Hints and tips
Special considerations with server IDs
The server ID can be any valid user in the user registry and does not need to be the same as the operating system identity under which the application server process runs.
This ID does not need to be root on UNIX platforms and does not need to be an administrator on Windows platforms.
The server ID is used by the application server as its own identity for the following purposes:
- The server ID is mapped implicitly by the application server to the administrator role so that the application server can access sensitive configuration data and invoke privileged run-time actions, which require the administrator role.
- The server ID and password are used by an application server to authenticate to other WebSphere Application Servers in a distributed environment.
Server ID versus process identity
Each application server process also has a process identity that can be different from the server ID specified here.
The process identity is the user ID under which the application server process runs.
For example, a server process needs to run under the root account to access privileged programming interfaces for the operating system when you use a local operating system user registry on UNIX platforms.
For more information, see the WebSphere Application Server information center article entitled, Configuring local operating system user registries topic.
Recommendations on administrative use of server ID
You do not need to explicitly map the server ID to the administrator role in the administrative console. It is a good practice not to use the server ID for daily administrative purposes.
However, it is strongly recommended to map at least one other user ID to the administrator role.