Update applications

You can use the administrative console or wsadmin to update an application after you deploy it on an application server. See The wsadmin administrative tool for information about using wsadmin. You can also update some applications without stopping and restarting the application or the application server. See Use hot deployment and dynamic reloading for more information.

To update an application with the administrative console, follow these steps:

1. Use the WebSphere Development Studio Client for iSeries to update and reassemble the application. Updates to the application can include adding or editing assembly properties, adding or importing modules into an application, and adding enterprise beans, Web components, and files.

2. Start the administrative console.

3. In the topology tree, expand Applications and click Enterprise Applications.

4. (Optional) Back up the application. Select the check box for the application you want to back up and click Export. This operation saves the application as an EAR file and preserves binding information.

5. Select the check box for the application that you want to update and click Update.

   The application server merges the binding information for both versions of the application, then uninstalls the older version and installs updated version.

6. Complete the steps in the Preparing for application install page and the pages that follow it.

   Note:The installation process merges binding information from the new version and the old version of the application. All binding information from both versions is present. You can select whether to ignore bindings in the old version or ones in the new version.

7. Map the installed application or module to servers or clusters on the Map modules to application servers page. If you want to map modules after you install the application, follow these steps:

   1. In the topology tree, expand Applications and click Enterprise Applications.
   2. Click the name of the application that you want to update.
   3. On the application page, click Map modules to application servers.
   4. Specify the application server where you want to install the modules.
   5. Click OK.

8. Save the configuration. The old version of the application is uninstalled and the updated version is installed when you click Save.

   If you update an application while it is running, the application stops before the new application files are installed and restarts after the installation. The application is unavailable on the node during the time the node is synchronizing its configuration with the deployment manager.

9. Examine the values specified for Reload Enabled and Reload Interval on the settings page for your enterprise application. For more information about these settings, see Enterprise application settings. If reloading of application files is enabled and the reload interval is greater than zero (0), the application's files are reloaded after the application is updated. For Web modules such as servlets and JavaServer Pages (JSP) files, a Web container reloads a Web module only when the IBM extension reloadingEnabled in the ibm-web-ext.xmi file is also set to true. You can set reloadingEnabled to true when you edit your Web module's extended deployment descriptors with an assembly tool.

   Note: Depending on your classloader and reload settings, you might need to restart the application server, the application, or both, as described in the next two steps.

10. Restart the application so that the changes take effect.

    1. Expand Applications and click Enterprise Applications.
    2. Select the check box for the updated application.
    3. Click Start.

    Note: If you update an application that is running, WebSphere Application Server - Express stops the application, updates the application logic, and then restarts the application.

11. (Optional) If the application you are updating is deployed on a server that has its application class loader policy set to SINGLE, restart the server.