Use the migration tools to migrate WebSphere® Application Server Version 6.1, 7.x
or 8.0 federated nodes to Version 8.5.
Before you begin
Supported configurations: This
article is about configuration migration, such as migrating deployment
managers and federated nodes in a network deployment environment.
The Application Migration Toolkit for WebSphere Application Server
provides support for migrating applications from previous versions
of WebSphere Application Server to the latest product version. For
information about migrating applications, read more about the Application
Migration Toolkit.
sptcfg
For resources to help you plan and
perform your migration, visit Knowledge Collection: Migration planning for WebSphere Application Server.
Migrating a WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or above federated node requires that you first migrate
the Version 6.1 or above deployment manager to a Version 8.5 deployment manager.
This procedure is described in Migrating to a Version 8.5 deployment manager.
Before you begin the migration of a federated node
from WebSphere Application Server Version
6.1 or above, you must create a custom profile as a target. Do not
federate the node before migration. The migration tools federate the Version 8.5 node during migration.
Tip: When you migrate a
WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above federated node, you must perform the following actions if you
want to be able to roll it back to its previous state after migration:
- Back up your existing configuration.
- Run the backupConfig command or your own preferred
utility to back up the Version 8.5 deployment manager configuration.
- Run the backupConfig command or your own preferred
utility to back up the Version 6.1 or above federated node configuration.
Important: Note the exact name and location of the
backed-up configuration files for later reference.
For more
information about the backupConfig command, see backupConfig command.
- Migrate the federated node.
- If necessary, you can now roll back the federated node that you
just migrated.
Decide whether you want to
migrate from WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or above to Version 8.5 using the Migration wizard or using the command-line migration
tools.
About this task
After migrating a WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above deployment manager to a Version 8.5 deployment manager,
the Version 8.5 deployment
manager runs in compatibility mode by default. The Version 8.5 deployment manager
can manage Version 6.1 or above, and Version 8.5 release nodes in
this mode. The federated nodes of the Version 6.1 or above deployment
manager are now running as Version 6.1 or above federated nodes in
the Version 8.5 WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment cell.
Over time, migrate each WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above federated node in the Version 8.5 cell to Version 8.5. After migrating
all Version 6.1 or above federated nodes, use the convertScriptCompatibility script to change the deployment manager from a node that supports
backward compatibility of Version 6.1 or above administration scripts
to a node that supports only Version 8.5.
For help,
read Troubleshooting migration.
Procedure
- Install WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5 .
- Migrate the WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or above deployment manager to Version 8.5 as described in Migrating to a Version 8.5 deployment manager.
- Collect the following information:
(the Migration wizard prompts you for the information during the
migration)
- Migration backup directory name
- Installation root directory
- Administrative user name for the current installation
- Password for the administrative user name of the current installation
- Source profile name
- Target profile name
- Applications to be migrated
- Port value assignments
See WASPreUpgrade command and WASPostUpgrade command for descriptions of the parameters
related to this required information as well as optional parameters.
- Ensure that the Version 8.5 deployment manager is running.
You can migrate
a Version 6.1 or above node whether the node is running or stopped.
The migration tools can retrieve all the configuration data either
way. You must stop the Version 6.1 or above node before you can start
the Version 8.5 node that
you are installing.
- Migrate as many WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above federated nodes as you intend to migrate by using the following
procedure. For migration to be successful, you must use the same node
names and cell names for each node that you migrate from Version 6.1
or above to Version 8.5.
- Determine the node name of the Version 6.1 or above
federated node.
- Optional: Use the WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5 Profile Management
tool or the manageprofiles command to create a
application server or custom profile, but do not federate the node.
For more information,
see Managing profiles using the graphical user interface or manageprofiles command.
Use the same name for the node that was used
for the Version 6.1 or above federated node name.
Tip: If you make any cell-level changes to the new
Version 8.5 node before migration,
such as changes to virtual-host information, these changes will be
lost during migration. Therefore, you should wait until after the
node has been migrated before making any such changes. Otherwise,
you will have to manually remake all of the changes to the new cell
after migration using the administrative console running on the deployment
manager. This tip is reflected in the following message:
MIGR0444W:
Cell-level documents are not merged. Any changes that you make to the stand-alone
cell-level documents before using the WASPostUpgrade command must be repeated on
the new cell. For example, virtual hosts.
Explanation: During a managed node migration, any new Version 7 configuration
changes that existed prior to running WASPostUpgrade might need to be reapplied
after the WASPostUpgrade process completes.
Action: Reapply preexisting Version 7 cell level changes after the managed
node migration has been completed.
- Perform one of the following procedures
to migrate the Version 6.1 or above federated node to Version 8.5.
- Use the Migration wizard to migrate the WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above federated node to Version 8.5. .
The Migration wizard, which is
the graphical interface to the Version 8.5 command-line migration
tools (WASPreUpgrade and WASPostUpgrade), is the recommended migration
tool.
The Migration
wizard copies the configuration and applications from the Version
6.1 or above federated node to the Version 8.5 configuration. After
migrating all of the data, the Migration wizard federates the Version 8.5 node into the deployment
manager cell.
- Use the command-line tools to migrate the WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above federated node to Version 8.5.
- Stop and restart each of the application servers on
the migrated node.
- When a deployment manager is migrated, the applications
in the cell are reinstalled. Even though the name is unchanged, the
application is different from the version that was deployed on the
previous release. When the federated nodes synchronize with the migrated
deployment manager, therefore, they detect the new application and
download it. After the application has been downloaded (synchronized),
the node agent uses the new application rather than the old application.
If the application is running on any active servers, the application
will appear to restart as the old application is stopped and uninstalled
and the new application is installed and started.
- If you chose the compatibility option (which is the default)
and if all of your nodes are completely migrated to WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5, run the convertScriptCompatibility script to remove backward compatibility
from the WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5 deployment manager.
Issue the
convertScriptCompatibility command
from the
bin directory.
app_server_root/bin/convertScriptCompatibility.sh
app_server_root\bin\convertScriptCompatibility.bat
What to do next
- Occasionally (after rebooting an application server machine for
example), you must restart the nodeagent server on the application
server node by running the startNode command from
the profile_root/bin directory.
To keep your application server nodes running without having to access
the bin directory of each one, use the operating
system to monitor and restart the node agent process on each application
server node. You can also set up the dmgr server as a managed process
on the deployment manager node. For more information, see Automatically restarting server processes.
- Adding a node automatically issues the startNode command for the node.
- If you migrate any Version 6.1 or above managed nodes, you must
either shut down the new migrated deployment manager before uninstalling
the old product, or include the removeProfilesOnUninstall="false"
parameter on the uninstall command. Either of these options prevents
the migrated profiles from being deleted when you uninstall the old
version of the product.