Configuration mapping during product-configuration migration

Various configurations are mapped during product-configuration migration.

Supported configurations:

This topic is about profile configuration migration. To migrate your applications to the latest version, use the WebSphere® Application Server Migration Toolkit.

Migration involves the copying of your configuration from a previous release of a WebSphere Application Server into a new release.

Many migration scenarios are possible. The migration tools map objects and attributes existing in the version from which you are migrating to the corresponding objects and attributes in the Version 9.0 environment

Bootstrap port

The migration tools carry the old release value into the Version 9.0 environment.

Command-line parameters

The migration tools convert appropriate command-line parameters to Java™ Virtual Machine (JVM) settings in the server process definition. Most settings are mapped directly. Some settings are not migrated because their roles in the WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 configuration do not exist, have different meanings, or have different scopes.

For information on how to change the process-definition settings, see Process Definition Setting. For information on how to change the JVM settings, see Java virtual machine settings.

Generic server

In Version 7.0 or later, a generic server has its own type, called GENERIC_SERVER. Migration will perform this conversion, but migration cannot accurately migrate the external resources that the generic server references. After migration has completed migrating the generic server settings, you might need to perform additional tasks. If the old resource that the generic server was managing is located under the old WebSphere Application Server installation, perform the following tasks:

Copy any related files to the new installation.
Run any setup required to put the external application back into a valid and working state.
It is best that you reinstall the resource into the new WebSphere Application Server directory. Whatever you choose to do, the final step is to reset the reference to the new location of the application.

If the old resource that the generic server was managing is not installed under the old WebSphere Application Server installation, nothing further is required.

Migration of a Version 7.0 or later node to a Version 9.0 node

You can migrate a WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0 or later node that belongs to a cell without removing the node from the cell.

Migrate the deployment manager first, before migrating any base nodes in the cell.

Important: Use the same cell name when migrating WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment from Version 7.0 or later to Version 9.0. If you use a different cell name, federated nodes cannot successfully migrate to the WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment Version 9.0 cell.

Migrating a base WebSphere Application Server node that is within a cell to Version 9.0 also migrates the node agent to Version 9.0. A cell can have some Version 9.0 nodes and other nodes that are at Version 7.0 or later levels.

Policy files

WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 migrates all the policy files that are installed with Version 7.0 or later by merging settings into the Version 9.0 policy files with the following characteristics:

Any comments located in the Version 9.0 policy files will be preserved. Any comments contained in the Version 7.0 or later policy files will not be included in the Version 9.0 file.
Migration will not attempt to merge permissions or grants; it is strictly an add-type migration. If the permission or grant is not located in the Version 9.0 file, the migration will bring it over.
Security is a critical component; thus, the migration makes any additions at the end of the original .policy files after the comment MIGR0372I: Migrated grant permissions follow. This is done to help administrators verify any policy-file changes that the migration has made.

Properties directories

Migration copies files from prior version directories into the WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 configuration.

Property files

WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 migrates all the property files that are installed with Version 7.0 or later by merging settings into the Version 9.0 property files.

Resource adapter archives (RARs) referenced by J2C resources

RARs that are referenced by J2C resources are migrated if those RARs are in the old WebSphere Application Server installation. In this case, the RARs are copied over to the corresponding location in the new WebSphere Application Server installation. Relational Resource Adapter RARs will not be migrated.

Migrating cluster-level resources:

WebSphere Application Server Version 6.0 introduced the concept of cluster-level resources. These are configured in resourcexxx.xml files under the cluster directories. For example:

<resources.j2c:J2CResourceAdapter xmi:id="J2CResourceAdapter_1112808424172" 
  name="ims" archivePath="${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT}\installedConnectors\x2.rar">
  ...
</resources.j2c:J2CResourceAdapter>

If you have a cluster-level resource, this resource must be in the same location on each cluster member (node). Using the previous example, therefore, each cluster member must have the RAR file installed at location ${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT}\installedConnectors\x2.rar. ${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT} is resolved on each cluster member to get the exact location.

In the migration of a deployment manager, the tools migrate the cluster files on the deployment manager, including the resourcexxx.xml files.

In the migration of a federated node, the tools process each J2C adapter.

RAR files in a Version 7.0 to Version 9.0 migration:

Migration from Version 7.0 to Version 9.0 copies files such as RAR files from WAS_INSTALL_ROOT to WAS_INSTALL_ROOT and from USER_INSTALL_ROOT to USER_INSTALL_ROOT.

If you have a RAR file in the WAS_INSTALL_ROOT for Version 7.0, for example, the migration tools do not automatically copy the file from WAS_INSTALL_ROOT to USER_INSTALL_ROOT. This maintains the integrity of the cluster-level J2C resources.

If you hardcoded a path to a RAR file (archivePath="C:/WAS/installedConnectors/x2.rar" for example) in Version 7.0, however, the Version 9.0 migration tools cannot change the archivePath attribute to reflect this because that would break all of the other cluster members that have not been migrated.

Samples

No migration of samples from previous versions is available. There are equivalent WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 samples that you can install.

Security

Java 2 security is enabled by default when you enable security in WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0. Java 2 security requires you to grant security permissions explicitly.

When migrating to WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0, your choice of whether or not to migrate to support script compatibility results in one of two different outcomes.

If you choose to migrate to support script compatibility, your security configuration is brought over to Version 9.0 without any changes.
This is the default.
If you choose not to migrate to support script compatibility, the security configuration is converted to the default configuration for WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0. The default security configuration for Version 7.0 or later acts almost the same as in the previous versions, but there are some changes.
For example, existing keyfiles and trustfiles are moved out of the SSLConfig repertoire and new keystore and truststore objects are created.

All SSL configuration repertoires of the System Secure Sockets Layer (SSSL) type, except those that belong to the daemon, are converted to the Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) type.

For more information on migrating your security configurations to Version 9.0, read the Migrating, coexisting, and interoperating – Security considerations article in the documentation.

Stdin, stdout, stderr, passivation, and working directories

In WebSphere Application Server for z/OS®, outputs for stdin, stdout, and stderr are directed to SYSOUT by default. If they are redirected to the configuration directory of a previous version, you might need to change this in the Version 9.0 JCL.

The migration tools attempt to migrate existing passivation and working directories. Otherwise, appropriate Version 9.0 defaults are used.

If WebSphere Application Server for z/OS user IDs have home directories in the configuration directory of a previous version, you should update them before migration to reside in another location.

Avoid trouble: In a coexistence scenario, using common directories between versions can create problems.

Transport ports

The migration tools migrate all ports. You must resolve any port conflicts before you can run servers at the same time.

Note: If ports are already defined in a configuration being migrated, the migration tools fix the port conflicts in the Version 9.0 configuration and log the changes for your verification.

You must manually add virtual host alias entries for each port. For more information, read the Configuring virtual hosts article in the documentation.

Web modules

The specification level of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) implemented in WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0 required behavior changes in the web container for setting the content type. If a default servlet writer does not set the content type, not only does the web container no longer default to it but the web container returns the call as "null." This situation might cause some browsers to display resulting web container tags incorrectly. To prevent this problem from occurring, migration sets the autoResponseEncoding IBM® extension to "true" for web modules as it migrates enterprise applications.