IBM i > Administrator > Websphere

Jumping on the Websphere Bandwagon

What you need to know to get started with WebSphere technology

Whether it's making your applications available to internal users via the Web or providing an e-business storefront for customers, if you're not on the Web, you're falling behind. It's time to jump on the IBM* WebSphere* bandwagon.

WebSphere products can help make your IT environment more flexible, facilitate streamlining your business processes and improve your business resiliency with reliable application infrastructure. And users of IBM WebSphere Application Server (WAS) on the IBM System i* platform have it good. The System i platform provides a highly simplified and integrated experience, giving users all of the functionality they expect with WAS yet making the experience System i simple.

This article covers several of these System i integrations, many of them recently added, including:

• Express Runtime Web Environments product
• Web Administration GUI
• Web Performance Advisor
• WAS V6.1 with IBM Technology for Java* (32 bit)
• i5/OS* collection services

The System i platform provides many enhancements to make you more productive and your experience more pleasant when using WAS on IBM i5/OS.

Express Runtime Web Environments

If you're looking to get going with the Web on i5/OS using WAS but don't know how to get started, the Express Runtime Web Environments product is just the right solution. Express Runtime Web Environments bundles all of the software you need to run Web-based applications on i5/OS into a single package. This product also provides a simplified installer that installs and configures all of the software for you, including examples - and it's all done right from your desktop using the product CDs or DVD.

The Express Runtime Web Environments product configures almost every type of Web configuration on i5/OS. It sets up an HTTP server for basic Web serving. It also sets up an application server (using WAS) that you can use for your own Web applications or for applications from third parties and IBM. Examples of IBM software on i5/OS that use an application server include iSeries* Access for Web V5R4 and WebFacing Deployment Tool with HATS Technology. Web applications can also include Web-services-based applications. Check out the WebFacing, HATS and Web-service-enabled sample RPG program set up by Express Runtime Web Environments.

Starting in October 2006, all i5/OS V5R4 orders include the Express Runtime Web Environments product. The product's DVD is shrink-wrapped along with the WAS product's CDs. The DVD contains everything you need, so you don't need to use the WAS product CDs.

If you already have V5R4 but can't find the DVD, or you want the latest version of the product, you can order it at no additional charge. Now, this may be a little confusing since you'll need to order one of the features of the Web Enablement for i5/OS (5722-WE2) product. Two versions of Express Runtime Web Environments for i5/OS V5R4 are available. V1R1M0 contains WebSphere Application Server-Express V6.0. (Order Web Enablement's feature 5905 for CDs and 5906 for a DVD.) V1R2M0 contains the newer WebSphere Application Server-Express V6.1. (Order feature 5907 for CDs and 5908 for a DVD.)

You can insert the product media into your PC, so you won't need to head to a machine room or figure out what button on the System i platform opens the CD drive. Once you insert the media, an install wizard automatically starts (see Figure 1) and you're prompted with a few simple questions. The questions are so basic (host names, user profiles and passwords, etc.) that any i5/OS administrator can handle them. Once you've answered the questions, the wizard installs the IBM HTTP Server for i5/OS (5722-DG1) product, makes sure it's up-to-date with recent fixes and creates an HTTP server instance for your Web environment. Then it installs WebSphere Application Server-Express and creates an instance. These two servers will be properly associated and started. The wizard then installs iSeries Access for Web and configures it to use the application server. It also installs a sample RPG program along with sample applications for Web services, WebFacing and HATS. The wizard deploys these applications to the application server and uses the RPG program to demonstrate "Taking RPG to the Web."

When the wizard completes, you'll have a working Web environment where you can try out the demos, use iSeries Access for Web or install your applications for testing or production. To help you get started with all of these options, click the product's icon on your workstation and you'll see a Web page with links to your next steps in using the Web on i5/OS. Use the Web Administration GUI to install your application and manage your Web environment. You'll find a link on the Web page for this interface, or you can reach it by pointing your Web browser to http://Youri5SystemHostname:2001/httpadmin.

The Web Admin GUI for i5/OS simplifies your Web environment by offering a single tool to create and manage all of the Web environments on your system.

Tweet