Merging plugin-cfg.xml files from multiple nodes

Problem(Abstract)
Merging plugin-cfg.xml files from multiple nodes for releases of IBM® WebSphere® Application Server version 5 and version 6.



Resolving the problem
Merging two plugin-cfg.xml files

1.The tag is the root element in the plugin-cfg.xml file. There should be only one element in the merged file.


2.Copy the element from any of the two merging files, and modify the Name, if required.


3.Copy all the elements from both the files. The VirtualHostGroup name must be unique; if the names are not unique, prepend the node name to the VirtualHostGroup name to make it unique.

When serving a request, the plug-in searches for the VirtualHost and URI, so the combination of these must be unique. If it is not, you receive unexpected results. As a precautionary step, make sure that the VirtualHost name is unique. Avoid having an asterisk ( * ) in the virtual host name; instead, explicitly specify the server name and port number.


4.Copy all elements from both the files. Normally they are unique because the host name is included in the name; however, make the names unique if necessary.


5.Server Name must be unique across all clusters. From WebSphere Application Server version 5.0.1 or higher, host or node name is included in server name. If you are at version 5.0, then you might have to prepend the host name to the server name to make it unique.


6.In the element, the properties keyring and stashfile should use the same location for all the Application Servers in the merged file.


7.Copy all the elements from both nodes. Normally these are unique because a server cluster name is included; however, make the names unique if necessary.


8.Copy all the elements and apply any changes that you have made to the names of VirtualHostGroup, ServerCluster or URIGroup.


9.Make sure that resources are unambiguously specified. Especially when merging two servers containing applications with similar context-root. You may want to consider utilizing virtual host aliases in Administrative Console to unambiguously route the requests to specific application server.


10.Make sure that the Web server points to the new plugin-cfg.xml file.