To administer or manage a Web server using the administrative console,
you must create a Web server definition or object in the WebSphere Application
Server repository.
The creation of this object is exclusive of the actual installation of
a Web server. The Web server object in the WebSphere Application Server repository
represents the Web server for administering and managing the Web server from
the administrative console.
The Web server object contains the following Web server properties:
- installation root
- port
- configuration file paths
- log file paths
In addition to Web server properties, the Web server contains a plug-in
object. The plug-in object contains properties that define the
plugin-cfg.xml file.
The definitions of the Web server object are made using the wsadmin command
or the administrative console. You can also define a Web server object in
the WebSphere Application Server repository using the profile create script
during installation, a .jacl script, and by using the administrative
console wizard.
There are three types of WebSphere Application Server nodes upon which
you can create a Web server. The type depends on the version of WebSphere
Application Server, as follows:
- Managed node. A node that contains a node agent. This node can
exist only in a deployment manager environment. The importance of defining
a Web server on a managed node is that the administration and configuration
of the Web server is handled through the node agent from the administrative
console. Support for administration and configuration through the administrative
console is limited to IBM HTTP Server only. Non-IBM HTTP Server Web servers
must be on a managed node to handle plug-in administrative functions and the
generation and propagation of the plugin-cfg.xml file.
- Stand-alone node. A node that does not contain a node agent. This
node usually exists in an base or Express WebSphere Application Server environment.
A stand-alone node can become a managed node in a deployment manager environment
after the node is federated . A stand-alone node does not contain a node agent,
so to administer and manage IBM HTTP Server, there must be an IBM HTTP Server
administration server installed and running on the stand-alone machine that
the node represents. IBM HTTP Server ships with the IBM HTTP Server administration
server and is installed by default. Support for administration and configuration
through the administrative console is limited to IBM HTTP Server only.
- Unmanaged node. A node that is not associated with a WebSphere
Application Server node agent. This node cannot be federated. Typically,
the unmanaged node represents a remote machine that does not have WebSphere
Application Server installed. However, you can define an unmanaged node on
a machine where WebSphere Application Server is installed. This node can exist
in a WebSphere Application Server – Express, base, or deployment manager environment.
An unmanaged node does not contain a node agent, so to administer and manage
IBM HTTP Server, an IBM HTTP Server administration server must be installed
and running on the stand-alone machine that the node represents. Support for
administration and configuration through the administrative console is limited
to IBM HTTP Server only.
Web servers, which are not IBM HTTP Servers for WebSphere Application Server,
are not fully administered from the WebSphere Application Server administrative
console. The administration functions for Web servers, which are not IBM HTTP
Servers for WebSphere Application Server, are:
- On managed nodes:
- Web server status in the Web server collection panel or serverStatus.sh
- Generation of the plugin-cfg.xml
- Propagation of the plugin-cfg.xml
- On unmanaged nodes:
- Web server status in the Web server collection panel or serverStatus.sh
- Generation of the plugin-cfg.xml