addNode command

The addNode command incorporates an application server installation into a cell.

Depending on the size and location of the new node you incorporate into the cell, this command can take a few minutes to complete.

[z/OS] [AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] You must have Administrator privileges to use the addNode function.

[IBM i] Your user profile must have *ALLOBJ authority or must have read and execute authority for the addNode Qshell script.

The node agent server is automatically started as part of the addNode command unless you specify the -noagent option. If you recycle the system that hosts an application server node, and did not set up the node agent to act as an operating system daemon, you must issue a startNode command to start the node agent before starting any application servers.

When you run the addNode command, the command stops the running application server that it is incorporating into a cell. You can optionally stop the application server before running the addNode command.

[Windows] Existing Windows services that are associated with servers before adding a node to a cell are removed when you run the addNode command. If you remove the node from the cell later, Windows services are not automatically created again for the base servers. See information about the WASService command to create a Windows service for the product.

When you add a node, the product might generate ports. The following items apply to port generation:

Ports generated for the node agent are unique for all the profiles in the installation. For development purposes, you can create multiple profiles on the same installation and add them to one or more cells without concern for port conflicts.
If you want to specify the ports that the node agent uses, specify the ports in a file with the file name passed with the -portprops option. The format of the file is key=value pairs, one on each line, with the key being the same as the port name in the serverindex.xml file.
If you want to use a number of sequential ports, consider the -startingport option. This means that port conflicts with other profiles are not detected.

Best practice: Use the -includeapps option for the addNode command to ensure that the environment starts with the same version of the application. If any custom policy set is created on the server before you run the addNode command, then the custom policy set is not copied to the new cell after you run the addNode command. Therefore, when using the -installApps option, an application on the server that uses the custom policy set fails to load the policy set after you run the addNode command. You can export the custom policy set from the stand-alone server before you run the addNode command, and import the custom policy set to the new cell after you run the addNode command.

Read the topic on using command-line tools to determine whether to run the command from the profile or application server root directory.

Syntax

See the command syntax:

addNode dmgr_host [dmgr_port] [-conntype type] [-includeapps] [-includebuses]
[-startingport portnumber] [-portprops qualified_filename]
[-nodeagentshortname name] [-nodegroupname name] [-registerservice]
[-serviceusername name] [-servicepassword password] [-coregroupname name]
[-noagent] [-statusport 1231] [-quiet] [-nowait] [-logfile filename]
[-replacelog] [-trace] [-username uid] [-password pwd]
[-localusername localuid] [-localpassword localpwd] [-profileName profilename]
[-excludesecuritydomains true | false] [-asExistingNode] [-help]

addNode dmgr_host [dmgr_port] [-conntype type] [-includeapps] [-includebuses name]
[-startingport portnumber] [-portprops qualified_filename] 
[-nodeagentshortname name] [-nodegroupname name] [-registerservice] 
[-serviceusername name] [-servicepassword password] [-coregroupname name] 
[-noagent] [-statusport port] [-quiet] [-nowait] [-logfile filename] 
[-replacelog] [-trace] [-username uid] [-password pwd] 
[-localusername localuid] [-localpassword localpwd] [-profileName profilename]
[-excludesecuritydomains true | false] [-asExistingNode] [-help]

The dmgr_host argument is required. All the other arguments are optional. The default port number is 8879 for the default SOAP port of the deployment manager. SOAP is the default Java™ Management Extensions (JMX) connector type for the command. If you have multiple product installations or multiple profiles, the SOAP port might be different from 8879. Examine the deployment manager SystemOut.log file to see the current ports in use.

Note: This topic references one or more of the application server log files. As a recommended alternative, you can configure the server to use the High Performance Extensible Logging (HPEL) log and trace infrastructure instead of using SystemOut.log , SystemErr.log, trace.log, and activity.log files on distributed and IBM® i systems. You can also use HPEL in conjunction with your native z/OS® logging facilities. If you are using HPEL, you can access all of your log and trace information using the LogViewer command-line tool from your server profile bin directory. See the information about using HPEL to troubleshoot applications for more information on using HPEL.

Parameters

The following options are available for the addNode command:

-conntype <type>

Specifies the JMX connector type to use for connecting to the deployment manager. SOAP is the default Java Management Extensions (JMX) connector type for the command. Other valid types are JSR160RMI or Remote Method Invocation (RMI).

-includeapps

By default the addNode command does not carry over applications from the stand-alone servers on the new node to the cell. In general, install applications using the deployment manager. The -includeapps option tells the addNode command to carry over the applications from a node. If the application already exists in the cell, then a warning is printed and the application does not install in the cell.

The applications are mapped to the server that you federated using the addNode command. When the addNode command operation completes, the applications run on that server when the server is started. Since these applications are part of the network deployment cell, you can map them to other servers and clusters in the cell using the administrative console. Read about mapping modules to servers for more information.

Do not use the -includeapps option if the node that you want to federate includes the product-supplied applications, such as the Samples. If you do, the second node to be federated that includes these applications is rejected because the applications exist in the cell and application merge is not supported.

If you use the -includeapps option on a node that includes a large number of applications, then the timeout for the administrative connector must be extended to account for the additional time required to transfer all the applications to the deployment manager during the addNode operation and to remotely install them into the cell. The -includeapps option is not a recommended approach unless only a few unique applications exist on the node.

[z/OS] [AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] By default, during application installation, application binaries are extracted in the app_server_root/installedApps/cellName directory. After the addNode command, the cell name of the configuration on the node that you added changes from the base cell name to the deployment manager cell name. The application binary files are located where they were before you ran the addNode command, for example, app_server_root/installedApps/old_cellName.

[IBM i] By default, during application installation, application binary files are extracted in the profile_root/installedApps/cellName directory. After the addNode command, the cell name of the configuration on the node that you added changes from the base cell name to the deployment manager cell name. The application binary files are located where they were before you ran the addNode command, for example, profile_root/installedApps/old_cellName.

In the following example the application was installed by explicitly specifying the location for binary files:

${APP_INSTALL_ROOT}/${CELL}

The variable ${CELL}, specifies the current cell name. Then, when the addNode command runs, the binary files are moved to the profile_root/installedApps/currentCellName directory.

Federating the node to a cell using the addNode command does not merge any cell-level configuration, including virtual host information. If the virtual host and aliases for the new cell do not match the product, you cannot access the applications running on the servers. You have to manually add all the virtual host and host aliases to the new cell, using the administrative console running on the deployment manager.

Avoid trouble: When the -includeapps parameter is specified, an OutOfMemoryError might occur if the Java virtual machine (JVM) heap size is too small. When this error occurs, the following error message is issued:

ADMU0111E: Program exiting with error: java.lang.OutOfMemoryError

This error can occur when large applications are processed, or when there is a large number of applications in the Base Application Server.

To recover from this error and successfully federate the application server, complete the following actions:

Issue the cleanupNode command on your deployment manager server. Read about the cleanupNode command for more information about this command.
Increase the JVM heap size for the addNode script. When you issue the addNode command, the JVM heap size is set to -Xms128m -Xmx512m. To increase these values, use the -javaoption parameter. For example, you might specify the following (all on one line):
```
addNode localhost 8879 -javaoption java_option "-Xmx512m"
```
```
addNode.sh localhost 8879 -javaoption java_option "-Xmx512m"
```
Reissue the addNode command.

-includebuses

Copies the buses from the node to be federated to the cell. This parameter also attempts to copy the service integration bus configuration of the remote node into the cell. If the destination cell already contains a bus with the same name as any bus at the remote node, the add node fails. To prevent this failure, you can act before using the addNode command. You can delete the bus with that name in the destination cell, rename the bus to be added to the cell, or manually configure the bus already located in the cell.

-startingport <portNumber>

Supports the specification of a port number to use as the base port number for all node agent and Java Messaging Service (JMS) server ports created when the addNode command runs. With this support you can control which ports are defined for these servers, rather than using the default port values. The starting port number is incremented one unit to calculate the port number for every node agent port and JMS server port configured during the addNode command.

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] To avoid potential port conflicts, read about port number settings for more information about default port settings.

If multiple node agents exist on the same physical server, then you can define the base port number for each by using the -startingport parameter before federation, or by modifying the ports in the node agent section of the serverindex.xml file.

-portprops <filename>

Passes the name of the file that contains key-value pairs of explicit ports that you want the new node agent to use. For example, to set your SOAP and RMI ports to 3000 and 3001, create a file with the following two lines and pass it as the parameter:

SOAP_CONNECTOR_ADDRESS=3000
BOOTSTRAP_ADDRESS=3001

-nodeagentshortname <name>

The shortname to use for the new node agent.

-nodegroupname <name>

The name of the node group in which to add this node. If you do not specify, the node is added to the DefaultNodeGroup.

-registerservice

Registers the node agent as a Windows service.

You can optionally define a user name and password for the windows service using the -serviceusername parameter and the -servicepassword parameter. If you define a user name, you must give the user name Logon as a service authority for the service to run properly.

If you do not specify a user name and password, then the service runs under the local system account.

-serviceusername <user>

Use the given user name as the Windows service user.

-servicepassword <password>

Use the given Windows password as the Windows service password.

-coregroupname <name>

The name of the core group in which to add this node. If you do not specify this option, the node is added to the DefaultCoreGroup.

-noagent

Tells the addNode command not to launch the node agent process for the new node.

-statusport

An optional parameter that allows an administrator to set the port number for node agent status callback. The tool opens this port and waits for status callback from the node agent indicating that the node agent has started. If the parameter is not set, an unused port is automatically allocated.

-quiet

Suppresses the progress information that the addNode command prints in normal mode.

-nowait

Tells the addNode command not to wait for successful initialization of the launched node agent process.

-logfile <filename>

Specifies the location of the log file to which trace information is written. By default, the log file is addNode.log and is created in the logs directory of the profile for the node being added.

-replacelog

Replaces the log file instead of appending to the current log file. By default, the addNode command appends to the existing trace file. This option causes the addNode command to overwrite the trace file.

-trace

Generates additional trace information in the log file for debugging purposes.

-user <name> or -username <name>

Specifies the user name for authentication if security is enabled. Acts the same as the -user option. The user name that you choose must be a pre-existing user name.

-password <password>

Specifies the password for authentication if security is enabled. The password that you choose must be one that is associated with a pre-existing user name.

-localusername <name>

Specifies the user name for authentication for existing application servers on the node that you want to federate. This parameter is only applicable if security is enabled for the application server.

-localpassword <password>

Specifies the password for authentication for existing application servers on the node that you want to federate. The password that you choose must be one that is associated with a pre-existing user name. This parameter is only applicable if security is enabled for the application server.

-profileName

Defines the profile of the Application Server process in a multi-profile installation. The -profileName option is not required for running in a single profile environment. The default for this option is the default profile. If you are adding a non-default profile to the deployment manager cell, then this parameter is required.

-excludesecuritydomains true | false

Set the -excludesecuritydomains parameter to true if you do not want the security domains configured at the application server node federated into the cell. When the parameter is set to true, the security configuration of the cell is used. This parameter applies only when you have security domains configured at the unfederated application server. By default, if there is a security domain associated with an application server, the security domain is federated to the cell so that the server uses the same security domain information after it is federated.

-asExistingNode

Specifies to recover an existing managed node of a deployment manager cell.

Use the -asExistingNode parameter of the addNode command to quickly recover a damaged node. For example, if a machine failure results in a unavailable node but node information remains on the deployment manager, you can use the addNode -asExistingNode option to recreate the unavailable node by completing the following steps:

Create a new profile with the same node and profile name as the unavailable node. You can create the profile on a different machine from the original node.
For the new profile, run the addNode command with the -asExistingNode option.

You can also use the -asExistingNode option of the addNode command to move a node to a product installation on a different computer but at the same path, to move a node to a product installation on a different operating system or with a different path, or to create cells from a template cell. See the topic on recovering or moving nodes with the addNode -asExistingNode command.

Avoid trouble: Other addNode options for node configuration are incompatible with this -asExistingNode option. Do not use -asExistingNode with the following incompatible options: -includeapps, -includebuses, -startingport, -portprops, -nodeagentshortname, -nodegroupname, -registerservice, -serviceusername, -servicepassword, -coregroupname, or -excludesecuritydomains.

-help

Prints a usage statement.

-?

Prints a usage statement.

Usage scenario

The following examples demonstrate correct syntax:

addNode testhost 8879 (adds an application server to the deployment manager)

addNode deploymgr 8879 -trace (produces the addNode.log file)

addNode host25 8879 -nowait (does not wait for a node agent process)

The value 8879 is the default port.

addNode mydmgr 11383 -profileName mynode (adds profile, mynode, to the cell managed by profile mydmgr, which listens on SOAP port 11383)

Security considerations when adding an application server node to WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment cell

[AIX Solaris HP-UX Linux Windows] [IBM i] When adding a node to the cell, you automatically inherit both the user registry and the authentication mechanism of the cell.

[z/OS] When adding a node to a cell, the newly federated node automatically inherits the user registry (Local OS, Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP), or Custom), authentication mechanism (LTPA), and authorization setting (WebSphere® bindings or System Authorization Facility (SAF) EJBROLE profiles) of the existing WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment cell.

For distributed security, all servers in the cell must use the same user registry and authentication mechanism. To recover from a user registry change, you must modify your applications so that the user and group-to-role mappings are correct for the new user registry. See the article on assigning users and groups to roles.

Another important consideration is the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) public-key infrastructure. Before running the addNode command with the deployment manager, verify that the addNode command can communicate as an SSL client with the deployment manager. This communication requires that the addNode truststore that is configured in the sas.client.props file contains the signer certificate of the deployment manager personal certificate, as found in the keystore and specified in the administrative console.

The following issues require consideration when running the addNode command with security:

When attempting to run system management commands such as the addNode command, specify administrative credentials to perform the operation. The addNode command accepts -username and -password parameters to specify the user ID and password. The user ID and password that are specified must be for an administrative user. For example, specify a user that is a member of the console users with Administrator privileges or the administrative user ID configured in the user registry. See the following example of the addNode command:
```
addNode CELL_HOST 8879 -includeapps -username user -password pass
```
The -includeapps parameter is optional. This option attempts to include the server applications into the deployment manager. The addNode command might fail if the user registries used by the application server and the deployment manager are not the same. To correct this failure, either make the user registries the same or turn off security. If you change the user registries, remember to verify that the users-to-roles and groups-to-roles mappings are correct. Read about the addNode command for more information about the addNode syntax.

If you issue the addNode command with security enabled, you must use a user ID with authority and specify the -user and -password options.
Adding a secured remote node through the administrative console is not supported. You can either disable security on the remote node before performing the operation or perform the operation from the command prompt using the addNode script.
Before running the addNode command, you must verify that the truststore files on the nodes communicate with the keystore files and System Authorization Facility (SAF) keyring that is owned by the deployment manager and vice versa. If you generate certificates for the deployment manager using the same certificate authority as you used for the node agent process, then you are successful. The following SSL configurations must contain keystores and truststores that can interoperate:
- System SSL repertoire that is specified in the administrative console. Click System administration > Deployment manager > HTTP transports > sslportno > SSL.
- SSL repertoire for appropriate JMX connector if SOAP is specified. Click System administration > Deployment manager > Administration Services > JMX Connectors > SOAPConnector > Custom properties > sslConfig.
- SSL repertoire that is specified in NodeAgent. Click System Administration > Node agents > NodeAgent Server > Administration Services > JMX Connectors > SOAPConnector > Custom properties > sslConfig.
Use caution when adding a node to a deployment manager configuration that defines a different security domain.
Before running the addNode command, you must verify that the truststore files on the nodes can communicate with the keystore files from the deployment manager and vice versa. When using the default DummyServerKeyFile and DummyServerTrustFile, no communication error occurs because these are already able to communicate. However, never use these dummy files in a production environment or anytime sensitive data is being transmitted.
If security is enabled for the Version 7 or 8 deployment manager, the deployment manager cannot use the auto-generated internal server ID to federate a Version 6.x node. The auto-generated internal server ID is used by default when enabling security.
When a client from a previous release tries to use the addNode command to federate to a Version 7 or 8 deployment manager, the client must first obtain signers for a successful handshake. For more information about required changes before running the addNode command in this scenario, read about obtaining signers from a previous release in the topic on Secure installation for client retrieval, specifically the Obtaining signers for clients and servers from a previous release section. The user registry can be changed by performing one of the following actions:
- On the administrative console, click Global Security. Under Available realm definitions, click Configure > Server identity that is stored in repository. Enter the user name and password and then click Apply.
- Run a wsadmin command:
```
AdminTask.configureAdminWIMUserRegistry('[-autoGenerateServerId false -serverId testuser
 -serverIdPassword testuserpwd -primaryAdminId testuser -ignoreCase true ]')
```
The server must be restarted for these changes to take effect.
After running the addNode command, the application server is in a new SSL domain. It might contain SSL configurations that point to keystore and truststore files that are not prepared to interoperate with other servers in the same domain. Consider which servers are intercommunicating, and ensure that the servers are trusted within your truststore files.