What is virtual memeber manager

The Virtual Member Manager is a new component that incorporates some of the existing capabilities in the WebSphere registry, the WebSphere Member Manager (from WebSphere Portal), and a subset of the secure administrations functions. The goals of the VMM are to:

  • Provide a repository-independent programming interface.

  • Support various pluggable repositories.

  • Provide the ability for users to achieve a single view of their own multiple repositories in a federated model.



Important Note: custom repository is not included in the list of what can make up a federated repository realm. As it exists today, VMM does not support custom repositories. Therefore, if you need a custom repository, you cannot use VMM. Instead, you must write a custom user registry, the same as you needed to do in previous releases.


A federated repository contains a realm that can consist of identities in:

  • The file-based repository that is built into the system.

  • One or more external LDAP repositories.

  • A JDBC accessible database repository.


Unlike with the local operating system, standalone LDAP directory, or custom registry options, federated repositories provide user and group management with read and write capabilities. When you configure federated repositories, you can add, create, and delete users and groups using one of these:

  • User/group management application programming interfaces (API).

  • Administrative console.

  • wsadmin commands.