How to export WAS 6.1 server Configuration

Question

Is there a way in which I can export my server settings from WAS (running under RAD 6) such that other developers will be able to use the same script to set up their environment?

Answer 1

To do this manually in RAD 6.x, simply right-click the server name in the "Server" view and choose one of:

• Export server configuration to server
• Import server configuration from server

The choice of wording here is potentially confusing. An import takes a configuration from the already-configured server and imports it into your workspace as a Configuration Archive (.car) file. An export asks for the location of a Configuration Archive (which must be in your workspace) and exports the settings it contains onto your server.

Yes, I agree that this sounds completely backwards.

Fortunately, the names are much more sensible in RAD 7.x. The options are:

• Server configuration -> Backup...
• Server configuration -> Restore...

These behave just as you'd imagine (Backup creates an archive file and Restore imports settings from an existing archive file.)

Important note: This process will not export service integration buses. However, I have had success including buses with the following steps:

1. Export a CAR file
2. Rename to .zip file for easy viewing
3. Manually copy the following files from your server profile into the archive:
   • cells/<cell_name>/buses/*
   • cells/<cell_name>/nodes/<node-name>/servers/server1/sib-engines.xml
4. Rename the archive back to .car

Note that this process is probably highly dependent on my specific configuration, but seems worth mentioning, since it has saved me a lot of trouble.

Another tip: Any files and folders you place inside the CAR will be dumbly copied into your profile directory whenever restoring a server configuration from that archive. This is convenient, because you can include necessary third-party libraries in the CAR file and reference them via WAS variables relative to your profile directory, resulting in one less thing for developers to download or configure.

Answer 2

You can export and import the profile with all its configuration using AdminTask export and import commands with the wsadmin scripting tool. If you are really serious also at the same time about how you release the applications to production environments you should probably create wsadmin scripts for deploying all your required settings in any case.

Also you might want to consider distributing virtual machines or simply copying the server installation otherwise from a reference installation.