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To use WLS-VE, you need to create a WebLogic domain from the launcher machine, and then copy the domain and/or the servers to the virtual machine. A sample WLS-VE configuration is illustrated and described in Configuration Overview.
There are several ways that you can create domains and make them accessible to the virtual machine:
The following topics describe the procedures to create and copy WLS-VE domains, and also provide additional configuration information:
Before attempting to configure and run WLS-VE, ensure the following:
Use the steps in the following procedure to create a WLS-VE domain and servers ("virtualized servers") using the Configuration Wizard. Complete details for creating WebLogic domains is provided in Creating WebLogic Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.
| Note: | The following procedure describes how to create a domain using the Configuration Wizard in graphical mode. If you start the wizard in console mode, equivalent prompts are provided in text format. Use the guidelines provided in the console prompts to create the domain using console mode. |
The Configuration Wizard launches and displays the Welcome window.
The Select Domain Source window is displayed.
| Note: | The WebLogic Server and WebLogic Server VE Extension options are selected by default and cannot be unchecked. These components are required to create a WLS-VE domain. |
The Configure Administrator Username and Password window is displayed.
These credentials are encrypted and stored in a boot identity file (boot.properties) in the domain directory. When you start the Administration Server, it refers to this file for user credentials. WLS-VE does not provide an interactive prompt, so you cannot specify credentials when the server is starting.
The Configure Server Start Mode and JDK window is displayed.
| Note: | You cannot select an alternate JDK. By default, the domain uses LiquidVM, which includes the JRockit JDK. |
The Customize Environment and Services Settings window is displayed.
BEA_HOME\user_projects\domains. Be sure to note the directory in which you created the domain and the names you assigned to the Managed Servers.
The Creating Domain window displays status messages during the domain creation process. When the process is complete, the new domain is ready for use.
| Note: | If you are going to boot the Administration Server on a virtual machine, the Start Admin Server option on the Creating a Domain window should remain unchecked. However, if you are going to start the Administration Server on the launcher machine, you can select this option if you want to start the server immediately. For more information, see Running the Administration Server on a Standard OS. |
As shown in Roadmap for Installing and Configuring WLS-VE, the next step in the process is to edit the start scripts as described in Editing the Start Scripts:
To start WLS-VE and LiquidVM, you need to provide start options to the LiquidVM launcher. When you create a WLS-VE domain using the Configuration Wizard, a start script containing a list of the options required to start WLS-VE on the virtual machine is created in the following directory:
where DOMAIN_NAME is the name of the directory in which you located the domain, typically BEA_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME.
| Note: | The bin/startWebLogic.cmd and startWebLogic.sh files are used to start a WLS instance on a standard OS and cannot be used to start a WLS-VE instance on a virtual machine. |
Before starting WLS-VE or LiquidVM, you need to create copies of the startWLSVE script and edit the copies to define the properties for your configuration, or to start the LiquidVM in passive mode. To do so, follow these steps:
DOMAIN_NAME/bin/and locate the startWLSVE.sh file (or .cmd on Windows). startWLSVE_Admin.sh (or .cmd) and startWLSVE_Managed_nn.sh (or .cmd) by setting the properties required for your implementation. The start script properties are defined in the Table 4-3.
The location of the
bea.lvm.info file created by the LiquidVM Configuration Wizard on your local machine. This file contains the default settings for LiquidVM for your virtualization environment. By default, the bea.lvm.info file is created in your user home directory. If you change the location of the bea.lvm.info file, you must set this property to the new location. For more information about the bea.lvm.info file, see Understanding the bea.lvm.info File.
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For details about the LiquidVM local disk, see Using the Virtual Local Disk.
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The octet (
###.###.###.###) for the gateway between your current network and the one you want to access. You need to set this value if you are not using DHCP or you are not using default settings for netmask. The standard gateway is the static IP address masked with the set netmask, with a 1 in the lowest octet; for example if the netmask is the standard 255.255.255.0 and the static IP is 172.23.80.102, then the default gateway is 172.23.80.1. If the netmask is 255.255.0.0 and the static IP address is the same (172.23.80.102), then the gateway is 172.23.0.1.
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Passive mode allows you to start only the LVM services, included the SSH service. WLS is not started. Once the LVM is started in passive mode, you can log into the LVM instance using SSH and transfer files from the launcher machine, such as domains that you have created, to the local disk of the virtual machine. When you have finished transferring your files, you can restart the server.
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The username to be used by the WebLogic administrator to access WLS. This value is set by the domain Configuration Wizard in the
boot.properties file and does not need to be set to start the Administration Server. To use the values specified in boot.properties, do not set this property.
You must set this property in the Managed Server start scripts if you are running the Administration Server on a standard OS. For more information, see Running the Administration Server on a Standard OS.
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The password to be used by the WebLogic administrator to access WLS. This value is set by the domain Configuration Wizard in the
boot.properties file. To use the values specified in boot.properties, do not set this property.
You must set this property in the Managed Server start scripts if you are running the Administration Server on a standard OS. For more information, see Running the Administration Server on a Standard OS.
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For more information about passing Java options to the JVM, see Tuning LiquidVM.
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| Note: | The start scripts do not and should not include a path reference to the WLS classes. WLS-VE uses the WLS classes that are located in the WLS-VE ISO image. |
As shown in Roadmap for Installing and Configuring WLS-VE, the next step in the process is to copy the domain using one of the following procedures:
After you have created the domain on the launcher machine, you can copy the domain to the virtual machine using the SSH service provided with LiquidVM.
| Note: | BEA recommends that you follow these steps for each of the servers that you created in your domain. However, if you choose not to copy the domain for Managed Servers, you can still start them on the VM from an empty domain as described in Starting Managed Servers. |
To copy a domain using the LiquidVM SSH service, follow these steps.
When you start LiquidVM in passive mode, only the LiquidVM services, including the SSH service, are started. To start LiquidVM in passive mode, you need to set the startMode=passive option in the launcher start arguments and start LiquidVM as described in the following steps.
startWLSVE.cmd/sh start script for the LVM instance as described in Editing the Start Scripts.The following values are required:
SERVER_NAME—Specify the name of the server that you defined when you created the domain.LVM_START_MODE—Set this parameter to passive to start LiquidVM in passive mode. The default is active mode. Note that when you set the start mode to passive, SSH is used by default. Optionally, you can set the following values:
LVM_SSH—Set this parameter to on. SSH is required in passive mode. However, if you do not set this parameter, SSH is used by default.LVM_IP_ADDRESS—If you specified an IP address for the server when you created the domain, enter it here. If you did not specify an IP address, do not define one for this parameter. If you leave it unset, LiquidVM uses DHCP to dynamically get an IP address.LVM_SSH_PUBLIC_KEY—If you are using public/private key authentication (recommended), specify the local path to the SSH public key.LVM_SSH_UNSAFE_PASSWORD—If you working in a development environment, you can provide a clear text password as an alternative to using public/private key authentication. | Note: | Do not use the unsafe password option in a production environment. |
| Note: | If you do not specify any type of SSH authentication, a temporary password, valid for 300 seconds, is displayed in the LiquidVM Console window in the VI Client when you attempt to authenticate to the SSH service. You can use this time-limited password to login, but you need to change it immediately to a permanent, secure password by executing the passwd command. |
If you are starting an LVM instance for a Managed Server, verify that the ADMIN_URL is pointing to the IP address of the Administration Server (for the Administration Server, ADMIN_URL must be blank).
DOMAIN_NAME\bin\directory, where DOMAIN_NAME is the name of the directory in which you located the domain, typically BEA_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME.startWLSVE_ADMIN.sh/cmd or startWLSVE_Managed_nn.sh/cmd as described in Editing the Start Scripts, you enter the name of that start script at the prompt:
startWLSVE_Admin.sh (.cmd on Windows)
startWLSVE_Managed_nn.sh (.cmd on Windows)
Output similar to the following is displayed in the Command Prompt window:
LiquidVM instance name = WLS-AdminServer
LVM_INFO = C:\Documents and Settings\myhome\bea.lvm.info
#BareMetal ESX-launcher configuration information
#Mon Jan 07 16:31:32 EST 2008
vmwareUsername=user1
vmwareDiskPath=[storage2] wlsve/wlsve.iso
vmwareVcHost=vmwarevc.bea.com
vmwareKeystore=C\:\\Documents and Settings\\myhome\\bm_vmwarevc.bea.com.keystore
vmwarePassword=d90f1423925849c78e6dd9100d162f3f
vmwareComputeResource=sthx6414.jrpg.bea.com
vmwareKeystorePassword=07300ca783a0a3e92f8fc6121e2d14aa
LiquidVM.config.version=5
vmwareDatacenter=JRPG-BM
## LiquidVM configuration for instance: WLS-AdminServer
name=WLS-AdminServer
diskSize=1024
startMode=passive
ssh=on
cwd=/domain
mount=''
JAVA_OPTIONS : -Xmx256m -Xverify:none
WLS_CLASSPATH : :/bea/patch_weblogic922/profiles/default/sys_manifest_clas
spath/weblogic_patch.jar:/appliance/java/lib/tools.jar:/appliance/bea/weblogic92
/server/lib/weblogic.jar:/appliance/bea/weblogic92/server/lib/webservices.jar:
LICENSE_DIR : /bea
PRODUCTION_MODE :
JAVA_PROPERTIES : -Dweblogic.management.discover=true
Launching WLS-VE instance WLS-AdminServer ...
Starting WLS-AdminServer connect...lookup...create...start...booting...
Formatting new disk (may take some time)...
Initial log from LiquidVM instance follows:
--------------------------------------------
Found empty mass storage device dev1, initializing filesystem
MKFS block device dev1 (1040384k) |Baremetal hostname: "172.23.82.203" IP address: 123.45.67.890
..............................| Done
LiquidVM R1.1.4.0-92759 (BareMetal 4.0.4.0-92746-229)
--------------------------------------------
See the console log-file for further data
LiquidVM IP-address: 123.45.67.890
| Note: | Be sure to take note of the LiquidVM IP address. You will need to provide it when you log into the SSH service, as described in Step 2: Copy the Domain to the Virtual Machine. |
By default, the LiquidVM output is recorded in \domain\WLS-servername.lvm.out, unless you have specified a different location using the LVM_CONSOLE_LOG property in the start script.
The server name, prefixed with WLS-, should be listed in the Host and Clusters list in the left navigation pane. For example, if you named your Admin Server QA_AdminServer, the name displayed in the navigation pane is WLS-QA_AdminServer.
Use an SSH-2 compatible file transfer client of your choice, such as scp or sftp, to login to the SSH service and transfer the domain. Note the following:
liquidvm. LiquidVM is a single-process, single-user environment; only the user liquidvm is supported. DOMAIN_NAME directory on the launcher machine to the /domain directory inside the WLS-VE instance on the ESX server. (Do not create a DOMAIN_NAME subdirectory under the /domain directory on the virtual machine; the files must be copied directly under the /domain directory.) By default, /domain is defined as the current working directory within the LiquidVM instance. | Note: | Before you can start a WLS-VE instance, a valid license.bea file must be installed in the /bea directory of the virtual machine. By default, an evaluation license is provided in the ISO image and is copied to the /bea directory the first time the server is started. However, if you want to use a production license, you will need to copy it to the virtual machine. You can copy the production license file during this session, or at a later time. For more information, see Copying a Production License to the Virtual Machine. |
You can shut down the LiquidVM instance using the VMware VI Client as follows:
The server name, prefixed with WLS-, should be listed in the Host and Clusters list in the left navigation pane. For example, if you named your Admin Server QA_AdminServer, the name displayed in the navigation pane is WLS-QA_AdminServer.
| Note: | When you click inside the Console window, most keys on your keyboard are disabled and your mouse pointer disappears. However, certain keyboard functions, including Ctrl-C still function. |
For more information about using the VI Client, see Working with WLS-VE Using the VMware VI Client.
DOMAIN_NAME/bin/and open the start script that you edited in Step 1: Start LiquidVM in Passive Mode.LVM_START_MODE—Set this parameter to active to start the WLS-VE instance in active mode. In active mode, both the LVM services and the main WLS classes are started.| Note: | To continue to use SSH in active mode, set the LVM_SSH parameter to on if you did not specifically set this parameter in passive mode. |
startWLSVE_Admin.sh (.cmd on Windows)
startWLSVE_Managed_nn.sh (.cmd on Windows)
As shown in Roadmap for Installing and Configuring WLS-VE, after you have successfully started your WLS-VE instance from the command-line, you can start and stop the servers, and administer the WLS-VE environment as required.
If you have not copied the domain to the VM for each Managed Server as described in Copying the Domain Using the LiquidVM SSH Service, there is no domain configuration information on the WLS-VE instance for the Managed Server. In this case, you can start the Managed Server on the VM as described in this section and the Managed Server will obtain its domain configuration from the Administration Server. However, using this method is less secure because you need to specify the username and password for the Administration Server in clear text in your start script.
To start a Managed Server from an empty domain, follow these steps.
startWLSVE.cmd/sh script as a template.Be sure to set the following values in the start script:
SERVER_NAME—Specify the name of the Managed Server that you defined when you created the domain.ADMIN_URL—Specify the listen address (host name or IP address) and port number of the Administration Server for the domain. WLS_USER—Specify the Administrator username. This value is required to log into the Administration Server. WLS_PW—Specify the Administrator password. This value is required to log into the Administration Server.
Optionally, you can set the LVM_SSH parameter to on to use the SSH service.
startWLSVE_Managed_01.sh/cmd as described in Editing the Start Scripts, you enter the name of that start script at the prompt:When the server starts, it obtains its domain configuration information from the Administration Server.
An alternate approach to copying the domain to the virtual machine is create a domain that consists of an Administration Server and Managed Servers. You can then run the Administration Server on an ordinary OS and let the WLS built-in domain distribution mechanism send out the domain configuration to the WLS-VE instances for the Managed Servers. This method should be used only in development environments because it is less secure than using SSH.
To use this approach, do the following:
DOMAIN_NAME\bin\ directory, where DOMAIN_NAME is the name of the directory in which you located the domain, typically BEA_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME. Enter startWebLogic.cmd/sh at the prompt.| Note: | In this case, you are using the startWebLogic.cmd/sh start script because you are starting the Administration Server on a standard OS on the launcher machine. The startWLSVE.cmd/sh scripts are used to start servers on the virtual machine. |
startWLSVE.cmd/sh script as a template, create a Managed Server start script for each Managed Server in the domain as described in Editing the Start Scripts.Be sure to set the following values in the start script:
SERVER_NAME—Specify the name of the Managed Server that you defined when you created the domain.ADMIN_URL—Specify the listen address (host name or IP address) and port number of the Administration Server for the domain. WLS_USER—Specify the Administrator username. This value is required to log into the Administration Server. WLS_PW—Specify the Administrator password. This value is required to log into the Administration Server.
Optionally, you can set the LVM_SSH parameter to on to use the SSH service.
startWLSVE_Managed_01.sh/cmd as described in Editing the Start Scripts, you enter the name of that start script at the prompt:When the WLS-VE instance boots up, it will automatically obtain its domain by contacting the Administration Server running on the standard OS.
The potential drawback of this approach is that you have to have a mixed environment with one non-virtualized WLS acting as the Administration Server.
As shown in Roadmap for Installing and Configuring WLS-VE, after you have successfully started your WLS-VE instance from the command-line, you can start and stop the servers, and administer the WLS-VE environment as required.
If both your ordinary OS and your WLS-VE instance have access to the same NFS-share, you can run the domain Configuration Wizard on the launcher machine, which is running a standard OS, and generate the domain to the NFS directory. When WLS-VE is started it will see and use the newly generated domain.
For details about generating a domain to an NFS share, see "Configuring and Starting WLS-VE Domains" in version 1.0 Installation and Configuration Guide.
| Note: | Creating a domain on an NFS share is less secure than using a local disk. BEA recommends using a local disk on the virtual machine instead. |
Before you can start a WLS-VE instance, a valid license.bea file must be installed in the /bea directory of the virtual machine. By default, an evaluation license is provided in the ISO image and is copied to the /bea directory the first time the server is started. To update the evaluation license with a production license, you need to copy the production license from the BEA Home directory on the launcher machine to the BEA Home directory, /bea, on the local disk of the WLS-VE instance.
Use the following procedure to copy a production license.bea file to the virtual machine:
Note that /bea is the default BEA Home directory on the virtual machine. If you want to use a directory other than /bea as the BEA Home directory, set it in the start script using the JAVA_PROPERTIES="-Dbea.home= dir" property.
license.bea.file from the BEA Home directory on the local machine to the BEA Home directory, /bea by default, on the virtual machine. Note that the default working directory is /domain, so you will need to navigate to the /bea directory.
Generally, upgrading and promoting virtualized domains requires the same steps used for upgrading and promoting non-virtualized domains. The main steps in this process are:
In this step, you need to inventory the application environment, verify supported configuration information, review the compatibility information, and create an upgrade plan.
In this step, you undeploy any deployed applications, shut down all servers in the application environment, back up the application environment, install any required BEA products, prepare the remote Managed Server domain directories, and set up the environment.
For detailed instructions on these steps, see Upgrading WebLogic Application Environments.
Due to its virtualized nature, when you upgrade to WLS-VE, depending on your required upgrade scenario, you will need to modify the standard upgrade procedure to address important virtualization issues. The changes you need to make are described in the following sections.
When you upgrade an application from a non-virtualized implementation of WLS 9.2 to WLS-VE 9.2, you need to make some modifications to the application code to ensure successful operation.
java to java_esx.localhost as the host name, you must change the host name to the LiquidVM IP address.| Note: | If your application uses Pointbase, you will need to change localhost to the IP address of Pointbase. |
connect() command, you will need to change it so that the hostname can be passed in.You cannot migrate an application directly from an earlier version of WLS (for example, version 8.1) directly to WLS-VE 9.2. Instead, you need to follow the upgrade procedures outlined in Upgrading WebLogic Application Environments.
You use the same procedures to move a WLS-VE domain from a development environment to a production environment that you use for standard WLS domains. Ensuring your environment is secure is critical in a production environment. For important security recommendations, see Securing Your Production Environment.
Since WLS-VE contains both a JVM and a virtualized WLS instance, you can configure both devices by using the same configuration flags used by their non-virtualized editions. Usually, you can do this from the WLS Administration Console. Refer to System Administration for BEA WebLogic Server 9.2 for complete information on how to:
The JVM should already be well-tuned for most WLS applications but you can configure and tune the Java behavior of a machine by setting the necessary Java options in the start-up script for the domain in question. Simply enter the standard J2SE start-up options or BEA JRockit's non-standard -X and -XX options at the JAVA_OPTIONS= statement.
Listing 4-1 shows a snippet of the Administration Server start-up script, startWLSVE.cmd, with JAVA_OPTIONS= highlighted.
@ECHO OFF
SETLOCAL
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.
.
set PRE_CLASSPATH=
set POST_CLASSPATH=set JAVA_OPTIONS=set JAVA_PROPERTIES=
For example, suppose you want to start the machine so that LiquidVM uses a garbage collector (that is, a memory management system) optimized for application throughput. You would do this by setting JAVA_OPTIONS as follows:
JAVA_OPTIONS="-xgcprio:throughput"
You can string together as many valid options as you need; however, you must place them within quotation marks and separate them with a single space. For example, the following code:
JAVA_OPTIONS="-xgcprio:throughput -xgcreport -Xss:512k"
"-xgcreport"). See the BEA JRockit Command Line Reference for a list of valid LiquidVM start-up options and instructions for using them. For LiquidVM tuning and configuration guidelines, see Profiling and Performance Tuning in the BEA JRockit Diagnostics Guide.
Deploy applications on WLS-VE the same way you deploy them on non-virtualized WLS. Application deployment generally involves the following tasks:
weblogic.Deployer These tasks are detailed in Deploying Applications on BEA WebLogic Server 9.2.
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