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Chapter 23. Packaging and deploying Java EE applications 835

23.4 Creating WebSphere-enhanced EAR files

A WebSphere-enhanced EAR file is a regular Java EE EAR file but with additional

configuration information for resources required by Java EE applications. This information is

processed by WebSphere Application Server. Any other application server ignores this

information. Although adding this extra configuration information at packaging time is not

mandatory, it can simplify deployment of Java EE applications to multiple run times if the

environments are similar.

If you plan to provide the configuration of these resources by using the runtime environment

administrative tools, you can skip this section and go directly to 23.5, “Exporting an

application project to an EAR file” on page 845.

When an enhanced EAR is deployed to WebSphere Application Server, the resources

specified in the enhanced EAR are automatically configured at application level scope. When

an enhanced EAR is uninstalled, the resources that are defined at the application level scope

are removed as well. However, resources that are defined at a scope other than application

level are not removed because they might be in use by other applications. Resources that are

created at the application level scope are limited in visibility to only that application.

Table 23-7 shows the resources that are supported by the enhanced EAR and the scope in

which they are created.

Table 23-7 Scope for resources in WebSphere enhanced EAR file

To view the application scoped resources using the administrative console, click

Applications  Application Types  WebSphere Enterprise Applications 

<application>. Select Application scoped resources in the References section. If there are

no application scoped resources, you do not see this option.

23.4.1 Configuring a WebSphere enhanced EAR

You can modify the supplemental information in an enhanced EAR using the WebSphere

Application Server Deployment editor of any of the assembly tools mentioned in 23.1.2,

“Development tools” on page 816. The deployment information is contained in XML files in a

folder called ibmconfig in the EAR file’s META-INF folder.

Resource Scope

JDBC providers Application

Data sources Application

Resource adapters Application

JMS resources Application

Substitution variables Application

Class loader policies Application

Shared libraries Server

JAAS authentication aliases Cell

Virtual hosts Cell

836 WebSphere Application Server V8.5 Administration and Configuration Guide for the Full Profile

In the sample application, the provider is changed to use DB2. To make this change, the

following configuration items are added to the deployment file:

 JAAS authentication alias

 JDBC provider for DB2

 Data source for DB2 database

A new virtual host for a domain called www.itsobank.ibm.com is also added.

To access the enhanced EAR deployment options, right-click the RAD8EJBWebEAR project,

and select Java EE. Click Open WebSphere Application Server Deployment to open the

editor, as shown in Figure 23-12.

Figure 23-12 WebSphere enhanced EAR editor

23.4.2 Configuring application options

The Application section shown in Figure 23-13 contains the class loader policies and class

loader mode configured for each of the containing modules. ITSO Bank runs with the default

policies and modes. You do not need to change them. The

Auto start feature is new with

WebSphere Application Server V8.5. When set to Yes, the application starts at the application

server start.

Figure 23-13 Configuring class loader mode and class loader policies

To configure the JAAS authentication alias required to access the application database:

1. Expand the Authentication section.

2. Click Add.

Chapter 23. Packaging and deploying Java EE applications 837

3. In the window that opens, enter the following information:

– An alias of itsobank

– A user ID with access to the ITSOBANK database (db2inst1 in our case)

– The password for the user ID

– An optional description of ITSO Bank

4. Click OK. Figure 23-14 shows the results.

Figure 23-14 Configuring JAAS authentication alias for ITSO Bank

23.4.3 Configuring the JDBC provider and data source for DB2

To configure JDBC providers, expand the Data Sources section. Before you add the DB2

provider, delete the pre-configured Derby JDBC Provider (XA) provider by selecting it and by

clicking Remove.

To configure the DB2 JDBC provider:

1. Click Add next to the JDBC provider list.

2. In the window that opens, select the following options, as shown in Figure 23-15 on

page 838:

– IBM DB2 as the Database type.

– DB2 Universal JDBC Driver Provider as the JDBC provider type.

Click Next.

838 WebSphere Application Server V8.5 Administration and Configuration Guide for the Full Profile

Figure 23-15 Creating a DB2 JDBC provider - Selecting the JDBC provider type

3. In the next window, enter a name for the JDBC provider (for administration purposes only),

and leave the other properties as the default values. See Figure 23-16 on page 839. Click

Finish.