Automatically enable and disable applications via portal light mode | HCL Digital Experience

The enable-portal-light-startup-performance configuration task will set Auto Start to No for all applications defined in the file <wp_profile_root>\PortalServer\config\StartupPerformance\wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties to stop them from being auto started during Portal server startup, as long as the same application is not listed in the wp.base_TargetMapExcList.properties file.

About this task

In HCL Portal 9.5 (CF199 and later) full and base content install in the wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file, the following applications will set a target-mapping during server startup for which the application will be lazy loaded:
  • PA_Blurb
  • PA_MPagesandFavorites
  • PA_Properties
  • PA_Eecontentandlayout
  • PA_appearance
  • PA_Set_Permissions
  • PA_portletWiring
  • PA_ThemesAndSkinsMgr
  • PA_Portlet_Manager
  • PA_Manage_Webservices
  • PA_Principals_Manager
  • PA_ResourceView
  • PA_Credential_Admin
  • PA_Settings
  • PA_UniqueNames
  • PA_Markups_Manager
  • PA_Clients_Manager
  • PA_Import_XML
  • PA_WCM_Admin
  • PA_FrequentUsers
  • PA_Tracing
  • PA_WPS_Welcome
  • PA_MageVirtualPortals
Note: This list can change between cumulative Fixpack releases. We recommend that you review the wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file after any new Fixpack update. It is possible that other applications are listed in that file that are currently commented out for which the changes will not be done.
For example, in HCL Portal 9.5 (CF199), the following applications are comment out by default:
  • PA_Resource_Manager
  • PA_TCustomizerPortApp
  • PA_Web
  • PA_PolicyExplorer
  • PA_PolicyEditor
  • PA_PolicyEditorCA
  • PA_URL_mapping
  • PA_TateCatalogPortApp
  • PA_PropertiesPortApp
  • PA_ParamConfig
  • PA_Roles
  • PA_ApplicationCatalog
  • lwp_peoplefinder_war
  • PA_Policy_Status
  • PA_Selfcare_Port_App
  • TemplateLibrary_Servlets

We recommend that you write down the names of the applications that you want to add to the list of lazy applications. Activate only applications in the list above, that are not used by your usual scenarios, and that are not required for portal start up.

In addition to the wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file, there is also a wp_base_TargetMapExclList.properties file in the same directory, which describe an exclude list of applications where the target server mapping is NOT to be modified. Basically, the list of applications which will be started immediately and not lazy loaded.

In HCL Portal 9.5 (CF199 and later) full and base content install, the following applications are listed in the file wp_base_TargetMapExclList.properties:
  • wps
  • wps_theme
  • Default_Theme_80
  • Default_Theme_85
  • Toolbar_Theme_85
  • Simple_Theme
  • ThemeDevSite
  • Theme_Dev_Assets
  • Theme_Modules
  • Toolbar_Modules
  • wp.theme.toolbar.xslt
  • wp.theme.caas
  • wps_scheduler
  • isclite
  • Personalization_Lists
  • Personalization_Workspace
  • PA_Login_Portlet_App
  • PA_WebScanner
  • content_j2ee
  • JavaContentRepository
  • wcm
  • IEHS_war
  • ilwwcm-wcmsearchseed
  • wci
  • EphoxEditLive
  • TemplateLibrary_Servlets
  • PA_Selfcare_Port_App
  • UserProfileRESTServlet
  • MashupMaker_Integration
  • MashupCommonComponent
  • Dojo_Resources
  • Quickr_Document_Picker
  • AJAX Proxy Configuration
  • Live_Object_Framework
  • Feed_Servlet
  • PageBuilder2_Theme
  • feedReader
  • eventExplorer
  • websiteDisplayer
  • lwp_peoplefinder_war
  • odc
  • PA_Pingpageproperties
  • PA_WCM_Authoring_UI
  • PA_WCMLRingPortJSR286
  • SpellChecker
  • Theme_Modules
  • WcmRestService
  • PA_Impersonation
  • Seedlist_Servlet
  • PA_Popup_Help_Dialog
  • jQuery_Resources
  • worklight_extension
  • PA_CM_Picker
  • PA_Page_Picker
  • PA_com.ibm.wps.portlet
  • PA_Applications
  • PA_New_Page
  • PA_Orphaned
  • PA_Styles
  • PA_Toolbar_SiteMap
  • PA_Wiring
  • PA_VanityUrl
  • PA_CredVaultDialog
  • PA_Toolbar_Content
  • wp.scriptportlet.importexport
  • wp.scriptportlet.editor
  • wp.theme.caas
  • PA_wp.pzn.ui.actions

Manual steps to enable/disable auto-start of Portal applications at server initialization

About this task

If it is not desirable to automatically enable/disable applications from auto-starting using the portal server light mode, it is also possible to manually change the auto-start behavior of an application. To perform this task of preventing the applications from auto-starting the following steps can be used:

Procedure

  1. Start the WebSphere Application Server associated with HCL Portal using the following command: 
    startServer.sh server1
  2. Log into the WebSphere Application Server Integrated Solutions Console located at https://hostname.company.com:<WC_adminhost_secure>/ibm/console.
  3. Go to Applications > Application Types > WebSphere Enterprise Applications then select individual application (i.e. PA_Search_Center).
  4. Click Target specific application status.
  5. Tick the checkbox and select Disable Auto Start button as shown below. Save changes.
    Disable Auto-Start button
  6. (Optional) Go back to the application listing and click Stop to stop the application that is currently running on the Portal server.
    Note: It is recommended that you disable applications instead of completely uninstalling applications.

What to do next

Limitations:
  • If the applications are manually stopped (e.g. via the WebSphere Application Server Admin Console or wsadmin) and they are accessed by users, the applications are automatically started again.
  • When using the activation task (ConfigEngine.bat|.sh activate-portlets) to activate all portlets, all portlets are started, even if they are set for lazy load.

Troubleshooting

Procedure

  1. The following files provide information on how many and what applications are affected by enable-portal-light-startup-performance configuration:
    • <wp_profile_root>/PortalServer/config/StartupPerformance/wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties
    • <wp_profile_root>/PortalServer/config/StartupPerformance/wp.base_TargetMapExclList.properties
  2. You can modify the wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file to execute the disable disable-portal-light-startup-performance command with an argument for only one specific application. If you want to exclude one application, you can either mention it in the wp_base_TargetMapExclList.properties file or you can comment out the application in the wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file.

    In a clustered environment, the command needs to be executed on the Deployment Manager profile. All changes that occur happen on the Deployment Manager master configuration. After the command is finished, all Nodes need to be resynchronized to take effect on all other existing profiles.

    On a single server environment the command need to be executed on the wp_profile_root profile only.

  3. Restart the application in order for the changes to take effect. This is because the ConfigEngine task to enable/disable portal light mode changes the startup behavior of applications.
  4. All changes that occur are on the Deployment Manager master configuration and are pushed down to the Portal configuration thereafter. To ensure a safety rollback, a filesystem backup of the Deployment Manager and Portal Server Nodes is sufficient in this scenario for this change.