Using middleware servers, you can manage all of the servers
in your environment, including servers that are not created with WebSphere® Virtual Enterprise, by using the product
administrative domain.
Before you begin
If you are configuring representations in the domain of externally
created middleware servers, perform the following tasks on the nodes:
- Install and configure the middleware software on the nodes.
- Installing in other server environments
The
middleware agent on each node must be at the same fix pack level as
the deployment manager.
- Federating middleware nodes
- Creating and configuring ODRs
- Each of your nodes must have the same network view for each endpoint
and resource that is related to WebSphere Application Server. All host entries
or host alias entries that are related to WebSphere Application Server within a hosts file
must be included in the hosts file on each of the other nodes
in the configuration, including any hosts file on nodes that
run the node agent or middleware agent. For example, if you define
a product related host alias called xdagentA in the hosts file
for the nodeA node, then the hosts file on each middleware
node must contain an entry for the xdagentA host alias.
About this task
Middleware servers encompass all servers in the middleware
tier that provide the infrastructure for applications or their data.
The steps vary depending on if you are configuring complete lifecycle
management middleware servers or assisted lifecycle management middleware
servers.
Procedure
- Adding complete life-cycle middleware servers
Complete life-cycle servers include any servers that the
environment can instantiate, or create. These server types include WebSphere Application Server types such as application
servers, generic servers, Web servers, and proxy servers. The product
adds complete lifecycle management for PHP servers and WebSphere Application Server
Community Edition servers.
- Adding assisted life-cycle middleware servers
With
assisted life-cycle servers, you use templates to create representations
of servers in the administrative console. However, these servers still
exist within the administrative domain of their respective middleware
platform. These servers can be controlled operationally. Server health
and performance are monitored, and you can configure the administrative
console to display log files and configuration files for these servers.
What to do next
To easily manage groups
of servers to host an application, configure dynamic clusters. You
can create clusters of either type of server. However, dynamic application
placement is supported only on complete life cycle servers. When you
create a dynamic cluster of assisted life cycle middleware servers,
the same version of middleware software and the same applications
must be installed on the servers. If the servers in a dynamic cluster
have varying sets of applications installed, routing through the on
demand router might result in failed requests.
The
logs and trace views in the administrative console that you access
by clicking are not supported
for externally created middleware servers and PHP servers. You can
use the external log viewing service to view the log files for these
server types in the administrative console. To configure the external
log viewing service, navigate to the configuration panel for the server
and click External log service.