Configuring a WebSphere Network Deployment Cell

The following procedure is a one time setup for a WebSphere Network Deployment Cell.

Procedure

  1. Create a custom managed server profile on the same host as WebSphere Deployment Manager. You can create a profile by using the manageprofiles script available with the Deployment Manager WebSphere Application Server installation. It uses a profile template called “managed,” which is also included in the WebSphere Application Server installation.
  2. Create a dummy node in the managed server profile you created in the previous step, and add it to the WebSphere Cell. The created node never runs a Node Agent. You can create a node by using the addNode script in the WebSphere Application Server installation. Add a -noagent argument to the addNode command, so that it does not launch the node agent process for the new node.
  3. Create as many clusters as required in the Deployment Manager admin console, each with a relevant cluster name.
  4. Define a dummy cluster member (one per cluster for every cluster you defined), by using the previously defined dummy node. Before creating the cluster member, ensure that the application server template for the cluster member application server is configured to disable auto restart. To do this, edit the server.xml in the template file you are using to create the cluster member. By default, this file is located under the relevant Deployment Manager profile, in the directory: config/templates/servertypes/APPLICATION_SERVER/servers/default. You must update the monitoringPolicy entity, and set the autoRestart attribute to false. This dummy cluster member, one per cluster, acts as the template for creating all application servers dynamically within the cluster. It is a good practice to employ a naming convention such as: dummy_clustername, where clustername is the name of the previously defined cluster.
  5. Perform the following additional configuration settings for the cluster members:
    1. Use the first cluster member you just created to create a template based on it.
    2. Customize the new template as needed.
    3. To ensure that all future members are created by using this new template, delete the first cluster member created earlier, and then re-create the first cluster member based on the new template you customized.
  6. On the Deployment Manager, add the following host aliases to the default_host Virtual Hosts Environment entry : *:9080, *:9081, …, *:908x and *:9443, *:9444, …, *:945x and assume a maximum of x engine instances per node. Adjust according to your requirement for the maximum number of application servers (engines) per node.
  7. Deploy the WebSphere performance servlet (PerfServletApp.ear) on the Deployment Manager. It is available on the Deployment Manager under installable applications. Target the servlet to the previously defined clusters. This Performance Servlet lets the enabler for WebSphere Application Server collect and report various performance metrics or statistics specific to each running WebSphere Application Server instance.