Methods of Deploying Applications

There are six ways in which you can deploy applications on WebLogic Server: auto-deployment, the weblogic.Deployer utility, the WebLogic Server Administration Console, the WebLogic Builder application, the popular Ant Java-based utility, and by manually modifying the domain config.xml file.

Auto-Deployment

Auto-deployment, used during development mode only, merely entails placing the application (archived or exploded) into the domain's ./applications directory.

The server will self-discover the application. This development mode is set in your administration server start script by passing parameter -Dweblogic.ProductionModeEnabeled=false. The default setting for this parameter is false; that is, auto-deployment/development mode is the default behavior. Due to security and configuration management concerns, auto-deployment is not advised for production environments.

To redeploy an application after making changes, simply deposit the updated archive into the applications directory mentioned earlier. To redeploy an exploded application, WebLogic Server checks the timestamp on the marker file REDEPLOY. Create this file (an empty text file) and deposit it within the exploded application's WEB-INF directory for Web applications and META-INF directory for EJBs and enterprise applications. Deposit your updated files within the exploded directory structure and modify the REDEPLOY file to alter its timestamp. The administration server will detect the change in the timestamp and redeploy the exploded application. To undeploy an application (archived or exploded) remove the archive or exploded files from the applications directory.

Deploying Applications Using the WebLogic Server Administration Console

To deploy an application using the WebLogic Administration Console, enter the Administration console at http://yourURL:port/console. The default is http://localhost:7001/console. Entering the system username and password, deploy the application using the sequence yourDomain→Deployments→Applications→Deploy a New Application as shown in Figure 7.2.

To configure an application within its current folder, navigate to the application's folder and select the application as shown in Figure 7.3.

Next, select the target servers (and/or cluster(s)) for deployment and deploy the application as shown in Figures 7.4 and 7.5.

Any errors will be reported in the Administration Console and the WebLogic Server execution window. Deployment status is also reflected in the Administration Console as shown in Figure 7.5. Also note the Stop Application button within Figure 7.5. Click that button to undeploy any previously deployed application.

You can also deploy an exploded (nonarchived) application by navigating to and selecting the exploded application directory as you would an archived application.

Deploying Applications Using the weblogic.Deployer Utility

The weblogic.Deployer utility is a Java application that's included in your WebLogic Server installation. With this utility you can deploy or redeploy an application, deactivate or unprepare an application, remove an application, cancel a pending deployment task, and list all deployment tasks. weblogic.Deployer uses a series of options and actions to complete deployment tasks. Some commonly used weblogic.Deployer options and actions are presented in Tables 7.1 and 7.2, respectively.

Table 7.1. weblogic.Deployer Options

Option	Description
-adminurl	URL to WebLogic Administration server; syntax: http://serverName:port
-id	Task identifier
-username	Administrator user's name
-password	Administrator user's password; if this option isn't used, the user will be prompted for the password
-name	Application name
-source	Archive location and name
-targets	Target WebLogic Server instance(s)

Table 7.2. weblogic.Deployer Actions

Action	Description
-cancel	Cancels task initiated. Use the -id option to specify which task to cancel.
-deploy	Deploys the application. If currently deployed, application is redeployed.
-distribute	Activates only. Application is copied to target servers' staging. Application is ready but not available.
-redeploy	Redeploys application.
-start	Activates available application. Follows -distribute or -deploy action.
-stop	Deactivates application and makes it unavailable to client. Deployment remains in target servers' staging.
-undeploy	Stops application and removes files from target server(s).

For a complete listing of weblogic.Deployer options and actions, refer to http://e-docs.bea.com/wls/docs81/deployment/tools.html#999152.

To deploy an application using the weblogic.Deployer utility, use the format:

$ java weblogic.Deployer [options] [actions]

To deploy/redeploy our global auction application, use the following command:

[View full width]
$java weblogic.Deployer -adminurl http://127.0.0.1:7001 -name globalAuctions -deploy
 –user weblogic -source e:\bea\user_projects\yourDomain\applications\globalAuctions.ear (
 options "-password PWD" may be used, especially when writing deployment scripts )

To deactivate our global auction application, use the command

$ java weblogic.Deployer -adminurl http://127.0.0.1:7001 -name globalAuctions -stop

To remove our global auction application, use the command

[View full width]
$ java weblogic.Deployer -adminurl http://127.0.0.1:7001 -name globalAuctions -targets
 server1, server2 -undeploy -id tag

To cancel a deployment task, use the command

$ java weblogic.Deployer -adminurl http://127.0.0.1:7001 -cancel -id tag

To list all unfinished deployment tasks, use this command:

$ java weblogic.Deployer -adminurl http://127.0.0.1:7001 -list

To add a module to our already deployed global auction application (after updating our WAR file), use the following command:

[View full width]
$ java weblogic.Deployer -start -name globalAuctions -source e:\bea\user_projects
\yourDomain\applications\globalAuctions.ear

Deploying Applications Using WebLogic Builder

WebLogic Builder is a GUI-based tool intended for use as an application builder; that is, generating, editing, compiling, and validating deployment descriptors for Web applications. You can use this tool to deploy applications to a single server.

To deploy an application to a single server using WebLogic Builder, start the GUI using the script startWLBuilder.cmd (Windows) or startWLBuilder.sh (Unix), or from the Windows start menu by using the sequence start→BEA WebLogic Platform 8.1→Other Development Tools→WebLogic Builder, as shown in Figure 7.6.

From the File menu, select Open to open the module slated for deployment as shown in Figure 7.7.

From the Tools menu, select Connect to Server and connect to the target server as shown in Figure 7.8.

From the Tools menu, select Deploy Module to deploy the module as shown in Figure 7.9.

Deploying Applications Using the Ant Utility

The Ant utility provides a ServerDeploy task that includes a weblogic element. Use of this weblogic element implements hot deployment (that is, deployment while the server is running) of an application or application component to WebLogic Server. The Ant build file presented in Listing 7.4 implements deployment and a component redeployment of an application named gams.

Listing 7.4 Ant Build File wlDeploy.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<project name="WLDeploy" default="deploy" basedir=".">
<!--
    ===================================================================
     Set properties related to weblogic deployment
    ===================================================================
 -->
     <property name="weblogic.home" value="C:/bea/weblogic81/server" />
     <property name="java.home" value="C:/bea/jdk141_02" />
     <property name="lib.dir" value="C:/bea/user_projects/myDomain/lib" />
     <property name="username" value="weblogic" />
     <property name="password" value="weblogic" />
     <property name="wl.classpath" value="${weblogic.home}/lib/weblogic.jar" />

<!--
    ===================================================================
     deploy application / application component to weblogic server
    ===================================================================
 -->
    <target name="deploy">
        <serverdeploy action="deploy" source="${lib.dir}/item.ear">
         <weblogic application="gams" server="t3://localhost:7001"
            classpath="${wl.classpath}"
            username="${username}" password="${password}"
            component="item:examplesServer" debug="true"
        />
        </serverdeploy>
    </target>
<!--
    ===================================================================
     Undeploy application / application component from weblogic server
    ===================================================================
 -->
    <target name="redeploy">
        <serverdeploy action="redeploy" source="${lib.dir}/item.jar" >
        <weblogic application="gams" server="t3://localhost:7001"
            classpath="${wl.classpath}"
            username="${username}" password="${password}"
        />
        </serverdeploy>
    </target>
</project>

A WebLogic application deployment can be executed using the build file as shown here:

ant -buildfile wlDeploy.xml deploy

A WebLogic component redeployment can be executed using the build file as shown here:

ant -buildfile wlDeploy.xml redeploy

Ant also includes tasks for JAR, WAR, and WebLogic EJB generation that may be useful during deployment operations. For detailed instructions and examples on using Ant WebLogic and other tasks, visit the Apache Web site at http://jakarta.apache.org/ant.

Deploying Applications by Manually Modifying config.xml

One last means of deploying an application is to manually modify the domain's config.xml. For simple deployments, this can be the most efficient means of deploying your application. This approach requires knowledge of XML and the WebLogic tag library. When making manual modifications, ensure that your servers' names (for example, server1, server2, and so on) are included in the resources' (such as application, database connection pool, and so forth) Target listing, as shown in Listing 7.5.

Listing 7.5 Partial Config.xml

<Application Deployed="true" Name="globalAuctions"
    Path="e:\bea\user_projects\yourDomain\globalAuctions.ear"
    StagedTargets="server1, server2" TwoPhase="true">
    <EJBComponent Name="findItemsEjb.jar" Targets="server1, server2" URI="asyncSenderEjb
.jar"/>
    <EJBComponent Name="closeAuctionEJB.jar" Targets="server1, server2" URI="cartEjb.jar"/>
    <EJBComponent Name="ItemEjb.jar" Targets="server1, server2" URI="catalogEjb.jar"/>
    <EJBComponent Name="customerEjb.jar" Targets="server1, server2" URI="customerEjb.jar"/>
    <WebAppComponent Name="globalAuctions.war" Targets="server1, server2"
 URI="globalAuctions.war"/>
</Application>

<JDBCConnectionPool CapacityIncrement="1"
    DriverName="com.pointbase.jdbc.jdbcUniversalDriver"
    InitialCapacity="1" MaxCapacity="10" Name="globalAuctionsPool"
    Password=""
    Properties="user=globalAuctions" RefreshMinutes="0"
    ShrinkPeriodMinutes="15" ShrinkingEnabled="true"
    Targets="server1, server2" TestConnectionsOnRelease="false"
    TestConnectionsOnReserve="false" URL="jdbc:pointbase:server://localhost/demo"/>