16 Setting Up the MWaaS Self Service Portal

This chapter describes the procedure to set up and enable the Middleware Self Service Portal. It contains the following sections:

• Setting Up the MWaaS Self Service Portal

• Creating a Middleware Pool

• Configuring Request Settings

• Setting Up Quotas

• Creating a Service Template

• Configuring Chargeback

Setting Up the MWaaS Self Service Portal

The EM_SSA_ADMINISTRATOR can configure and set up the middleware self service portal by creating middleware pools, quotas, request settings, and service templates. To set up the MWaaS Self Service Portal, follow these steps:

1. Follow the steps in Enabling Middleware as a Service to enable MWaaS.

2. Set up one or more PaaS Infrastructure zones. See Creating a PaaS Infrastructure Zone for details.

3. Create a middleware pool. See Creating a Middleware Pool.

4. Configure request settings. See Configuring Request Settings.

5. Define quotas for each self service user. See Setting Up Quotas.

6. Create service templates. See Creating a Service Template.

7. Configure the Chargeback Service. See Configuring Chargeback

8. While requesting a service instance, select the service template you have created. See Requesting a Middleware Service.

Creating a Middleware Pool

A middleware pool contains a set of resources that can be used to provision a service instance within a PaaS Infrastructure Zone. To create a middleware pool, follow these steps:

1. Log in to Enterprise Manager as a user with the EM_SSA_ADMINISTRATOR role.

2. From the Setup menu, select Cloud, then select Middleware. The Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup page appears.

3. Click Middleware Pools. The existing middleware pools are listed on the Middleware Pools page.

   Figure 16-1 Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup: Middleware Pools

   
   

4. Click Create. The Create Software Pool: General page appears. Enter a name and description for the middleware pool.

5. Specify the placement policy constraints. These constraints are used to set maximum limits on resource utilization for each host. In the Maximum Number of Java Servers (per host) field, enter the maximum number of WebLogic Server instances that can be running on each host in the pool.

   Figure 16-2 Create Software Pool: General

   
   

6. Click Next. The Create Middleware Pool: Targets page appears. In this page, you can add one or more Oracle homes to the middleware pool being created.

   1. In the Zone Name drop box, select the PaaS Infrastructure Zone in which the middleware pool is to be created. See Creating a PaaS Infrastructure Zone for details.

   2. Specify the Version of the Oracle home being added to the middleware pool.

   3. Click Add and select the Oracle Home to be added to the middleware pool. Click Submit to create a software pool.

      Note:

      You must select only one ORACLE_HOME from a host being added to the middleware pool. The ORACLE_HOME must be of the same platform and version you have selected earlier.

      The newly created pool will appear in the Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup: Middleware Pools page. The middleware pool can now be added to the Service Template.

Configuring Request Settings

You can configure the request settings by specifying when a request can be made, its duration, and so on. To configure the request settings, follow these steps:

1. Log into Enterprise Manager as a user with the EM_SSA_ADMINISTRATOR role.

2. From the Setup menu, select Cloud, then select Middleware. The Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup page appears.

3. Click the Request Settings tab. Specify the following and click Apply.

   • Future Reservation: How far in advance can a request be made.

   • Request Archive Retention: Period for which archived requests are stored before they are automatically deleted by the system.

   • Request Duration: Maximum duration for which requests can be made.

Setting Up Quotas

Quota is the aggregate amount of resources that can be granted to each self service user belonging to a certain role. This quota applies only to the service instances provisioned through the Middleware Self Service Portal. To define a quota, follow these steps:

1. Log into Enterprise Manager as a user with the EM_SSA_ADMINISTRATOR role.

2. From the Setup menu, select Cloud, then select Middleware. The Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup page appears.

3. Click Quotas. Quota is the aggregate amount of resources that can be granted to each self service user belonging to a certain role. This quota applies only to the service instances provisioned through the Middleware Self Service Portal.

   Figure 16-3 Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup: Quotas

   
   

4. Click Create. In the Create New Quota window, select the Role Name for which the quota is to be granted. Specify the quota limits for the role as follows:

   • Memory: The maximum memory that can assigned to the instances owned by a specific user.

   • Application Servers: The number of Application Servers that can be owned by a user at any point in time.

   Note:

   Only roles that have the EM_SSA_USER privileges are displayed in the Select Roles dialog box.

Creating a Service Template

A service template can be used to provision an instance of a serve into a set of selected PaaS Infrastructure zones. To create a service template, follow these steps:

1. Log into Enterprise Manager as a user with the EM_SSA_ADMINISTRATOR role.

2. From the Setup menu, select Cloud, then select Middleware. The Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup page appears.

3. Click the Service Templates tab. You can create service templates that can be used to provision an instance of a service in a set of selected zones.

4. Click Create to launch the Create New Service Template wizard. The Create Service Template: Name page appears.

   Figure 16-4 Create Service Template: General

   
   

5. Enter a name and description for the service template. The description must be unique and provide information on the type of service template being created.

6. Click the Search icon next to the Deployment Procedure field and select a Configured Middleware Provisioning deployment procedure that specifies the configuration of the WebLogic Domain. The configured deployment procedure can contain only one cluster with one WebLogic Server. You can scaleup or scale down by adding or deleting WebLogic servers to this cluster. Click Next.

   Note:

   Before you create a service template, you must have saved a copy of the Configure Middleware Provisioning Deployment Procedure with appropriate values.

7. The Create New Service Template: Configuration page appears. Enter the following details:

   • WebLogic Username: Enter a value of minimum 8 characters as the name of the user logging into the WebLogic server. This is a mandatory field.

   • WebLogic Password: Enter a value of minimum 8 characters as the password for the WebLogic server user. This is a mandatory field.

   • Port Range Start - End: Enter the port range for the WebLogic Server.

   • Expected Memory Consumption: Specify the memory required for each additional WebLogic Server instance.

     This parameter must be specified (cannot be left blank) and the value must match the -Xmx value specified in the profile. For example, if the profile specifies -Xmx512m, the memory required value must be set to 0.5. Similarly, a profile value of -Xmx1024m would need a memory required value of 1, and so on. Refer to the Note in Creating Provisioning Profiles for more details.

   • Expected CPU Consumption: Specify the CPU required for each additional WebLogic Server instance.

   • Prescript and Postscript for Service Instance Creation: Select the script that is to be executed before and after a service instance has been created.

   • Prescript and Postscript for Service Instance Deletion: Select the script that is to be executed before and after a service instance has been deleted.

     The scripts must meet the following guidelines:

     • Directive that is created should be a PERL directive.

     • An input parameter named INPUT_FILE_LOCATION must be defined.

     • The path to the location of a property file is specified in the INPUT_FILE_LOCATION.

     • The property file contains information about the service instance and the domain.

   • Hosts for Executing Scripts: Specify one or more target hosts on which the scripts will be executed.

   • Named Credential for execution of scripts: Specify the named credentials for the hosts.

     Note:

     The user creating the service template must be owner of the Named Credential.

   • Execution of Scripts on Admin Server Host: Enter 1 if the scripts are to be executed on the Administration Server.

8. Click Next. The Create New Service Template: PaaS Infrastructure Zones page appears.

   Figure 16-5 Create Service Template: PaaS Infrastructure Zones

   
   

9. Click Add to select the zones into which that the service instances can be provisioned.

10. Click the Search icon in the Software Pool field and select a Middleware Pool from the list.

    Note:

    The Middleware Pool that you select must contain Oracle homes with the same WebLogic Server version as specified in the Configure Deployment Procedure you have selected in the Create Service Template: Name page.

11. Click Next. In the Create Service Template: Roles page, click Add to select the SSA user roles to which this service template will be available. All users belonging to the selected role can use this service template.

12. Click Submit. The newly created service template will appear in the Middleware Cloud Self Service Portal Setup: Service Templates page. You can click on the Service Template Name link to view additional details.

    To edit an existing MWaaS service template, follow these steps:

    1. Click Edit in the Service templates page to launch to the Edit Service Template wizard.

    2. In this mode, you can modify the description, user name, password, and port range of the WebLogic Server instance being provisioned, add or remove PaaS Infrastructure Zones, Software Pools into which the template is being deployed, and add or remove users who can use this template.

Configuring Chargeback

Click the Chargeback tab to add the middleware pools to the Chargeback Application. On this page, you can determine chargeback zones, services, items, and prices. After the Chargeback is set up, you can view charges and plan details. For more details on setting up the Chargeback Service, see Chapter 22, "Chargeback Administration".

Sample Scenario

A PaaS Infrastructure Zone is a group of homogeneous resources such as hosts, or other targets. Each resource in a zone represents a location at which a service instance is to be deployed. Before you enable or setup MWaaS, you must create a PaaS Infrastructure Zone which allows you to define the placement policy constraints for a specified set of targets and the users to whom this zone will be available. You can set up a zone which contains targets in different locations such as the West Coast, East Coast, and so on.

To set up the portal for the west coast zone, follow these steps:

1. Create a PaaS Infrastructure Zone named west coast zone by following the instructions in Creating a PaaS Infrastructure Zone.

2. After the zone has been created, you must create the middleware pool. The middleware pool is a set of resources used to provision a service instance for a zone.

   Create a middleware pool (west coast pool) and add one or more targets (WebLogic Oracle Homes).

3. Associate the west coast pool with the west coast zone.

4. Create a service template and associate the west coast zone and the west coast pool. The service template is then made available to one or more SSA users who can then request services, create data sources, deploy, redeploy services, and so on.