Alternatives to WebSphere Deploy Plugins

Article ID:219019598
1 minute readKnowledge base

Issue

  • We have noticed issues using WebSphere Deployer Plugin with more recent versions of WebSphere. Are there any alternatives?

  • We are concerned that Deploy WebSphere Plugin has not been released since 2010, and seems unmaintained. Are there any alternatives?

Environment

  • CloudBees Jenkins Enterprise

  • WebSphere

  • wsadmin scripting tool

  • JENKINS-27457

Resolution

An alternative approach is to install the wsadmin scripting tool and use that for WebSphere deployment. There are thin clients available to facilitate this.

The tool can then be called directly in a Freestyle of Pipeline job.

For example, using jython language support and Jython Plugin:

AdminApp.update(appName,'app','[-operation update -cluster '+clusterName+' -contextroot '+context_root+' -contents '+app_filepath+' -usedefaultbindings -nopreCompileJSPs -distributeApp -nouseMetaDataFromBinary -createMBeansForResources ]')

Using a Bash Script step to call a remote Jython file:

wsadmin -language jython -f path/to/your/jython/file.py

Using a Bash Script step inlined:

export APP="AppName"
export OP="-operation update"
export CLUSTER="-cluster CLUSTER_NAME"
export CTX=""-contextroot CONTEXT_ROOT"
export CONTENT="-contents APP_FILEPATH"
export OPS=" $OP $CLUSTER $CTX $CONTENT -usedefaultbindings -nopreCompileJSPs -distributeApp -nouseMetaDataFromBinary -createMBeansForResources"
wsadmin.sh -host server.host.com -port BRMIPortNumber -c "AdminApp.update('$APP','app','[$OPS]')"

Advanced

Using a Parameterized Build, the parameters can be passed in on build execution and reference directly in the build step. Also, see How do I create a parameterized project.

Creating a custom builder or publisher can be used if multiple jobs need to be created to facilitate different deployments. This approach is most useful for non-Pipeline builds.

Pipeline Shared Libraries can be used to provide a reference solution that any of your Pipeline jobs can make use of.