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WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition overview

IBM® WebSphere® Application Server Hypervisor Edition is a self-contained virtual machine image that contains a guest operating system and WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or Version 7.0. You can run the virtual image on VMware ESX or ESXi hypervisors, IBM PowerVM, and IBM z/VM®.

What's New for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Version 7.0.0.17
Note:
  • For VMware ESX images, the IBM Installation Manager installation directory for 7.0.0.17 is at the following location: /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/InstallationManager. The agent data location is set to /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Profiles/var/ibm/InstallationManager. After updating from 7.0.0.15 or earlier versions to 7.0.0.17, the Installation Manager installation directory remains the same, but the agent data can be found at the following location: /home/<virtuser/var/ibm/InstallationManager.
  • After updating from 7.0.0.15 or earlier versions to 7.0.0.17, the cloning of nodes through WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance console will fail.
What's New for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Version 7.0.0.15
What's New for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Version 7.0.0.13
What's New for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Version 7.0.0.11
[Fix Pack 35 or later] What's New for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Version 6.1.0.35
[Fix Pack 33 or later] What's New for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Version 6.1.0.33
[Fix Pack 31 or later] What's New for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition Version 6.1.0.31

Virtualization concepts

A virtual machine or virtual image is a complete system platform that contains an operating system on which you can install any number of customized applications to create a complete virtual image. A virtual image requires less time and labor to set up because the operating system and applications are already installed and partially or completely configured.

Virtual images run on a hypervisor, which is the virtualization technology that manages the state of virtual images. A hypervisor product can run on top of a host operating system, or the hypervisor can run as the operating system itself, such as VMware ESX. Some hypervisors also handle load balancing and failover. You can consolidate servers and streamline your environments by deploying virtual images on VMware, IBM PowerVM, and other virtualization technologies. You can use the virtual image as a demonstration, a development system, or a simple quality assurance system. A single virtual image can also act as a single production system for a small department.

Virtual image contents

You must extract the product packages and start up the virtual image. You are prompted to complete a series of panels to configure the operating system and the application server on that single virtual machine. For more information, see the installation topics in the information center.
The WebSphere virtual image contains the following preinstalled software:
  • A guest operating system
  • WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or 7.0
  • IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition
  • Web server plug-ins
  • IBM Update Installer for WebSphere software
  • IBM Support Assistant Lite for WebSphere Application Server

Available virtual images

You can choose from the following available virtual images. All images contain WebSphere Application Server.
Table 1. Available virtual images
Image name Requirements
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition 6.1 for Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Requires VMware ESX 4.0.x, 3.5.x, or ESXi 3.5.x, 4.0.x
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition 6.1 (with Feature Packs) for Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Requires VMware ESX 4.0.x, 3.5.x, or ESXi 3.5.x, 4.0.x
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition 7.0 (with optional Feature Packs) for Novell SUSE Linux Enterprise Server Requires VMware ESX 4.0.2, 4.1.1, or ESXi 4.0.x or 4.1.x
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition 7.0 (with optional Feature Packs) for Red Hat Requires VMware ESX 3.5.5, 4.0.2, 4.1.1, or ESXi 3.5.x, 4.0.x, 4.1.x
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition 6.1 for IBM AIX Requires WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance and WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance PowerVM requirements
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition 6.1 (with Feature Packs) for IBM AIX Requires WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance and WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance PowerVM requirements
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition v7.0 (with optional Feature Packs) for IBM AIX Requires WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance and WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance PowerVM requirements
WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition v7.0 (with optional Feature Packs) for z/VM Requires WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance and WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance zVM requirements
Supported configurations Supported configurations: All WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition images can be deployed using WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance. Additionally, stand-alone WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition ESX and OVF image formats can be directly deployed on ESX/ESXi 3.5.x and 4.0.x. environments.sptcfg

IBM HTTP Server and Web server plug-ins configuration

The image also contains IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition and the Web server plug-ins, which are installed and configured with the user virtuser. Because most of the environment is pre-configured, additional configuration actions are not required for basic operation. The IBM HTTP Server administrative server password matches the virtuser password configured during image activation. You can stop and start the IBM HTTP Server in the administrative console.

Maintenance

The Update Installer for WebSphere Software applies maintenance to the application server inside the virtual image in the same way that it applies maintenance in a native application server environment. Apply maintenance to the application server either through the Update Installer for WebSphere Software or through updated virtual images from IBM. For more information on application server maintenance, see Installing maintenance packages, interim fixes, fix packs, and refresh packs. Apply operating system maintenance to the virtual image through downloadable packages or through updated virtual images from IBM.




Related tasks
Installing WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition on VMWare ESX
Installing WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor Edition for IBM AIX
Related information
WebSphere Cloudburst Appliance Information Center
WebSphere Application Server Library
Concept topic Concept topic    

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Last updatedLast updated: Jun 14, 2012 5:51:46 AM CDT
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