Enable/Disable unused applications in WebSphere Portal 7 (Improve portal startup performance)

By default, installation of  Portal and WCM v7 includes around 117 applications (96 for base install) are installed. In many scenarios, we may not be using all applications simultaneously.

Following are three different ways we can improve the portal start up performance.

Method #1: Automatically disabling applications via developer mode

The "enable-develop-mode-startup-performance" configuration task will set all applications Auto Start parameter to 'No' except the applications listed in the file wp.base_TargetMapExclList.properties during a Portal server startup.

On a Portal 7.0.0.1 full and base content install, all applications EXCEPT the following will be disabled (82 applications will be disabled):

wps
wps_theme
wps_scheduler
isclite
Personalization_Lists
Personalization_Workspace
PA_Login_Portlet_App
PA_WebScanner
content_j2ee
JavaContentRepository
wcm
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_WCM_Authoring_UI
PA_WCMLRingPortJSR286
SpellChecker

Note: To add applications to the white list, modify the wp_profile_root\PortalServer\config\StartupPerformance\wp.base_TargetMapExclList.properties file. Add a line such as App_name, where App_name is the name of the application. This list can change between fixpack releases, so review the wp.base_TargetMapExclList.properties file

Run the ConfigEngine.bat enable-develop-mode-startup-performance -DWasPassword=password task, from the wp_profile_root\ConfigEngine directory

Run the ConfigEngine.bat disable-develop-mode-startup-performance -DWasPassword=password task, from the wp_profile_root\ConfigEngine directory, to revert back to a production server.

Method #2: Automatically disabling applications via Portal light mode

The "enable-portal-light-startup-performance" configuration task will set Auto Start to 'No' for all applications defined in the file wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties to stop them from being auto started during Portal server startup.

On a Portal 7.0.0.1 full and base content install, the following 36 applications will be disabled:

PA_Blurb
PA_MPagesandFavorites
PA_Properties
PA_Eecontentandlayout
PA_appearance
PA_Set_Permissions
PA_portletWiring
PA_ThemesAndSkinsMgr
PA_Resource_Manager
PA_TCustomizerPortApp
PA_Portlet_Manager
PA_Manage_Webservices
PA_Web
PA_Principals_Manager
PA_ResourceView
PA_Credential_Admin
PA_PolicyExplorer
PA_PolicyEditor
PA_PolicyEditorCA
PA_Settings
PA_URL_mapping
PA_UniqueNames
PA_Markups_Manager
PA_Clients_Manager
PA_Import_XML
PA_WCM_Admin
PA_FrequentUsers
PA_Tracing
PA_WPS_Welcome
PA_MageVirtualPortals
PA_TateCatalogPortApp
PA_PropertiesPortApp
PA_ParamConfig
PA_Roles
PA_ApplicationCatalog
#lwp_peoplefinder_war
PA_Policy_Status
#PA_Selfcare_Port_App
#TemplateLibrary_Servlets

NOTE: This list can change between fixpack releases, so review the wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file.

Write down the names of the applications that you want to add to the list of lazy applications. Add only applications to the list that are not used by your usual scenarios and that are not required for portal start up.

Note: To add applications to the black list(stop loading by portal startup), modify the wp_profile_root\PortalServer\config\StartupPerformance\wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file. This file contains the list of applications that are not loaded when the server is started.  To remove the application , comment out the appropriate application name or delete it from the list. This list can change between fixpack releases, so review the wp.base_TargetMapInclList.properties file

Run the ConfigEngine.bat enable-portal-light-startup-performance

 -DWasPassword=password task, from the wp_profile_root\ConfigEngine directory

Run the ConfigEngine.bat disable-portal-light-startup-performance -DWasPassword=password task, from the wp_profile_root\ConfigEngine directory, to revert back to a production server.

Method #3: Disabling applications manually
 

If it is not desirable to automatically disable 82 or 36 applications from auto-starting by using developer or light mode, it is possible to perform this task manually and disable each application one at a time. To perform this task of preventing the applications from auto-starting:

1. Start the WebSphere Application Server associated with WebSphere Portal(startServer.sh server1).

2. Log into the WebSphere Application Server administration console
(https:/ /hostname.company.com:<WC_adminhost_secure>/ibm/console).

3. Go to Applications --> Application Types -> WebSphere Enterprise Applications --> Select individual application such as PA_Search_Center.

4. Click "Target specific application status" --> Check the checkbox and select the Disable Auto Start button. Save changes.

5. Optional: Go back to the application listing and click Stop to stop the application that is currently running on the Portal server.

Note : Its recommend to disable applications instead of completely uninstalling applications.