WebSphere Commerce Build and Deployment tool prerequisites
Before you begin, you must ensure that all prerequisites for the Build and Deployment tool are met. In addition, you must learn about the current build, development, and deployment processes that are used in your project. Learning about the current processes helps in planning the adoption of the Build and Deployment tool.
Knowledge prerequisites
You are expected to have knowledge in the following to be able to set up and run the Build and Deployment tool:
- The SCM used by the customization project
- Deployment and execution of Apache Ant scripts
- Deployment of customized WebSphere Commerce configuration, database, and EAR assets
- Configuration and application update of WebSphere Application Server, particularly using the wsadmin tool and Jython scripting
- Remote file transfer protocols such as FTP, SCP, and SFTP
- Is your customization project using an SCM? If so, which one? How do you extract the source code from the SCM?
- Which database is used by your customization project?
- How many server environments are used by your customization project? For example, production, staging, or testing. If you use more than one environment, do the environments have different configuration settings? For example, different data in the database, or different settings in the wc-server.xml file.
- For each server environment, is your WebSphere Commerce Enterprise Application (EAR) deployed in a single-server environment or a clustered environment?
- For each server environment, if you have a remote web server that hosts static web contents for the customization project, how do you deploy the web assets? Can you use remote file transfer methods such as FTP or SCP?
- For each server environment, if you plan to deploy from a different system than the server with WebSphere Commerce installed, can you use remote file transfer methods to access the server? For example, FTP or SCP. Remote file transfers are required for synchronizing the WebSphere Commerce configuration files between the master copy and the EAR copy.
You also need access to the servers in your WebSphere Commerce topology. You must access these servers for information that is required to set up the build and deployment processes. If you do not have access to these servers, ensure that the administrator can provide you with this information.
Knowledge resources
- J2EE Connector Architecture (JCA) Version 1.5
- Apache Ant Manual
- Ant-Contrib
- Jakarta Commons Net
- Jakarta ORO
- JavaBeans Activation Framework
- JavaMail
- JSch
- IBM WebSphere Developer Technical Journal: System Management for WebSphere ApplicationServer V6 - Part 5
- Webcast Replay: WebSphere Commerce Version 6 Deployment
- WebSphere Application Server, Version 7.0 documentation
Build system prerequisites
The build system requires that either WebSphere Commerce Version 7.0 (any edition) or WebSphere Commerce Developer Version 7.0 (any edition), and the associated requirements that are met, be installed. It is recommended that the build machine be kept at the same WebSphere Commerce product level as your other servers. Although having the build machine kept at the same product level is not required for all custom changes, it is required for customizations made to Management Center (OpenLaszlo) files. For more information, see the following topics Prerequisites for installing WebSphere Commerce and Overview: Installing WebSphere Commerce Developer Version 7 on a single workstation.
It is highly recommended that a server is dedicated to performing builds. In addition, the following requirements must also be met:
- Matching WebSphere Application Server fix pack and interim fixes as the server deployment system installed to the WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0 Test Environment that is part of Rational Application Developer Version 7.5.
- 2 GB of additional disk space for the Build and Deployment tool, temporary files, and deployment packages that are generated by the build process.
- EJB deployment can fail during the build process because of a long installation path of WebSphere Application Server or WebSphere Application Server Test Environment from Rational Application Developer.
- The ARG/ENV list size needs to be changed to 10
x 4K byte blocks or larger to support the EJB deployment tool. As
the root user, run the following command:
-
chdev -l sys0 -a ncargs='
#-4KB-blocks'
-
- Apache Ant 1.7.1 or later installed. To install, download the binary distribution and extract it to a local directory.
- The client software of the SCM used (for example, CVS, Subversion,
or ClearCase) must be installed and available in command line (with
the
PATH
environment set for the SCM client). - If you are using the email notification functionality, access to an SMTP server is required.
Third-party library dependencies
Software | Used in | Required | Setup instructions |
---|---|---|---|
Ant-Contrib Ant-Contrib 1.0b3 |
|
Required |
|
Jakarta Commons Net 1.4.1 | Server deployment | Optional: Complete the setup instructions if the ftp Ant task is used (for
remote static web asset deployment or wc-server.xml synchronization via FTP) |
|
Jakarta ORO 2.0.8 | Server deployment | Optional: Complete the setup instructions if the ftp Ant task is used (for
remote static web asset deployment or wc-server.xml synchronization via
FTP) |
|
Java Activation Framework (JAF) 1.1.1 |
|
Optional: Complete the setup instructions if the mail Ant task is used (for
email notification) |
|
JavaMail 1.4.1 |
|
Optional: Complete the setup instructions if the mail Ant task is used (for
email notification) |
|
JSch 0.1.42 | Server deployment | Optional: Complete the setup instructions if the scp Ant task is used (for
remote static web asset deployment or wc-server.xml synchronization via
SCP/SFTP) |
|
SvnAnt 1.2.1 Note: By default, SvnAnt 1.2.1 supports the SSLv3 protocol
only, therefore does not work if WebSphere Application Server has SSLv3 disabled. If you want
support for other protocols, you need to investigate alternative solutions. For more information,
see Apache Subversion Ant Library. |
Build | Optional: Complete the setup instructions if the svn Ant task is used (for
source extraction from Subversion) and SSLv3 is enabled. |
|
Server deployment system prerequisites
The Build and Deployment tool requires WebSphere Commerce Version 7.0, and the associated requirements met, on the server deployment system. Refer to the Prerequisites for installing WebSphere Commerce topic for more information.
- The WebSphere Commerce level of the deployment system must meet or exceed that of your other servers.
- The system from which wsadmin is run should have the SOAP request
timeout value set to 0 (no timeout). This can be done by changing
the
com.ibm.SOAP.requestTimeout
property in WAS_installdir/profiles/profile_name/properties/soap.client.props.Note: This step is automated in the server deployment process and is therefore no longer required. - 1 GB of additional disk space for the deployment package and temporary files that are generated during the deployment process.
- Apache Ant 1.7.1 or
later installed. To install, download the binary distribution and
extract it to a local directory.Note: Apache Ant 1.8.1 is not recommended due to a bug that causes copies of large files to fail when max heap is set to a "high" value. This issue is resolved with Apache Ant 1.8.2.
- If you are using the email notification functionality, access to an SMTP server is required.
- The Oracle-specific environment variables must be set for the user that runs the deployment process so that the JDBC OCI driver can function properly when loading data.
Toolkit deployment system prerequisites
The Build and Deployment tool requires WebSphere Commerce Developer Version 7.0, and the associated requirements met, on the toolkit deployment system. Refer to the Prerequisites for installing WebSphere Commerce Developer topic for more information.
In addition, the following requirements must also be met:
- Matching WebSphere Application Server fix pack and interim fixes as the server deployment system installed to the WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0 Test Environment that is part of Rational Application Developer V7.5.
- 1 GB of additional disk space for the deployment package and temporary files that are generated during the deployment process.
- The Oracle-specific environment variables must be set for the user that runs the deployment process so that the JDBC OCI driver can function properly when loading data.
Migrating the Build and Deployment tool from Version 6.0 to Version 7.0
For WebSphere Commerce Version 6.0, the Build and Deployment tool was offered as a sample application. If you are using this sample application, it will not work with WebSphere Commerce Version 7.0. You must manually migrate any configuration and customization of the Build and Deployment tool from Version 6.0 to Version 7.0 to use it in Version 7.0.