WAS v8.0 > Migration and coexistence > Distributed operating systems > Migrate product configurations


Configuration mapping during product-configuration migration


Supported configurations

The Application Migration Toolkit for WAS provides support for migrating applications from previous versions of WAS to the latest product version.

Migration always involves migrating a single profile to another single profile on the same machine or a separate machine. Examples include...

The migration tools map objects and attributes existing in the version from which you are migrating to the corresponding objects and attributes in v8.0.

Bootstrap port

The migration tools carry the old release value into the v8.0 environment. If a value for the -portBlock parameter is specified during the call to WASPostUpgrade, however, a new port value is given to each appserver that is migrated to v8.0.

Command-line parameters

The migration tools convert appropriate command-line parameters to JVM settings in the server process definition. Most settings are mapped directly. Some settings are not migrated because their roles in the WAS v8.0 configuration do not exist, have different meanings, or have different scopes.

Generic servers

In v6.x and later, a generic server has its own type, called GENERIC_SERVER. Migration will perform this conversion, but migration cannot accurately migrate the external resources that the generic server references. After migration has completed migrating the generic server settings, you might need to perform additional tasks. If the old resource that the generic server was managing is located under the old WAS installation...

  1. Copy any related files to the new installation.
  2. Run any setup required to put the external application back into a valid and working state.

    It is best that you reinstall the resource into the new WAS directory. Whatever you choose to do, the final step is to reset the reference to the new location of the application.

If the old resource that the generic server was managing is not installed under the oldWAS installation, nothing further is required.

Java heap size for migrating EAR files

When migrating all WAS v6.x or above EAR files to v8.0 using wsadmin.sh, the WASPostUpgrade tool uses the default maximum Java heap size value of 64 MB to install the EAR files.

If a v6.x or above EAR file fails to install during migration because the Java heap size is not large enough, you see a message similar to the following message:

java.lang.OutOfMemoryError JVMXE006:OutOfMemoryError

Increase the maximum Java heap size, and follow the example below to install the application.

Example of installing the application on WAS v8.0...

Assume that:

Installation root C:\WebSphere\AppServer
EAR_file_name Name of the EAR file
app_name Name of the application
server_name

Name of the server on which the EAR file installs
node_name Name of the node on which the server is configured

wsadmin -conntype NONE
        -c "$AdminApp install C:\\WebSphere\\AppServer\\installableApps\\EAR_file_name
       {-nodeployejb
        -appname app_name
        -server server_name 

-node node_name}"

Example of installing the application on WAS WAS, ND v8.0...

Assume that:

Installation root C:\WebSphere\ Manager
EAR_file_name Name of the EAR file
app_name Name of the application
cluster_name Name of the cluster on which the EAR file should be installed

wsadmin -conntype NONE
        -c "$AdminApp install
        C:\\WebSphere\\ Manager\\installableApps\\EAR_file_name>
       {-nodeployejb
        -appname app_name
        -cluster cluster_name}"
JMS server

The JMS server was changed in WAS v6.x from type MESSAGE_BROKER to type APPLICATION_SERVER. Any queues or topics that it owned have been migrated into the default messaging provider, which is based on service integration technologies.

All JMS resources were left untouched and should work without modification. Further migration of these resources can be performed by running scripts or bats provided by the v8.0 default messaging provider.

Migration of a v6.x or above node to a v8.0 node

We can migrate a WAS v6.x or above node that belongs to a cell without removing the node from the cell.

Migrate the dmgr first, before migrating any base nodes in the cell.

Use the same cell name when migrating WAS ND from v6.x or above to v8.0. If you use a different cell name, federated nodes cannot successfully migrate to the WAS, ND v8.0 cell.

Migrate a base WAS node that is within a cell to v8.0 also migrates the node agent to v8.0. A cell can have some v8.0 nodes and other nodes that are at v6.x or above levels. Read Coexistence support for information on restrictions on using mixed-release cells.

Policy files

WAS v8.0 migrates all the policy files that are installed with v6.x or above by merging settings into the v8.0 policy files with the following characteristics:

  • Any comments located in the v8.0 policy files will be preserved. Any comments contained in the v6.x or above policy files will not be included in the v8.0 file.

  • Migration will not attempt to merge permissions or grants; it is strictly an add-type migration. If the permission or grant is not located in the v8.0 file, the migration will bring it over.

  • Security is a critical component; thus, the migration makes any additions at the end of the original .policy files right after the comment MIGR0372I: Migrated grant permissions follow. This is done to help administrators verify any policy-file changes that the migration has made.

Properties directories

Migration copies files from prior version directories into the WAS v8.0 configuration.

Property files

WAS v8.0 migrates all the property files that are installed with v6.x or above by merging settings into the v8.0 property files.

Resource adapter archives (RARs) referenced by J2C resources

RARs that are referenced by J2C resources are migrated if those RARs are in the old WAS installation. In this case, the RARs are copied over to the corresponding location in the new WAS installation. Relational Resource Adapter RARs will not be migrated.

Migrating cluster-level resources:

WAS v6.0 introduced the concept of cluster-level resources. These are configured in resourcexxx.xml files under the cluster directories. For example:


<resources.j2c:J2CResourceAdapter xmi:id="J2CResourceAdapter_1112808424172"
                                  name="ims" archivePath="${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT}\installedConnectors\x2.rar">                                   ...

</resources.j2c:J2CResourceAdapter> 

If we have a cluster-level resource, this resource must be in the same location on each cluster member (node). Using the above example, therefore, each cluster member must have the RAR file installed at location ${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT}\installedConnectors\x2.rar. ${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT} is resolved on each cluster member to get the exact location.

In the migration of a dmgr, the tools migrate the cluster files on the dmgr, including the resourcexxx.xml files.

In the migration of a federated node, the tools process each J2C adapter.

RAR files in a v6.x to v8.0 migration:

Migration from v6.x to v8.0 copies files such as RAR files from WAS_INSTALL_ROOT to WAS_INSTALL_ROOT and from USER_INSTALL_ROOT to USER_INSTALL_ROOT.

If we have a RAR file in the WAS_INSTALL_ROOT for v6.x, for example, the migration tools do not automatically copy the file from WAS_INSTALL_ROOT to USER_INSTALL_ROOT. This maintains the integrity of the cluster-level J2C resources. If you hardcoded a path to a RAR file (archivePath="C:/WAS/installedConnectors/x2.rar" for example) in v6.x, however, the v8.0 migration tools cannot change the archivePath attribute to reflect this because that would break all of the other cluster members that have not been migrated.

Samples

No migration of samples from previous versions is available. There are equivalent WASv8.0 samples that you can install.

Security

Java 2 security is enabled by default when you enable security in WAS v8.0. Java 2 security requires you to grant security permissions explicitly.

There are several techniques that you can use to define different levels of Java 2 security in v8.0. One is to create a was.policy file as part of the application to enable all security permissions. The migration tools call the wsadmin command to add an existing was.policy file in the v8.0 properties directory to enterprise applications as they are being migrated.

When migrating to WASv8.0, your choice of whether or not to migrate to support script compatibility results in one of two different outcomes.

  • If you choose to migrate to support script compatibility, the security configuration is brought over to v8.0 without any changes.

    This is the default.

  • If you choose not to migrate to support script compatibility, the security configuration is converted to the default configuration for WAS v8.0. The default security configuration for v6.1 and later acts almost the same as in the previous versions, but there are some changes.

    For example, existing keyfiles and trustfiles are moved out of the SSLConfig repertoire and new keystore and truststore objects are created.

Stdin, stdout, stderr, passivation, and working directories

The location for these directories is typically within the installation directory of a previous version. The default location for stdin, stdout, and stderr is the logs directory of the WAS v8.0 installation root.

The migration tools attempt to migrate existing passivation and working directories. Otherwise, appropriate v8.0 defaults are used.

Avoid trouble: In a coexistence scenario, using common directories between versions can create problems.

Transport ports

The migration tools migrate all ports. We must resolve any port conflicts before you can run servers at the same time.

If ports are already defined in a configuration being migrated, the migration tools fix the port conflicts in the v8.0 configuration and log the changes for your verification.

If you specify the -portBlock parameter in the WASPostUpgrade command, a new value is assigned to each transport that is migrated.

If you specify true for the -replacePorts parameter in the WASPostUpgrade command, all port values from the old configuration are used in the new configuration. If you specify false for the -replacePorts parameter, the default port definitions in the new profile are not replaced with the values from the old configuration during migration.

For more information on the WASPostUpgrade command, read WASPostUpgrade command.

For further information on transport chains and channels, read the 'Transport chains' article in the information center.

We must manually add virtual host alias entries for each port. For more information, read the "Configuring virtual hosts" article in the information center.

Web modules

The specification level of the Java EE implemented in WAS v6.0.x required behavior changes in the web container for setting the content type. If a default servlet writer does not set the content type, not only does the web container no longer default to it but the web container returns the call as "null." This situation might cause some browsers to display resulting web container tags incorrectly. To prevent this problem from occurring, migration sets the autoResponseEncoding IBM extension to "true" for web modules as it migrates enterprise applications.

JVM system properties

If you migrate a v6.1 configuration that has feature packs installed, the migration tools might add one or two JVM system properties for each Java server in the configuration, including your administrative servers. Web servers are not affected. The properties are set to indicate to the JVM that the configuration should use a Java annotation scan policy other than the v8.0 default scan policy.

  • If you migrate a v6.1 profile that has the Feature Pack for EJB 3.0 installed, the migration tools add the following system property to the JVM definitions for all Java servers defined on that node:
    com.ibm.websphere.ejb.UseEJB61FEPScanPolicy = true
    

  • If you migrate a v6.1 profile that has the Feature Pack for Web Services installed, the migration tools add the following system property to the JVM definitions for all Java servers defined on that node:
    com.ibm.websphere.webservices.UseWSFEP61ScanPolicy = true
    

  • If you migrate a v6.1 profile that has both the Feature Pack for EJB 3.0 and the Feature Pack for Web Services installed, the migration tools add both of the system properties to the JVM definitions for all Java servers defined on that node:
    com.ibm.websphere.ejb.UseEJB61FEPScanPolicy = true
    com.ibm.websphere.webservices.UseWSFEP61ScanPolicy = true
    

    A WAS ND configuration requires that the dmgr profile be augmented with all of the feature packs used in the cell. This means that the deployment-manager profile can potentially have both feature packs installed even if none of its federated nodes have both installed.

If these properties are set, the following two changes take place in the default v8.0 behavior:

  • Application installation generates classes based on the annotation scan policy associated with the settings for those two properties.

    This means that you can potentially use the following four annotation scan policies:

    • v8 default behavior
    • Feature Pack for EJB 3.0 behavior
    • Feature Pack for Web Services behavior
    • Net behavior from having both the Feature Pack for EJB 3.0 and the Feature Pack for Web Services installed

  • The servers use the generated annotation classes based on the properties set, resulting in four potential behaviors.

We can change the scan policy behavior by adding or removing the custom JVM system properties from your server.xml files.

To evoke the correct installApp behavior, the server.xml file for the dmgr must retain any property specified for any node in the cell. After changing the properties, reinstall or update the applications and then resynchronize the cell to implement the change.

Migrate and coexisting appservers
Migrate product configurations

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