. The following ports are used for making Java™ Management Extensions (JMX) connections with the server:
    • The remote method invocation (RMI), also known as the ORB bootstrap, port is designed to improve performance and communication with the server. The default setting of the RMI port is 2809
    • The Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) connector port is designed to be more firewall compatible. The default setting of the SOAP port is 8880
    • The InterProcess Connector (IPC) port is available only for a local WebSphere Application Server v7.0 or v8.0, It is designed to be a more stable and robust connection between the workbench and the local server. The default setting of the IPC port is 9633
    Use one of the following radio button to select how you want the workbench to connect to the server:
    • The Automatically determine connection settings option is available only for local servers and by default is selected when working with a local server. It retrieves the port values directly from the configuration files of the server defined in its profile and attempts to connect to one of these available ports.
    • The Manually provide connection settings option allows you to select which connection types you want to use. It is available for both local and remote servers. In the case of a remote server, you are restricted to using this option and you must provide the correct port numbers for each connection type you choose.
    Run server with resources within the workspace

    This option is available only when running a local server and not available when running a remote server.
    Security is enabled on this server Enables the security feature that comes with WebSphere Application Server. When security is not enabled, all other security settings are ignored. For more details about this security option, see Specifying administrative settings to a secured WebSphere Application Server.

    Instances of WebSphere Application Server on the cloud require that security is enabled. For the beta, the User ID will be virtuser, and the password is that which you entered when creating the server, or if you are requesting an instance you can enter a password of your choice.
    Application server name Specifies a logical name for the application server. For WebSphere Application Server, the logical name is unique and assigned to a server that distinguishes it from all other server instances within the node. This server name must already be created in the application server and its default setting is server1.
  10. On the Remote WebSphere Application Server Settings page, you can select to enable the server to startup remotely.
    • The platform and SSH information should be selected correctly and read-only. Enter the location of the server profile.
  11. (Optional) Click Next to add the projects of your application to the server. On the Add and Remove Projects page, under the Available projects list, select the project that you want to test and click Add. The project appears in the configured projects list.
  12. (Optional) A Next button might be available to click depending on what type of projects you are adding to the server. If the Next button is available and you select it, the Select Task page opens. In the Select Task page, use the check boxes to select tasks to be performed on the server, such as create tables and data source.
  13. Click Finish.

What to do next

Once you have created a server on the cloud you can proceed as you would with any remote server instance. The server can be managed, started, stopped, and published to using the Servers view.

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