In this chapter, we saw that WebSphere Application Server comes with some useful command-line tools. The dumpNameSpace.sh utility can be used to view the JNDI tree of a running application server, which is very useful in helping with debugging the root cause of application failures that involve JNDI resource lookups. Another tool we looked at was the EARExpander.sh utility, which can be used to unpack an EAR file during automated deployments, to manipulate the EAR file, and repackage it on the fly. It can also be used during problem diagnosis if the supplied EAR file has problems during deployment.
We also learned that IBM provides a powerful support tool called the IBM Support Assistant (ISA). ISA provides tools and add-ons that can be used to analyze log files produced by WebSphere Application Server. We also learned how to import a symptom catalog into the Log Analyzer add-on to help find solutions for known errors found in a SystemOut.log file. Once imported, a symptom database...