Is it possible to install Tomcat separately from webMethod install? If so, are there documentations on how this could be done?

[url]http://tomcat.apache.org/[/url]

I know how to install Tomcat. My question was to configure it with webMethods.

you asked if Tomcat can be installed separately from webMethods IS server which includes an embedded version of Tomcat. Installing Tomcat separately from IS is pretty easy if you follow the instructions I provided.

Are saying you want to install the embedded version of Tomcat separately from the IS? If so the answer is no and why would you want to do that? It’s specifically for the IS.

There’s no reason but I just like to have full control of Tomcat configuration, etc. Are you saying there’s intructions for intalling Tomcat with webMethods at www.greylines.net?

No the tomcat instructions are here.

But they are specific to a standalone version of Tomcat not webMethods IS. You can’t separate the Tomcat installation from the IS. And I wouldn’t mess with the embedded version too much or you will likely find your IS server not working correctly.

Then I think that’s kinda of limited as far as an application server is concern.

You would be correct if webMethods IS was in fact a J2EE application server. It is not, never has been. webMethods IS is a proprietary Integration platform runtime. It is not designed to run your J2EE applications. If you have them then you need a J2EE application server such as BEA, Web Sphere or JBOSS.

It’s just strange that they would embed Tomcat into IS but you cannot configure Tomcat alone with webMethods or atleast give the user that option.

You can do some configuration with it. If you wanted to host servlets for example it is capable of doing that. Probably reading the Developing Custom DSP’s guide and the Web Applications Developer guide will give you the best insight on how to customize and deploy applications. It goes over the tomcat configuration.

Thanks griffima. I’ll review the wM docs that you mentioned. I wasn’t looking for wM IS to host my J2EE applications but rather install/configure Tomcat to host webMethods apps and not have webMethods embed Tomcat with the installation.

Pretty sure you have misunderstood the fundamentals of IS. It is not a web app that can be deployed into a servlet container whether the container is Tomcat, Jetty, an app server, etc.

Tomcat exists in IS to support some very specific web user interface needs. It is not a core part of the platform and is not required in 99.9% of integration scenarios.

Mark

What’s serving the webconsole pages and such?

Console pages are not JSPs they are DSPs for Dynamic Server Pages. IS existed years before Tomcat was embedded.

Tomcat is superfluous to Integration Server, especially now that My webMethods Server is being used more and more for the user interfaces that might be needed to manage webMethods products or to provide simple UI layers for integration business logic.

Tomcat’s only advantage is the ability to use taglibs to invoke IS services and display their results rather than DSPs. You can do the same thing with MwS and get full portal functionality at the same time.

Mark

I know that webconsole are not JSP and that wasn’t even my question. What I’m trying to understand is how are the pages being hosted. I’m used to installing/configuring web server (Apache), Tomcat, and to be used with third-party applications.

I mean you can install webMethods IS out of the box on a Linux box without a web server. That tells me that wM IS has bunch of embedded stuff without the need of having to install/configure a web server or an application server. Is that correct?

Yes. As I mentioned, IS has a proprietary HTTP server. It is used to serve up dynamic server pages (DSPs) as well as to process incoming HTTP transactions containing XML, SOAP or other content-types.

The IS embedded server is not accessible. You can place static content in a package’s pub folders and serve that up (see IS Admin guide for details). You can create your own DSP pages that invoke any IS Flow or Java service. If you need more you can use the embedded Tomcat to serve up JSPs which use the webMethods taglibs or use MwS.

Mark

Thanks Mark. The last response explained it clearly for me. I was just curious as to how the webconsole was being displayed when my environment don’t even have any web server along an application server. Maybe webMethods approach was to allow customer to only have to be concern with just the webMethods configuration instead of having to worry about web server and tomcat install/config. But the downside to this is not enough flexibility and proprietary software.

In the late 1990’s when webMethods B2B server was created the servlet specification had not yet been finalized or at least servlets and servlet containers like Tomcat and Jetty were not yet available or frankly very usable.

IS did not set out to be and has never attempted to be either a J2EE app server or a web container. Largely that is because the business of integration (within a company or between companies) does not require a user interface.

Just what “flexibility” does your presumably extensive integration experience suggest is missing from IS?

Mark

Don’t get me wrong, IS is alot better than it’s competitors when it comes to EAI or B2B. What I don’t particular like about it is “embedded” aspect of it. It’s nice that you don’t have to be concern about install/configuring other software to make IS work. Based on its history, I have a better understanding of how it all comes together. I’m more used to working with http server, tomcat, and J2EE applications. I guess IS is a mixture of everything all into one product.

Thanks for the response.