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Exporting an Application for Deployment to New Environments 5-1
5
Exporting an Application for Deployment to New Environments
The following sections describe how to export an applications WebLogic Server deployment configuration to a custom deployment plan, which helps administrators
easily deploy the application into non-development environments:
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Section 5.1, Overview of the Export Process
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Section 5.2, Understanding Deployment Property Classifications
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Section 5.3, Steps for Exporting an Applications Deployment Configuration
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Section 5.4, Staging Application Files for Export
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Section 5.5, Generating a Template Deployment Plan using weblogic.PlanGenerator
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Section 5.6, Customizing the Deployment Plan Using the Administration Console
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Section 5.7, Manually Customizing the Deployment Plan
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Section 5.8, Validating the Exported Deployment Configuration
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Section 5.9, Best Practices for Exporting a Deployment Configuration
5.1 Overview of the Export Process
Exporting an applications deployment configuration is the process of creating a custom deployment plan for deploying the application into new WebLogic Server
environments. When the process is complete, the application deployment files and the custom deployment plan are distributed to deployers for example, testing, staging, or
production administrators who then use the deployment plan as a blueprint for configuring the application for their environment.
An administrator can install the application and the custom deployment plan using the Administration Console, which validates the deployment plan and allows the
administrator to update configuration properties needed for a specific deployment.
See the Section 4.4, Understanding Deployment Plan Contents
for more information about deployment plans.
5.1.1 Goals for Exporting a Deployment Configuration
The primary goals in exporting a deployment configuration are:
5-2 Deploying Applications to Oracle WebLogic Server
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To expose the external resources requirements of the application as null variables in a deployment plan.
Any external resources required by the application are subject to change when the application is deployed to a different
environment. For example, the JNDI names of datasources used in your development environment may be different from those used in testing or
production. Exposing those JNDI names as variables makes it easy for deployers to use available resources or create required resources when deploying the
application. Using empty null variables forces the deployer to fill in a valid resource name before the application can be deployed.
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To expose additional configurable properties, such as tuning parameters, as variables in a deployment plan.
Certain tuning parameters that are acceptable in a development environment may be unacceptable in a production environment.
For example, it may suffice to accept default or minimal values for EJB caching on a development machine, whereas a production cluster would need higher levels of
caching to maintain acceptable performance. Exporting selected tunables as deployment plan variables helps an administrator focus on important tuning
parameters when deploying the application. The Administration Console highlights tuning parameters exposed as variables in a deployment plan, but does
not require a deployer to modify them before deployment.
5.1.2 Tools for Exporting a Deployment Configuration
WebLogic Server provides the following tools to help you export an applications deployment configuration:
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weblogic.PlanGenerator creates a template deployment plan with null variables for selected categories of WebLogic Server deployment descriptors. This
tool is recommended if you are beginning the export process and you want to create a template deployment plan with null variables for an entire class of
deployment descriptors see
Section 5.2, Understanding Deployment Property Classifications
