Programmatic Ponderings

Create a new WebLogic Server domain on Oracle’s Pre-built Development VM. Remotely deploy a sample web application to the domain from a remote machine.

Introduction

In my last two posts, Using Oracle’s Pre-Built Enterprise Java VM for Development Testing and Resizing Oracle’s Pre-Built Development Virtual Machines, I introduced Oracle’s Pre-Built Enterprise Java Development VM, aka a ‘virtual appliance’. Oracle has provided ready-made VMs that would take a team of IT professionals days to assemble. The Oracle Linux 5 OS-based VM has almost everything that comprises basic enterprise test and production environment based on the Oracle/Java technology stack. The VM includes Java JDK 1.6+, WebLogic Server, Coherence, TopLink, Subversion, Hudson, Maven, NetBeans, Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, and so forth.

One of the first things you will probably want to do, once your Oracle’s Pre-Built Enterprise Java Development VM is up and running, is deploy an application to WebLogic Server. According to Oracle, WebLogic Server is ‘a scalable, enterprise-ready Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) application server.’ Even if you haven’t used WebLogic Server before, don’t worry, Oracle has designed it to be easy to get started.

In this post I will cover creating a new WebLogic Server (WLS) domain, and the deployment a simple application to WLS from a remote development machine. The major steps in the process presented in this post are as follows:

• Create a new WLS domain
• Create and build a sample application
• Deploy the sample application to the new WLS domain
• Access deployed application via a web browser

Networking

First, let me review how I have my VM configured for networking, so you will understand my deployment methodology, discussed later. The way you configure your Oracle VM VirtualBox appliance will depend on your network topology. Again, keeping it simple for this post, I have given the Oracle VM a static IP address (192.168.1.88). The machine on which I am hosting VirtualBox uses DHCP to obtain an IP address on the same local wireless network.

For the VM’s VirtualBox networking mode, I have chosen the ‘Bridged Adapter‘ mode. Using this mode, any machine on the network can access the VM through the host machine, via the VM’s IP address. One of the best posts I have read on VM networking is on Oracle’s The Fat Bloke Sings blog, here.

Setting Static IP Address for VM

Using VirtualBox’s Bridged Adapter Networking Mode

Creating New WLS Domain

A domain, according Oracle, is ‘the basic administrative unit of WebLogic Server. It consists of one or more WebLogic Server instances, and logically related resources and services that are managed, collectively, as one unit.’ Although the Oracle Development VM comes with pre-existing domains, we will create our own for this post.

To create the new domain, we will use the Oracle’s Fusion Middleware Configuration Wizard. The Wizard will take you through a step-by-step process to configure your new domain. To start the wizard, from within the Oracle VM, open a terminal window, and use the following command to switch to the Wizard’s home directory and start the application.

/labs/wls1211/wlserver_12.1/common/bin/config.sh

There are a lot of configuration options available, using the Wizard. I have selected some basic settings, shown below, to configure the new domain. Feel free to change the settings as you step through the Wizard, to meet your own needs. Make sure to use the ‘Development Mode’ Start Mode Option for this post. Also, make sure to note the admin port of the domain, the domain’s location, and the username and password you choose.

Creating the New Domain

Starting the Domain

To start the new domain, open a terminal window in the VM and run the following command to change to the root directory of the new domain and start the WLS domain instance. Your domain path and domain name may be different. The start script command will bring up a new terminal window, showing you the domain starting.

/labs/wls1211/user_projects/domains/blogdev_domain/startWebLogic.sh

New WLS Domain Starting

WLS Administration Console

Once the domain starts, test it by opening a web browser from the host machine and entering the URL of the WLS Administration Console. If your networking is set-up correctly, the host machine will able to connect to the VM and open the domain, running on the port you indicated when creating the domain, on the static IP address of the VM. If your IP address and port are different, make sure to change the URL. To log into WLS Administration Console, use the username and password you chose when you created the domain.

http://192.168.1.88:7031/console/login/LoginForm.jsp

Logging into the New WLS Domain

Before we start looking around the new domain however, let’s install an application into it.

Sample Java Application

If you have an existing application you want to install, you can skip this part. If you don’t, we will quickly create a simple Java EE Hello World web application, using a pre-existing sample project in NetBeans – no coding required. From your development machine, create a new Samples -> Web Services -> REST: Hello World (Java EE 6) Project. You now have a web project containing a simple RESTful web service, Servlet, and Java Server Page (.jsp). Build the project in NetBeans. We will upload the resulting .war file manually, in the next step.

In a previous post, Automated Deployment to GlassFish Using Jenkins CI Server and Apache Ant, we used the same sample web application to demonstrate automated deployments to Oracle’s GlassFish application server.

Creating the Sample Java EE 6 Web Application in NetBeans

Naming the New Project

New Project in NetBeans

Hello World WAR File After Building Project

Deploying the Application

There are several methods to deploy applications to WLS, depending on your development workflow. For this post, we will keep it simple. We will manually deploy our web application’s .war file to WLS using the browser-based WLS Administration Console. In a future post, we will use Hudson, also included on the VM, to build and deploy an application, but for now we will do it ourselves.

To deploy the application, switch back to the WLS Administration Console. Following the screen grabs below, you will select the .war file, built from the above web application, and upload it to the Oracle VM’s new WLS domain. The .war file has all the necessary files, including the RESTful web service, Servlet, and the .jsp page. Make sure to deploy it as an ‘application’ as opposed to a ‘library’ (see ‘target style’ configuration screen, below).

Select the Deployment Tab Lists All Deployed Applications

Select Install to Start the Installation Process

Select Next then Browse for .war File

Select Next Again to Install the Application

Install the Deployment as an Application

The Default Settings Are Fine for Application

Select Finish to Complete the Installation

The Overview Tab Reviews the Installed Application’s Configuration

Switch Back to the Deployments Tab to See the Installed Application

Click on the Application and Select the Testing Tab

Accessing the Application

Now that we have deployed the Hello World application, we will access it from our browser. From any machine on the same network, point a browser to the following URL. Adjust your URL if your VM’s IP address and domain’s port is different.

http://192.168.1.88:7031/HelloWebLogicServer/resources/helloWorld

Hello World Application Running from WLS Domain

The Hello World RESTful web service’s Web Application Description Language (WADL) description can be viewed at:

http://192.168.1.88:7031/HelloWebLogicServer/resources/application.wadl

RESTful Web Service’s WADL

Since the Oracle VM is accessible from anywhere on the network, the deployed application is also accessible from any device on the network, as demonstrated below.

Hello World Application Running from WLS Domain on iPhone

Conclusion

This was a simple demonstration of deploying an application to WebLogic Server on Oracle’s Pre-Built Enterprise Java Development VM. WebLogic Server is a powerful, feature-rich Java application server. Once you understand how to configure and administer WLS, you can deploy more complex applications. In future posts we will show a more common, slightly more complex example of automated deployment from Hudson. In addition, we will show how to create a datasource in WLS and access it from the deployed application, to talk to a relational database.

Helpful Links

• Oracle Web Logic
• Oracle Fusion Middleware Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard
• Introduction to Domains
• Virtual Networking
• The Fat Bloke Sings