Issue Abstract: Publishing with Websphere Commerce Studio fails Symptoms/Detailed Description: Error Message from Commerce Studio The request to the server failed. Ensure that IBM WS Admin Server, WebSphere Commerce Suite and WebSphere Application Server are running. For more information, see 'Ensure appropriate services and servers are running' in the Commerce Studio online help. JSP will not run in SSL mode (for resolution to this specific symptom refer to step 2 of the resolution indicated below, specifically configuring the host aliases to listen on port 443) Resolution Description In order to publish a store, ensure that the appropriate services and servers are running by doing the following: 1.On a NT machine running WCS open the Services panel and ensure the following services are running: DB2-DB2 / OracleService(SID) IBM HTTP Server IBM WS Admin Server WebSphere Commerce Suite For AIX and Solaris machines running WCS make sure that following applications are running IBM HTTP Server (./apachectl start) IBM WebSphere Application Server (./statupServer.sh) DB2-(instance name) / Oracle(SID) Websphere Commerce Suite instance 2.Open WebSphere Application Server by doing the following: a. On NT, Select Programs, then IBM WebSphere, then Application Server 3.0, then Administrator's Console. The WebSphere Advanced Administrative Console window displays. On AIX or Solaris from the AppServer/bin directory issue the ./adminclient.sh Please note the console may take a couple of minutes to appear. b.When the message Console ready displays in the status bar, select the Topology tab. c. Expand the WebSphereAdminDomain menu. d. Select default host, then the Advanced Tab Make sure you have host aliases for (ie. my hostname is themachine and my domain is ibm.com) local host 127.0.0.1 themachine themachine.ibm.com 9.21.77.44 (the ip address of the machine) local host :443 127.0.0.1:443 themachine :443 themachine.ibm.com :443 9.21.77.44 :443 (the ip address of the machine) Then click on 'Apply' even if you did not make any changes. e. Expand the menu. f. Right-click Websphere Commerce Server. If it is started, then stop it and restart it. If it is not started then start it. 3. Make sure that you IBM HTTP Server configuration (htttpd.conf) has the appropriate WAS plug in lines. For NT LoadModule ibm_app_server_module E:/IBM/WAServer/bin/mod_ibm_app_server.dll Alias /IBMWebAS/samples/ "E:/IBM/WAServer/samples/" Alias /IBMWebAS/ "E:/IBM/WAServer/web/" NcfAppServerConfig BootFile E: \IBM\WAServer\properties\bootstrap.properties For AIX LoadModule ibm_app_server_module /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/bin/mod_ibm_app_server.so AddModule mod_app_server.c Alias /IBMWebAS/samples/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/samples/ Alias /IBMWebAS/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/web/ NcfAppServerConfig BootFile /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/bootstrap.properties For SOLARIS LoadModule ibm_app_server_module /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/bin/mod_ibm_app_server.so AddModule mod_app_server.c Alias /IBMWebAS/samples/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/samples/ Alias /IBMWebAS/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/web/ NcfAppServerConfig BootFile /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/bootstrap.properties 4. Try running the debug servlet by entering the following url in a browser: (Make sure you browser has caching turned off) http:///webapp/commerce/servlet?DEBUG=1 It should return with: Debug mode PROGRAM VERSION=IBM WebSphere Commerce Edition Version 4.1 MERCHANT_NUMBER=null QUERY_STRING=DEBUG=1 REQUEST_METHOD=GET CONTENT_LENGTH=0 HOST NAME=themachine.ibm.com PAGE_NAME=/webapp/commerce/servlet SERVLET_PATH=/servlet PATH_INFO=null COMMAND=null CONFIG_FILE=OK SERVER_CONFIG=OK CONFIG_PARMS=OK NC_LANG=en_US If the debug servlet was successful try publishing again. If the debug servlet fails with a command execution failure. Then go back to the WebSphere Advanced Administrative Console. Highlight the Commerce Data Source from the Topology tab. Make sure the Database Name is correct, it should match the dbname parameter from the ncommerce.ini or ncommerce.conf If you are using a Remote Oracle Server as your RDMS then highlight the CommerceOracleDriver and make sure the jdbc url is pointing to the correct remote server location with the appropriate port number. If you make any changes please stop and restart the Websphere Commerce Server from the topology. Then try running the debug servlet again. (Make sure you browser has caching turned off) Once the debug servlet is successful you are ready to publish. Note: Publishing will fail if you enable userid/password authentication on the web server you are publishing too. You must disable this feature. Studio will need to connect to /webapp/commerce/MerchantAdmin when publishing.In order to publish a store, ensure that the appropriate services and servers are running by doing the following: 1.On a NT machine running WCS open the Services panel and ensure the following services are running: DB2-DB2 / OracleService(SID) IBM HTTP Server IBM WS Admin Server WebSphere Commerce Suite For AIX and Solaris machines running WCS make sure that following applications are running IBM HTTP Server (./apachectl start) IBM WebSphere Application Server (./statupServer.sh) DB2-(instance name) / Oracle(SID) Websphere Commerce Suite instance 2.Open WebSphere Application Server by doing the following: a. On NT, Select Programs, then IBM WebSphere, then Application Server 3.0, then Administrator's Console. The WebSphere Advanced Administrative Console window displays. On AIX or Solaris from the AppServer/bin directory issue the ./adminclient.sh Please note the console may take a couple of minutes to appear. b.When the message Console ready displays in the status bar, select the Topology tab. c. Expand the WebSphereAdminDomain menu. d. Select default host, then the Advanced Tab Make sure you have host aliases for (ie. my hostname is themachine and my domain is ibm.com) local host 127.0.0.1 themachine themachine.ibm.com 9.21.77.44 (the ip address of the machine) local host :443 127.0.0.1:443 themachine :443 themachine.ibm.com :443 9.21.77.44 :443 (the ip address of the machine) Then click on 'Apply' even if you did not make any changes. e.Expand the menu. f.Right-click Websphere Commerce Server. If it is started, then stop it and restart it. If it is not started then start it. 3. Make sure that you IBM HTTP Server configuration (htttpd.conf) has the appropriate WAS plug in lines. For NT LoadModule ibm_app_server_module E:/IBM/WAServer/bin/mod_ibm_app_server.dll Alias /IBMWebAS/samples/ "E:/IBM/WAServer/samples/" Alias /IBMWebAS/ "E:/IBM/WAServer/web/" NcfAppServerConfig BootFile E: \IBM\WAServer\properties\bootstrap.properties For AIX LoadModule ibm_app_server_module /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/bin/mod_ibm_app_server.so AddModule mod_app_server.c Alias /IBMWebAS/samples/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/samples/ Alias /IBMWebAS/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/web/ NcfAppServerConfig BootFile /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/bootstrap.properties For SOLARIS LoadModule ibm_app_server_module /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/bin/mod_ibm_app_server.so AddModule mod_app_server.c Alias /IBMWebAS/samples/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/samples/ Alias /IBMWebAS/ /usr/WebSphere/AppServer/web/ NcfAppServerConfig BootFile /opt/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/bootstrap.properties 4. Try running the debug servlet by entering the following url in a browser: (Make sure you browser has caching turned off) http:///webapp/commerce/servlet?DEBUG=1 It should return with: Debug mode PROGRAM VERSION=IBM WebSphere Commerce Edition Version 4.1 MERCHANT_NUMBER=null QUERY_STRING=DEBUG=1 REQUEST_METHOD=GET CONTENT_LENGTH=0 HOST NAME=themachine.ibm.com PAGE_NAME=/webapp/commerce/servlet SERVLET_PATH=/servlet PATH_INFO=null COMMAND=null CONFIG_FILE=OK SERVER_CONFIG=OK CONFIG_PARMS=OK NC_LANG=en_US If the debug servlet was successful try publishing again. If the debug servlet fails with a command execution failure. Then go back to the WebSphere Advanced Administrative Console. Highlight the Commerce Data Source from the Topology tab. Make sure the Database Name is correct, it should match the dbname parameter from the ncommerce.ini or ncommerce.conf If you are using a Remote Oracle Server as your RDMS then highlight the CommerceOracleDriver and make sure the jdbc url is pointing to the correct remote server location with the appropriate port number. If you make any changes please stop and restart the Websphere Commerce Server from the topology. Then try running the debug servlet again. (Make sure you browser has caching turned off) Once the debug servlet is successful you are ready to publish. Note: Publishing will fail if you enable userid/password authentication on the web server you are publishing too. You must disable this feature. Studio will need to connect to /webapp/commerce/MerchantAdmin when publishing.