• WebSphere Application Server - Express
• WebSphere Application Server - Base
• WebSphere Application Server - Network Deployment

Typically, application developers who manage applications on multiple servers under one instance use WAS Network Deployment because it provides the interface to manage applications on multiple servers. But this article describes how to use the Base product to do the same thing.

The initial WAS Base Administrative Console allows application developers to manage the applications on the default server for an instance (i.e., the server that was created when the instance was created), but they cannot manage applications on additional servers for that instance. However, it is possible to configure the WebSphere Administrative Console so that each server has its own Administrative Console. This allows application developers to manage their applications on non-default servers (i.e., servers that were not created when the instance was created). To implement this configuration, follow these instructions:

1. Find the port for the non-default server to use for its WebSphere Administrative Console:

1. Open a system command prompt and change to the was_install_root/bin directory.
2. Run the dspwasinst command for the non-default server that you want to manage. The syntax of this command is
   dspwasinst –instance instancename –server servername
3. In the results returned, find where the Web Container transports are listed. If the instance does not have security enabled, select one of the non-SSL ports to use as the WebSphere Administrative Console port. If security is enabled, choose an SSL port instead.

2. Assign the ports found in step 1 to the virtual host table:

1. Go to the WebSphere Administrative Console for the default server.
2. On the left sidebar, expand Environment and click on Virtual Hosts.
3. In the virtual hosts table, click on admin_host.
4. In the admin_host properties, click on Host Aliases.
5. Under host aliases, click New to add the new port.
6. Under host name, type the name of the host where the WebSphere Administrative Console will be located. Or, to include all hosts, type "*". Under the port field, enter the port that was found in step 1. Then, click OK.

Repeat steps 1 and 2 for each non-default server that contains applications to be managed through the WebSphere Administrative Console.

3. Deploy the WebSphere Administrative Console application on the server(s):

1. Go to the WebSphere Administrative Console for the default server.
2. On the left sidebar, expand Applications and click on Enterprise Applications.
3. Click on the adminconsole application to view its properties.
4. On the properties screen, click on Map modules to application servers.
5. On the Map modules to application servers screen, select all the servers that will use the WebSphere Administrative Console, including the default server. Use the Ctrl button to select multiple servers. Then, click the check box next to the adminconsole application and click OK.

4. The changes that were made in steps 2 and 3 need to be saved to the master configuration, so click on Save in the upper left corner. Then, the in Save to Master Configuration screen, click Save to save the changes.

5. Restart the non-default server where the WebSphere Administrative Console was added.

6. Open the WebSphere Administrative Console for the non-default server at http://hostname:admin_port/admin.

At this point, application developers will be able to manage their non-default server applications through the WebSphere Administrative Console.

Michelle Schlicht is a Software Engineer on the Business Solution Test team located at the Rochester, Minnesota, laboratory. She has been in the software testing field since 2001. Her areas of expertise include WebSphere Commerce, WebSphere MQ, and WebSphere Application Server. She can be reached by email at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..