Getting started with wsadmin scripting

Scripting is a non-graphical alternative that you can use to configure and manage WebSphere® Application Server.

[z/OS]

Before you begin

Verify that user IDs that run WebSphere Application Server for z/OS® scripts, including server, administrator and client user IDs, run with the LANG and LC_ALL environment variables set to the same locale based on code page IBM-1047. Settings based on any other code page might cause the scripts to fail. See the Changing the Locale in the Shell topic in UNIX System Services User's Guide for more information.

About this task

The WebSphere Application Server wsadmin tool provides the ability to run scripts. The wsadmin tool supports a full range of product administrative activities.

Restriction: The wsadmin tool does not apply to Liberty. See Administering Liberty from the command line instead.
The following figure illustrates the major components involved in a wsadmin scripting solution:
Figure 1. A WebSphere Application Server scripting solution . This figure illustrates the major components involved in a wsadmin scripting solution.
Illustrates the major components of a wsadmin scripting solution.

The wsadmin tool supports two scripting languages: Jacl and Jython. Five objects are available when you use scripts:

  • AdminControl: Use to run operational commands.
  • AdminConfig: Use to run configurational commands to create or modify WebSphere Application Server configurational elements.
  • AdminApp: Use to administer applications.
  • AdminTask: Use to run administrative commands.
  • Help: Use to obtain general help.

The scripts use these objects to communicate with MBeans that run in WebSphere Application Server processes. MBeans are Java™ objects that represent Java Management Extensions (JMX) resources. JMX is an optional package addition to Java 2 Platform Standard Edition (J2SE). JMX is a technology that provides a simple and standard way to manage Java objects.

Important: Some wsadmin scripts, including the AdminApp install, AdminApp update, and some AdminTask commands, require that the user ID under which the server is running must have read permission to the files that are created by the user that is running wsadmin scripting. For example, if the application server is running under user1, but you are running wsadmin scripting under user2, you might encounter exceptions involving a temporary directory. When user2 runs wsadmin scripting to deploy an application, a temporary directory for the enterprise application archive (EAR) file is created. However, when the application server attempts to read and unzip the EAR file as user1, the process fails. It is not recommended that you set the umask value of the user that is running wsadmin scripting to 022 or 023 to work around this issue. This approach makes all of the files that are created by the user readable by other users. To resolve this issue, consider the following approaches based on your administrative policies:
  • Run wsadmin scripting with the same user ID as the user that runs the deployment manager or application server. A root user can switch the user ID to complete these actions.
  • Set the group ID of the user that is running the deployment manager or application server to be the same group ID as the user that is running wsadmin scripting. Also, set the umask value of the user that is running the wsadmin scripting to be at least a umask 027 value so that files that are created by the wsadmin scripting can be read by members of the group.
  • Run wsadmin scripting from a different machine. This approach forces files to be transferred and bypasses the file copy permission issue.

To perform a task using scripting, you must first perform the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Choose a scripting language. The wsadmin tool only supports Jacl and Jython scripting languages. Jacl is the language specified by default. If you want to use the Jython scripting language, use the -lang option or specify it in the wsadmin.properties file.
  2. Start the wsadmin scripting client interactively, as an individual command, in a script, or in a profile.

What to do next

Before you perform any task using scripting, make sure that you are familiar with the following concepts:

  • Java Management Extensions (JMX)
  • WebSphere Application Server configuration model
  • wsadmin tool
  • Jacl syntax or Jython syntax
  • Scripting objects

Optionally, you can customize your scripting environment. For more information, see Administrative properties for using wsadmin scripting.

After you become familiar with the scripting concepts, choose a scripting language, and start the scripting client, you are ready to perform tasks using scripting.