Introduction:
The administrative console is the Web-based management tool for WebSphere
Application Server. This application has been developed based on the
struts framework and its pages use the tiles framework. Debugging problems
will be easier with knowledge of struts or tiles. The administrative
console has been deployed on WebSphere Application Server as any other
enterprise application and it adheres to the standards required for a J2EE
application based on struts.
In stand-alone base server install adminconsole.ear application
is deployed into default server "server1" and in deployment manager
install this is deployed on server "dmgr" .
By default when server1 or dmgr process is started it starts this
adminconsole.ear application also.
Important configuration files:
These files are located in the WEB-INF directory of the
adminconsole.war file:
- struts-config.xml
Configuration file which allows to map any request to the required JSP or
servlet.
- validation.xml
Contains the validation rules for various fields held by the
ActionForms responsible for a particular view.
- console-defs.xml
Contains the tiles definitions for the administrative console pages and
all navigation actions. When any link is clicked in the Navigation Menu,
for example Application Servers, this performs an action which ends
in …navigatorCmd.do. The definition for this *.do is in
the console-defs.xml file. It defines how the page was generated,
the types of fields available in the page, and the values for the select
box or checkbox contained in the page.
Basic problem determination steps:
Ensure the administrative console application started successfully. To
determine this, you can check the SystemOut.log file of the base
application server install or dmgr located in the following directory:
- For the base application server:
install_root/logs/server1/SystemOut.log |
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- For the dmgr:
install_root/dmgr/SystemOut.log |
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The following is example trace output when the adminconsole.ear
application started successfully:
[8/8/06 14:56:49:766 EDT] 333c2aab
ApplicationMg A WSVR0200I: Starting application: adminconsole
[8/8/06 14:56:50:891 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer A SRVE0161I:
IBM WebSphere Application Server - Web Container. Copyright IBM
Corp. 1998-2002
[8/8/06 14:56:50:906 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer A SRVE0162I:
Servlet Specification Level: 2.3
[8/8/06 14:56:50:922 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer A SRVE0163I:
Supported JSP Specification Level: 1.2
[8/8/06 14:56:51:016 EDT] 333c2aab WebContainer A SRVE0169I:
Loading Web Module: adminconsole.
[8/8/06 14:56:52:562 EDT] 333c2aab WebGroup I
SRVE0180I: [adminconsole] [/admin] [Servlet.LOG]: JSP 1.2 Processor:
init
[8/8/06 14:56:55:500 EDT] 333c2aab ApplicationMg A WSVR0221I:
Application started: adminconsole |
If the application did not start successfully, reinstall
the adminconsole enterprise application.
Check the following things if the administrative console application is
installed and started properly but you are unable to access the
administrative console:
- By default the HTTP Transport port for the administrative console is
set to 9090. To check this, open the serverindex.xml file in the following
directory:
install_root/config/cells/cellname/nodes/nodename/servers/server1/server.xml |
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See the HTTP Transport port: |
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<transports
xmi:type="applicationserver.webcontainer:HTTPTransport"
xmi:id="HTTPTransport_3" sslEnabled="false">
<address xmi:id="EndPoint_3" host="" port="9090"/>
</transports> |
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- The same port can also be found in the following file:
install_root/config/cells/cellname/virtualhosts.xml |
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You should see a similar XML tag in the file: |
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<aliases xmi:id="HostAlias_5"
hostname="*" port="9090"/> |
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If the port number has changed in
virtualhosts.xml file, change it back to 9090, then restart the
server.
If SSL is enabled , make sure you check the same for the secured transport
port . The default secured HTTP transport is 9043. |
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By default, the administrative console application runs under the
admin_host virtual host. For security reasons, the
admin_host virtual host is not generated or displayed in the
pluginCfg file and is not accessible through the plug-in . If you
want to access the administrative console through the plug-in, or if you
want to change the virtual host, follow the steps below.
Follow the instructions at this Information Center link to create
a new virtual host.
After creating the new virtual host , follow these steps:
- Log in to the administrative console.
- Click Applications > Enterprise Applications > adminconsole
> Map virtual hosts for Web modules (In additional properties).
- Select the checkbox under webmodule and select the new virtual host
under Virtual Host.
- Save the configuration.
- Click Environment > Virtual Hosts > NewVirtualHostName >
Host alias > New. In the hostname field type * and in the
port field type 9090 .The default port number is 9090.
- Click Environment > Virtual Hosts > admin_host > Host
alias. Select 9090, then click Delete. The port number must be
unique in the virtual host.
- Save the configuration.
- Restart the server (server1 or DMGR).
Make sure the port number is specified in the following location:
install_root/config/cells/node_name/nodes/node_name/servers/server1
install_root/config/cells/cell_name/nodes/node_name/servers/dmgr |
Note: Be careful if you modify the virtual host for the deployment
manager administrative console. The filetransfer application must also be
assigned to the new virtual host, or SyncNode fails with the following
exception. Follow the first 3 steps to assign the filetransfer application
to the new virtual host.
Exception in syncNode.log file:
com.ibm.websphere.management.filetransfer.client.TransferFailedException:
404 Not Found
com.ibm.ws.management.filetransfer.client.FileTransferClientImpl.download(FileTransferClientImpl.java:1241) |
Problems which might not be administrative console issues:
- Error 500, for example when uploading an application
through Internet Explorer alone (which means other browsers do not have
the problem). This situation requires a check up of the browser settings
or clearing of temporary files held by the browser. Getting and analyzing
a http/servlet trace will help in such situations.
- Administrative console slow in response. In a Network
Deployment environment, the administrative console might be slow in
getting the status of servers. This is mostly a System Management issue
and requires analysis of the console and administrative traces from the
Dmgr and NodeAgent.
Things to check:
Error 500 when clicking one of the links in the navigation menu for
WebSphere Application Server V5.0. and V5.1. Here we need to check up the
associated definition in console-defs.xml. We have seen problems where
after upgrade to a new service pack, the console-defs.xml got corrupted.
The definition will have some special characters like “& ; :” encoded.
In such cases, re-installing the administrative console which has the
correct definition files is the solution. |