Restarting Automatically on the Microsoft Windows Platform

To restart automatically on Microsoft Windows, create a Windows Service. Use the appservService.exe and appserverAgentService.exe executables shipped with Sun GlassFish Enterprise Server in conjunction with the Service Control command (sc.exe) provided by Microsoft.

• The sc.exe command comes with Windows XP and is either located in the C:\\windows\\system32 directory or C:\\winnt\\system32 directory.

• As of this writing, the Windows 2000 sc.exe is available for download at: ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/reskit/win2000/sc.zip. For more information on using sc.exe, see:

  http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/dndllpro/html/msdn_scmslite.asp.

  Use appservService.exe and appservAgentService.exe as follows:

  C:\\winnt\\system32\\sc.exe create service_name binPath= \\"fully_qualified_ path_to_appservService.exe \\"fully_qualified_path_to_asadmin.bat start_command\\" \\"fully_qualified_path_to_asadmin.bat stop_command\\"" start= auto DisplayName= "display_name"

Starting and Stopping a Domain

To create a service called SunJavaSystemAppServer DOMAIN1 that starts and stops domain1 using password file C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\password.txt, run the following command:

C:\\windows\\system32\\sc.exe create domain1 binPath= "C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\
lib\\appservService.exe \\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\asadmin.bat start-domain
--user admin --passwordfile C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\password.txt domain1\\" 
\\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\asadmin.bat stop-domain domain1\\"" 
start=auto DisplayName= "SunJavaSystemAppServer DOMAIN1"

Starting and Stopping a Node Agent

To create a service that starts and stops the node agent agent1, run the following command:

C:\\windows\\system32\\sc.exe create agent1 binPath= "C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\
lib\\appservAgentService.exe \\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\asadmin.bat 
start-node-agent --user admin --passwordfile C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\
password.txt agent1\\" \\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\asadmin.bat 
stop-node-agent agent1\\"" start=auto DisplayName="SJESAS_SE8.1 AGENT1"

The start and stop commands entered as part of the binPath= parameter must have the correct syntax. To test, run the commands from the command prompt. If the commands do not properly start or stop the domain or node agent, the service will not work correctly.

Also, do not use a mixture of asadmin start and stop commands and service start and stops. Mixing the two can cause the server status to be out of sync. For example, the service might not show that the component has started even though the component is not running. To avoid this situation, always use the sc.exe command to start and stop the component when using services.

Security for Automatic Restarts

Handle the password and master password required when starting in one of the following ways:

• On Microsoft Windows, configure the service to ask the user for the password.

  • In the Services Control Panel, double-click the service you created.

  • In the Properties window, click the Log On tab.

  • Check “Allow service to interact with desktop” to prompt for the required passwords when starting the component.

    You have to log in to see the prompts, and entries are not echoed back as you type them. This method is the most secure way to use the services option, but user interaction is required before the service becomes available.

    If the “interact with desktop” option is not set, the service stays in a “start-pending” state and appears to hang. Kill the service process to recover from this state.

• On Windows or UNIX, create a domain using the --savemasterpassword=true option and create a password file to store the admin password. When starting the component, use the --passwordfile option to point to the file that contains the password. The admin password can also be added by using the --password option with the asadmin start command. Be aware that this method is less secure because the admin password is stored in clear text.

  For example:

  • Create a domain with a saved master password. Using this syntax, you are prompted for the admin password and master password:

    asadmin create-domain --adminport 4848 --adminuser admin --savemasterpassword=true --instanceport 8080 domain1

  • On Windows, create a service using a password file to populate the admin password:

    C:\\windows\\system32\\sc.exe create domain1 binPath= "C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\lib\\appservService.exe \\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\asadmin.bat start-domain --user admin --passwordfile C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\password.txt domain1\\" \\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\asadmin.bat stop-domain domain1\\"" start= auto DisplayName= "SJESAS_PE8.1 DOMAIN1"

    The path to the password file password.txt is C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\password.txt. It contains the password in the following format:

    AS_ADMIN_password=password

    For example, for a password adminadmin:

    AS_ADMIN_password=adminadmin

  • On UNIX, use the --passwordfile option in the line you add to the inittab file:

    das:3:respawn:/opt/SUNWappserver/bin/asadmin start-domain --user admin --passwordfile /opt/SUNWappserver/password.txt domain1

    The path to the password file password.txt is /opt/SUNWappserver/password.txt. It contains the password in the following format:

    AS_ADMIN_password=password

    For example, for a password adminadmin:

    AS_ADMIN_password=adminadmin

• Creating a service using a password that is populated from a command line option:

  C:\\windows\\system32\\sc.exe create domain1 binPath= "C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\ lib\\appservService.exe \\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\asadmin.bat start-domain --user admin --password adminadmin domain1\\" \\"C:\\Sun\\AppServer\\bin\\ asadmin.bat stop-domain domain1\\"" start=auto DisplayName="SJESAS_PE8.1 DOMAIN1"