Defining local servers for testing portals

To test or debug a portal project within the workbench, you must first define a local portal test environment server.

Prerequisites:
  • To use a local WebSphere® Portal 5.0 server, you must install the WebSphere Portal 5.0 test environment from the Rational® Software Development Platform installation launchpad.
  • To use a local WebSphere Portal 5.1 server, you must install the WebSphere Portal 5.1 test environment using the WebSphere Portal 5.1 CD-ROM provided with Rational tools. Before using the server, you must configure Rational Software Development Platform to use the WebSphere Portal v5.1 test environment.
  • If you update your WebSphere Portal 5.1 Test Environment (to version 5.1.0.1, or higher) using the Rational Product Updater, you must also delete the previous Server definition for the test environment and create a new one for the new server version.

To create and configure a portal test environment server:

  1. Switch to the Servers view by selecting Window > Show View > Servers
  2. In the Servers view, right-click and select New > Server.
  3. Select localhost as the Host name.
  4. Select a WebSphere Portal Test Environment server from the server type list. Click Next.
  5. On the WebSphere Server Configuration Settings page, select one of the following values:
    • To use the default HTTP port, select Use default port numbers and set the HTTP port number.
    • To use port numbers other than the default numbers used by WebSphere Application Server, select Use consecutive port numbers and set the First port number. This setting causes the test environment to use sequential port numbers, starting with the number you specify. You must specify a port number that begins a range of port numbers that are not being used by another application. This option allows you to have a remote WebSphere Portal server or WebSphere Application Server running on your system, and allows the test environment to use different port numbers. You can also configure the test environment server's HTTP port numbers by editing the server configuration, as explained below.
  6. If you are configuring a WebSphere Portal v5.1 Test Environment server, click Next. Enter the Portal Server Settings that you defined when you installed the test environment. Click Next.
  7. Click Finish.
Additional options for local test environments can be viewed and changed by double-clicking on the server in the Servers view. This opens the server configuration editor. You can change any of the settings that were defined previously. In addition, the Portal tab has additional settings which are listed below:
  1. Select Enable base portlets for portal administration and customization to use administration portlets in the test environment. Administration portlets are portlets provided by WebSphere Portal to provide administrative functions, such as portlet installation and configuration. Enable this option only when necessary. It slows down the startup of the test environment. Even when you have enabled the administration portlets, there are limitations. You cannot install portlets using the administration portlets. In addition, most changes that you make are reset to the default values the next time you start the test environment. To debug portlets in a particular layout, use the test and debug options of a portal project, not the administration portlets in the test environment.
  2. Select Enable multiple pages when deploying portlet projects to allow different portlet projects to use different pages in the portal during testing. By default, multiple pages are enabled. Each portlet project that is associated with a single server will be deployed to a different page. If you want to deploy them all into a single page on the server, you can disable multiple pages when deploying portlet projects.
  3. Select Enable console logging to redirect log entries to the console. Otherwise, the log entries are written to the <product_installation_root>/runtimes/portal_vXX/log directory, where XX is the version of the WebSphere Portal Test Environment.
  4. Select Enable anonymous user access to test portlets in the not-logged-in state.
  5. Enter JAR file or folder names in the Shared Library section to make the JAR files or the files in the folder available to the server.

Save the changes to your server configuration by pressing Ctrl + S.

Note: An EAR project named wps is created when you run a portlet in the test environment (Run on Server or Debug on Server). If you plan to test or debug your portlet project locally, do not modify the wps project once it is created. When creating a project, do not name it wps.
Related tasks
Configuring the WebSphere Portal 5.1 Test Environment
Associating servers with projects
Defining remote servers for testing portals
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