This IBM® Redbooks® publication provides system administrators and developers with the knowledge to configure an IBM WebSphere® Application Server Version 8.5 runtime environment, to package and deploy applications, and to perform ongoing management of the WebSphere environment. As one in a series of IBM Redbooks publications and IBM Redpapers™ publications for V8.5, the entire series is designed to give you in-depth information about key WebSphere Application Server features.

WebSphere Application Server V8.5 provides two runtime profiles. Every WebSphere Application Server package includes both profile types. The runtime traditionally available with the WebSphere Application Server packages is referred to as the full profile. The application serving run time provided with this profile is composed of a wide spectrum of runtime components that are available when the server is started. The full profile provides support for Java Platform Enterprise Edition 6 (Java EE 6) and Enterprise OSGi technologies.

The Liberty profile provides a simplified stand-alone run time for web applications, supporting a subset of the programming model available with the full profile. Any application that runs on the Liberty profile will also run on the full profile.

In this book, we provide a detailed exploration of the WebSphere Application Server V8.5 runtime administration process for the full profile. This book includes configuration and administration information for WebSphere Application Server V8.5 and WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment V8.5 on distributed platforms and WebSphere Application Server for IBM z/OS® V8.5.

This book has been updated with information about the new features in WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5. The Liberty profile administration and configuration information has been moved into a separate book.

The following publications are prerequisites for this book:

• WebSphere Application Server: New Features in V8.5.5, REDP-4870
• WebSphere Application Server V8.5.5 Technical Overview, REDP-4855
• IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5 Concepts, Planning, and Design Guide, SG24-8022

The following publications are companion books, covering the Liberty profile of WebSphere Application Server:

• WebSphere Application Server Liberty Profile Guide for Developers, SG24-8076
• WebSphere Application Server V8.5 Administration Guide for the Liberty Profile, SG24-8170

Part 1. Installation and profile management

Chapter 1. System management: Technical overview

Chapter 2. Installing WebSphere Application Server on distributed systems

Chapter 3. Working with profiles on distributed systems

Chapter 4. Installing WebSphere Application Server on z/OS systems

Chapter 5. Working with profiles on z/OS systems

Chapter 6. Administration consoles and commands

Part 2. Administration and configuration techniques

Chapter 7. Administration of WebSphere processes

Chapter 8. Administration with scripting

Chapter 9. Accessing relational databases from WebSphere

Chapter 10. Accessing EIS applications from WebSphere

Chapter 11. Configuring messaging providers

Chapter 12. Configuring and managing web servers

Chapter 13. Intelligent management

Part 3. Managing distributed systems

Chapter 14. Performance tuning on distributed environments

Chapter 15. Clustering, workload management, and high availability

Chapter 16. Monitoring distributed systems

Part 4. Managing z/OS systems

Chapter 17. Performance tuning

Chapter 18. Clustering and high availability

Chapter 19. Monitoring z/OS systems

Part 5. Working with applications

Chapter 20. Features for application development and deployment

Chapter 21. WebSphere Batch

Chapter 22. Understanding class loaders

Chapter 23. Packaging and deploying Java EE applications

Chapter 24. Updating Java EE applications

Chapter 25. Working with SCA applications

Chapter 26. Working with OSGi applications

Chapter 27. Working with Service Mapping

Chapter 28. Session management

Part 6. Maintenance

Chapter 29. Managing an environment with the centralized installation manager

Chapter 30. System recovery

Chapter 31. Troubleshooting

Appendix A. Additional material