Deploying the help system on IBM WebSphere Application Server

If you are using WebSphere® Application Server, most likely you are installing the help content on the same server as the product. You can deploy the help system on the existing installation of WebSphere Application Server.

Before you begin

Verify that these requirements are met:
  1. The server on which you are configuring help content must be available to your users behind the firewall.
  2. Verify that you have a help.war file available on your server.
    • If you installed the product you are configuring the help for on the server, a help.war file might be installed already.
      • Look in the installation_directory/help directory for the help.war file.
      • Look for a version of the file that includes the product abbreviation, such as clmhelp.war or ramhelp.war
      • Search your installation directory for *help.war.
    • If you did not install the product on the server or your product did not include a help.war file, download a version of the help.war file.
  3. Install a Java™ Runtime Environment (JRE) or Java Development Kit (JDK). You can choose to install one of the IBM® developer kits.
  4. WebSphere Application Server is installed and configured. For more information about installing and configuring WebSphere Application Server for your environment, see your product documentation or the documentation for WebSphere Application Server.
  5. An environment variable with the path to the JRE or JDK is set:
    • If you installed a JRE, verify that the JRE_HOME environment variable value is set to the path of the directory where you installed the JRE. Examples:
      • Windows: C:\Program Files\Java70\jre
      • Linux: /usr/local/java70/jre
    • If you installed the JDK, verify that the JAVA_HOME environment variable value is set to the path of the directory where you installed the JDK. Examples:
      • Windows: C:\Program Files\Java70
      • Linux: /usr/local/java70/
  6. WebSphere Application Server is started.

Procedure

To deploy the help.war:

  1. Open the WebSphere Application Server administrative console.
  2. Click Applications > New Application > New Enterprise Application.
  3. Select Local file system.
  4. Click Browse and select the help.war file that you chose to use.
  5. Click Next to accept all default options until you reach the Map context roots for web modules page.
  6. In the Map context roots for web modules page, set Context Root to /help, and click Next.
  7. Click Finish.
  8. Verify that the application was installed correctly and click Save directly to the master configuration.
  9. Click Applications > Application Types > WebSphere Enterprise Applications.
  10. Select the check box next to the help.war application and click Start.
    Note: The help system starts and stops when you manually start or stop the application.
  11. Verify that you can access the help system by adding context_root/index.jsp to the end of your server application URL. Example: http://server:port/help/index.jsp.
    Note: The help system might not contain help content yet. You might be required to install the documentation into the help system next.

What to do next

  1. Install the documentation on the server:
  2. Provide users with the server, the port, and the path to the help system to enter in the Help System Configuration page in IBM Installation Manager. Ensure that the server you provide is not localhost.
    Example: For http://server.ibm.com:8080/help/index.jsp, the values are:
    • Server: server.ibm.com
    • Port: 8080
    • Path: /help

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