Migration planning for Rational Application Developer

Content

	Overview
	Rational Application Developer
	WebSphere Test Environment and WebSphere Application Server Integration
	Deployment code
	Java EE Specification Migration
	JavaServer Faces Migration
	APARs and Fixes
	Change History

Overview

The purpose of this material is to provide a centralized location for information needed to plan and execute a successful migration as well as to document significant tooling behavioral differences between the various versions of Rational Application Developer. There have been significant improvements over time with Rational Application Developer migration; However, knowing about potential migration problems ahead of time can help correct possible issues that may occur during the workspace and server migration process. As well, understanding how the tooling may have changed within newer versions will help prepare teams for any potential modifications to improve development practices.

Rational Application Developer

Migration Support

Rational Application Developer supports direct migration of workspaces and projects created from versions N-1 and N-2 of the product, where N is the version of the product that will be used; For example, Rational Application Developer v7.0 supports migrating content from WebSphere Studio Application Developer v5.1.x and Rational Application Developer v6.0 while Rational Application Developer v7.5 supports migrating content from Rational Application Developer v6.0 and v7.0. If migrating workspaces or projects that were created with a version of the product that is more than 2 versions older than the current version, then a two step migration process can be used: First migrated to the latest version (and latest fixpack level) of the product that supports migration of your content and then migrate it again to your current version of the product. These migration steps are necessary as over the various releases the project metadata format has changed to better accommodate the various feature enhancements that have gone into these releases. Following this migration pattern will ensure that this project metadata is updated to the correct format to ensure that a smooth migration occurs.

If you are unable to acquire an installation image of a product being used in the intermediate step (i.e. Rational Application Developer v7.0 in the example above) then please contact your IBM sales representative to request an image be made available.

As a final possibility if the migration steps above are not possible, the application can be exported with source code as an Enterprise Archive file (EAR file) and then imported into the targeted version of Rational Application Developer. However, following this possibility will not migrate workspace or project preferences and will also disconnect any source control links to the projects and their source code.

WebSphere Test Environment and WebSphere Application Server Integration

The following documents discusses the behavioral differences of the v5.x WebSphere Test Environment tooling and the v6.x / v7.X WebSphere Application Server tooling. It also provides guidance on how to migrate an existing v5.x WebSphere Test Environment to a v6.x/v7.x WebSphere Application Server environment.



Important highlights from the documentation above

1. Server Configuration
• The v5.X WebSphere Test Environment server and server configuration is saved in the workspace in a Server project.
• The v6.x / v7.x server configuration is kept with the WebSphere Application Server profile and not in the workspace. The server representation within Rational Application Developer, by default, is saved in the workspace metadata (not in a project) and only has a small number of items that are configurable, such as the hostname, port, security details, and publishing details. Server configuration can be shared in a portable format via a WebSphere Application Server configuration archive (CAR) file.
  
  
2. Server Configuration editors
• The v5.1 WebSphere Test Environment server configuration can be modified by the server configuration editor within Rational Application Developer.
• The The v6.x/v7.x WebSphere Application Server configuration can be modified by the WebSphere Administrative Console. Application scoped resources (i.e. DataSources) can be modified within Rational Application Developer via the Enhanced EAR support.

Refer to the WebSphere Test Environment and WebSphere Application Server section on the product behavioural changes page for more information on how this functionality has evolved to improve the usability and supportability of the WebSphere Application Server integration.

Knowledge Collection: Migration planning for WebSphere Application Server
A migration planning guide for WebSphere Application Server. This is highly recommended reading material for Rational Application Developer users as it discusses changes with the WebSphere Application Server product (such as specification and container implementations) and also the JDK implementation changes that the various releases of WebSphere Application Server supports.

EJB and WebService Deployment code

The deployment code produced for EJB and WebService applications running on a WebSphere Application Server may contain code that depends on API provided by the WebSphere Application Server product. During migration it is strongly recommended that all deployment code for applications is regenerated against the newer version of the server to ensure that the deployment code is using the latest API of the targeted WebSphere Application Server at runtime.

Java EE Specification Migration

Java EE Migration is a separate task from the project and workspace migration functionality. View the 'Java EE Specification Migration' section found on each of the product version tabs above for more information on the Java EE migration support available in each specific Rational Application Developer release.

JavaServer Faces Migration

JSF Portlet Development Migration topics: Tips and Suggestions
View the following article for information on JavaServer Faces Portlet development migration tips and suggestions.

APARs and Fixes

Recommended Fixes for IBM Rational Application Developer for WebSphere Software.
A comprehensive list of recommended, generally available (GA) fixes for all versions of Rational Application Developer.

Change history

Date	Description
28 Jul 2009	Original draft published.