Top 10 exportWasprofile and importWasprofile FAQ in WebSphere Application Server

Body

exportWasprofile is a wsadmin AdminTask command to export the entire cell configuration to a configuration archive.

importWasprofile is also a  wsadmin AdminTask command to import a cell configuration in the configuration archive to the system.

Examples:    

AdminTask.exportWasprofile(['-archive', 'c:/KumaranCell.car'])
AdminTask.importWasprofile('[-archive c:/KumaranCell.car]')

1) Will I be able to export/import the Network Deployment profile Configuration?
No. Only base server configuration with single node is supported for this commands.

If you want to migrate the dmgr and the federated node then follow the below presentation:
Webcast replay: IBM WebSphere Application Server Repository Migration

2) Does the profileName, CellName or NodeName have to be same on source and destination profiles?

No. It does not  have to be same.

3) Does exportWasprofile export everything from the profile configuration including SIB configuration?
Yes. It exports everything from the profile configuration. You dont need to pass any parameters during export.

4) Will importWasprofile import everything by default?
No. It will not import SIB Configuration and persistent EJB Name Bindings by default.
$AdminTask importWasprofile {-interactive}    

Note: Importing/exporting SIB configuration is introduced only in version 7.0. It is not available in earlier releases.

5) What other options are available during importWasprofile?
You can pass any of the three options,

UpdateNameBindings - Update the node name in namebinding.xml file (If there are any enterprise beans entries in persistent namestore with old nodenames)                          
ConfigCoreGroup        - Add the imported servers to the core group configuration (Ignore this setting))             
SIBConfig                    - Update the imported configuration with SIB configuration (to import SIB configuration, available since version 7.0)               
                                       
Note: If you need the syntax or the parameter name run these options, please run the interactive command:                                                                        
$AdminTask importWasprofile {-interactive}     

6) How do I import the SIB Configuration during importWasprofile?
Use the following command to import SIB configuration:

Jacl :
    $AdminTask importWasprofile {-archive c:/kumaran/MyBaseProfile.car -SIBConfig {-addSIBConfig true}}               
Jython:                                      
    AdminTask.importWasprofile('[-archive c:/kumaran/MyBaseProfile.car -deleteExistingServers false -SIBConfig [-addSIBConfig true]]')  

7) When I import the configuration from Profile A to Profile B, will it replace or merge the configuration?
It replaces all resources but will not replace the cell Name or node Name.
For example, you have Datasource resource A created on Profile A and you have datasource  resource B created on profile B.
When you import profile A config on profile B, only resource A exist.     

8) Can multiple .car archives be imported in one profile?
Yes, but only the last imported profile configuration will be available to use. refer above question for more information.

9) Can I export the profile from Version 7.0 Base and Import in on V8.0 Profile?                                                                                                           
No. You can't import different version on WebSphere release configuration. You need to use Migration tools to migrate the configuration from one version to other versions.
      
10) Can I exportWasprofile from 32 bit JDK to 64 Bit JDK machine or 1.6 JDK configuration to 1.7 JDK configuration?
You may, but its not recommended.  The export/import will not throw any exception, but the server may not start. If you see start server issue after importing 1.7 to 1.6 JDK (Vise Versa)  then you use the ManageSDk command to fix the java version mismatch issue.

Common Issue:

When you import the large profile, the importWasprofile commands might fail to execute with the following exception:

org.apache.soap.SOAPException: [SOAPException:faultCode=SOAP-ENV:Client; msg=Read timed out;targetException=java.net.SocketTimeoutException: Read timed out]     

Solution:

The socket time out will happen if the import takes more than 180 seconds. Please increase the request Time out value from 180 seconds to 600 seconds (or more) in the soap.client.props: 

- Edit soap.client.props file under profile-root/properties folder

- Change com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout=180 to com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout=600

- Save the changes and restart the wsadmin again

title image (modified) credit: (cc) Some rights reserved by Sam Churchill