Question & Answer
Question
IBM® WebSphere® Edge components java™ version is going out of support. What are my options?
Cause
IBM® WebSphere® Edge Components Load Balancers use Java™ 6 that is out of support. The upgrade path is Java™ 8 that has different minimum operating system requirements. Review the details for installing fix levels 8.5.5.11 through 8.5.5.14. Fix pack 8.5.5.15 that upgrades Java™ 6 to Java™ 7 to extend Java™ support until 30 September 2019.
Answer
Java™ 8 provides enhanced security libraries for the advisors that use Java™ Security functions such as the ldaps and https advisor. As such, the default cipher set changed to use more secure ciphers. If the backend webservers are not configured to use any of the available ciphers, they need to be reconfigured or a different advisor needs to be used for the web servers.
In the following list, the string "SSL" is interchangeable with "TLS" and vice versa.
Java™ 6 ciphers:
Java™ 8 ciphers:
RFC 5246 TLS 1.2 forbids the use of TLS_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA, TLS_DHE_RSA_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA and TLS_DHE_DSS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA.
RFC 4346 TLS 1.1 forbids the use of SSL_RSA_FIPS_WITH_3DES_EDE_CBC_SHA and SSL_RSA_FIPS_WITH_DES_CBC_SHA.
Components upgraded:
If you are using the deprecated Load Balancer for IPv4 component, with AIX®, the Java™ release is updated to version 8 in fix pack 8.5.5.12 and higher. All other operating systems are upgraded to Java™ 7 in fix pack 8.5.5.15. Users of Load Balancer for IPv4 need migrate to the Load Balancer for IPv4 and IPv6 since the Load Balancer for IPv4 is no longer supported. Support for newer operating system levels is not provided with the deprecated load balancer.
The Site Selector and Content-Based Router features (that are optional, stabilized features available with the Load Balancer for IPv4 and IPv6 component) are upgraded to Java™ 7 in fix pack 8.5.5.15.
Before installation of maintenance level 8.5.5.11 or higher, Load Balancer for IPv4 and IPv6 users need to verify the Java™ and operating system level is supported:
| AIX® | Java™ is upgraded to version 8. Do not install 8.5.5.11 or higher on AIX® 6.0 or earlier. Upgrade your operating system first. |
| Linux® | Java™ is upgraded to version 8. Do not install 8.5.5.11 or higher on Red Hat EL 5 or SLES 10. Upgrade your operating system first. (note 1) |
| Windows® | Java™ is upgraded to version 8. Do not install 8.5.5.11 or higher on Window® 2008. Upgrade your operating system first. (note 1) |
Note 1 - If you are using an operating system that is not supported by Java™ 8, you can continue to use Java™ 6 with the load balancer until Java™ 6 is out of support. To continue to use Java™ 6, you must save the java™ directory under the load balancer installation before installation of the fix pack and restore it when installation is complete.
The load balancer java™ directory is typically found at /opt/IBM/WebSphere/Edge/ULB/java or c:\program files\IBM\WebSphere\Edge\ULB\java. Save the entire java™ directory (and subdirectories) and restore the directory when installation is complete. The directory must be restored with the same directory and naming structure previous used. It must be named java™ and found under the ULB directory. The java™ directory contains subdirectories of jre, lib, bin, and other subdirectories). This entire structure must be preserved and restored in order to have a functioning load balancer. Failure to save and restore the directory structure properly causes dsserver, dscontrol, and lbadmin to fail to start. The server.log created by the load balancer indicates the Java™ version used as the sixth entry in the log when dsserver is started.
Related Information
Was this topic helpful?
Document Information
Modified date:
07 February 2020
UID
swg21994040