Understanding the Application Tier

Identity Manager (also known as the Identity Manager server) is installed in a J2EE web container inside an application server. Identity Manager server consists of JSP^TM files, HTML, images, and Java^TM classes. Adapters and connectors, which interface with other IT systems (also known as resources), are also located in Identity Manager on the application server.

See Application Servers in Sun Identity Manager 8.1 Release Notes for a list of supported application servers.

Because Identity Manager is a web application, the user interface resides on the application server and pages are served to the user tier on a request-by-request basis.

Installing Identity Manager on the application server is straightforward: A graphical, wizard-based installer is provided, and, on UNIX® systems, a command-line installer is also available. The application server must have a bundled or installed Java Development Kit (JDK^TM) to run the Java classes that perform actions within Identity Manager.