Export enterprise applications
We can export an enterprise application to a location of our choice.
This topic assumes that we have installed an enterprise application on a server and to export the application.
Export applications enables us to back up the applications and preserve binding information for the applications. We might export the applications before updating installed applications or migrating to a later version of the product.
To export applications, use the Export button on the Enterprise applications page. Using Export produces an enhanced EAR file containing the application as well as the deployment configuration. The deployment configuration consists of the deployment.xml and other configuration files that control the application behavior on a deployment target.
Tasks
- Click Applications > Application Types > WebSphere enterprise applications in the console navigation tree to access the Enterprise applications page.
- Select the check box for the application and click Export.
- On the Export application EAR files page, click on the link to download the exported EAR file.
- Use the browser dialogue to specify a location at which to save the exported EAR file.
(iSeries) User profile QEJBSVR must have *WX authority to the directory and at least *X authority to all directories in the path specified for the location.
- Click Back to return to the Enterprise applications page.
The file containing binding information is exported to the specified node and directory, and has the name enterprise_application_name.ear.
We can use EARExpander.bat to expand the theme.
Using the Export button to export applications does not export any manual changes that were made to applications in the installedApps directory. To export those changes, we must copy and move the application files manually.
What to do next
We can edit your exported enhanced EAR file and then reinstall it. By default, installation expands an EAR file in the profile_root/installedApps/cell directory. If we specified the $(CELL) variable for Directory to install application on the Select installation options panel of the application installation wizard when we first installed the application, the cell directory is the current cell name.
To reinstall the enhanced EAR file, do either of the following:
- Use the Update operation available from the Enterprise applications page to upgrade the existing application installation.
The Update operation adds the application files to the profile_root/installedApps/cell directory, where cell is the current cell name or the name of the cell specified for Directory to install application when we first installed the application on a deployment target. The Directory to install application setting is on the Select installation options panel of the application installation wizard. If we specified the $(CELL) variable for Directory to install application when we first installed the application, the cell directory is the current cell name.
- Use the Applications > New application > New Enterprise Application operation to install the exported EAR file.
If we specified the $(CELL) variable for Directory to install application when we first installed the application, the cell directory is the current cell name. That is, if the file is originally installed on Cell1 with $(CELL) variable in the destination directory and you reinstall the enhanced EAR file on Cell2, the cell directory is Cell2, the current cell name.
If the $(CELL) variable was not specified for the first installation, using New Enterprise Application to reinstall an enhanced EAR file installs the application in the cell directory of the exported application. That is, if the application is originally installed on and exported from Cell1 and you reinstall the enhanced EAR file on Cell2, the cell directory is Cell1. The enhanced EAR file expands in the Cell1 directory even though the current cell name is Cell2. By default, the application destination directory contains Cell1 in its path because the deployment.xml file in the exported application has Cell1 in it.
If we exported the application from Cell1 and did not specify the $(CELL) variable when first installing the application, and we want to install the enhanced EAR file on a different cell, deselect Process embedded configuration on the Select installation options panel of the application installation wizard to expand the enhanced EAR file in the current cell name directory, which is not Cell1.
Related:
Enterprise (Java EE) applications Enterprise application collection Select installation options settings