Preface


This preface contains the following topics:

• Using the Documentation

• About This Guide

• How This Guide Is Organized

• Documentation Conventions

Using the Documentation

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The following table lists the tasks and concepts that are described in the iPlanet Application Server (iAS) and iPlanet Application Builder (iAB) printed manuals and online read-me file. If you are trying to accomplish a specific task or learn more about a specific concept, refer to the appropriate manual.

Note that the printed manuals are also available as online files in PDF and HTML format.

Table 1 Where to Find Information  

For information about	See the following	Shipped with
Late-breaking information about the software and the documentation	readme.htm	iAS 6.0 on Solaris/NT, iAB 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Installing iPlanet Application Server and its various components (Web Connector plug-in, iPlanet Application Server Administrator), and configuring the sample applications	Installation Guide	iAS 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Installing iPlanet Application Builder.	install.htm	iAB 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Basic features of iAS, such as its software components, general capabilities, and system architecture.	Overview	iAS 6.0 on Solaris/NT, iAB 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Administering one or more application servers using the iPlanet Application Server Administration Tool to perform the following tasks: Monitoring and logging server activity Setting up users and groups Administering database connectivity Administering transactions Load balancing servers Managing distributed data synchronization	Administration Guide	iAS 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Deploying J2EE applications to iAS using the Deployment Tool.	JavaHelp (integrated into the iAS Deployment Tool)	iAS 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Migrating your applications to the new iPlanet Application Server 6.0 programming model from version 4.0, including a sample migration of an Online Bank application provided with iPlanet Application Server	Migration Guide	iAS 6.0 on Solaris/NT, iAB 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Creating iAS 6.0 applications within an integrated development environment by performing the following tasks: Creating and managing projects Using wizards Creating data-access logic Creating presentation logic and layout Creating business logic Compiling, testing, and debugging applications Deploying and downloading applications Working with source control Using third-party tools	User's Guide	iAB 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Creating iAS 6.0 applications that follow the new open Java standards model (Servlets, EJBs, JSPs, and JDBC), by performing the following tasks: Creating the presentation and execution layers of an application Placing discrete pieces of business logic and entities into Enterprise Java Bean (EJB) components Using JDBC to communicate with databases Using iterative testing, debugging, and application fine-tuning procedures to generate applications that execute correctly and quickly	Programmer's Guide (Java)	iAS 6.0 Solaris/NT, iAB 6.0 Solaris/NT
Using the public classes and interfaces, and their methods in the iPlanet Application Server class library to write Java applications	Server Foundation Class Reference (Java)	iAS 6.0 on Solaris/NT, iAB 6.0 on Solaris/NT
Creating iAS C++ applications using the iAS class library by performing the following tasks: Designing applications Writing AppLogics Creating HTML templates Creating queries Running and debugging applications	Programmer's Guide (C++)	Order separately
Using the public classes and interfaces, and their methods in the iPlanet Application Server class library to write C++ applications	Server Foundation Class Reference (C++)	Order separately

About This Guide

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The Administration Guide guide leads you through the tasks that you perform as the administrator of one or more iPlanet Application Server (iAS) machines. This guide assumes you have installed iAS on at least one machine. For information about installing iAS, refer to the Installation Guide.

You perform most of the administration tasks with iAS Administration Tool, a GUI-based tool for server and application administration. This tool is described in .

How This Guide Is Organized

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This guide is divided into three . If you are new to administering an iPlanet Application Server (iAS) machine, begin with Getting Started for an overview of how to start the server and Administration Tool. If you are already familiar with administering application servers, skim the material in Getting Started before going on to Administering a Single iPlanet Application Server.

If you are administering more than one application server, continue to Administering Multiple iPlanet Application Servers, for additional information specific to a multiple-server enterprise.

Getting Started"> Getting Started

The first part of the Administration Guide describes the environment of iAS.

The following is included in this part:

• describes how to get started with iAS Administration Tool, as well as the basic iAS configuration tasks you can perform to begin working with iAS.

Administering a Single iPlanet Application Server"> Administering a Single iPlanet Application Server

The second part of the Administration Guide describes server and application administration procedures for a single iAS machine. The procedures included in this part are those that you are most likely to do right away.

The following s are included in this part:

• describes the monitoring service provided by iAS Administration Tool that allows you to chart various attributes of the Executive, Java, and C++ server processes.

• escribes how to configure Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) so you can monitor iAS with a third-party SNMP management tool.

• describes the message-logging service provided by iAS.

• describes how to set up users and groups to provide security for your applications.

• describes how you can increase application performance.

• describes the web connector plug-in, which sends users' requests to applications residing on iAS.

• describes how to configure data access drivers and apply settings to database connectivity parameters.

• describes the tasks and conceptual information necessary for administering transactions using iAS Administration Tool.

Administering Multiple iPlanet Application Servers"> Administering Multiple iPlanet Application Servers

The third part of the Administration Guide describes how to administer multiple iAS machines. Included are more in-depth administration procedures and concepts that apply to a multiple-server enterprise. These procedures focus solely on multiple-server administration, and are used along with the single-server procedures described in Part II.

The following s are included in this part:

• describes how to configure the web connector plug-in, distributed data synchronization, and multicast communication for multiple iAS machines using iAS Administration Tool.

• describes how to maintain multiple iAS machines at the same time using iAS Administration Tool.

• describes load balancing, which optimizes the ability of each iAS machine to process users' requests by keeping those requests balanced among several application servers.

• describes how to group iAS machines into data synchronization clusters.

• contains troubleshooting information about your iAS machine.

Documentation Conventions

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File and directory paths are given in Windows format (with backslashes separating directory names). For Unix versions, the directory paths are the same, except slashes are used instead of backslashes to separate directories.

This guide uses URLs of the form:

http://server.domain:port/path/file.html

In these URLs, server is the name of server on which you run your application; domain is your Internet domain name; path is the directory structure on the server; and file is an individual filename. Italic items in URLs are placeholders.

This guide uses the following font conventions:

• The monospace font is used for sample code and code listings, API and language elements (such as function names and class names), file names, path names, directory names, and HTML tags.

• Italic type is used for book titles, emphasis, variables and placeholders, and words used in the literal sense.