Starting an application server

When you start an application server, a new server process starts. This new server process is based on the process definition settings of the current server configuration.

About this task

This procedure for starting a server also typically applies to restarting a server. The one exception might be if a server fails and you want the recovery functions to complete their processing before starting new work on that server. In this situation, you must restart the server in recovery mode.

If you create any additional application servers, you cannot start, stop, or manage these servers using the administrative console that is associated with the original base server. You must either use command-line tools to perform these tasks for the additional servers, set up an administrative console for each server, or configure an administrative agent to provide a single interface to all of your servers, including the original base server. An administrative agent makes it easier to more fully administer these unfederated application servers.

Avoid trouble:

• If you install a base server without a node agent, there are no administrative console buttons for New, Delete, Templates, Start, Stop, Restart, ImmediateStop, Terminate, after you select Servers > Server Types > WebSphere Application Servers on the administrative console. In this environment, you can use an administrative agent and add the base server to the administrative agent. You can then control the base server through the administrative agent. See topic Administering stand-alone nodes using the administrative agent for more details.
• If you create additional application servers, only use one server to modify and save configurations. There is no coordination of configuration setting between the different servers and if you modify and save configurations on multiple servers, your data might become corrupted

Avoid trouble: When a child process starts, Java appends the runtime path to the LIBPATH environment variable to ensure that it is using the correct library paths. Because this implementation does not check to see if the runtime path already exists in the LIBPATH environment variable, existing entries might get duplicated. However, when the parent process is stopped, then started, all of the additional runtime paths that were added to the LIBPATH environment variable when child processes started are removed from the LIBPATH environment variable.

There are several options available for starting an application server.

• You can use the administrative console to complete the following steps:
  1. Click Servers > Server Types > WebSphere application servers.
  2. Select server1 and click Start.
     You can view the status and any messages or logs to make sure the application server starts.
• You can use the Start menu on a Microsoft Windows operating system.
  For example, if you are using the base version of the product, click Start > Programs > IBM WebSphere > Base V > n > Profiles > profile_nameStart the server.
  You can check that the server has successfully started by checking the startServer.log file. If the server has successfully started, the last two lines of the startServer.log file reads:

  Server launched.  Waiting for initialization status.
  Server server1 open for e-business; process id is 1932.

  The startServer.log file is located in the profile_root/logs/server1 directory if you have installed your server with the default settings. The server name and process ID vary depending on your settings.

• If a Windows service has been created for the application server, optionally use the Windows Services utility to start, stop, and monitor the basic status of the server.
  1. To launch the Services utility, click Start > Settings Control Panel.

     The Control Panel folder displays.

  2. Double-click the Administrative Tools icon.

     The Administrative tools folder displays.

  3. Double-click the Services icon.

     Read about the Services utility in the Windows online help.

  Read the topic about the WASService command for information about adding and removing Windows services.

• You can use the startServer Qshell command.
• You can use the Submit Job (SBMJOB) CL command.
  You can run the following CL command from an IBM® i command line.

  SBMJOB CMD(CALL PGM(product_library/QWASSTRSVR) PARM('-profilePath'
    'profile_root' '-server' 'server_name')) JOB(server_name)
    JOBD(QWAS85/QWASJOBD) JOBQ(QWAS85/QWASJOBQ) USER(QEJBSVR) LANGID(*USRPRF)
    CNTRYID(*USRPRF) CCSID(*USRPRF) OUTQ(QWAS85/QWASOUTQ) ALWMLTTHD(*YES)
  

  server_name is the name of the server that you are starting.

• You can issue a startServer command.

  Read the topic on the startServer command for information about the command, including such information as running the command and defining the file name for the start server log. Read the topic on using command-line tools for information such as determining from what directory to run the startServer command.

  You can check that the server has successfully started by checking the start server log. If the server has started successfully, the last two lines of the start server log look like the following example:

  Server launched.  Waiting for initialization status.
  Server server1 open for e-business; process id is 1932.