Understanding WebLogic Server Deployment 2-3
2.3.1 Additional Deployment Configuration Properties
Whereas the Java EE 5 deployment API deployment specification enables you to generate vendor-specific descriptor values necessary for deploying an application,
WebLogic Server extensions to Java EE 5 deployment API allow you to configure many additional deployment properties, including:
■
The names of external resources required for the application to operate
■
The declared names of services provided in a deployed application JNDI names, which other applications may reference for their own use
■
Tuning properties that control the performance and behavior of the application on WebLogic Server
You can store these deployment properties in WebLogic Server deployment plans.
2.3.2 Exporting Applications for Deployment to Multiple Environments
The basic Java EE 5 deployment API configuration process provides a simple way for standardized deployment tools to deploy J2EE applications on multiple application
server products. However, it does not help in the process of migrating an applications configuration from one environment to another within an organization. The WebLogic
Server deployment API extends the Java EE 5 deployment API to provide support for exporting an applications configuration for deployment to multiple WebLogic Server
environments, such as testing, staging, and production domains. See
Chapter 5, Exporting an Application for Deployment to New Environments
.
2.3.3 Administration Mode for Isolating Production Applications
Distributing an application copies deployment files to target servers and places the application in a prepared state. You can then start the application in Administration
mode, which restricts access to the application to a configured Administration channel so you can perform final testing without opening the application to external client
connections or disrupting connected clients. You can start an application in administration mode with the -adminmode option as described in
Section 6.10.2, Starting a Distributed Application in Administration Mode
. See Section 6.10,
Distributing Applications to a Production Environment and
Section 8.4, Distributing a New Version of a Production Application
. After performing final testing, you can either undeploy the application to make further
changes, or start the application in Production mode to make it generally available to clients.
See Section 6.10.1, Distributing an Application
.
2.3.4 Deployable JDBC, JMS, and WLDF Application Modules
JDBC, JMS, and WLDF resources can be stored as application modules, which can be deployed standalone to multiple servers or clusters or included within an Enterprise
application as application-scoped resources. standalone JDBC, JMS, and WLDF application modules make it easy to replicate resources in multiple WebLogic Server
domains. Application-scoped resource modules make it possible to include all of an applications required resources within the application module itself, for maximum
portability to multiple environments. See Developing Applications for Oracle WebLogic Server for more information about using application-scoped resources. See
Section 6.8, Deploying JDBC, JMS, and WLDF Application Modules
to deploy standalone or application-scoped resources to WebLogic Server.
2-4 Deploying Applications to Oracle WebLogic Server
2.3.5 Module-Level Deployment and Redeployment for Enterprise Applications
WebLogic Server enables you to target individual modules of an Enterprise application to different server targets, or to deploy only a subset of available modules in an
Enterprise application. This provides flexible packaging options, allowing you to bundle a group of related modules together in an Enterprise application, but deploy
only selected modules to individual servers in a domain.
2.3.6 Safe Redeployment for Production Applications
WebLogic Server enables you to safely update and redeploy a new version of a production application without affecting current HTTP clients to the application.
Production redeployment helps you roll out bug fixes or new functionality without application downtime, and without creating redundant servers in order to roll out the
changes. See
Chapter 8, Redeploying Applications in a Production Environment .
2.3.7 Security Roles Required for Deployment
The built-in security roles for Admin and Deployer users allow you to perform deployment tasks using the WebLogic Server Administration Console. The
AppTester security role allows you to test versions of applications that are deployed to Administration mode. When deploying across WebLogic domains, the
CrossDomainConnector role allows you to make inter-domain calls from foreign domains. For a complete listing of all security roles, see Default Global Roles in
Securing Resources Using Roles and Policies for Oracle WebLogic Server.
2.4 Supported Deployment Units
