WebSphere WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus, Version 6.0.1 Operating Systems: AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Windows

Naming considerations for profiles, nodes, hosts, and cells

There are reserved terms and issues you must consider when naming your profile, node, host and cell (if applicable).

Profile naming considerations

The profile name can be any unique name with the following restrictions. Do not use any of the following characters when naming your profile:
  • Spaces
  • Illegal special characters that are not allowed within the name of a directory on your operating system, such as *, &, or ?.
  • Slashes (/) or back slashes (\)
Double-byte characters are allowed.
Restriction: For Windows platforms On Windows platforms: The installation directory for a profile cannot be longer than 80 characters.

Node, host, and cell naming considerations

Reserved names: Avoid using reserved folder names as field values. The use of reserved folder names can cause unpredictable results. The following words are reserved:
  • cells
  • nodes
  • servers
  • clusters
  • applications
  • deployments
Descriptions of fields on the Node and hosts names and Node, host, and cell names panels: Table 1 describes the fields found on the Node and host names and Node, host, and cell names panels of the Profile Wizard, including the field names, default values, and constraints. Use this information as a guide when you are creating profiles.
Table 1. Naming guidelines for nodes, hosts, and cells
Field name Default value Constraints Description
Stand-alone server profiles      
Node name The name of your machine. Avoid using the reserved names.

For Windows platforms On Windows platforms: The directory path for profile_root must be no longer than 80 characters (where profile_root represents the installation location of the profile).

Pick any name you want. To help organize your installation, use a unique name if you plan to create more than one server on the machine.
Host name The DNS name of your machine. The host name must be addressable through your network. Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your machine to enable communication with your machine. See additional information about the host name following this table.
Deployment manager profiles      
Node name The name of your machine, or a unique derivation of the machine name. Use a unique name for the deployment manager. Avoid using the reserved names.

For Windows platforms On Windows platforms: The directory path for profile_root must be no longer than 80 characters (where profile_root represents the installation location of the profile).

The name is used for administration within the deployment manager cell.
Host name The DNS name of your machine. The host name must be addressable through your network. Avoid using the reserved names. Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your machine to enable communication with your machine. See additional information about the host name following this table.
Cell name The arbitrary name of the deployment manager cell. The cell is a logical grouping of managed nodes, under the control of the deployment manager. Use a unique name for the deployment manager cell.

For Windows platforms On Windows platforms: The directory path for profile_root must be no longer than 80 characters (where profile_root represents the installation location of the profile).

All federated nodes become members of the deployment manager cell, which you name in the Node, host, and cell names panel of the Profile Wizard.
Custom profiles      
Node name The name of your machine, or a unique derivation of the machine name. Avoid using the reserved names.

Use a unique name within the deployment manager cell.

For Windows platforms On Windows platforms: The directory path for profile_root must be no longer than 80 characters (where profile_root represents the installation location of the profile).

The name is used for administration within the deployment manager cell to which the custom profile is added. Use a unique name within the deployment manager cell.
Host name The DNS name of your machine. The host name must be addressable through your network. Use the actual DNS name or IP address of your machine to enable communication with your machine. See additional information about the host name following this table.

Host name considerations:

The host name is the network name for the physical machine on which the node is installed. The host name must resolve to a physical network node on the server. When multiple network cards exist in the server, the host name or IP address must resolve to one of the network cards. Remote nodes use the host name to connect to and to communicate with this node. Selecting a host name that other machines can reach within your network is extremely important. Do not use the generic localhost identifier for this value.

If you define coexisting nodes on the same computer with unique IP addresses, define each IP address in a domain name server (DNS) look-up table. Configuration files for stand-alone servers do not provide domain name resolution for multiple IP addresses on a machine with a single network address.

The value that you specify for the host name is used as the value of the hostName property in configuration documents for the stand-alone server. Specify the host name value in one of the following formats:
  • Fully qualified domain name servers (DNS) host name string, such as xmachine.manhattan.ibm.com
  • The default short DNS host name string, such as xmachine
  • Numeric IP address, such as 127.1.255.3

The fully qualified DNS host name has the advantage of being totally unambiguous and also flexible. You have the flexibility of changing the actual IP address for the host system without having to change the stand-alone server configuration. This value for host name is particularly useful if you plan to change the IP address frequently when using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to assign IP addresses. A format disadvantage is being dependent on DNS. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.

The short host name is also dynamically resolvable. A short name format has the added ability of being redefined in the local hosts file so that the system can run the stand-alone server even when disconnected from the network. Define the short name to 127.0.0.1 (local loopback) in the hosts file to run disconnected. A format disadvantage is being dependent on DNS for remote access. If DNS is not available, then connectivity is compromised.

A numeric IP address has the advantage of not requiring name resolution through DNS. A remote node can connect to the node you name with a numeric IP address without DNS being available. A format disadvantage is that the numeric IP address is fixed. You must change the setting of the hostName property in configuration documents whenever you change the machine IP address. Therefore, do not use a numeric IP address if you use DHCP, or if you change IP addresses regularly. Another format disadvantage is that you cannot use the node if the host is disconnected from the network.


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Timestamp iconLast updated: 13 Dec 2005
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/dmndhelp/v6rxmx/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.websphere.wesb.doc\doc\cins_naming.html

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