4-6 Deploying Applications to Oracle WebLogic Server
Figure 4–2 Single Deployment Plan Workflow
4.
The deployer uses the Administration Console to interactively configure properties that were defined in the deployment plan. Deployment plan variables
that have null values, or invalid values for the target WebLogic Server instances or clusters, must be configured before the application can be deployed. Deployment
plan variables that already have valid values need not be changed before deployment.
Deployers in each environment agree to limit their configuration changes to those properties defined in the deployment plan. If additional configuration changes are
required, the deployer must communicate those requirements to the development or design team that modifies the master deployment plan.
4.2.1.1 Benefits of a Single Deployment Plan Workflow
Using the single deployment plan workflow provides the following benefits:
■
It enables the development or design team to control the deployment configuration of the application.
■
It reduces the number of configuration decisions that a deployer must make when deploying the application to a target environment.
■
It minimizes the number of configuration files associated with the application, making it easy to store deployment configuration information in a source control
system.
In general, you would use a single deployment plan workflow if your organization has a few, well-understood target environments, and you want to easily replicate a
standardized deployment configuration in each environment.
4.2.1.2 Single Deployment Plan Ownership and Limitations
The single deployment plan workflow assumes that the development or design team maintains ownership of the deployment plan, and that deployers limit their plan
Configuring Applications for Production Deployment 4-7
changes to those variables defined in the plan. If the deployer modifies only those properties defined in the deployment plan, their changes are written back to the same
deployment plan as updates to the variables.
However, WebLogic Server imposes no restrictions on the configuration properties that a deployer can modify using the Administration Console. If a deployer configures
deployment properties that were not originally defined in a plan, the Console generates a new deployment plan having the additional variable entries, and uses the
new plan for deployment or redeployment operations. This can lead to a situation where the deployer uses a deployment plan that is drastically different from the
master deployment plan owned by the development team.
To incorporate new changes into the master deployment plan, the deployer retrieves the new, customized deployment plan created by the Console. Ideally, those changes
should be applied to the master deployment plan.
4.2.2 Application with Multiple Deployment Plans
