To work with the server tools feature, you will need one or more of the following resources:
In most situations, these resources are created for you automatically. You can also create them manually.
A server identifies where you want to test or publish your application. A server points to a specific run-time environment such as a local test environment, a full installation of WebSphere® Application Server, or a server on another machine. A server contains the logic of how to publish to the server and what projects and configurations to run.
A server contains a reference to a configuration that it is currently using.
The server tools support the following types of servers:
Server configurations are files (such as .config and config-data folder) that contain information that is required to set up and publish to a server. For example, these files may include information about which port to run on, or in the case of WebSphere Application Server v5.x5, indicates which data sources or MIME types are supported.
When the Create server resources in workspace check box is enabled (Windows >Preferences > Server), the servers and their configurations are contained in a server project (in the Project Explorer view under the Other Projects folder).
For each server, you can specify the server configuration that should be used for that server. A server can only point to one or no server configuration. However, a server configuration can be pointed to from one or more servers.
A relationship between a server configuration and a project, for example an EAR project, is created when a project is added to the server configuration. A server can point to one or more projects. A project can be pointed to from one or more server configurations.
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