The term middleware server refers to a server
on any middleware platform. Middleware servers include the following
types: WebSphere® Application
Server, Apache
Tomcat servers, JBoss servers, BEA WebLogic servers, PHP servers,
and so on.
Support
Intelligent Management offers enhanced support
for environments outside of the product domain. Application servers
that run on other middleware platforms are represented more thoroughly
in the product administrative domain because the node agent is installed
on these machines. The application placement controller can manage
dynamic clusters that are made up of these server types. Some health
management is also supported for the other middleware platform servers.
Middleware server types
- Complete lifecycle management servers
Complete lifecycle
management servers include servers that the product can both create
and manage to support application server virtualization. The following
managed middleware server types are supported:
- WebSphere Application
Server related servers,
including application servers, on demand routers (ODR), proxy servers,
and so on
- PHP servers
- WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition 2.0 (all releases)
All servers that are administered by complete lifecycle support
must be managed from the administrative console.
For example,
do not manage complete lifecycle WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition servers from the WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition console.
Create
complete lifecycle WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition servers
from previously unused installations of WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition Version 2.x or Version
3.x.
- Assisted lifecycle management servers
Assisted lifecycle
management servers include servers that
Intelligent Management can manage, but are
created outside of the
Intelligent Management administrative
domain, usually specific to the system with which the server is associated.
Install the node agent on these hosts and associate them with the
Intelligent Management administrative domain.
On configured hosts,
Intelligent Management can
then start and stop the servers, route traffic to the servers, prioritize
requests to the servers, and so on.
Intelligent Management supplies templates
for the following assisted lifecycle middleware server types:
- Apache HTTP Server Version 1.3, Version 2.0, and Version 2.2
- Apache Tomcat Version 4.1.x, Version 5.0.x, Version 5.5.x, and
Version 6.0
- Apache Geronimo Version 1.0 and Version 1.1
- JBoss Version 4.0.x
- BEA WebLogic Server Version 8.x, Version 9.x, Version 10.x
- WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition
- External WebSphere application
servers, Version 5.1 and later. External WebSphere application servers are application
servers that run outside of your Intelligent Management cell.
- Custom HTTP servers
For any other server types, you can develop your own templates.
Administer
assisted lifecycle servers from their respective administrative consoles.
For example, assisted lifecycle WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition servers are administered
from the WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition console.
For Apache Tomcat, BEA WebLogic Server, JBoss, or External WebSphere application servers,
any representational revisions must be entered using wsadmin scripting.
For other assisted lifecycle management servers, any representational
revisions must be entered into the administrative console.
- Discovered servers
Discovered servers are servers that
are found by middleware discovery. Middleware discovery can find existing
installations of WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition and
create representations of these servers in the administrative console.
These servers are represented as assisted lifecycle servers. You can
group these servers together into a dynamic cluster, but the dynamic
clusters must have manual membership. You cannot create expression-based
dynamic clusters of discovered servers. Middleware discovery can also
find the applications that are deployed to these servers and represent
them in the administrative console as unmanaged applications.
Like
assisted lifecycle servers, administer discovered servers from their
respective administrative consoles. For example, administer WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition servers from the WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition console. Make any representational
revisions in the administrative console.
Definition
The
Intelligent Management support is specific
for each of the following server categories: complete, discovered,
and assisted lifecycle servers.
- For complete lifecycle management middleware servers, define the
servers in the administrative console. Management of these servers
is the same as in previous releases.
- For assisted lifecycle middleware servers, use the following approach
to register the servers with the Intelligent Management configuration:
Install
the node agent on the server and manually define the server in the
administrative console. Use
server templates to define the
middleware servers. Server templates include the following information:
- Default ports for routing traffic to the server
- Commands for starting and stopping the server
- Default list of core configuration files that make up the external
server for the external configuration editing service
- Default list of directories where log files exist for the external
log viewing service
Intelligent Management includes
a set of default server templates for the different middleware server
types.
- For discovered servers, after you install the node agent, middleware
discovery locates existing installations of WebSphere Application
Server Community Edition and their installed
applications, and creates a representation of these servers and applications
in the Intelligent Management cell. These
servers and applications are represented as assisted lifecycle servers
and unmanaged applications.
Management
You can manage certain aspects
of assisted lifecycle and discovered middleware servers with
the administrative console.
- With server operations, you can run a Java or non-Java executable file on your middleware
server from the administrative console.
- With the log viewer, you can view the log files for your
middleware servers from the administrative console.
- With external configuration, you can configure the administrative
console so that you can view and edit configuration documents for
your middleware servers.
Other Intelligent Management management
functions, such as dynamic clusters, health policies, service policies,
runtime tasks, and reporting, offer varied support for assisted lifecycle and
discovered middleware servers.