Deploying Web applications

You can export Web applications from EAServer Manager to deploy them on another server. EAServer supports two archive formats for Web applications:

J2EE Web archive (WAR) The WAR format is the standard for servers that support J2EE. This format allows portability to other vendor’s J2EE servers, but not all properties are preserved in the archive, because the deployment descriptor does not support all EAServer properties. These EAServer properties can be configured by including an EAServer XML configuration file in the archive, as described in “Using EAServer configuration files in J2EE archives”. In particular, these items are not supported by the WAR file deployment descriptor:

Resource references, described in the “Creating Web Applications” chapter in the EAServer Programmer’s Guide
EJB references, described in the “Creating Web Applications” chapter in the EAServer Programmer’s Guide
Environment properties, described in the “Creating Web Applications” chapter in the EAServer Programmer’s Guide
Resource environment references, described in the “Creating Web Applications” chapter in the EAServer Programmer’s Guide
Security access role mappings, described in the EAServer Security Administration and Programming Guide

EAServer JAR For exporting between EAServer 3.6 or later servers. This format, while proprietary, preserves all information in the Web application. When importing, EJB references, resource references, and role mappings are preserved. You must ensure that the referenced items are in place before running the imported Web application.

Consider the synchronize feature instead of using archives If you are deploying between EAServer installations, you may find the synchronize feature easier than exporting and importing archives. Synchronization replicates a Web application directly between servers. See Chapter 6, “Clusters and Synchronization” for more information.

Exporting a Web application

Expand the Web Applications folder, then highlight the icon that represents your application.

If you are exporting in WAR format, choose File | Export | J2EE WAR. If you are exporting in EAServer JAR format, choose File | Export | EAServer JAR.

Enter a path and file name for the file to be created, including the .war or .ear extension.

If you are exporting in WAR format, optionally deselect the Export with EAServer XML Configuration File option if you do not want the archive to include an EAServer XML configuration file.

Click Next. The Export wizard creates an archive of your Web application, displaying status information in the window.

When the export is complete, click Close.

Importing a Web application

Highlight the top-level Web Applications folder. If importing a WAR file, choose File | Deploy | J2EE WAR. If importing an EAServer JAR, choose File | Deploy | EAServer JAR.

Enter the path to the WAR or JAR file.

Optionally, check to enable:

Prompt before overwriting existing objects
Automatically generate EJB stubs and skeletons
Use interoperable naming, which configures interoperable naming URLs for the EJB Reference properties, as described in “Intervendor EJB interoperability” in the EAServer Programmer’s Guide. Select this option when your EJBs have EJB references that link to another vendor's EJB 2.0 server and you need to use the RMI/IIOP protocol for the connection.

Click Next. The Deploy wizard reads the file and creates the Web application. Any errors are displayed in the status window. Review the status information, then click Close.

Use the status dialog as a to-do list In the deployment status dialog box, EAServer Manager displays warnings for each setting that requires further attention before you can run the Web application. You can copy and paste this text to a text editor to use as a to-do list.