Testing the installation

You can use the First Steps dialog to test the WebSphere installation. Your Web server must be running to use the First Steps dialog. Access the dialog by selecting Start -> Programs -> IBM Websphere -> Application Server V4.0 AE -> First Steps.

Alternatively, you can do the following to test the installation:

  1. Check that WebSphere administrative server has been registered in the Services dialog. Open the Control Panel and select Services. If you scroll down you should see IBM WS AdminServer 4.0.
  2. Start the service by selecting IBM WS AdminServer 4.0 and then selecting Start.

    Wait patiently. If the server is slow to start or does not start successfully, look at the last line in the \WebSphere\AppServer\logs\tracefile log. If the trace file says server is open for e-business, the server has started.

    Hint: You can control the server from a command line or batch file using the following commands:

    net start "IBM WS AdminServer 4.0" net stop "IBM WS AdminServer 4.0"
  3. To start the server, run the administrative console, which is how you manage WebSphere Application Server 4.0. From the Start menu, select Programs-> IBM WebSphere -> Application Server 4.0 AE -> Administrator's Console. This starts the WebSphere Administrative Console.
  4. When the Administrative Console opens, the tree view is shown. Click on the + sign next to WebSphere Administrative Domain to expand the view. Your host name should be listed in the Nodes folder. Expand the view of your host name node and of Application Servers, and you should see an entry called Default Server.
    WebSphere Console
  5. Right-click on Default Server and select Start. To ensure that the server is running, right-click on Default Server and select Ping. After an information dialog displays, stating that the server is running, click OK.

    Once the server starts, it is marked in the configuration database that it should be running. If it stops, or if you reboot the machine, the administrative server will automatically restart it. Even if the administrative server fails, it will continue to run.

  6. Test the server. Ensure that the Domino server is running. (The status for Lotus Domino Server in a Services dialog, which is accessible from a Control Panel, shows Started.) If the Domino server is not running, use the Start option in a Services dialog to start the server, or select Start -> Programs -> Lotus Applications -> Lotus Domino Server. Then, open a browser and go to http://localhost/servlet/snoop, which is a standard sample servlet installed by default. You should see information on /servlet/snoop.
    Snoops Servlet browser