WebSphere V3.5.x, V4.0.x, V5.0.x: Concurrent access of WebConsole/AdminConsole/wsadmin/wscp

Technote (FAQ)
Problem
Can concurrent access of the Web Console, Admin Console, wsadmin, and wscp be used?
Solution
WebSphere 5.0.x Administration Tools

There are two types of administration tools available in version 5.0.x they are the Web Console and wsadmin scripting tool.

WebSphere 5.0.x is designed so that multiple users can perform different task at same time. We support concurrent access of the administrative tools with the same or different level of Administrative Roles.

Concurrent access by multiple users with the same or differnent level of Administrative Roles may cause save conflicts. WebSphere handles this by issuing a warning statement such as "Another user has already modified this option, do you want to save or ignore your changes?". If the second administrator user says yes to save they can overwrite the changes made by the first administrator role user. Updates to the configuration is managed in an orderly fashion. Multiple clients can potentially update the configuration at the same time. The Web Console and wsadmin scripting process can make use of a common facility to control access to configuration information.

We recommend for best administrative practice to allow one Administrative Role user to b be actively updating the master configuration at a time.

By this we mean instead of having two users logged in as Administrator, it is a best practice to have one user logged in as Administrator and the second user logged in as Configurator. This will allow your WebSphere environment (master configuration files) to be in a cleaner and healthier state.

Web Console:
"Console Users" and "Console Groups" can be created with following four types of administrative roles .

    Administrator
      The administrator role has operator permissions, configurator permissions, and the permission required to access sensitive data including server password, LTPA password and keys, and so on.
    Configurator
      The configurator role has monitor permissions and the ability to change the WebSphere Application Server configuration.
    Operator
      The operator role has monitor permissions and the ability to change the run-time state. For example, the operator can start or stop services.
    Monitor
      The monitor role has the least permissions. This role primarily confines the user to viewing the WebSphere Application Server configuration and current state.

wsadmin:

If there are multiple clients (scripts or web console) updating the configuration at the same time, it is possible that the changes requested by a script cannot be saved. If this happens, the scripting process throws an exception back to the user, who can choose to try the updates again. WebSphere 5.0.x is designed in an 'all or nothing' save methodology. If the save fails, none of the updates are saved in the configuration. If the save succeeds, all updates are saved.

Any updates made by a scripting client are kept in a private area or "workspace" and are only copied over to the master configuration when the script successfully executes the "AdminConfig save" command.

If a scripting process ends and no "AdminConfig save" has been performed, any configuration changes made since the last save are discarded. In the interactive mode, the user is prompted that unsaved changes are about to be lost.

NOTE: An exception to this is made if wsadmin is invoked with the -c option. In this case, a save is automatically performed if configuration changes are made.

The best administrative practice is to have the script invoke a "save" after every configuration update. This will insure that at most one command needs to be re-run. This approach is also the most expensive. The strategy used by the script writer will depend on variables such as the installation's policy of allowing multiple access, the likelihood of failure, and the critical nature of the updates.

WebSphere 3.5.x and 4.0.x Administration Tools
There are three types of administration tools available in version 3.5.x and 4.0.x this document will discuss the Admin Console and wscp scripting tools only.

Performing administrative functions like start, stop, or update with multiple clients (Opening more than one console/wscp at any given time) is not recommended. This is due to the repository stability as lockups/hangs often occur. Examples of this are when multiple clients are accessing the same admin server which can cause an overload the CPU, or accessing EJBs that are single threaded can create performance degradation.

Multiple consoles using different admin servers in the same domain will still see bottlenecks occuring at the shared repository level. Bottlenecks can also occur when using wscp session(s) and admin console(s) at a same time.

Although wscp offers many of the same administration tasks as the WebSphere Advanced Administrative Console, the following differences apply:
    1. New configurations or changes to existing configurations made with wscp are not immediately reflected in the console. You must actively poll the administrative server repository to see the changes by selecting all or a portion of the topology view in the console and then using the Refresh button.
    2. Similarly, if a resource is created or deleted in the console, the change will not be immediately reflected in wscp. You must explicitly refresh all object references in the repository cache by issuing a wscp list operation for the instance's object type. Alternatively, exiting and reinvoking wscp also refreshes the cache.

To avoid problems due to inconsistent cached information, it is best to avoid issuing concurrent operations on the same object from within wscp and the console.

All administrative tasks that can be done with the console can be done with wscp, with the exception of higher-level aggregate tasks such as those in the wizards.
    Example:
    Creating an application can not be done directly by wscp. Instead, wscp scripts can be written to provide the same functionality as provided by the wizards. The WebSphere support team does not write these scripts, if assistance is needed you may contact AIM Services or the Consult Line.











    Document Information

    Product categories: Software, Application Servers, Distributed Application & Web Servers, WebSphere Application Server, Administrative Console (all non-scripting)
    Operating system(s): Multi-Platform
    Software version: 3.5, 4.0, 5.0
    Software edition: Advanced, Base, Enterprise, Network Deployment
    Reference #: 1142338
    IBM Group: Software Group
    Modified date: 2003-10-27