There are several server processes related to WebSphere Application Server products that the operating system can monitor and automatically restart when the server processes stop abnormally. This task describes how to set up monitored processes.
Before you begin
To set up this function on a Linux and UNIX-based operating system, you must have root authority to edit the inittab.
On a Windows operating system, you must belong to the Administrator group and have the user rights Act as part of the operating system and Log on as a service to define Windows services. The installation wizard grants you the user rights, if your user ID is part of the Administrator group. It displays a message that states that although the advanced user rights are now effective, they do not display as effective until the next time you log on.
You can also add the user rights manually if you are performing a silent installation on a Windows platform. For example, to grant the user rights to your administrator group user ID on a Windows 2000 Server platform:
Why and when to perform this task
There are several environments where you might use this function of automatically restarting servers. You can restart the server1 process in a stand-alone WebSphere Application Server environment, for example. Here is a list of processes you might consider restarting:
You can create Windows services during installation, using the installation wizard. The wizard lets you create services for these servers:
The installation wizard does not provide a way to create a service for a node agent because the deployment manager instantiates each node agent after installation when you add an Application Server node to the deployment manager cell. For this reason, you must manually create a function that automatically starts a failed nodeagent server process.
You must manually create a shell script that automatically starts any of the processes previously mentioned, on a Linux and UNIX-based operating system. Each Windows service or UNIX shell script controls a single process, such as a stand-alone WebSphere Application Server instance. Multiple stand-alone Application Server processes require multiple Windows service or UNIX scripts, which you can define.
In a Network Deployment environment, the addNode or startNode command starts a single node agent process which is not monitored by the operating system and does not start all of the processes that you might define on the node. While running, the node agent monitors and restarts Application Server processes on that node, on either a Windows or a Linux and UNIX-based platform. Each Application Server process has Monitoring Policy configuration settings that the node agent uses when monitoring and restarting the process.
It is recommended that you set up a monitored node agent process manually, either through a Windows service, or through the rc.was example shell script on Linux and UNIX-based platforms. The operating system monitors and automatically restarts the node agent process, nodeagent, if the process terminates abnormally, which means if the process stops without going through a normal shutdown. It is also recommended that you set up the deployment manager server, dmgr, as a monitored process. As mentioned, you can do this during installation on a Windows platform. On a Linux and UNIX-based platform, use the rc.was example shell script to set up the deployment manager dmgr server as a monitored process.
If you do not install the WebSphere Application Server base product or Network Deployment as a Windows service during installation, you can use the WASService command in the install_root/bin directory to do so at a later time. You can use the tool to add any WebSphere Application Server process as a Windows service. The operating system can then monitor each server process, and restart the server if it stops.
Steps for this task
Perform the following procedure from the installation wizard for the Network Deployment product:
The installation wizard creates the following service during the installation:
IBM WebSphere Application Server V5 - dmgr
The IBM WebSphere Application Server V5 - dmgr service controls the dmgr server process, which is the deployment manager server that administers the cell.
You can use the same tool to manually define a Windows service for another installation or configuration instance of either the base WebSphere Application Server product or the Network Deployment product.
Note: In a distributed environment, where application server nodes are federated to WebSphere Application Server ND, you should not add the application servers (i.e.: server1) in Windows Services because the node agent monitors the status of the application servers and restarts them if they fail.
Results
You can use the net start and net stop commands to control the IBM HTTP Server services on a Windows system. For more information about these commands, see the Windows help file. Access these commands from the Start menu, clicking Start > Programs > IBM HTTP Server.
You can also use the Start the Server and Stop
the Server commands to control the IBM WebSphere Application Server on
a Windows system. Access these commands from the Start menu, clicking Start
> Programs > IBM WebSphere > Application Server V5.0.
You can also use the Start the Manager and Stop
the Manager commands to control the Network Deployment dmgr server on
a Windows system. Access these commands from the Start menu, clicking Start
> Programs > IBM WebSphere > Application Server V5.0 > Deployment Manager.
Processes started by a startServer or startNode or startManager command are not running as monitored processes, regardless of how you have configured them.
For example, you can configure a base Application Server as a WebSphere Application Server monitored process. However, if you start the Application Server instance using the startServer command, the operating system does not monitor or restart the Application Server because the operating system did not start the process as a monitored process.
What to do next
Return to Installing the product to continue.