When you create a WebSphere ESB stand-alone profile or deployment manager profile, the administrative domain is created for that profile. To manage the administrative domain, you start the WebSphere ESB server process for the profile, then can use the WebSphere administrative console and other tools.
WebSphere ESB uses the same administrative domain support as used for WebSphere Application Server and other related products like WebSphere Process Server. As a result, many administrative tasks, and many terms used, are the same for both WebSphere ESB and WebSphere Application Server.
You can change the administrative architecture of WebSphere Application Server; for example, to manage nodes, node agents, and node groups.
To assist in handling requests among Web applications, Web containers, and application servers, you can configure cell-wide settings for virtual hosts, variables and shared libraries.
Application server configuration files define the available application servers, their configurations, and their contents. You should periodically save changes to your administrative configuration. You can change the default locations of configuration files, as needed.