Web Services

 

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Overview

Web services are a type of service that can be shared by and used as components of distributed Web-based applications. They commonly interface with existing back-end applications, such as customer relationship management systems, order-processing systems, and so on.

Typically, WebLogic Web services are assembled, packaged, and deployed as Enterprise Application EAR files that contain a special Web application WAR file (that contains an additional Web service-specific deployment descriptor file, web-services.xml) along with an optional EJB JAR file that contains the stateless session EJBs that implement the Web service. The servicegen Ant task, the standard way of assembling a WebLogic Web service, assembles all Web services as EAR files.

You can, however, also package a Web service as just a Web application WAR file if your Web service is implemented with a Java class.

Note: The Administration Console uses the icon to indicate the special Web application WAR file that contains the additional Web service-specific deployment descriptor file web-services.xml.

The following procedures show how to deploy and configure Web services that are packaged either as EAR files or as WAR files.

For additional information about Web services, see Programming WebLogic Web Services.

 

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Tasks

Configuring and Deploying a New Web Service

Web services can be packaged as Enterprise Application EAR files (most typically) or as Web application WAR files. The following two procedures describe how to configure and deploy a Web service, depending on how you have packaged it.

Web Service is Packaged as an Enterprise Application File (EAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Right-click Applications, and select Configure a New Application.
4. Using the assistant, locate the Web service EAR file you would like to configure for use with WebLogic Server. You can also configure an "exploded" application or component directory. Note that WebLogic Server will deploy all components it finds in and below the specified directory.
5. When you have located the archive file to configure, click Target Application.
6. If you have more than one server or cluster in your domain, select the one on which you want to deploy your new Web service and click Continue. If you have just one server in your domain, go to the next step.
7. Enter a name for the Web service in the Name field.

   If you have more than one server or cluster in your domain, click whether you want to copy the file to each server.

8. Click Deploy. The Console will display the Deploy panel, which lists deployment status and deployment activities for the Web service.
9. Using the available tabs, enter the following information:
   • Configuration—Define the general configuration of this Web service.
   • Targets—Define the servers or clusters on which you would like to deploy all of the modules in this Web service.
   • Deploy—View the deployment status of each module in Web service, and to undeploy or redeploy individual modules.
   • Notes—Include any additional information that describes the configuration of this Web service.
10. Click Apply.

Web Service is Packaged as a Web Application File (WAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Right-click Web Application Modules, and select Configure a New WebAppComponent.
4. Locate the WAR file you would like to configure using the assistant.
5. When you have located the WAR file, click Target Module.
6. If you have more than one server or cluster in your domain, select the one on which you want to deploy your new Web service and click Continue. If you have just one server in your domain, go to the next step.
7. Enter a name for the Web service in the Name field.

   If you have more than one server or cluster in your domain, click whether you want to copy the file to each server.

8. Click Deploy. The Console will display the Deploy panel, which lists deployment status and deployment activities for the Web Service.
9. Using the available tabs, enter the following information:
   • Configuration—Define the general configuration of this Web service.
   • Targets—Select the independent servers, clusters, or virtual hosts on which you would like to deploy the Web service at server startup time.
   • Deploy—View the deployment status of this Web service module, and undeploy, deploy, or redeploy the Web service.
   • Monitoring—Use this tab to monitor the Web services that are currently active.
   • Testing—Use this tab to invoke the Web Service Home Page and test it.
   • Notes—Include any additional information that describes the configuration of this Web service.
10. Click Apply to apply all relevant changes.

Viewing Deployed Web Services

Web services can be packaged as Enterprise Application EAR files (most typically) or as Web application WAR files. The following two procedures describe how to view deployed Web services, depending on how you have packaged them.

Web Service is Packaged as an Enterprise Application File (EAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Open the Applications folder.
4. Click the deployed applications until you find one that includes a Web service WAR file component, indicated with the icon.

Web Service is Packaged as a Web Application File (WAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Open the Web Application Modules folder. The deployed Web services are indicated with the icon.

Undeploying Deployed Web Services

Web services can be packaged as Enterprise Application EAR files (most typically) or as Web application WAR files. The following two procedures describe how to undeploy a deployed Web service, depending on how you have packaged it.

Web Service is Packaged as an Enterprise Application File (EAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Click Applications.
4. In the displayed table, click the name of the Web Service you want to undeploy.
5. Select the Deploy tab.
6. Click Undeploy All.

Web Service is Packaged as a Web Application File (WAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Click Web Application Modules.
4. In the displayed table, click the name of the Web Service you want to undeploy.
5. Select the Deploy tab.
6. Click Undeploy.

Deleting a Web Service

Web services can be packaged as Enterprise Application EAR files (most typically) or as Web application WAR files. The following two procedures describe how to delete a Web service, depending on how you have packaged it.

Web Service is Packaged as an Enterprise Application File (EAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Click Applications. A table is displayed in the right pane of the Console showing all the deployed applications.
4. In this table, locate the Web service, packaged as an Enterprise Application, that you want to delete.
5. Click the Garbage Can icon to the right of the file.
6. Click Yes to confirm your decision.
7. Click Continue to return to the previous screen.

Web Service is Packaged as a Web Application File (WAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Click Web Applications Modules. A table is displayed in the right pane of the Console showing all the deployed Web applications and Web services.
4. In this table, locate the Web service that you want to delete.
5. Click the Garbage Can icon to the right of the file.
6. Click Yes to confirm your decision.
7. Click Continue to return to the previous screen.

Viewing Web Service Deployment Descriptors

Web services can be packaged as Enterprise Application EAR files (most typically) or as Web application WAR files. The following two procedures describe how to view (in read-only mode) the web-services.xml deployment descriptor file of a Web service, depending on how you have packaged it.

Web Service is Packaged as an Enterprise Application File (EAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Open the Applications folder.
4. Click the Web service, packaged as an EAR file, for which you want to view the web-services.xml deployment descriptor file.
5. Under the Web service EAR file, click the WAR file that contains the web-services.xml file, indicated with the icon.
6. In the right pane, select the Configuration tab.
7. Under the Configuration tab, select the Descriptor tab.
8. Under the View Descriptors section at the bottom of the right pane, click the web-services.xml link. You can also view the web.xml and weblogic.xml Web application deployment descriptors by clicking on the corresponding link.

Web Service is Packaged as a Web Application File (EAR)

1. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select the Domain in which you will be working.
2. Open the Deployments folder.
3. Open the Web Applications Modules folder.
4. Click the Web service for which you want to view the web-services.xml deployment descriptor file. Web services are indicated with the icon.
5. In the right pane, select the Configuration tab.
6. Under the Configuration tab, select the Descriptor tab.
7. Under the View Descriptors section at the bottom of the right pane, click the web-services.xml link. You can also view the web.xml and weblogic.xml Web application deployment descriptors by clicking on the corresponding link.

Configuring Web Service Reliable Messaging

Reliable messaging is a framework whereby an application running in one WebLogic Server instance can asynchronously and reliably invoke a Web service running on another WebLogic Server instance.

Reliable messaging works only between two WebLogic Servers. One WebLogic Server, called the sender, has an application that asynchronously invokes a Web service running on a different WebLogic Server, called the receiver, by sending it a SOAP message that has reliable messaging information in the SOAP header. Due to the asynchronous nature of the invoke, the sender does not immediately know whether the message has been received, but it has the guarantee that the message has been persisted in the receiver's local store. The sender can then either poll the receiver for a result, or register a callback to be notified when the result is available. Eventually, either the sender receives a result, or it receives notification that the message was not delivered. The sender can then decide whether to resend the message.

You can configure the current WebLogic Server as both a sender and a receiver of reliable messages, as described in the following two sections:

• Configuring the Sender WebLogic Server
• Configuring the Receiver WebLogic Server

Configuring the Sender WebLogic Server

This section describes how to configure default reliable messaging attributes for a WebLogic Server instance in its role as a sender of a reliable message.

1. Click the Servers node in the left pane.
2. Select the WebLogic Server for which you want to configure reliable messaging in its role as a sender.
3. In the right pane, select the Services tab.
4. Select the Web Services tab.
5. Select the JMS store from the Store drop-down list that will contain WebLogic Server's reliable messages when acting as a sender.

   You must first create a JMS store before it appears in the drop-down list. For details, seeJMS File Store Tasks and JMS JDBC Store Tasks.

6. Enter the default maximum number of times the sender WebLogic Server should attempt to resend a message in the Default Retry Count field.
7. Enter the default minimum number of seconds that the sender WebLogic Server should wait between retries in the Default Retry Interval field.
8. Enter the default minimum number of seconds that the receiver of the reliable message should persist its message in the receiver's persistent JMS store in the Default Time to Live field

   Warning: Do not set this value larger than the corresponding value of any Web service operation being invoked reliably. This value is configured in the Web service's web-services.xml file, in particular the persist-duration attribute of the <reliable-delivery> subelement of the invoked <operation>.

9. Click Apply.

Configuring the Receiver WebLogic Server

This section describes how to configure default reliable messaging attributes for a WebLogic Server instance in its role as a receiver of a reliable message.

1. Click the Servers node in the left pane.
2. Select the WebLogic Server for which you want to configure reliable messaging in its role as a receiver.
3. In the right pane, select the Services tab.
4. Select the Web Services tab.
5. Select the JMS store from the Store drop-down list that will contain WebLogic Server's reliable messages when acting as a receiver.

   You must first create a JMS store before it appears in the drop-down list. For details, see JMS File Store Tasks and JMS JDBC Store Tasks.

6. Enter the default minimum number of seconds that the receiver of the reliable message should persist its message in the receiver's persistent JMS store in the Default Time to Live field.

   Note: Each Web service operation can override this default value by setting the persist-duration of the <reliable-delivery> sublement of the corresponding <operation> element.

7. Click Apply.