Getting help

If you are not able to resolve a WebSphere® Application Server problem by following the steps described in the troubleshooting topics, by looking up error messages in the message reference, or by looking for related documentation on the online help or the IBM support page, contact IBM® Technical Support.

Purchase of WebSphere Application Server entitles you to one year of telephone support under the Passport Advantage® program. For details on the Passport Advantage program, visit https://www.ibm.com/software/passportadvantage/.

If you cannot resolve your problem by any of the preceding methods:

Go to the WebSphere Application Server support page.
Expand the Contact Support section.
- Click Exchanging information with IBM Tech Support, and follow the information collection instructions provided.
- Click Directory of worldwide contacts to find the appropriate contact information for your geography.

IBM Support has documents that can save you time gathering information needed to resolve this problem. Before opening a PMR, see information about MustGather. IBM Support might ask you to run this tool and submit the output.

Finding answers to your questions

Post your questions at Stack Overflow for WebSphere.
Search for answers to your questions. Enter your search query in the IBM Documentation search field. Examine the search results on Documentation, Videos, IBM Developer, Technotes, and Redbooks tabs.

Reporting issues

If you want to report a problem or are looking for support options, see WebSphere Application Server: Support Portal.
To open a Support Ticket, see Open a case. To save time, collect MustGather data before you contact IBM Support.

Tracing

WebSphere Application Server support engineers might ask you to enable tracing on a particular component of the product to diagnose a difficult problem.

Note: WebSphere Application Server requires a network connection between all WebSphere Application Server components. If a network connection between components includes traversing a firewall, the firewall should be transparent to WebSphere Application Server and not affect operations. The IBM Support Center does accept usage and defect related service requests when a firewall is in place between WebSphere Application Server components. However. during the problem determination process, IBM might request that the issue be recreated without a firewall in the network connection to determine if the issue is related to a specific firewall configuration.

Consulting

For complex issues such as integration with legacy systems, education, and help in getting started quickly with the WebSphere product family, consider using IBM consulting services. To learn about these services, browse the https://www.ibm.com/services/fullservice.html website.