EJB JNDI lookup on different WebSphere servers

Question

I have two separate installs of WebSphere. (Actually one is WebSphere Application Server V6.1 with EJB 3.0 and Web Services feature packs, and the other server is WebSphere ESB Server V6.2). However, I know that ESB is really built on top of WAS, so it has all the configuration settings that a regualr WAS server has.

In my ESB server, I am trying to expose a service written as EJB 3.0 that will be deployed to the WAS 6.1 server. My question is not how to get EJB 2.1 calls to call into an EJB 3.0. We've done that already. My question is how to call across physical VM's. The WebSphere Application Server is running in its own cell/node/server from the ESB Server. From what I've read in IBM documentation, it is possible to set up a namespace binding on WAS to point to a remote EJB on another WAS instance. Thus you could use JNDI to lookup a bean on one WAS instance that really resides in another WAS instance. The beauty of this method is the location of the EJB you want is abstracted to the container level, and you don't have to drag around properties files of the IP addresses and ports that you need to access the bean should it change servers, etc. You just make a standard JNDI lookup to a remote EJB and you get it.

Sounds like it can be done. (See the following links: http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wasinfo/v6r1/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.websphere.express.doc/info/exp/ae/tnam_view_bindings.html) Especially follow the links on EJB and Indirect namespace bindings.

But I've been hitting my head against this for a while. It makes sense. It looks like it can be done. And the Indirect namespace binding looks the most promising. But I can't get it to work quite right. My ESB server keeps complaining about not finding comp/env/ejb in the context in which I am asking for it. Very puzzled by this one.

Just wondering if anybody has done this kind of thing before. Can you give me a concrete example of how you set this up in WAS to do so? Any help is appreciated

Answer 1

Well, I have since talked with IBM on how to do this and was surprised by their answer. They answered that if you are talking EJB to EJB within the same server or server cluster, then use EJB RMI via IIOP. With JNDI this abstracts where the bean is actually running (in a clustered environment).

If you are going from one server (or server cluster) across into a different server (or server cluster) regardless of whether or not the target and source are in the same cell, IBM recommended that you use messaging or web services. They felt that was a better method of abstraction between applications to keep them from being "tied" to each other. They did say that you could get EJB's to talk RMI via CORBA, but said to do that ONLY if absolutely necessary. And of course, you would need to know the IP and port number for coming in over CORBA (and that times each cluster member if in a clustered environment).

Again, this kind of surprised me, but it does make sense. Just thought I'd share these thoughts with the world, especially if you are working with WebSphere.

Answer 2

how to lookup from tomcat

1. use IBM JDK as runtime for tomcat
2. find bootstab port , use iiop in PROVIDER_URL