4
Configuring Applications for Production Deployment 4-1
4
Configuring Applications for Production Deployment
The following sections describe how you configure applications for deployment to a production WebLogic Server environment:
■
Section 4.1, Understanding the Deployment Configuration Process
■
Section 4.2, Typical Deployment Configuration Workflows
■
Section 4.3, Creating a New Deployment Plan to Configure an Application
■
Section 4.4, Understanding Deployment Plan Contents
■
Section 4.5, Using an Existing Deployment Plan to Configure an Application
■
Section 4.6, Generic File Loading Overrides
■
Section 4.7, Additional Configuration Tasks
■
Section 4.8, Best Practices for Managing Application Configuration
4.1 Understanding the Deployment Configuration Process
When an administrator or deployer receives a new application, or a new version of an application, from development or quality assurance teams, the application is usually
configured for a development or testing environment. The application may use specific resource names and performance tuning settings that match the available
resources on the target servers used in the development or QA environments where the application was last deployed.
Because development and testing environments can be significantly different from the production environment in which the application is ultimately deployed, an
Administrator must configure the application to use resource names and performance tuning parameters that are valid and appropriate for the production environment.
■
Section 4.1.1, Deployment Configuration Life Cycle
■
Section 4.1.2, Understanding Application Deployment Descriptors
■
Section 4.1.3, Understanding WebLogic Server Deployment Plans
■
Section 4.1.4, Goals for Production Deployment Configuration
4.1.1 Deployment Configuration Life Cycle
Deployment configuration for an application can occur at several points in the life cycle of an application. Each phase of deployment configuration typically involves
creating and working with different deployment files:
4-2 Deploying Applications to Oracle WebLogic Server
1.
Development configuration—During development, a programmer creates J2EE deployment descriptors for an application or module. The programmer also
creates WebLogic Server deployment descriptors to configure the application for deployment to a WebLogic Server development environment. See Developing
Applications for Oracle WebLogic Server.
2.
Export configuration—Before releasing an application from development, a programmer or designer may optionally export the applications deployment
configuration to a WebLogic Server deployment plan. Exporting a configuration creates deployment plan variables for all or a subset of the deployment properties
already defined by a developer in the applications WebLogic Server deployment descriptor files. See
Chapter 5, Exporting an Application for Deployment to New Environments
. Exporting an application helps deployers in other areas of the organization such
as engineers on the QA team or production Administrators easily deploy the application to environments that differ from the programmers development
environment. The ideal deployment plan includes all of the properties that a deployer needs to change before deploying the application in a new environment.
3.
Deployment-time configuration—An Administrator or deployer configures the application before deploying the application into the target environment.
Deployment-time configuration may use:
■
The same WebLogic Server deployment configuration and deployment plan created during development.
■
Modified versions of the development configuration and deployment plan.
■
A custom deployment plan that the deployer previously created for the environment, depending on the deployment configuration workflow for your
organization.
See Chapter 6, Deploying Applications and Modules with weblogic.Deployer
.
4.
Post-deployment configuration—After an application has been deployed to a target environment, an Administrator or deployer can reconfigure the application
by redeploying with a new deployment plan or by using the Administration Console to update and redeploy an existing deployment plan. See
Chapter 8, Redeploying Applications in a Production Environment
and Chapter 9,
Managing Deployed Applications .
Because deployment configuration is performed by different people at different points in the life cycle of an application, administrators, deployers, and developers need to
work together to create a repeatable configuration workflow for their organization. See Section 4.2, Typical Deployment Configuration Workflows
.
4.1.2 Understanding Application Deployment Descriptors
