Introduction

IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition (hereafter Community Edition) is an open source Java® 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server based on Apache Geronimo. Community Edition is a lightweight application server with a very small footprint and is available free of charge.

Community Edition’s JSR-168-based administrative console is essentially a Web application, deployed in Community Edition, that provides a user friendly Web-based interface for administering many aspects of the local or remote server. Although not all administrative tasks can be performed using the console, this article will describe how many of them can be accomplished using this easy user interface.

The tasks that are described in this article include:

• Start the server
• Launch the administrative console
• Review the console navigation pane
• Configure a port
• Add repository file
• Work with a Cloudscape database
• Create database pools
• Create a JMS connection factory
• Create a console realm

Before you continue: This article was written for WebSphere Application Server Community Edition V1.1, which was the current version at the time the article was published. Some of the information in this article may not be applicable to later versions. To follow along with this article, be sure to use the product version on which this article is based. If you wish, you can download the current version of WebSphere Application Server Community Edition, or you can download an earlier version by visiting the product archive page.

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Start the server

Starting the server is one of those tasks that cannot be performed using the admin console. To start the server, you can either:

• Select Start => Programs => IBM WebSphere => Application Server Community Edition => Start the server, or:
• Execute the startup.bat/sh file from <wasce_home>\bin folder, where <wasce_home> is the Community Edition installation directory.

In Figure 1, the server startup message for Geronimo Application Server displays the list of application modules and Web applications that started along with the server. The important lines to notice here are:

Under Started Application Modules:

EAR: geronimo/webconsole-tomcat/1.0/car

Under Web Applications:

http://localhost:8080/console
http://localhost:8080/console-standard

These messages indicate that the console application deployed in Community Edition successfully started. You can access the application using the displayed URL. To access the server in the remote machine, use http://hostname:portnumber/console.

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Launch the administrative console

To launch the admin console, go to http://localhost:8080/console in your Web browser, or select Start => Programs => IBM WebSphere => Application Server Community Edition => Administrative Console.

On the login page (Figure 2), enter valid Username and Password values. The default Username is system and the Password is manager.

Once you have successfully logged in to the console, the welcome page (Figure 3) appears. You can perform all console-oriented administration tasks from this page.

The Console Navigation pane is on the left side of the console page and the Work Area is in the center. Clicking on any topic in the navigation pane will open the corresponding view in the work area. Each view is made up of one or more portlets. In the work area, the Common Console Actions pane links to common server-related tasks, and the Online Resources pane links to the important resources available online.

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Review the console navigation pane

The categories in the navigation pane are:

• Server
• Services
• Applications
• Security
• Miscellaneous

Server

Server tasks are for accessing statistical information, as well as for configuring and administering the different servers. Table 1 describes the available links in the Server section of the navigation pane.

Services

This category enables the administrator to manage services. Table 2 describes the available links in the Services section of the navigation pane.

Application

From here you can install a new application or administer existing applications. This section provides the features to uninstall or stop/start any application deployed in the server. Table 3 describes the available links in the Application section of the navigation pane.

Security

This section helps you view and manage all security related configurations. Table 4 describes the available links in the Security section of the navigation pane.

Miscellaneous

This section helps the administrator view and manage the Cloudscape (Derby) database embedded in Community Edition. Table 5 describes the available links in the Miscellaneous section of the navigation pane.

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Configure a port

The administrative console application runs on default port 8080 on the Tomcat Web container. To change the port number from the console, go to Common Console Actions portlet and select Web Server Ports. Figure 4 shows the Edit connector portlet.

For this change to go into effect, you need to restart the server. The server startup messages (Figure 1) will display the updated port number.

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Add repository file

From the Console Navigation Pane, click Common Libraries under the Services category. In the corresponding view:

1. Browse to and select the file that needs to be added to the repository.
2. Specify the Group, Artifact, Version and Type values for the file.
3. Press Install to install the file.

For file copying convenience, the layout of the repository is the same as that used by Apache Maven. To use an artifact in an application, add a dependency element into its deployment plan. For example, to use Castor XML, add the XML shown in Listing 1 to the plan.

                
<dependency>
	<uri>castor/jars/castor-0.9.5.3.jar</uri>
</dependency>

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Work with a Cloudscape database

Cloudscape Version 10.1.X is shipped with Community Edition. From the Console Navigation pane, you can view brief database information using the DB Info link in the Embedded DB section of the Miscellaneous category.

DB Manager

By using the DB Manager link, also in the Embedded DB section, you can create, list, and work with existing databases. The DB Manager view is made up of two portlets: DB Viewer and Run SQL (Figure 5). DB Viewer displays existing databases. To view the tables available in the corresponding database, and the contents of the table, use the View Tables links.

Suppose you want to create a new database and table from the Run SQL portlet:

1. For Create DB, specify the name of the database; for example, student, then click Create. On successful creation, the message Database created: student will appear under Result.
2. For UseDB, select Student from the drop-down list and paste the SQL shown in Listing 2 into the SQL Command field. Click Run SQL.
3. On successful transaction, the message SQL command/s successful display in the result area.

                
create table student(rollno VARCHAR(30), name VARCHAR(50), dob VARCHAR(40));

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Create database pools

To create a new database pool from the Console Navigation pane, select Database Pools under the Services category.

You will see the corresponding view opened in the right side work area. The portlet displays the number of database pools available in the server. From the links available under Actions, you can edit the pool or view the usage information for the deployment descriptor. To create a new database pool, you can either use the Geronimo database pool wizard, or import the configuration file from JBoss 4/WebLogic 8.1.

Using the Geronimo database pool wizard

Figure 6 shows the database pool creation wizard.

To create a new database pool:

1. Click Geronimo database pool wizard.
2. Specify the name of the Database Pool as studentpool, the same one specified in our sample application.
3. Specify the Database type as Derby Embedded to use the database available in the embedded Derby.
4. After you select the database type, the corresponding JDBC driver class will automatically populate the JDBC Driver Class field.
5. In the Driver JAR field, enter org.apache.derby/derby/10.1.2.ibm/jar.
6. Provide the Username and Password for the database; these fields are optional.
7. In the Database field, enter the Database name; for example, student.
8. The corresponding URL will automatically get generated in the JDBC Connect URL field (format: jdbc :< database type> :< database name>), and you should receive a message that indicates the driver loaded successfully.
9. Leave the remaining fields as-is.
10. Click Test Connection to test the connected to the database.
11. Click Deploy to deploy this pool to the server.
12. Click Usage to see how to specify this pool in the deployment descriptors.

Deploy a sample application

To deploy the new application, go to the Console Navigation pane and select Deploy New under the Applications category (Figure 7).

• Browse and select the sample application StudentWeb (included with this article see the download section).
• Click the Install button.

Upon successful installation, you will receive the message The application was successfully deployed. You can now access this application with http://localhost:8080/StudentWeb/student.jsp, which is basically: http://<hostname>:<portno>/<context root>.

Applications require deployment plans that are either packaged within the file or kept in a separate deployment descriptor file. If the deployment plan is not packaged with the file, you need to specify the plan in the Plan field.

Uninstall an application

To uninstall or view the applications available in the server, go to the Applications category in the Console Navigation pane. All the applications that are available on the server are listed by type.

Click Web App WARs to see if the Web application you just deployed got listed.

To uninstall the application, simply click the uninstall link corresponding to the application, then try stopping and starting the application from the stop and start links.

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Create a JMS connection factory

To create a new JMS connection factory (Figure 8):

1. Go to the Console Navigation Pane and select JMS under the Services category.
2. Click Add New JMS Connection Factory.
3. Specify the name of the ActiveMQ connection factory in the Name field; for example, SampleJMSConnectionFactory).
4. Specify the URL of the ActiveMQ server in the Server URL field; for example, tcp://localhost:61616, which is the default port number.
5. Username and Password are optional fields.
6. Specify the value for Pool Max Capacity; for example 10.
7. Specify the value for Blocking Timeout; for example 0.
8. Click Create to create the JMS connection factory. This adds the new factory to the list of JMS connection factories.
9. Click Test Connection to test the connection configuration. If successful, it should display as Connected.
10. Click Details to see the information of the connection factory you created.

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Create a console realm

Community Edition’s console realm includes managing users and managing groups. To create a new realm, go to Console Navigation pane and click Console Realm under the Security category.

Creating new user

To create a new user:

1. Under Console Realm Users, select Create New User.
2. In the Add User portlet, enter values for the new Username and Password.
3. Click the Add button. The new user will appear in the list if it was created successfully.

Adding a user to a group

To add the user you created to an existing group called admin:

1. Click admin under Console Realm Groups.
2. Select the user(s) to wish to add, then click ADD>>.
3. Click the Update button to see this user in the admin group.

Log out from the console, then log in with the new username and password.

Key store

Go to the Console Navigation pane and click Key store under Security. The corresponding view displays the keys available in the server’s default key store.

You can import the trusted certificate and generate a new key pair simply by clicking the available links.

Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting information is in the log files available in Community Edition. To view the log files, go to the Console Navigation pane and click Server Logs under the Server category.

The Server Logs view is made up of:

• Log manager
• Server Log Viewer
• Derby Log Viewer
• Web Access Log Viewer

From these portlets you can get the logging information from the server, deployment, embedded derby, and Web applications deployed on the local or remote server.

The default Config file is a standard log4j file and defines the location where the Geronimo Server will log Geronimo output. The configuration file also defines the log level, the maximum log file size, and other attributes associated with logging.

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Conclusion

This article shows you a way to get a headstart on administering WebSphere Application Server Community Edition by walking you through the administrative console and its basic use. Learn more about Community Edition with the resources below and achieve a deeper understanding of Community Edition by deploying the sample applications available for download.

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Download

Name	Size	Download method
StudentWeb.war	6 KB	FTP|HTTP

Information about download methods

Resources

Learn

• developerWorks: WebSphere Application Server Community Edition zone
  
  
• Product Documentation : WebSphere Application Server Community Edition
  
  
• IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal: Get started with WebSphere Application Server Community Edition
  
  
• IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal: WebSphere Application Server Community Edition V1 system administration
  
  

Get products and technologies

• Download the latest version of IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition
  
  
• Download an earlier version of IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition
  
  

Discuss

• Forum: IBM WebSphere Application Server Community Edition and Apache Geronimo
  
  

About the author

Anitha Krishnasamy is a Software Engineer working with WebSphere Application Server Community Edition Business Development team in IBM India Software Labs, Bangalore. Her area of expertise includes business integration and J2EE technologies. She holds a masters degree in Computer Applications from National Institute of Technology, Trichy. She can be reached at kanitha@in.ibm.com.

Comments (Undergoing maintenance)

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Table of contents

• Introduction
• Start the server
• Launch the administrative console
• Review the console navigation pane
• Configure a port
• Add repository file
• Work with a Cloudscape database
• Create database pools
• Create a JMS connection factory
• Create a console realm
• Conclusion
• Download
• Resources
• About the author
• Comments

Next steps from IBM

• Try: WebSphere Application Server
• Webcast: Using Rational Application Developer with WebSphere Application Server to increase productivity
• Briefing: Building SOA solutions and managing the service lifecycle
• Buy: WebSphere Application Server

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