This chapter covers the initial configuration required to set up and enable a Middleware as a Service Cloud which includes WebLogic as a Service, SOA as a Service, and OSB as a Service. It contains the following sections:
The Oracle Middleware as a Service (MWaaS) service family includes the following:
WebLogic as a Service (WLaaS)
SOA as a Service (SOaaS)
Service Bus as a Service (SBaaS)
Java Application Service (JVMaaS)
Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c offers a single management tool for creating, monitoring and managing a private MWaaS environment. MWaaS delivers a complete runtime environment comprised of all services necessary to deploy and run an enterprise-class application, including services such as application hosting, persistence store, application integration and APIs that enable programmatic access to additional computing services that might be required by an application. MWaaS facilitates deployment of applications without requiring the developer to deal with the complexity of underlying hardware and software components, thereby achieving cheaper and faster time-to-delivery.
Middleware as a Service provides:
A shared, consolidated platform on which middleware services can be provisioned.
A self service model for deploying and managing applications.
Seamless integration with other services such as a Database as a Service (DBaaS) and Java Diagnostics as a Service (JDaaS).
Ability to scale up and scale down resources manually and based on policies.
Metering and Chargeback based on platform usage and the underlying infrastructure.
The following enhancements have been made in this release:
A single consolidated script to perform create, delete, scale up, and scale down operations can be executed on the hosts on which the Administration Server and Managed Servers are running, and on external hosts.
By default, the Domain Home Base Directory was created under the Middleware Home. The location of this directory can now be changed either by the self service administrator or the self service user.
The self service administrator must specify a different location while creating the middleware pool.
If the Advanced Settings option is enabled, the self service user can specify the Domain Home Base directory for each instance.
Note:
The directory location specified by the self service user takes precedence over the location specified by the self service administrator.Placement Enhancements:
Rack Aware Exalogic Placement: If the middleware pool contains Exalogic host targets, the self service administrator can set the Exalogic with Multiple Racks field to Yes to ensure that servers from the same instance are distributed among available racks to ensure high availability.
Load Distribution Among Hosts: The self service administrator can set the Distribute Load on Available Hosts field to Yes to spread the server allocation among available hosts or set it to No to use the first available host fully before moving on to the next host.
The self service administrator can choose to enable Advanced Settings option to the self service user. If these settings are enabled, the self service user can specify custom parameters such as instance base directory, JVM parameters, and so on.
While creating a service instance, the self service user can now specify the minimum number of servers that must be maintained during the scale down operation.
WebLogic Server 12.1.2 and 12.1.3 JRF profiles are now supported.
Custom certificates are now supported. New profiles containing these certificates must be created. These certificates must be placed in the same location with same name on all the hosts in the middleware pool or placed in a NFS mounted location that is accessible to all the hosts in the middleware pool.
Middleware pools can now contain member hosts without Oracle Homes when used in combination with Middleware Profiles with binaries. In this case, Oracle Homes will be created on the fly.
This section helps you get started by providing a list of steps that must be performed to get started in setting a private middleware cloud. Before you set up MWaaS, you must have completed the common tasks listed in Section 11.2, "Common Setup Tasks".
Table 13-1 Getting Started with Middleware as a Service
| Step | Task | Role |
|---|---|---|
|
1 |
You may need to configure Privilege Delegation Settings on your managed hosts. See Section 3.5, "Configuring Privilege Delegation Settings". Note: This is an optional step. |
Super Administrator |
|
2 |
Creating a Middleware Home. See Section 13.3.2, "Provisioning a Middleware Home". Note: This is an optional step. It is required only if a shared middleware home (NFS location) is used. If middleware home is local, it is provisioned by the deployment procedure used to create SOA or Service Bus service. |
Self Service Administrator |
|
3 |
Load Middleware Provisioning Profiles into the Software Library. See Section 13.3.1, "Creating Provisioning Profiles". |
Self Service Administrator |
|
4 |
If you are setting up WebLogic as a Service (WLaaS), you must create a WebLogic Domain Provisioning Profile. See Section 13.3.1.1, "Creating a WebLogic Domain Provisioning Profile". |
Self Service Administrator |
Provisioning profiles can be used to standardize deployments and help reduce errors when deployment procedures are configured. These provisioning profiles are used by operators for mass deployment. You can create a Middleware Provisioning Profile from a domain by using the Software Library. See Section 13.3.1.1, "Creating a WebLogic Domain Provisioning Profile" for details.
A WebLogic Domain Provisioning Profile consists of the Middleware Home, binaries, and the domain configuration. You can create a profile, save it in the Software Library, and then use the saved profile as the source for creating new WebLogic domains. This will ensure that future WebLogic installations follow a standard, consistent configuration.
Before you create a WebLogic Domain Provisioning profile, ensure that the following prerequisites are met:
The Management Agent must be running on the Administration Server.
You must have the host credentials for the Administration Server running on the source machine.
The WebLogic Domain for which the profile is being created must be a monitored target in Enterprise Manager.
The disk space required to create a profile is calculated as follows:
Disk Space = Middleware Home Size + WebLogic Domain Size + Space for Temporary Scripts
If Log Viewing support is required on the service instance, the self service administrator must do the following:
Configure the host credentials required for querying the log files. From the Target menu, select Logs, then select Configure Log Location Settings to access the corresponding WebLogic domain target page and configure the credentials.
Grant privileges to the self service user to access the host credentials specified in the Configure Log Location Settings page.
Provide the view target privilege to the self service user to all the host targets associated with this WebLogic domain.
If Fusion Middleware console access support is required, you must configure the WebLogic domain through Fusion Middleware Control. This ensures that the Fusion Middleware Control link is displayed in the Service Instance Home page in the Middleware Self Service Portal. See Section 28.3, "Viewing the Middleware Service Home Page".
The WebLogic Domain that is used to create a profile must meet the following requirements:
The machine associated with the WebLogic Server must not be of Unix type.
The Administration Server must not be associated with a machine.
The Administration Server must be present on the same host as one of the Managed servers.
The maximum Java heap size of all the servers must have an appropriate -Xmx setting in multiples of 256. For example, Xms1024m -Xmx1536m -XX:PermSize=512m -XX:MaxPermSize=1536m and so on. You must define the -Xmx server setting to ensure that the MWaaS memory metric and quota checking feature works properly. The value of the memory metric for a MWaaS service is the sum of the maximum heap available for all servers in the service.
For detailed instructions on how to create a WebLogic Domain Provisioning profile, see the Enterprise Manager Lifecycle Management Guide.
A Middleware Home consists of one or more Oracle Homes. The Middleware Home must be created on the hosts that are part of the PaaS Infrastructure Zone. See Section 11.2.2.1, "Creating a PaaS Infrastructure Zone" for details.
You can:
Use pre-provisioned Oracle Homes: This is the recommended approach as it requires less turnaround time for instance creation and scale up operations.
Create Oracle Homes on demand: If pre-provisioned Oracle Homes are not present, you can create an Oracle Home on the fly or on demand. To create an Oracle Home on the fly, you must use a profile that contains Oracle Home binaries. This option requires less administrator overhead but more turnaround time.
Use a combination of both: You can have a combination of both (pre-provisioned Oracle Homes and hosts without Oracle Homes). In this case, Oracle Homes are created on the fly on hosts where they are not present.
If you are provisioning the Middleware Home on multiple hosts, you must specify a shared mount directory that is accessible by all destination hosts.
Note:
You can also manually install the Middleware Home and use the Discover Promote Oracle Home Target job to discover it in Enterprise Manager.To create a Middleware Home, you must run the Provision from Oracle Middleware Home Gold Image deployment procedure.
Before running this deployment procedure, you must meet the following prerequisites:
The user must have Write permissions on:
The Working Directory on all destination hosts.
The Middleware Home on all destination hosts.
An Oracle Middleware Home Gold Image must be present in the Software Library. For details on creating this gold image. You can create an Oracle Middleware Home Gold Image and save it in the Software Library. You can then use this gold image as the source for future Middleware Home installations. For the detailed procedure on creating an Oracle Middleware Home Gold Image, see the Enterprise Manager Lifecycle Management Guide.
Note:
If you have manually created and discovered a Middleware Home, this step can be ignored.
You cannot have more than one Middleware Home of the same WebLogic Server version on a single host.
You can clone a Middleware Home from a gold image present in the Software Library. This gold image must have been created earlier by pointing to an existing Middleware Home. For a detailed description on cloning a Middleware Home from a gold image, refer to the Enterprise Manager Lifecycle Management Guide.