How to migrate WebSphere app with no WAR/EAR file.

Question

Hi,

I am to migrate a Websphere machine (including the applications which run on it) to a new machine. They wanted a clean install of the OS and WebSphere, so I did that. I also took a full file backup of all of the applications they had on the old server. The problem is that to re-install them on the new server, the WebSphere dialog asks me for the JAR/EAR/WAR file, which I don't have.

Is there any reasonably easy way to simply extract the backup of the WebSphere application files I have taken from the old maching, and simply configure the new machine to use them? WAR, etc. is a nice feature to have, but to be forced to use it seems silly.

Edit: The existing WebSphere server is still up and running in production.

Edit: The old server is WAS 3.5, which means it doesn't even have an export function, sadly. Also, the directory where it actually runs the content from has a completely different structure (consisting of like a a %/Web and %/Servlet, where % is the context path of the application). In the "Install" section, it doesn't even mention EAR or WAR, only JAR. I am currently thinking that perhaps the best thing to do might be to just copy the directory over to another WAS 3.5 system and then upgrade that system (and hope it converts the folder structure and updated the config as part of the upgrade).

Edit: The closest thing I have found to a solution so far is this link: http://www.javazoom.net/services/newsletter/was4.html (though I am not sure if that tool is available or relevant for WAS 7.x).

This has to be a problem other people have run into before, but I can't find a solution anywhere on the WEB.

Thank you!

Answer 1

If you still have the old server running, than just export the apps and you have the war/ear files. However, If you don't know the configuration for the apps, you are screwed. However, I am sure IBM has tools that you can use. Some of the paid tools look even nice and user friendly (at least according to their sales demos). I can't tell you what you need, since I don't know what documentation you have for your apps. But as it looks like there is not much there, otherwise you would just install the application the same way they were installed on your old server and use the binaries (war, ear, jar) that are archived somewhere.

Answer 2

Here do they have sample Jacl scripts one can use to export/import appserver's configuration. So that is what you can start with. If your new bow uses the same version of WAS (and the same topology if it is not a standalone box) as the old one, it might be a (relatively) safe process.

Migration between different versions of Websphere might be somewhat more tricky, but I'm sure IBM published at least one redbook on that topic.