TeamConnect 8.0 – Application Server Configuration with Oracle JDK 21

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Scope and Audience

This guide helps TeamConnect Administrators prepare application servers for running TeamConnect Enterprise 8.0. It focuses on configuration deltas that typically affect SOAP integrations and startup on IBM WebSphere Liberty 25.x and Oracle WebLogic Server 15.1.1 when moving to Oracle JDK 21.

What’s Changing in TeamConnect Enterprise v8.0 (At a glance)

JDK: TeamConnect 8.0 is planned for Oracle JDK 21 support. Confirm the certified JDK distribution (Oracle/OpenJDK) at GA against the Third‑Party Support matrix before go‑live.
App Servers: Target platforms called out in the 8.0 readiness notes include WebLogic 15.x, WebSphere Liberty 25.x, and Tomcat 10.1.
Jakarta EE alignment: Ensure app‑server configs align to Jakarta EE 10.
SOAP Stack Stability: Small changes to classloading and XML/SAAJ libs may be required to avoid SOAP failures after upgrading Java and the server runtime.

Pre‑Upgrade Checklist (Use this before touching servers)

Confirm certified versions for your environment in the TeamConnect Third‑Party Software Support matrix (JDK/Jakarta EE/app server/DB).
Back up the current app‑server domain/cells, TeamConnect WAR/EAR, and any automation (CI/CD/Jenkins jobs).
Stage a non‑prod environment that mirrors prod (same JDK build, server version, and JDBC drivers).
Inventory customizations and 3rd‑party libraries (e.g., SAAJ, JSTL, Jackson) currently injected into the WAR/EAR or shared libs.
Plan a rollback (document the exact files you will restore if something fails).
Communicate integration testing plan to owners of any SOAP clients.

IBM WebSphere Liberty 25.x (Oracle JDK 21) – Required Updates

Important Note: Upgrade from Version 7.x to 8.0

For WebSphere Application Server (WAS) deployments in TeamConnect Enterprise version 8.0, it is no longer necessary to explicitly add the saaj-impl library.
The version of the saaj-impl library included within the TeamConnect Enterprise 8.0 WAR file is now sufficient and fully compatible.
If your deployment previously included any custom SAAJ dependencies to resolve a former issue, please ensure they are removed as the required SAAJ implementation is now bundled within the WAR file.

Update `server.xml` features (Jakarta EE 10)

Replace your <featureManager> block with:

<featureManager>
    <feature>jakartaee-10.0</feature>
    <feature>pages-3.1</feature>
    <feature>localConnector-1.0</feature>
    <feature>adminCenter-1.0</feature>
</featureManager>

Why: Aligns Liberty capabilities with Jakarta EE 10 used by TeamConnect Enterprise 8.0.

Add Required Libraries (EclipseLink + JDBC)

EclipseLink 4.0.4
One JDBC driver corresponding to your DataBase:
- SQL Server: sqljdbc-4.2.jar
- Oracle: ojdbc-12.1.0.2.jar

If you use SQL Server:

<library id="eclipselink-lib">
    <file name="C:/path/to/eclipselink-4.0.4.jar" />
    <file name="C:/path/to/sqljdbc-4.2.jar" />
</library>

If you use Oracle:

<library id="eclipselink-lib">
    <file name="C:/path/to/eclipselink-4.0.4.jar" />
    <file name="C:/path/to/ojdbc6-12.1.0.2.jar" />
</library>

Tip: Keep JDBC drivers on the server (not in the app), and reference them as Liberty libraries.

Application Deployment and Classloading

WAR Deployment:

<application context-root="your-context-root"
    type="war"
    id="your-app-id"
    location="path-to-your-war-file"
    name="your-app-name">
    <classloader delegation="parentLast" />
</application>

EAR deployment:

<application context-root="your-context-root"
    type="ear"
    id="your-app-id"
    location="path-to-your-ear-file"
    name="your-app-name">
    <classloader delegation="parentLast" />
</application>

Why parentLast: Prevents app‑server libs from shadowing TeamConnect’s Jakarta/SOAP dependencies.

Remove Conflicting Libraries from the Application

From WEB-INF/lib (and your IDE build path), remove EL jars if present:

jakarta.el-api-<version>.jar

Rationale: EL APIs are provided by the app server under Jakarta EE; bundling can cause class conflicts.

Restart and Validate

Restart Liberty.
Validate SOAP: retrieve a WSDL (e.g., GeneralRepository) and perform a simple read operation from your SOAP client.
Check logs for classloading or module export errors.

Oracle WebLogic Server 15.1.1 (JDK 21) – Required Updates

`web.xml` Compatibility

Downgrade the web-app version for compatibility and set metadata completeness:

From:

<web-app version="6.0">

To:

<web-app version="5.0" metadata-complete="true">

Prioritize Jakarta EE 10 Packages from the Application

Replace the existing weblogic-application.xml file with the new file to prioritize the application’s Jakarta EE 10 packages. You can download the complete updated file from here.

Avoid Jackson Conflicts (When Elastic Search Module is Deployed)

If your deployment includes the Elasticsearch module, remove:

<package-name>com.fasterxml.jackson.*</package-name>

Why: WebLogic includes its own Jackson libs; preferring app‑bundled Jackson can cause runtime conflicts.

Helpful WebLogic Note (Screen Designer/WebDAV)

If you use WebDAV/Screen Designer, disable basic authentication in WebLogic to avoid extra login prompts that can block end users. See reference link in Sources.

Upgrade Notes: Moving from TeamConnect 7.x to 8.0

Review any CI/CD steps that inject legacy SOAP/SAAJ jars into TeamConnect artifacts.
TeamConnect 8.0 aligns on Jakarta and JDK 21 – many prior workarounds become unnecessary or harmful.
Action: Re‑validate your pipeline and remove legacy SAAJ injections if TeamConnect 8 packaging already includes compliant libraries. Confirm against the 8.0 GA release notes.

Important Configuration Note for Upgrades (OpenJDK 17 to JDK 21/Websphere Liberty 25/Tomcat 10.1):

Review Existing Flags: If you previously configured OpenJDK 17 with troubleshooting guidance that required adding SAAJ or JVM --add-exports flags for older Liberty/Tomcat stacks, you must re-test your application after upgrading to JDK 21 and Websphere Liberty 25 or Tomcat 10.1. Only retain the flags that are still necessary.
Remove SAAJ Dependencies: When upgrading from an OpenJDK 17 configuration, remove any previously added SAAJ dependencies. These are now included within the TeamConnect libraries package.

Post‑Upgrade Validation

Login & Basic Navigation (cache cleared).
SOAP Smoke Test: Call a lightweight repository (Contacts/Projects) via SOAP client.
Elasticsearch Health (if applicable).
Logs: Confirm no JAXB/EL/Jackson conflicts.
Throughput: Basic page response timing under typical load.

Troubleshooting Quick Wins

Classloading conflicts → Ensure parentLast (Liberty) and prefer‑application‑packages (WebLogic) are set exactly as above.
SOAP 500/404 on WSDL → Check that Jakarta SOAP packages are resolved by the application, not the container.
Jackson NoSuchMethodError (with Elasticsearch) → Remove com.fasterxml.jackson.* from prefer list (WebLogic).
EL/Servlet API collisions → Remove EL/Servlet API jars from WEB-INF/lib; the server provides them.

Appendix A – Example Snippets

Liberty Application Classloader

<application ...>
    <classloader delegation="parentLast" />
</application>

WebLogic – Prefer Application Packages

<prefer-application-packages>
    <package-name>jakarta.xml.bind</package-name>
    <package-name>jakarta.xml.ws</package-name>
    <package-name>jakarta.xml.soap</package-name>
    <package-name>jakarta.annotation</package-name>
    <package-name>jakarta.annotation.*</package-name>
    <package-name>jakarta.activation</package-name>
    <package-name>jakarta.persistence.*</package-name>
</prefer-application-packages>

Appendix B – SSL Configuration Update for Application Servers

This appendix describes the required SSL configuration for all supported application servers when deploying TeamConnect 8.0 with Oracle JDK 21.

Note: SSL configuration is mandatory for the newly integrated SAML SSO for TeamConnect.

Configure SSL for Application Servers

To enable SSL, define SSL settings using the <SSLHostConfig> and <Certificate> elements in the Server.xml file. This configuration is required for secure deployments.

Example: Connector Configuration for Tomcat

Add the following example to your server.xml file. Update the file paths, certificates, port details and passwords as needed to your application server.

<Connector 
    executor="tomcatThreadPool"
    port="8084"
    protocol="org.apache.coyote.http11.Http11NioProtocol"
    SSLEnabled="true"
    maxThreads="200"
    scheme="https"
    secure="true"
>
    <SSLHostConfig>
        <Certificate
            certificateKeystoreFile="/path/to/your/keystore.pfx"
            certificateKeystorePassword="yourKeystorePassword"
            type="RSA"
            certificateKeystoreType="PKCS12" />
    </SSLHostConfig>
</Connector>

Note: Update the certificateKeystoreFile and certificateKeystorePassword attributes to match your deployment.
The port attribute can be set to any available port used for HTTPS traffic.