29 August 2013

WebLogic Server 12.1.2 - Schema Files

The XSD files for WebLogic Server 12.1.2 are located from this landing page:

http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/weblogic/index.html

Or directly on the 12.1.2 specific page:

http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/weblogic/wls_12.1.2.0.html

23 August 2013

WebLogic Server 12.1.2 - Zip File Updates

I love the zip file distribution.  It's the flavour of WLS I mostly use.  Unzip, configure, go.  Delete it to remove it, start all over again.  Install it from a Maven goal.  Easy.
Small point to note is that the zip file distribution has been pulled down from OTN for the last couple of days (20 Aug 2013) while we fix a minor problem relating to the launching of the Configuration Wizard in this specific distribution.  Should be back up today or tomorrow (23 Aug 2013).
With the release of WLS 12.1.2 now available and getting some decent download traction, I thought I'd make a few comments about the zip file distribution as it has some minor changes in this version:
  1. It now contains an outer level directory wls12120, in which the zip file contents are stored.  Previously the contents were stored in an outer level directory.
  2. The configure.sh|cmd script now has an option to run in "silent" mode, where the progress of the configuration process is not displayed to the console.

  3. At the end of the configuration process you are now asked if you'd like to create a domain.  If the answer is yes, the relevant details are asked for and a new domain created and started.  This enables you to configure and start up a server from the one simple script.    
 The process of using the zip file distribution is shown below.

[sbutton@mbp] $ unzip ~/Downloads/WLS/1212/PROD/wls1212_dev.zip

Archive:  /Users/sbutton/Downloads/WLS/1212/PROD/wls1212_dev.zip
   creating: wls12120/
   creating: wls12120/coherence/
   creating: wls12120/coherence/bin/
   creating: wls12120/coherence/lib/
   creating: wls12120/coherence/lib/security/
   creating: wls12120/coherence/plugins/
   creating: wls12120/coherence/plugins/maven/
   ...

   ...
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/clonedunpack.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/commEnv.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/config.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/config_builder.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/pack.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/prepareCustomProvider.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/qs_config.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/reconfig.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/unpack.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/wlsifconfig.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/wlst.cmd 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/deployable-libraries/active-cache-1.0.jar.pack 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/deployable-libraries/jsf-1.2.war 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/deployable-libraries/jsf-2.0.war 
  ...

  ...
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/common/bin/wlst.sh 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/server/bin/setWLSEnv.sh 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/server/bin/startNodeManager.sh 
  inflating: wls12120/wlserver/server/lib/unix/nodemanager.sh 
 

[sbutton@mbp]  $ cd wls12120

[sbutton@mbp]  $ ./configure.sh

**************************************************
WebLogic Server 12g (12.1.2.0) Zip Configuration

MW_HOME:   /tmp/wls12120
JAVA_HOME: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/jdk1.7.0_17.jdk/Contents/Home

Note:      MW_HOME not supplied, default used
**************************************************
...

...
...
...Unpacking done                                           0 to go

Your environment has been set.
Configuring WLS...

BUILD SUCCESSFUL
Total time: 1 second

Do you want to configure a new domain?  [y/n]? Y


<21/08/2013 12:05:41 PM CST> <Info> <Security> <BEA-090905> <Disabling the CryptoJ JCE Provider self-integrity check for better startup performance. To enable this check, specify -Dweblogic.security.allowCryptoJDefaultJCEVerification=true.>
<21/08/2013 12:05:41 PM CST> <Info> <Security> <BEA-090906> <Changing the default Random Number Generator in RSA CryptoJ from ECDRBG to FIPS186PRNG. To disable this change, specify -Dweblogic.security.allowCryptoJDefaultPRNG=true.>
<21/08/2013 12:05:42 PM CST> <Info> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000377> <Starting WebLogic Server with Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM Version 23.7-b01 from Oracle Corporation.>
<21/08/2013 12:05:42 PM CST> <Info> <Management> <BEA-140013> </private/tmp/wls12120/user_projects/domains/mydomain/config not found>
<21/08/2013 12:05:42 PM CST> <Info> <Security> <BEA-090065> <Getting boot identity from user.>
 

Enter username to boot WebLogic server:weblogic   
Enter password to boot WebLogic server: ********

For confirmation, please re-enter password required to boot WebLogic server: ******** 
<21/08/2013 12:05:49 PM CST> <Info> <Management> <BEA-141254> <Generating new domain directory in /private/tmp/wls12120/user_projects/domains/mydomain.>
<21/08/2013 12:05:57 PM CST> <Info> <Management> <BEA-141255> <Domain generation completed in 8,737 milliseconds.>
<21/08/2013 12:05:57 PM CST> <Info> <Management> <BEA-141107> <Version: WebLogic Server 12.1.2.0.0  Fri Jun 7 15:16:15 PDT 2013 1530982 WLS_12.1.2.0.0_GENERIC_130607.1100>
<21/08/2013 12:05:59 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365> <Server state changed to STARTING.>
<21/08/2013 12:05:59 PM CST> <Info> <WorkManager> <BEA-002900> <Initializing self-tuning thread pool.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:05:59 PM CST> <Notice> <Log Management> <BEA-170019> <The server log file /private/tmp/wls12120/user_projects/domains/mydomain/servers/myserver/logs/myserver.log is opened. All server side log events will be written to this file.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:02 PM CST> <Notice> <Security> <BEA-090082> <Security initializing using security realm myrealm.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:02 PM CST> <Warning> <Store> <BEA-280109> <Unable to load the native wlfileio library for the persistent file store "_WLS_myserver". The store will use buffered I/O. The store is still operating in a transactionally safe synchronous mode. See store open log messages for the requested and final write policies.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365> <Server state changed to STANDBY.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365> <Server state changed to STARTING.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <Log Management> <BEA-170027> <The server has successfully established a connection with the Domain level Diagnostic Service.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365> <Server state changed to ADMIN.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365> <Server state changed to RESUMING.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <Server> <BEA-002613> <Channel "Default[1]" is now listening on fdfa:13b7:e006:7177:196:ad1b:8c13:ef38:7001 for protocols iiop, t3, ldap, snmp, http.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <Server> <BEA-002613> <Channel "Default" is now listening on 10.187.112.164:7001 for protocols iiop, t3, ldap, snmp, http.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <Server> <BEA-002613> <Channel "Default[3]" is now listening on 127.0.0.1:7001 for protocols iiop, t3, ldap, snmp, http.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <Server> <BEA-002613> <Channel "Default[2]" is now listening on 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1:7001 for protocols iiop, t3, ldap, snmp, http.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000331> <Started the WebLogic Server Administration Server "myserver" for domain "mydomain" running in development mode.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Warning> <Server> <BEA-002611> <The hostname "localhost", maps to multiple IP addresses: 127.0.0.1, 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1, fe80:0:0:0:0:0:0:1%1.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365> <Server state changed to RUNNING.>
<Aug 21, 2013 12:06:05 PM CST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000360> <The server started in RUNNING mode.>



 At this point there is now a new domain called "mydomain" running and available on the default WLS port of 7001 protected with the credentials specified during the configuration process.

This process can be used immediately, or it can be stopped using any of the standard process control methods and restarted using the scripts in the generated domain directory, per the following:

Generating new domain directory in /private/tmp/wls12120/user_projects/domains/mydomain

As a final point, the zip file can be installed into a Maven repository using whatever coordinates you wish, then referenced and used with the weblogic-maven-plugin install goal to perform a local installation operation of the server.

Combined with the subsequent execution of the weblogic-maven-plugin create-domain and start-server goals, a fully operational server can be created from Maven in a short matter of time, ready and waiting to accept application deployments.







20 August 2013

WLS 10.3.6 Transaction Logs in Database

Was talking to one of our local partners yesterday who's in the middle of an infrastructure build for FMW using a 3rd party cloud provider.  He mentioned he was looking at how to handle the JTA transaction logs for their HA requirements without being able to rely on shared storage being available.

I mentioned that we'd added support for storing the XA logs in the database in WLS 10.3.6, which should make both his initial setup, replication and recovery processes more straight forward.
 
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23943_01/web.1111/e13852/toc.htm#BGGHGHBC

JTA

You can configure a JDBC TLOG store to persist transaction logs to a database, which allows you to leverage replication and HA characteristics of the underlying database, simplify disaster recovery, and improve Transaction Recovery service migration. See "Using a JDBC TLog Store" in Configuring Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.


WebLogic Server 12c (12.1.2) Documentation

The WebLogic Server documentation set has undergone a nice facelift in the 12c (12.1.2) release. 

http://fmwdocs.us.oracle.com/vol/doclibs/middleware/production/E26099_01/wls/index.html

I find the breakdown sections generally quite useful to quickly locate the information I'm looking for, but I still regularly go directly to a specific book as a reference.

The entire book set is available here:

http://fmwdocs.us.oracle.com/vol/doclibs/middleware/production/E26099_01/wls/docs.htm

I also think the provision of the new mobi and epub formats is incredibly useful, allowing you to pull down a set of books onto a mobile device.   I flew to Melbourne yesterday and was able to read over a set of docs on the plane that I'd pulled onto my iPad before I left.

I've been wondering if it'd be possible to provide some sort of library/multi-book selection option to allow multiple book selections to be made at once and have them downloaded as a library that can be pushed to a mobile device?  I've not looked into it, but I think it'd be a nice usability feature.  Does iBooks have any APIs that could support that?  Will need to look int it at some point.