If you have an existing WebSphere® Application Server, Network Deployment configuration
with a significant number of large applications and you must meet
a specific maintenance window for migration, you might have some difficulty
if you use the standard migration scenario. In this case, you might
want to copy the resources in the configuration tree from a Version
6.1 or above deployment manager configuration to a Version 8.5 deployment-manager
management profile but defer adding applications to the Version 8.5 profile so that you
can continue managing the environment using the Version 6.1 or above
deployment manager.
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
Tip: To avoid possible connection-timeout problems, modify
the connection-timeout value before running the
WASPostUpgrade command to migrate the federated nodes in a cell containing many
small applications, a few large applications, or one very large application.
If you use a SOAP connector, for example, perform the following actions:
- Go to the following location in the Version 8.5 directory for the
profile to which you are migrating your federated node:
profile_root/properties
- Open the soap.client.props file in that directory
and find the value for the com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout property. This
is the timeout value in seconds. The default value is 180 seconds.
- Change the value of com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout to make it large
enough to migrate your configuration. For example, the following
entry would give you a timeout value of a half of an hour:
com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout=1800
Note: Select the smallest
timeout value that will meet your needs. Be prepared to wait for
at least three times the timeout that you select—once to download
files to the backup directory, once to upload the migrated files to
the deployment manager, and once to synchronize the deployment manager
with the migrated node agent.
- Go to the following location in the backup directory that was
created by the WASPreUpgrade command:
backupDirectory/profiles/profile_name/properties
- Open the soap.client.props file in that directory
and find the value for the com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout property:
- Change the value of com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout to the same value
that you used in the Version 8.5 file.
Read Overview of migration, coexistence, and interoperability and Premigration considerations. For resources to help you plan and perform
your migration, visit Knowledge Collection: Migration planning for WebSphere Application Server.
About this task
You can use this strategy to satisfy your specific maintenance-window
requirement by building the full WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5 WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment configuration
in the background while the existing topology is still running and
being managed.
For help in troubleshooting problems when migrating,
read Troubleshooting migration.
Procedure
- Make sure that the WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above deployment manager is running and managing the existing environment,
and make sure that no Version 8.5 deployment manager is running.
This is important
in order to prevent two different deployment managers from trying
to manage the same environment.
- Run the WASPreUpgrade command.
- Run the WASPreUpgrade command from the Version 8.5 app_server_root/bin directory.
- Specify the name of the Version 6.1 or above migration backup
directory.
- Specify the name of the Version 6.1 or above WebSphere Application Server, Network Deployment installation.
Optional: Specify the name of a specific
instance or profile to be migrated from a previous version of WebSphere Application Server.
- Optional: Specify the location of user preferences for
the administrative console for one or more profiles.
For example:
WASPreUpgrade /WAS6.1_backup_directory /WAS6.1_install_directory
For a full explanation of the WASPreUpgrade command and its parameters, read WASPreUpgrade command.
- Run the WASPostUpgrade command.
For example:
WASPostUpgrade /WAS6.1_backup_directory -profileName dmgr_profile_name
-includeApps script -keepDmgrEnabled true
For
a full explanation of the WASPostUpgrade command
and its parameters, read WASPostUpgrade command.
At this point, you can exit the maintenance window and still
manage the environment using the WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or
above deployment manager.
- Customize the administration files.
- Go to the migration backup directory location that contains
the generated administration files.
- Combine and tailor the administration files as needed.
This might include grouping applications together in some
administration files or specifying the installedApplications directory using the installed.ear.destination parameter .
- Run the wsadmin command to install the
applications.
After all applications have been installed, you are ready
to start using the WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5 deployment
manager.
- Stop the WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 or above deployment manager.
This
is important in order to prevent two different deployment managers
from trying to manage the same environment.
You can do this
in a number of ways. One easy way is to rename the serverindex.xml file in the node directory of the Version 6.1 or above deployment
manager to something else.
- Start the WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5 deployment
manager.
Start the deployment manager
from its
profile_root/bin directory.
For example:
startManager
Results
At this point, the WebSphere Application Server Version 8.5 deployment manager
should be running and the normal application synchronization should
occur.
You can follow either of the following procedures:
- Migrate the entire cell before installing the applications.
- Perform the following actions:
- Install the applications and leave the cell in a mixed state.
- When you are ready, modify the connection-timeout values (as described
in the tip at the beginning of this article) before running the WASPostUpgrade command to migrate the federated nodes.