Auto Starting WebSphere Network Deployment V8 on AIX

We have very basic AIX, with no bells or whistles installed.
To create a launch script, the startmanager, startserver, and starnode scripts will generate this for you.  The command is

./startManager.sh -script -background

or

./startNode.sh -script -background

or

 ./startServer.sh -script -background

.. as appropriate...

In my case, I'm going to auto-start the deployment manager and the node agent, and then use the WAS monitoring policy to handle the individual app servers.

So, the steps are:

1. Generate the startup scripts using the above commands.
2. make a copy of rc.was (found in the was bin directory) for the deployment manager, and another for the node agent.  I called these rc.dm.was and rc.na.was.
1. Edit these to point to the start_dmgr.sh and start_nodeagent.sh scripts generated above
3. create entry in etc/Inittab for the two files created in step 2
1. was:2:once:/usr/WebSphere/AppServer/bin/rc.dm.was >/dev/console 2>&1
2. was:2:once:/usr/WebSphere/AppServer/bin/rc.na.was >/dev/console 2>&1

And, that should do it.  Let's see if it works :-)

 

Starting WebSphere Certification

I'm starting work on my WebSphere certification.
I'm beginning my work with the IBM WebSphere website.

WebSphere main page:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/websphere/

WebSphere Application Server V8.0 Administration Curriculum:
http://www-01.ibm.com/software/websphere/education/curriculum/appserv/index.html


Several courses are offered.
1 - Administration on Windows
2 - Administration on Linux
3 - Technical Overview
4 - Problem Determination
5 - Transition to V8

I think that this is a good place to start focusing.  No budget to actually TAKE these courses, but this makes a fantastic outline.

The Certification page (http://www-01.ibm.com/software/websphere/education/certification/#free-was-cr) lists quite a few resources as well.

Available certifications include
"IBM Certified System Administrator - WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.0"
The Recommended prerequisite section is telling:

Recommended Prerequisite Skills

(*Knowledge and skills one needs to possess before beginning to prepare for this job role certification; skills not measured on test) 

• basic Java Enterprise Edition 6 knowledge
• basic Web application architecture and deployments
• network and operating system security concepts
• network or operating system administration and problem determination skills
• understanding of operating systems

There is an assessment test which I think will be a very, very useful tool, found here: http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/tests/sam317.shtml.  Cost is $30 / practice test.

There is also a "Training Resources" section (http://www-03.ibm.com/certify/tests/edu317.shtml) that lists several redbooks and Web Resources.

REDBOOKS:
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/abstracts/sg247957.html?Open
http://www.redbooks.ibm.com/redpieces/abstracts/sg247971.html?Open

There are about a bazillion web resources.  Probably worth checking out.