Starting and logging off the administrative console

This topic describes how to set up the administrative console environment, access the administrative console, and log out of the administrative console.

1. Start the wanted administrative console by starting the server process that runs the console application.

   You can start an unfederated application server, an administrative agent server, a deployment manager server, or a job manager server.

   To start a server, complete one of the following actions:

   • From the First steps console, click Start the server.
   • From the Start menu, click WebSphere Application Server product_name > profile_name - Start the server or start the server as a service. The Start menu also has First steps, Start the deployment manager, Administrative console, and other options.
   • To start a standalone or unfederated application server with a command, from the profile_name/bin directory, run the startServer server1 command on the Windows operating system or the ./startServer.sh server1 command for operating systems such as AIX® or Linux®. For example, to start a standalone application server that has the AppSrv01 profile name, run the startServer command from a command prompt for the /IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/AppSrv01/bin directory.

     The default application server profile name is AppSrv1 and the default server name is server1. The default deployment manager profile name is Dmgr01. If you didn't use default values for installation and profile creation or have more than one profile, then the profile and server names might be different.

   • To start a deployment manager server with a command, from the profile_name/bin directory, run the startManager command on the Windows operating system or the ./startManager command for operating systems such as AIX or Linux. For example, to start a deployment manager server that has the Dmgr01 profile name, run the startManager command from a command prompt for the /IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles/Dmgr01/bin directory.

     After starting a deployment manager, to start one of its federated or managed nodes, run the startNode command from a command prompt for the application server node profile directory. You can view a deployment manager console without starting a federated or managed node. The default deployment manager profile name is Dmgr01 and a node has a profile name such as AppSrv1. If you didn't use default values for installation and profile creation or have more than one profile, then the profile names might be different.

   Before viewing the administrative console, you must run the startServer Qshell script. For more information on starting the server, see Starting an application server.

   If you are using the deployment manager for a multi-node configuration, run the startManager command. For more information, see Starting and stopping the deployment manager.

   Check the SystemOut.log file of the server that runs the console application to verify that the console application starts successfully. If the console application starts successfully, you see the WSVR0221I: Application started: isclite message.

   If you cannot start the administrative console because the console port conflicts with an application that is running on the machine, change the port number.

   • Change all the occurrences of the console port to a new port number in the installation root/profiles/profile name/config/cells/cell_name/nodes/node_name/serverindex.xml file and the installation root/profiles/profile name/config/cells/cell_name/virtualhosts.xml files. Alternatively, shut down the other application that uses the conflicting port before starting the WebSphere Application Server product.
   • Use the chgwassvr script command to change the port number. Read about changing the ports associated with an application server for more information. Alternatively, shut down the other application that uses the conflicting port before starting the WebSphere Application Server product.

   For more information, see Administrative console does not start even though installation completes.

   Note: This topic references one or more of the application server log files. As a recommended alternative, you can configure the server to use the High Performance Extensible Logging (HPEL) log and trace infrastructure instead of using SystemOut.log , SystemErr.log, trace.log, and activity.log files on distributed and IBM® i systems. You can also use HPEL in conjunction with your native z/OS® logging facilities. If you are using HPEL, you can access all of your log and trace information using the LogViewer command-line tool from your server profile bin directory. See the information about using HPEL to troubleshoot applications for more information on using HPEL.
2. Access the administrative console.
   1. Enable cookies in the web browser that you use to access the administrative console.
   2. Enable JavaScript.

      Enablement of JavaScript is required. You must enable JavaScript so that all the features of the administrative console are available.

      Important: If the application server is on Windows Server 2008, you might need to disable the enhanced security configuration in the browser. Otherwise, the console does not work correctly.
   3. In the same web browser, type http://your_fully_qualified_server_name:port_number/ibm/console, where your_fully_qualified_server_name is the fully qualified host name for the machine that contains the administrative server, and port_number is the administrative console port number. If security is enabled, your request is redirected to https://your_fully_qualified_server_name:port_number/ibm/console, where your_fully_qualified_server_name is the fully qualified host name for the machine that contains the administrative server, and port_number is the administrative console secure port number.

      For example, if the server name is www.myexampleserver.com, the unsecure console URL might be http://www.myexampleserver.com:9060/ibm/console and the secure console URL might be https://www.myexampleserver.com:9043/ibm/console.

      When the administrative console is on the local machine, your_fully_qualified_server_name can be localhost unless security is enabled. On Windows platforms, use the actual host name if localhost is not recognized.

      The port number differs, depending upon whether the URL is for an unsecure or secure console, the profile type, or the number of profiles in the installation.

      • 

        The administrative consoles for an unfederated application server, the deployment manager, and the administrative agent use 9060 as the default port number for an insecure administrative console and 9043 as the default port number for a secure administrative console. Each new administrative console that you deploy during profile creation is assigned a new insecure port number, and, if you enable security during profile creation, a new secure port number. Whichever insecure administrative console you create first is assigned port 9060, as long as the port is available. Likewise, whichever secure administrative console you create first is assigned port 9043, as long as the port is available.

        The administrative console for the job manager uses 9960 as the default port number for an insecure administrative console and 9943 as the default port number for a secure administrative console. Each new administrative console that you deploy during profile creation is assigned a new insecure port number, and, if you enable security during profile creation, a new secure port number. Whichever insecure administrative console you create first is assigned port 9960, as long as the port is available. Likewise, whichever secure administrative console you create first is assigned port 9943, as long as the port is available.

      • 

        The your_fully_qualified_server_name string is the fully qualified host name for the machine that contains the administrative console. The administrative console can be for an unfederated application server, a deployment manager, an administrative agent, or a job manager. The port number for the port_number string is 9060 by default for the unfederated application server, the deployment manager, and the administrative agent. For the job manager, the port number for the port_number string is 9960 by default.

        If you cannot start the administrative console because the console port conflicts with an application that is already running on the machine, do one of the following actions:

        • Change the port number and propagate the number to the appropriate files.
          1. Change all the occurrences of the console port to a new port number. Make the port changes in the installation root/profiles/profile name/config/cells/cell_name/nodes/node_name/servers/server_name/serverindex.xml file and the installation root/profiles/profile name/config/cells/cell_name/virtualhosts.xml files.
          2. Run the ./wsc2n.sh script from the installation root/WebSphere/AppServer/bin directory. The ./wsc2n.sh script generates the was.env file, the control.jvm.options file, the servant.jvm.options file, and the adjunct.jvm.options file for each server and the was.env file for the location service daemon. These generated files contain the updated administrative console port number.
        • Shut down the other application that uses the conflicting port before starting the WebSphere Application Server product.

      For a listing of supported web browsers, see system requirements.

   4. Wait for the administrative console to load into the browser.

      A login page displays after the administrative console starts.

3. Log in to the administrative console.

   The administrative console can be for an unfederated application server, a deployment manager, an administrative agent, or a job manager.

   1. If you are logging in to the administrative console for the administrative agent, and you registered at least one node with the administrative agent, select the node to administer, and click Continue.

      The node can be the administrative agent node or a node for one of the application servers registered to the administrative agent. After you select a node, the login procedure is the same as the procedure for the other server types and for administrative agents with no nodes registered.

   2. Enter your user name or user ID.

      The user ID lasts only for the duration of the session for which it is used to log in.

      Changes made to server configurations are saved to the user ID. Server configurations also are saved to the user ID if a session timeout occurs.

      Changes made to server configurations are saved to the user ID. Server configurations also are saved to the user ID if a session timeout occurs.

      If you enter an ID that is already in use and in session, you are prompted to do one of the following actions:

      • Log out the other user with the same user ID. You can recover changes made during the other user's session.
      • Return to the login page and enter a different user ID.
   3. If the console is secure, you must also enter a password for the user name. The console is secure if someone has taken the following actions for the console:
      • Specified security user IDs and passwords
      • Enabled global security
   4. Click OK.
4. Log off the administrative console or specify whether you want to redirect the logout to another URL.
   1. To log off the administrative console, click System administration > Save changes to master repository > Save to save work. Click Logout to exit the console.

      If you close the browser before you save your work, you can recover any unsaved changes the next time that you log in under the same user ID.

   2. To redirect the logout to another URL, navigate to WAS_HOME > systemApps > isclite.ear > config. Locate and open the console.properties file. To use the redirect feature, modify the redirect and redirectURL properties. Set the redirect to true to clear the session and redirect the console to the specified URL when the software performs the logout.