Sun Java Enterprise System 5 Upgrade Guide for Microsoft Windows

Chapter 6 Application Server

This chapter describes how to upgrade Application Server from previous Java ES versions to Java ES 5: Sun Java System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.2.

The chapter provides a general overview of upgrade issues and procedures for the different upgrade paths supported by Java ES 5. The chapter covers the following topics:

Note –

File locations in this chapter are specified with respect to a directory path referred to as ApplicationServer-base. At least part of this path might have been specified as an installation directory when Application Server was initially installed. If not, the Java ES installer assigned a default value.

The default value of ApplicationServer-base is C:\Program Files\Sun\JavaES5\appserver

Overview of Application Server Upgrades

The following sections describe general aspects of Application Server that affect upgrading to Java ES 5:

About Java ES 5Application Server

Java ES 5 Application Server represents selected bug fixes to the Java ES 4 version. Functionally Java ES 5 Application Server is the same as Java ES 4.

Application Server Upgrade Roadmap

The following table shows the supported Application Server upgrade paths to Java ES 5.

Table 6–1 Upgrade Paths to Java ES 5: Sun Java System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.2


Java ES Release	Application Server Release	General Approach	Reconfiguration Required
Release 4	Sun Java System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.1 2005Q4	Direct upgrade:Performed using coexistence	None

Application Server Data

The following table shows the type of data that could be affected by an upgrade of Application Server software.

Table 6–2 Application Server Data Usage


Type of Data	Location	Usage
Environment variables	`ApplicationServer-base\config\asenv.bat`	Global variables
Configuration data	`ApplicationServer-base\domains\domainName\config`	Configuration of Application Server instances
Deployment data	`ApplicationServer-base\domains\domainName\applications`	Configuration of J2EE container for specific J2EE components and applications

Application Server Compatibility Issues

Java ES 5 Application Server does not introduce any interface changes with respect to Java ES 4.

Application Server Dependencies

Application Server dependencies on other Java ES components can affect the procedure for upgrading and reconfiguring Application Server software. Changes in Application Server interfaces or functions, for example, could require upgraded versions of components upon which Application Server depends. The need to upgrade such components depends upon the specific upgrade path.

Application Server has dependencies on the following Java ES components:

Shared components. Application Server has dependencies on specific Java ES shared components, as listed in Table 1–7.
Message Queue. Application Server depends on Message Queue to provide J2EE Java Message Service-compliant asynchronous messaging support.
HADB. Application Server depends on High Availability Database (HADB) for high availability storage of HTTP session and stateful session bean data. HADB is designed to support up to 99.999% service and data availability with load balancing, failover, and state recovery.
NSS. Application Server depends on Network Security Service (NSS) for managing security.
Web Container (optional). Application Server depends upon web container services for its optional load balancing plug-in. This support can be provided by Java ES Web Server.
High Availability Session Store (optional). Application Server depends upon High Availability Session Store to maintain session state information needed to support failover between instances.

Upgrading Application Server from Java ES 4

This section includes information about upgrading Application Server from Java ES 4 to Java ES 5. This section covers the following topics:

Introduction to Upgrading Application Server

When upgrading Java ES 4 Application Server to Java ES 5, consider the following aspects of the upgrade process:

General Upgrade Approach. Java ES 5 does not provide any in place upgrade support.
Upgrade Dependencies. Application Server has dependencies on a number of Java ES shared components, as listed in Table 1–7. Java ES 5 Application Server is compatible with the Release 4 version of all these components.
Backward Compatibility. Java ES 5 Application Server is backwardly compatible with the Java ES 4 provided the shared component dependency is not broken.
Upgrade Rollback. Rollback of the Java ES 5 upgrade to Java ES 4 is achieved by uninstallling the Java ES 5 and reinstalling Java ES 4.

Application Server Upgrade

This section describes how to perform an upgrade of Application Server from Java ES version 4 to Java ES version 5. This section covers the following topics:

Pre-Upgrade Tasks

Upgrading Application Server Dependencies

All Java ES components on a computer system and in a computing environment should be upgraded to Java ES version 5.

To Verify Current Version Information

Type the following command.

ApplicationServer-base\bin\asadmin.bat version

The outputs that indicate the Application Server version are:

Release 5: Sun Java Enterprise System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.2
Release 4: Sun Java Enterprise System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.1_02

To Stop Application Server Component

Stop all running node agents.

ApplicationServer-base\bin\asadmin.bat stop-node-agent

Stop all domains.

ApplicationServer-base\bin\asadmin.bat stop-domain

Stop the pointbase database server if one is installed and running.

ApplicationServer-base\pointbase\tools\stopserver.sh

To Back Up Application Server Data

Back up Application Server domains.

Create a directory outside the Application Server installation directories and back up the content of the domains directory in this new directory. The default location for the Java ES 4 domains directory is ApplicationServer-base\domains.

Back up Application Server node agents.

Create a directory outside the Application Server installation directories and back up the content of the nodeagents directory in this new directory. The default location for the Java ES 4 nodeagents directory is ApplicationServer-base\nodeagents.

Back up pointbase binaries.

Create a directory outside the Application Server installation directories and back up the content of the pointbase directory in this new directory. The default location for the Java ES 4 pointbase directory is ApplicationServer-base\pointbase.

Back up pointbase data files.

Create a directory outside the Application Server installation directories and back up the pointbase data files in this new directory. The default location for the Java ES 4 pointbase data files is: ApplicationServer-base\pointbase.

Back up the Application Server configuration file.

The default location for Application Server configuration file is ApplicationServer-base\config\asenv.conf.

Back up the sample configuration file.

The default location for sample configuration file is ApplicationServer-base\samples\common.properties.

To Upgrade Application Server

Before You Begin

Obtain Application Server administrator user ID and password for your currently installed version.
Shut down all J2EE components running in an Application Server instance before upgrading the instance. However, if load balancing provides for high availability or scalability, this requirement can be relaxed.
Shut down all instances of Application Server running on a single computer (all corresponding to the same installed Application Server image.
Back up all domain, node agent, and configuration data.

In multiple node deployments, perform the upgrade procedure on each node or computer that hosts Application Server instances.

Install Java ES 5 Application Server with the Configure Automatically During Installation option.

The new installed domain is started automatically.

Stop the domain.

You can also delete the domain created under new installation directory.

To Verify the Upgrade

Type the following command.

ApplicationServer-base\bin\asadmin.bat version

The outputs that indicate the Application Server version are:

Release 5: Sun Java Enterprise System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.2
Release 4: Sun Java Enterprise System Application Server Enterprise Edition 8.1_02

Post-Upgrade Tasks

To verify a successful upgrade, you need to perform the following post-upgrade tasks:

To Restore Application Server Data

Restore Application Server domains.

Restore Application Server node agents.

Restore pointbase binaries.

Restore pointbase data files.

Restore the configuration settings from the Java ES 4 Application Server configuration file.

Ensure that the new entries from the Java ES 5 configuration file are retained in this file.

Restore the configuration settings from the Java ES 4 sample configuration file.

Ensure that the new entries from the Java ES 5 sample configuration file are retained in this file.

To Validate Restored Domains

Start the restored Java ES 4 Application Server domains.

ApplicationServer-base\bin\asadmin.bat start-domain --user userName --domaindir JES4-Domain-location domainName

Check for the deployed applications.

Check for the configuration settings.

To Validate Restored Node Agents

Start the restored Java ES 4 node agents.

ApplicationServer-base\bin\asadmin.bat start-node-agent --user userName --agentdir JES4-node-agent-location nodeAgentName

To Validate Pointbase Data Files

Start the restored Java ES 4 Application Server domains.

ApplicationServer-base\pointbase\tools\startpointbase.sh

Verify that the data files are accessible to the applications.

To Roll Back the Upgrade

Uninstall Java ES 5.

Start domain and node agent from Java ES4 Application Server install location.