Using the i5/OS integrated web application server

EGL supports development for the i5/OS™ integrated web application server, a minimal footprint, easy to configure, secure environment for hosting dynamic web applications on i5/OS.

The i5/OS integrated web application server offers an economical alternative to WAS or Tomcat for the i5/OS environment and allows users to install applications (WAR or WAB) and configure database connections.

You can deploy the following kinds of EGL applications on the i5/OS integrated web application server:
The following limitations apply:

Example

The following scenario shows how to deploy a typical JSF handler application to the i5/OS integrated web application server.

Create a server instance in i5/OS if one is not available. This example uses the name EGLi501 for the server instance:
  1. Access the remote i5/OS Admin Console GUI from a browser. Authorization may be required for the access.
  2. The IBM Web Administration for i5/OS screen is displayed.
  3. Select Create Application Server from Common Tasks and Wizards. Click Next.
  4. On the Select Application Server Version and Type screen, select i5/OS integrated web application server. Click Next.
  5. On the Specify Application Server Name screen, enter an Application Server Name such as EGLi501. Click Next.
  6. On the Specify Internal Ports screen, click Next to accept the default port numbers.
  7. On the Create a New HTTP Server screen, note the port number to invoke the server instance during an application test. Click Next to accept the default values.
  8. On the Specify User ID screen, click Next to accept the default port numbers.
  9. On the Sample Application screen, click Next.
  10. On the Summary screen, click Finish.
If the applications to be installed on the server perform database I/O, define a connection ID for each database by following these steps:
  1. From the i5/OS Admin Console GUI, select the server instance where you want to install the application (EGLi501 in this example).
  2. Select Manage Database Connections under Resource Configuration.
  3. On the Manage Database Connections screen, click Create.
  4. On the Specify Database Connection Type screen, select the appropriate connection type from the Database connection type pull-down menu. Enter a unique identifier (or *Default) for Connection ID. Your application must use the Connection ID as the datasource when accessing information from the database. Click Next.
  5. On the Specify Database Connection Information screen, provide the following information:
    • The appropriate value for Database location (LOCAL is the default).
    • A library name for the DB2® database for Schema name.
    • The Connection User ID and Password if required.

    Click Next.

  6. On the JNDI Name screen, click Next to accept the default name.
  7. On the Summary screen, click Finish.
  8. The Manage Database Connections screen displays the database connection you just created, which you can edit or delete.
Copy the WAR file to the i5/OS environment by following these steps:
  1. Map a network drive on your local system to access the remote i5/OS system:
    >> net use z: \\lp11ut8.rchland.ibm.com\root
  2. Create a directory in i5/OS to store the WAR file. For example, make a folder in the network drive z:
    >> md  eglwars
  3. Copy the local WAR file to the remote i5/OS system:
    >> copy d:\genout\EglWebProj.war z:\eglwars
Use the following steps to install an application WAR or WAB file to the server instance:
  1. On the Manage All Servers screen, select the server instance (EGLi501 in this example), and click Manage Details.
  2. On the Manage Integrated Web Application Server screen, click Manage Installed Applications.
  3. On the Manage Installed Applications screen, click Install.
  4. On the Install New Application screen, enter the path name of the application WAR or WAB file, or click Browse to navigate to the file. Click Next.
  5. On the Provide options to perform the install screen, click Next to accept the default values.
  6. On the Context Root Port Mapping screen, click Next to accept the default values.
  7. On the Summary screen, click Finish.
Test a JSF handler with the web application server by entering the URL for the JSF application into a browser in the following form:
http://hostName:portNum/contextRoot/pageName.faces
hostName
The host name for the i5/OS system.
portNum
The port ID for the server instance.
contextRoot
The context root of the installed application.
pageName
The name of the JSF page to be displayed.
The following considerations apply to running test cases in the browser:
  • If you use the Firefox browser, some of the JSF data table frames might be missing on the test pages.
  • Do not use JSF prefix servlet mapping in the URL, as in the following:
    http://.../faces/MyPage.jsp    // do not use
    Instead use JSF suffix servlet mapping, as in the following example:
    http://.../MyPage.faces      // do this instead

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