asadmin

utility for performing administrative tasks for Oracle GlassFish Server

Synopsis

asadmin [--host host] 
[--port port] 
[--user admin-user] 
[--passwordfile filename] 
[--terse={true|false}] 
[--secure={false|true}] 
[--echo={true|false}] 
[--interactive={true|false}] 
[--help] 
[subcommand [options] [operands]]

Description

Use the asadmin utility to perform administrative tasks for Oracle GlassFish Server. You can use this utility instead of the Administration Console interface.

Subcommands of the asadmin Utility

The subcommand identifies the operation or task that you are performing. Subcommands are case-sensitive. Each subcommand is either a local subcommand or a remote subcommand.

• A local subcommand can be run without a running domain administration server (DAS). However, to run the subcommand and have access to the installation directory and the domain directory, the user must be logged in to the machine that hosts the domain.

• A remote subcommand is always run by connecting to a DAS and running the subcommand there. A running DAS is required.

asadmin Utility Options and Subcommand Options

Options control the behavior of the asadmin utility and its subcommands. Options are also case-sensitive.

The asadmin utility has the following types of options:

• asadmin utility options. These options control the behavior of the asadmin utility, not the subcommand. The asadmin utility options may precede or follow the subcommand, but asadmin utility options after the subcommand are deprecated. All asadmin utility options must either precede or follow the subcommand. If asadmin utility options are specified both before and after the subcommand, an error occurs. For a description of the asadmin utility options, see the "Options" section of this help information.

• Subcommand options. These options control the behavior of the subcommand, not the asadmin utility. Subcommand options must follow the subcommand. For a description of a subcommand's options, see the help information for the subcommand.

A subcommand option may have the same name as an asadmin utility option, but the effects of the two options are different.

The asadmin utility options and some subcommand options have a long form and a short form.

• The long form of an option has two dashes (--) followed by an option word.

• The short form of an option has a single dash (-) followed by a single character.

For example, the long form and the short form of the option for specifying terse output are as follows:

• Long form: --terse

• Short form: -t

Most options require argument values, except Boolean options, which toggle to enable or disable a feature.

Operands of asadmin Subcommands

Operands specify the items on which the subcommand is to act. Operands must follow the argument values of subcommand options, and are set off by a space, a tab, or double dashes (--). The asadmin utility treats anything that follows the subcommand options and their values as an operand.

Escape Characters in Options for the asadmin Utility

Escape characters are required in options of the asadmin utility for the following types of characters:

• Meta characters in the UNIX operating system. These characters have special meaning in a shell. Meta characters in the UNIX operating system include: \/,.!$%^&*|{}[]"'`~;.

  To disable these characters, use the backslash (\) escape character or enclose the entire command-line argument in single quote (') characters.

  The following examples illustrate the effect of escape characters on the * character. In these examples, the current working directory is the domains directory.

  • The following command, without the escape character, echoes all files in the current directory:

    prompt% echo *
    domain1 domain2
    

  • The following command, in which the backslash (\) escape character precedes the * character, echoes the * character:

    prompt% echo \*
    *
    

  • The following command, in which the * character is enclosed in single quote (') characters, echoes the * character:

    prompt% echo '*'
    *
    

  The escape character is also a special character in the UNIX operating system and in the Java language. Therefore, in the UNIX operating system and in multimode, you must apply an additional escape character to every escape character in the command line. This requirement does not apply to the Windows operating system.

  For example, the backslash (\) UNIX operating system meta character in the option argument Test\Escape\Character is specified on UNIX and Windows systems as follows:

  • On UNIX systems, each backslash must be escaped with a second backslash:

    Test\\Escape\\Character
    

  • On Windows systems, no escape character is required:

    Test\Escape\Character
    

  Note:

  In contexts where meta characters in the UNIX operating system are unambiguous, these characters do not require escape characters. For example, in the set(1) subcommand, the value that is to be set is specified as name=value. Because name can never include an equals sign, no escape character is required to disable the equals sign. Therefore, everything after the equals sign is an uninterpreted string that the set subcommand uses unchanged.

• Spaces. The space is the separator in the command-line interface. To distinguish a space in a command-line argument from the separator in the command-line interface, the space must be escaped as follows:

  • For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, use the backslash (\) escape character or enclose the entire command-line argument in single quote (') characters or double quote (") characters.

  • For the Windows operating system in single mode, enclose the entire command-line argument in double quote (") characters.

• Option delimiters. The asadmin utility uses the colon character (:) as a delimiter for some options. The backslash (\) escape character is required if the colon is part of any of the following items:

  • A property

  • An option of the Virtual Machine for the Java platform (Java Virtual Machine or JVM machine)^Foot 1 

  For example, the operand of the subcommand create-jvm-options(1) specifies JVM machine options in the following format:

  (jvm-option-name[=jvm-option-value])
  [:jvm-option-name[=jvm-option-value]]*
  

  Multiple JVM machine options in the operand of the create-jvm-options subcommand are separated by the colon (:) delimiter. If jvm-option-name or jvm-option-value contains a colon, the backslash (\) escape character is required before the colon.

  The backslash (\) escape character is also required before a single quote (') character or a double quote (") character in an option that uses the colon as a delimiter.

  When used without single quote (') characters, the escape character disables the option delimiter in the command-line interface.

  For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, the colon character and the backslash character in an option that uses the colon as a delimiter must be specified as follows:

  • To pass a literal backslash to a subcommand, two backslashes are required. Therefore, the colon (:) must be escaped by two backslashes (\\).

  • To prevent a subcommand from treating the backslash as a special character, the backslash must be escaped. As a result, two literal backslashes (\\) must be passed to the subcommand. To prevent the shell from interpreting these backslashes as special characters, each backslash must be escaped. Therefore, the backslash must be specified by a total of four backslashes (\\\\).

  For the Windows operating system in single mode, a backslash (\) is required to escape the colon (:) and the backslash (\) in an option that uses the colon as a delimiter.

Instead of using the backslash (\) escape character, you can use the double quote (") character or single quote (') character. The effects of the different types of quote characters on the backslash (\) character are as follows:

• Between double quote (") characters, the backslash (\) character is a special character.

• Between single quote (') characters, the backslash (\) character is not a special character.

Requirements for Using the --secure Option

The requirements for using the --secure option are as follows:

• The domain that you are administering must be configured for security.

• The security-enabled attribute of the http-listener element in the DAS configuration must be set to true.

  To set this attribute, use the set subcommand.

Server Restart After Creation or Deletion

When you use the asadmin subcommands to create or delete a configuration item, you must restart the DAS for the change to take effect. To restart the DAS, use the restart-domain(1) subcommand.

Help Information for Subcommands and the asadmin Utility

To obtain help information for an asadmin utility subcommand, specify the subcommand of interest as the operand of the help subcommand. For example, to obtain help information for the start-domain(1) subcommand, type:

asadmin help start-domain

If you run the help subcommand without an operand, this help information for the asadmin utility is displayed.

To obtain a listing of available asadmin subcommands, use the list-commands(1) subcommand.

Options

--host

-H

The machine name where the DAS is running. The default value is localhost.

--port

-p

The HTTP port or HTTPS port for administration. This port is the port in the URL that you specify in your web browser to manage the domain. For example, in the URL http://localhost:4949, the port is 4949.

The default port number for administration is 4848.

--user

-u

The user name of the authorized administrative user of the DAS.

If you have authenticated to a domain by using the asadmin login command, you need not specify the --user option for subsequent operations on the domain.

--passwordfile

-W

Specifies the name, including the full path, of a file that contains password entries in a specific format.

The entry for a password must have the AS_ADMIN_ prefix followed by the password name in uppercase letters, an equals sign, and the password.

The entries in the file that are read by the asadmin utility are as follows:

• AS_ADMIN_PASSWORD=administration-password

• AS_ADMIN_MASTERPASSWORD=master-password

The entries in this file that are read by subcommands are as follows:

• AS_ADMIN_NEWPASSWORD=new-administration-password (read by the start-domain(1) subcommand)

• AS_ADMIN_USERPASSWORD=user-password (read by the create-file-user(1) subcommand)

• AS_ADMIN_ALIASPASSWORD=alias-password (read by the create-password-alias(1) subcommand)

• AS_ADMIN_MAPPEDPASSWORD=mapped-password (read by the create-connector-security-map(1) subcommand)

• AS_ADMIN_WINDOWSPASSWORD=windows-password (read by the create-node-dcom(1), install-node-dcom(1), and update-node-dcom(1) subcommands)

• AS_ADMIN_SSHPASSWORD=sshd-password (read by the create-node-ssh(1), install-node(1), install-node-ssh(1), and update-node-ssh(1) subcommands)

• AS_ADMIN_SSHKEYPASSPHRASE=sshd-passphrase (read by the create-node-ssh(1), install-node(1), install-node-ssh(1), and update-node-ssh(1) subcommands)

• AS_ADMIN_JMSDBPASSWORD= jdbc-user-password (read by the configure-jms-cluster(1) subcommand)

These password entries are stored in clear text in the password file. To provide additional security, the create-password-alias subcommand can be used to create aliases for passwords that are used by remote subcommands. The password for which the alias is created is stored in an encrypted form. If an alias exists for a password, the alias is specified in the entry for the password as follows:

AS_ADMIN_password-name=${ALIAS=password-alias-name} 

For example:

AS_ADMIN_SSHPASSWORD=${ALIAS=ssh-password-alias}
AS_ADMIN_SSHKEYPASSPHRASE=${ALIAS=ssh-key-passphrase-alias}

In domains that do not allow unauthenticated login, all remote subcommands must specify the administration password to authenticate to the DAS. The password can be specified by one of the following means:

• Through the --passwordfile option

• Through the login(1) subcommand

• Interactively at the command prompt

The login subcommand can be used to specify only the administration password. For other passwords that remote subcommands require, use the --passwordfile option or specify them at the command prompt.

After authenticating to a domain by using the asadmin login command, you need not specify the administration password through the --passwordfile option for subsequent operations on the domain. However, only the AS_ADMIN_PASSWORD option is not required. You still must provide the other passwords, for example, AS_ADMIN_USERPASSWORD, when required by individual subcommands, such as update-file-user(1).

For security reasons, a password that is specified as an environment variable is not read by the asadmin utility.

The master password is not propagated on the command line or an environment variable, but can be specified in the file that the --passwordfile option specifies.

The default value for AS_ADMIN_MASTERPASSWORD is changeit.

--terse

-t

If true, output data is very concise and in a format that is optimized for use in scripts instead of for reading by humans. Typically, descriptive text and detailed status messages are also omitted from the output data. Default is false.

--secure

-s

If set to true, uses SSL/TLS to communicate with the DAS.

The default is false.

--echo

-e

If set to true, the command-line statement is echoed on the standard output. Default is false.

--interactive

-I

If set to true, only the required options are prompted.

The default depends on how the asadmin utility is run:

• If the asadmin utility is run from a console window, the default is true.

• If the asadmin utility is run without a console window, for example, from within a script, the default is false.

--help

-?

Displays the help text for the asadmin utility.

Examples

Example 1   Running an asadmin Utility Subcommand in Single Mode

This example runs the list-applications(1) subcommand in single mode. In this example, the default values for all options are used.

The example shows that the application hello is deployed on the local host.

asadmin list-applications
hello <web>

Command list-applications executed successfully.

Example 2   Specifying an asadmin Utility Option With a Subcommand

This example specifies the --host asadmin utility option with the list-applications subcommand in single mode. In this example, the DAS is running on the host srvr1.example.com.

The example shows that the applications basic-ezcomp, scrumtoys, ejb31-war, and automatic-timer-ejb are deployed on the host srvr1.example.com.

asadmin --host srvr1.example.com list-applications
basic-ezcomp <web>
scrumtoys <web>
ejb31-war <ejb, web>
automatic-timer-ejb <ejb>

Command list-applications executed successfully.

Example 3   Specifying an asadmin Utility Option and a Subcommand Option

This example specifies the --host asadmin utility option and the --type subcommand option with the list-applications subcommand in single mode. In this example, the DAS is running on the host srvr1.example.com and applications of type web are to be listed.

asadmin --host srvr1.example.com list-applications --type web
basic-ezcomp <web>
scrumtoys <web>
ejb31-war <ejb, web>

Command list-applications executed successfully.

Example 4   Escaping a Command-Line Argument With Single Quote Characters

The commands in this example specify the backslash (\) UNIX operating system meta character and the colon (:) option delimiter in the property value c:\extras\pmdapp.

For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, the backslash (\) is required to escape the backslash (\) meta character and the colon (:) option delimiter:

asadmin deploy --property extras.home='c\:\\extras\\pmdapp' pmdapp.war
Application deployed with name pmdapp.
Command deploy executed successfully

For the Windows operating system in single mode, the single quote (') characters eliminate the need for other escape characters:

asadmin deploy --property extras.home='c:\extras\pmdapp' pmdapp.war
Application deployed with name pmdapp.
Command deploy executed successfully

Example 5   Specifying a UNIX Operating System Meta Character in an Option

The commands in this example specify the backslash (\) UNIX operating system meta character in the option argument Test\Escape\Character.

For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, the backslash (\) is required to escape the backslash (\) meta character:

asadmin --user admin --passwordfile gfpass create-jdbc-connection-pool 
--datasourceclassname sampleClassName 
--description Test\\Escape\\Character 
sampleJDBCConnectionPool

For the Windows operating system in single mode, no escape character is required:

asadmin --user admin --passwordfile gfpass create-jdbc-connection-pool 
--datasourceclassname sampleClassName 
--description Test\Escape\Character 
sampleJDBCConnectionPool

Example 6   Specifying a Command-Line Argument That Contains a Space

The commands in this example specify spaces in the operand C:\Documents and Settings\gfuser\apps\hello.war.

For all operating systems in single mode or multimode, the entire operand can be enclosed in double quote (") characters:

asadmin deploy "C:\Documents and Settings\gfuser\apps\hello.war"
Application deployed with name hello.
Command deploy executed successfully.

For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, the entire command-line argument can be enclosed in single quote (') characters:

asadmin> deploy 'C:\Documents and Settings\gfuser\apps\hello.war'
Application deployed with name hello.
Command deploy executed successfully.

Alternatively, for the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, the backslash (\) escape character can be used before each space in the operand. In this situation, the backslash (\) escape character is required before each backslash in the operand:

asadmin> deploy C:\\Documents\ and\ Settings\\gfuser\\apps\\hello.war
Application deployed with name hello.
Command deploy executed successfully.

Example 7   Specifying a Meta Character and an Option Delimiter Character in a Property

The commands in this example specify the backslash (\) UNIX operating system meta character and the colon (:) option delimiter character in the --property option of the create-jdbc-connection-pool(1) subcommand.

The name and value pairs for the --property option are as follows:

user=dbuser
passwordfile=dbpasswordfile
DatabaseName=jdbc:derby
server=http://localhost:9092

For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, a backslash (\) is required to escape the colon (:) and the backslash (\):

asadmin --user admin --passwordfile gfpass create-jdbc-connection-pool 
--datasourceclassname com.derby.jdbc.jdbcDataSource
--property user=dbuser:passwordfile=dbpasswordfile:
DatabaseName=jdbc\\:derby:server=http\\://localhost\\:9092 javadb-pool

Alternatively, the entire argument to the --property option can be enclosed in single quote (') characters:

asadmin --user admin --passwordfile gfpass create-jdbc-connection-pool 
--datasourceclassname com.derby.jdbc.jdbcDataSource
--property 'user=dbuser:passwordfile=dbpasswordfile:
DatabaseName="jdbc:derby":server="http://localhost:9092"' javadb-pool

For the Windows operating system in single mode, a backslash (\) is required to escape only the colon (:), but not the backslash (\):

asadmin --user admin --passwordfile gfpass create-jdbc-connection-pool
--datasourceclassname com.derby.jdbc.jdbcDataSource
--property user-dbuser:passwordfile-dbpasswordfile:
DatabaseName=jdbc\:derby:server=http\://localhost\:9092 javadb-pool

For all operating systems, the need to escape the colon (:) in a value can be avoided by enclosing the value in double quote characters or single quote characters:

asadmin --user admin --passwordfile gfpass create-jdbc-connection-pool
--datasourceclassname com.derby.jdbc.jdbcDataSource
--property user=dbuser:passwordfile=dbpasswordfile:
DatabaseName=\"jdbc:derby\":server=\"http://localhost:9092\" javadb-pool

Example 8   Specifying an Option Delimiter and an Escape Character in a JVM Machine Option

The commands in this example specify the following characters in the -Dlocation=c:\sun\appserver JVM machine option:

• The colon (:) option delimiter

• The backslash (\) escape character

For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, these characters must be specified as follows:

• To pass a literal backslash to a subcommand, two backslashes are required. Therefore, the colon (:) must be escaped by two backslashes (\\).

• To prevent the subcommand from treating the backslash as a special character, the backslash must be escaped. As a result, two literal backslashes (\\) must be passed to the subcommand. To prevent the shell from interpreting these backslashes as special characters, each backslash must be escaped. Therefore, the backslash must be specified by a total of four backslashes (\\\\).

The resulting command is as follows:

asadmin create-jvm-options --target test-server 
-e -Dlocation=c\\:\\\\sun\\\\appserver

For the Windows operating system in single mode, a backslash (\) is required to escape the colon (:) and the backslash (\):

asadmin create-jvm-options --target test-server 
-e -Dlocation=c\:\\sun\\appserver

Example 9   Specifying an Option That Contains an Escape Character

The commands in this example specify the backslash (\) character and the double quote (") characters in the "Hello\App"\authentication option argument.

For the UNIX operating system in single mode and multimode, and for all operating systems in multimode, a backslash (\) is required to escape the double quote character (") and the backslash (\):

asadmin set-web-env-entry --name="Hello User" --type=java.lang.String 
--value=techscribe --description=\"Hello\\App\"\\authentication hello

For the Windows operating system in single mode, a backslash (\) is required to escape only the double quote ("), but not the backslash (\):

asadmin set-web-env-entry --name="Hello User" --type=java.lang.String 
--value=techscribe --description=\"Hello\App\"\authentication hello

Environment Variables

Environment variables modify the default values of asadmin utility options as shown in the following table.

Attributes

See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following attributes:

See Also

configure-jms-cluster(1), create-connector-security-map(1), create-file-user(1), create-jdbc-connection-pool(1), create-jvm-options(1), create-node-dcom(1), create-node-ssh(1), create-password-alias(1), deploy(1), install-node(1), install-node-dcom(1), install-node-ssh(1), list-applications(1), list-commands(1), login(1), restart-domain(1), set(1), set-web-env-entry(1), start-domain(1), update-file-user(1), update-node-dcom(1), update-node-ssh(1)

attributes(5)