WebSphere Application Server (WAS) is built using open standards such as Java EE, XML, and Web Services.

For example, in earlier versions of the management console, there was an option that was available to specify the location of a log file on a remote node.

For this reason, it was not advisable to run the application server / node agent processes with root privileges, and starting with v6, security configuration defaulted out of the box to a secure state (even if this meant that enabling desired functions required manual changing of the defaults).

The Liberty continuous delivery model was introduced to allow new capabilities and features to be delivered on a more frequent basis.

This brought WAS Application Server traditional up to the same level of Java EE as WebSphere Liberty had offered since 2015.

This was the first release of WAS to be made simultaneously available as both an on-premises offering and through WebSphere as a Service on IBM Cloud.

Liberty 16.0.0.3 adds support for the new MicroProfile programming model[21] that simplifies cloud native application development using standard Java EE technologies.

Flexible access to WebSphere Liberty is provided through additional distributions as a docker image[22] and Cloud Foundry buildpack.

The primary new capabilities in V8.5 are the Liberty profile of WebSphere Application Server and the intelligent management features.

Intelligent management capability is added in the Network Deployment and z/OS editions of WebSphere Application server.

This integrates operational features that were previously available in the separate WebSphere Virtual Enterprise (WVE) offering: application editioning, server health management, dynamic clustering and intelligent routing.

Compute Grid is also included in the Network Deployment and z/OS editions of WebSphere Application server.

Previously this was the separately priced WebSphere XD Compute Grid feature for scheduling and managing Java batch workloads.

The following feature packs were provided for WebSphere Application Server V7: This version was released on June 30, 2006.

V5 also included a miniature version of MQ 5.3 called the embedded Java Message Service (JMS) server.

In addition, the administrator or programmer needs to be aware of the hierarchy (the position of the .ear or .war and what goes in the MANIFEST) to manage the visibility of the classes.

WebSphere Application Server provides implementations of user authentication and authorization mechanisms providing support for various user registries: The authentication mechanisms supported by WebSphere are:[30] Other Java EE application servers: