Oracle® Fusion Middleware

Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server

12c (12.1.3)

E41938-02

December 2014

This book describes how you manage Oracle WebLogic Server startup, shutdown, and server life cycle. It also describes WebLogic features that you help prevent and recover from server failure.

Oracle Fusion Middleware Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server, 12c (12.1.3)

E41938-02

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Contents

Preface

- Documentation Accessibility

- Conventions

1 Introduction and Roadmap

- Document Scope and Audience

- Guide to This Document

- Related Documentation

- New and Changed Features for Managing Server Life Cycle

2 Starting and Stopping Servers

- Starting Servers: Before You Begin

- Version Requirements for a Domain

- Starting an Administration Server with a Startup Script

- Starting an Administration Server with the java weblogic.Server Command

- Starting an Administration Server Using WLST and Node Manager

- Starting an Administration Server Using WLST Without Node Manager

- Starting Managed Servers with a Startup Script

- Starting Managed Servers from the Administration Console

- Starting Managed Servers and Clusters with WLST and Node Manager

- Starting Managed Servers with the java weblogic.Server Command

- Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Unavailable

- Limiting Run-Time Footprint When Starting WebLogic Server

- Server Type Startup Command

- Limitations

- Provide User Credentials to Start and Stop Servers

- Specifying an Initial Administrative User for a Domain

- Boot Identity Files

- Creating a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server

- Using java weblogic.Server to Create a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server

- Creating Boot Identity Files for Managed Servers

- How a Server Uses a Boot Identity File at Startup

- Removing Boot Identity Files After Startup

- Limitation Regarding User weblogic

- Specifying User Credentials for Starting a Server with Node Manager

- Other Startup Tasks

- Making Java Classfiles Globally Available

- Configuring Managed Server Connections to the Administration Server

- Specifying Java Options for a WebLogic Server Instance

- Changing the JVM That Runs Servers

- Configuring Server Level Startup and Shutdown Classes

- Customizing Domain Wide Server Parameters

- Shutting Down Instances of WebLogic Server

- Shutting Down Servers with a Stop Script

- Killing the JVM

3 Setting Up a WebLogic Server Instance as a Windows Service

- Setting Up a Windows Service: Main Steps

- Creating a Server-Specific Script

- Configuring a Connection to the Administration Server

- Requiring Managed Servers to Start After Administration Servers

- Enabling Graceful Shutdowns

- Java Class that Shuts Down a Server Instance

- Redirecting Standard Out and Standard Error to a File

- Changing the Default Rotation Criteria

- Adding Classes to the Classpath

- Run the Server-Specific Script

- Verifying the Setup

- Verifying the User Account Under Which the Service Runs

- Using the Services Window to Stop or Restart a Server Instance

- Removing a Server as a Windows Service

- Changing Startup Credentials for a Server Set Up as a Windows Service

4 Avoiding and Recovering From Server Failure

- Failure Prevention and Recovery Features

- Overload Protection

- Failover for Clustered Services

- Automatic Restart for Failed Server Instances

- Server-Level Migration

- Service-Level Migration

- Managed Server Independence Mode

- Directory and File Backups for Failure Recovery

- Back Up Domain Configuration Directory

- Back Up LDAP Repository

- Back Up SerializedSystemIni.dat and Security Certificates

- WebLogic Server Exit Codes and Restarting After Failure

- Restarting a Failed Administration Server

- Restarting an Administration Server

- Restarting Administration Server Scenarios

- Restarting an Administration Server on Another Machine

- Managed Servers and the Re-started Administration Server

- Restarting a Failed Managed Server

- Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Accessible

- Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Not Accessible

- Understanding Managed Server Independence Mode

- MSI Mode and Node Manager

- MSI Mode and the Security Realm

- MSI Mode and SSL

- MSI Mode and Deployment

- MSI Mode and the Domain Log File

- MSI Mode and Managed Server Configuration Changes

- Starting a Managed Server in MSI Mode

- Additional Failure Topics

5 Understanding Server Life Cycle

- Diagram of the Server Life Cycle

- Getting and Using Server State

- Understanding Server States in the Server Life Cycle

- SHUTDOWN State

- STARTING State

- STANDBY State

- ADMIN State

- RESUMING State

- RUNNING State

- SUSPENDING State

- FORCE_SUSPENDING State

- SHUTTING_DOWN State

- FAILED State

- Using Server Life Cycle Commands

- Start

- Start in Standby

- Start in Admin

- Resume

- Graceful Suspend

- Force Suspend

- Graceful Shutdown

- Controlling Graceful Shutdown

- Shutdown Operations and Application Undeployment

- Force Shutdown

- Processing In-Flight Work During Suspend and Shutdown

- RMI Subsystem

- Web Container

- Timer Service

- Application Service

- EJB Container

- JMS Service

- JDBC Service

- Transaction Service

A Starting and Stopping Servers: Quick Reference

- Starting Instances of WebLogic Server

- Shutting Down Instances of WebLogic Server

Preface

This preface describes the document accessibility features and conventions used in this guide—Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Documentation Accessibility

For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=docacc.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers that have purchased support have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=info or visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=trs if you are hearing impaired.

Conventions

The following text conventions are used in this document:

Convention

Meaning

boldface

Boldface type indicates graphical user interface elements associated with an action, or terms defined in text or the glossary.

italic

Italic type indicates book titles, emphasis, or placeholder variables for which you supply particular values.

monospace

Monospace type indicates commands within a paragraph, URLs, code in examples, text that appears on the screen, or text that you enter.

1 Introduction and Roadmap

This chapter describes the contents and organization of this guide—Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server.

This chapter includes the following sections:

- Document Scope and Audience

- Guide to This Document

- Related Documentation

- New and Changed Features for Managing Server Life Cycle

Document Scope and Audience

This document describes how you manage Oracle WebLogic Server startup, shutdown, and server life cycle. It also describes WebLogic features that help you prevent and recover from server failure.

This document is a resource for system administrators and operators responsible for monitoring and managing a WebLogic Server installation. It is relevant to all phases of a software project, from development through test and production phases.

It is assumed that the reader is familiar with Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) and Web technologies, object-oriented programming techniques, and the Java programming language.

Guide to This Document

The document is organized as follows:

- Chapter 1, "Introduction and Roadmap," describes the scope of the guide and lists related documentation.

- Chapter 2, "Starting and Stopping Servers," describes several ways to start and stop server instances.

- Chapter 3, "Setting Up a WebLogic Server Instance as a Windows Service,"describes setting up a WebLogic Server instance as a Windows service on a Windows host computer.

- Chapter 4, "Avoiding and Recovering From Server Failure," describes failover procedures for WebLogic Server instances.

- Chapter 5, "Understanding Server Life Cycle," describes the operational phases of a WebLogic Server instance, from startup to shutdown.

- Appendix A, "Starting and Stopping Servers: Quick Reference," provides simple procedures for starting and stopping WebLogic Server instances.

Related Documentation

- Creating WebLogic Domains Using the Configuration Wizard

- Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server

- Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help

New and Changed Features for Managing Server Life Cycle

For a comprehensive listing of the new WebLogic Server features introduced in this release, see What's New in Oracle WebLogic Server.

2 Starting and Stopping Servers

This chapter describes how to start and stop server instances in WebLogic Server. The method you choose depends on whether you prefer using the WebLogic Server Administration Console or a command line, and on whether you are using Node Manager to manage the server's life cycle. No matter how you start a server, the end result passes a set of configuration options to initialize a Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The server instance runs within the JVM, and the JVM can host only one server instance.

This chapter includes the following sections:

- Starting Servers: Before You Begin

- Version Requirements for a Domain

- Starting an Administration Server with a Startup Script

- Starting an Administration Server with the java weblogic.Server Command

- Starting an Administration Server Using WLST and Node Manager

- Starting an Administration Server Using WLST Without Node Manager

- Starting Managed Servers with a Startup Script

- Starting Managed Servers from the Administration Console

- Starting Managed Servers and Clusters with WLST and Node Manager

- Starting Managed Servers with the java weblogic.Server Command

- Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Unavailable

- Limiting Run-Time Footprint When Starting WebLogic Server

- Provide User Credentials to Start and Stop Servers

- Other Startup Tasks

- Shutting Down Instances of WebLogic Server

For a concise overview of starting and stopping servers, see Appendix A, "Starting and Stopping Servers: Quick Reference."

Note:
For procedures that require the WebLogic Server Administration Console, see "Start and stop servers" and various startup and shutdown procedures in the Cluster section of the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help. For information on restarting failed server instances and clusters, see Section 4, "Avoiding and Recovering From Server Failure".

Starting Servers: Before You Begin

Depending on the method you choose to manage server startup and what setup tasks you have already performed, you might need to complete the following procedures before you can start server instances:

- Meet version requirements — Version Requirements for a Domain.

- Create a domain — "Choosing the Appropriate Technology for Your Administrative Tasks" in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server

- Provide user credentials — Provide User Credentials to Start and Stop Servers.

- Set up Node Manager — "Node Manager Overview" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- Configure Managed Server connections to the Administration Server — Configuring Managed Server Connections to the Administration Server.

- Specify Java startup options — Specifying Java Options for a WebLogic Server Instance.

Version Requirements for a Domain

All WebLogic Server instances within the same administrative domain must be at the same major and minor version. You cannot mix server versions within a domain. Server instances within a domain can be at different patch set levels as long as the Administration Server is at the same patch set level or higher than its Managed Servers. For example, if the Managed Servers are at version 10.3.0, then the Administration Server can be either version 10.3.0, 10.3.1, or higher. However, if the Managed Servers are at 10.3.1, then the Administration Server must be at 10.3.1 or higher. Also, all server instances within a cluster must be at the same patch set level.

Starting an Administration Server with a Startup Script

An Administration Server is a WebLogic Server instance that maintains configuration data for a domain. In a development environment, it is usually sufficient to start an Administration Server and deploy your applications directly onto the Administration Server. In a production environment, you create Managed Servers to run applications. For more information about Administration Servers and Managed Servers, see "Understanding WebLogic Server Domains" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

You can start an Administration Server with a default startup script or create your own. To start an Administration Server with the WebLogic Server-included startup script:

1. If you have not already done so, use the Configuration Wizard or WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) to create a domain.
See Creating WebLogic Domains Using the Configuration Wizard or "Creating Domains Using WLST Offline" in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool.

2. Open a shell (command prompt) on the computer on which you created the domain.

3. Change to the directory in which you located the domain.
By default, this directory is ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME, where DOMAIN_NAME is the root directory of the domain. (The name of this directory is the name of the domain.)

4. Run one of the following scripts:

- bin/startWebLogic.cmd (Windows)

- bin\startWebLogic.sh (UNIX and Windows. On Windows, this script supports the MKS and Cygnus BASH UNIX shell emulators.)

Note:
If you use a Configuration Wizard template that is provided by WebLogic Server, your domain directory includes a start script named startWebLogic. If you use a domain template from another source, the wizard might not create a start script, or it might create a script with a different name. The template designer determines whether the wizard creates a start script and the name of the script.
The following error occurs when using startWebLogic.cmd to boot WebLogic Server:

Enter username to boot WebLogic server:weblogic
<Error> <Security> <BEA-090782> <Server is Running in Production Mode and Native Library(terminalio)
to read the password securely from commandline is not found>
<Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000388> <JVM called WLS shutdown hook. The server will force shutdown now>
<Alert> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000396> <Server shutdown has been requested by <WLS Kernel>>
<Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000365> <Server state changed to FORCE_SHUTTING_DOWN>
This error is caused by installing a 32-bit JDK on a 64-bit OS. To avoid this error, install a 64-bit JDK on a 64-bit OS.

The startWebLogic script does the following:

1. Sets environment variables by invoking DOMAIN_NAME\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd (setDomainEnv.sh on UNIX), where DOMAIN_NAME is the directory in which you located the domain; for example, ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME, and where ORACLE_HOME is the directory you specified as Oracle Home when you installed Oracle WebLogic Server.

Note:
setDomainEnv is designed to be sourced from other scripts, such as the startWebLogic script. setDomainEnv should not be called directly from within an interactive shell. Doing so can cause unpredictable issues in the domain.

2. Invokes the java weblogic.Server command, which starts a JVM that is configured to run a WebLogic Server instance.
When the server successfully completes its startup process, it writes the following message to standard out (which, by default, is the command window):

<Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000360> <Server started in RUNNING mode>

Starting an Administration Server with the java weblogic.Server Command

The weblogic.Server class is the main class for a WebLogic Server instance. You start a server instance by directly invoking weblogic.Server in a Java command.

Note:
Oracle recommends using java weblogic.Server primarily for initial development but not as a standard mechanism for starting production systems for the following reasons:

- java weblogic.Server will not function if you select a product directory outside of the Oracle Middleware Home directory.

- When executing java weblogic.Server, patches will not be recognized by the WebLogic Server run time.

For more information, see "weblogic.Server Command-Line Reference" and "Using the weblogic.Server Command Line to Start a Server Instance" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Starting an Administration Server Using WLST and Node Manager

Node Manager is a utility for remote control of WebLogic Server instances. Using Node Manager you can control and monitor Managed Servers and also, start, stop, and restart Administration Servers.

You can access these Node Manager features using the WebLogic Scripting Tool commands and scripts. If you use the nmStart command with WLST connected to a Node Manager, Node Manager supports monitoring, stopping, and restarting the Administration Server.

"Using WLST and Node Manager to Manage Servers" in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool describes how to start the Administration Server with WLST and Node Manager. "How Node Manager Starts an Administration Server" in Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server describes how Node Manager accomplishes this process.

Oracle recommends running Node Manager as an operating system service so that it automatically restarts in the event of system failure or reboot, and using Node Manager to start and restart both Administration and Managed Servers.

For more information, see "Running Node Manager as a Startup Service" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Starting an Administration Server Using WLST Without Node Manager

The WLST startServer command starts the Administration Server without using Node Manager. The server runs in a separate process from WLST; exiting WLST does not shut down the server. See "Starting an Administration Server Without Node Manager" in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool.

Starting Managed Servers with a Startup Script

A Managed Server is a WebLogic Server instance that runs deployed applications. It refers to the Administration Server for all of its configuration and deployment information. Usually, you use Managed Servers to run applications in a production environment.

For more information about Managed Servers and Administration Servers, see "Understanding WebLogic Server Domains" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

If you use one of the Configuration Wizard templates that WebLogic Server provides, your domain directory includes a start script named startManagedWebLogic that you can use to start Managed Servers. You can use this script to start all the Managed Servers in a cluster.

For more information on domain directory files, see "Domain Configuration Files" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

This script does not use the Node Manager to start and manage the server. Instead, it uses a Java command to invoke the weblogic.Server class, which is the main class for a WebLogic Server instance. For information about invoking weblogic.Server in a Java command, see "weblogic.Server Command-Line Reference" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

To use the WebLogic Server scripts to start Managed Servers:

1. Refer to Starting Servers: Before You Begin for prerequisite tasks.

2. If you have not already done so, create one or more Managed Servers.
See Creating WebLogic Domains Using the Configuration Wizard or "Create Managed Servers" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

3. If you have not already done so, start the domain's Administration Server.

4. In a shell (command prompt) on the computer that hosts the Managed Server, change to the directory that contains the startManagedWebLogic script:

- DOMAIN_NAME\bin\startManagedWebLogic.cmd (Windows)

- DOMAIN_NAME/bin/startManagedWebLogic.sh (UNIX)

where DOMAIN_NAME is the directory in which you located the domain. By default, this directory is ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME.

5. Enter one of the following commands:

- startManagedWebLogic.cmd managed_server_name admin_url (Windows)

- startManagedWebLogic.sh managed_server_name admin_url (UNIX)

where managed_server_name specifies the name of the Managed Server and admin_url specifies the listen address (host name, IP address, or DNS name) and port number of the domain's Administration Server.

For example, the following command uses startManagedWebLogic.cmd to start a Managed Server named myManagedServer. The listen address for the domain's Administration Server is AdminHost:7001:

c:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\mydomain\bin\startManagedWebLogic.cmd myManagedServer http://AdminHost:7001

6. For each Managed Server that you want to start, open a separate command shell and follow steps 4 and 5. If you are starting Managed Servers on another machine, log in to that machine (remotely or locally) and then follow steps 4 and 5.

For information on running Managed Servers on a remote WebLogic Server host, see "Creating and Starting a Managed Server on a Remote Machine" in Creating Templates and Domains Using the Pack and Unpack Commands.

For information on configuring a connection to the Administration Server, see Configuring Managed Server Connections to the Administration Server.

The startManagedWebLogic script does the following:

1. Calls the startWebLogic script, which sets the environment variables by invoking ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd (setDomainEnv.sh on UNIX), where ORACLE_HOME is the directory you specified as Oracle Home when you installed Oracle WebLogic Server.

Note:
setDomainEnv is designed to be sourced from other scripts, such as the startWebLogic script. setDomainEnv should not be called directly from within an interactive shell. Doing so can cause unpredictable issues in the domain.

2. Invokes the java weblogic.Server command, which starts a JVM that is configured to run a WebLogic Server instance.
When the server successfully completes its startup process, it writes the following message to standard out (which, by default, is the command window):

<Notice> <WebLogicServer> <000360> <Server started in RUNNING mode>

Starting Managed Servers from the Administration Console

To use the WebLogic Server Administration Console to start a Managed Server, see "Start Managed Servers from the Administration Console" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Starting Managed Servers and Clusters with WLST and Node Manager

To start Managed Servers and clusters using WLST and Node Manager, see "Using Node Manager to Start Managed Servers in a Domain or Cluster" in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool. For detailed information about WebLogic Server clusters, see "Setting up WebLogic Clusters" in Administering Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Starting Managed Servers with the java weblogic.Server Command

The weblogic.Server class is the main class for a WebLogic Server instance. You start a server instance by directly invoking weblogic.Server in a Java command. See "weblogic.Server Command-Line Reference" and "Using the weblogic.Server Command Line to Start a Server Instance" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Unavailable

Usually, a Managed Server contacts the Administration Server during its startup sequence to retrieve its configuration information. If a Managed Server cannot connect to the Administration Server during startup, it can retrieve its configuration by reading its locally cached configuration data from the config directory.

Note:
The first time you start a Managed Server instance, it must be able to contact the Administration Server. Thereafter, the Managed Server instance can start even if the Administration Server is unavailable.

For more information on starting Managed Servers when the Administration Server is unavailable, see Section Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Not Accessible.

Limiting Run-Time Footprint When Starting WebLogic Server

Typically when you start a WebLogic Server instance, all services are started including EJB, JMS, Connector, Clustering, Deployment, Management, and so forth. However, WebLogic Server provides a startup option that offers a lighter weight run-time footprint by excluding a subset of these services from being started. This startup mode can result in quicker startup times for WebLogic Server and a smaller resource footprint on the host machine.

The set of services started in a WebLogic Server instance are determined by the Server Type startup command, which takes a server type option. There are two server type options:

- wls — All services are started (default)

- wlx — All but the following services are started:

- Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB)

- Java EE Connector Architecture (JCA)

- Java Message Service (JMS)

If a WebLogic Server instance does not require the use of these services, running the lighter weight run time instead can provide a number of performance efficiencies.

Server Type Startup Command

You can run the lighter weight run-time instance in any WebLogic domain. A WebLogic domain does not require any additional configuration settings to support this server type. However, any JMS or Messaging Bridge resources and applications that include EJBs or resource adapters will fail to deploy on servers started with the wlx server type option.

You can start a lighter weight run-time instance by specifying the following weblogic.Server command option:

-DserverType="wlx"

You can use the -DserverType="wlx" option in any of the methods for starting WebLogic Server, such as:

- Directly on the command line, as described in Starting an Administration Server with the java weblogic.Server Command and Starting Managed Servers with the java weblogic.Server Command.

- In a server start script, as described in Starting an Administration Server with a Startup Script and Starting Managed Servers with a Startup Script.

- When using WLST, as described in "Managing the Server Life Cycle" in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool

- When using Node Manager, as described in "Using Node Manager to Control Servers" in Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server

- When using the weblogic.Server command to create a domain, as described in "Using the weblogic.Server Command Line to Create a Domain" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server

Limitations

Note the following limitations regarding lighter weight run-time instances of WebLogic Server:

- WebLogic Server contains several services that internally use the EJB service. If you start a lighter weight run-time instance, some the following features are not available:

- Management EJBs
These EJBs are used to support JSR-77. If the EJB service is disabled, JSR-77 support is unavailable, too. However, all other management APIs are still available.

- Remote Deployer from WebLogic Server 9.0 and 9.1
The Remote Deployer EJB is only used by the weblogic.Deployer utility in WebLogic Server 9.0 and 9.1 when the -remote option is specified. You can still use the -remote option from the weblogic.Deployer utility in Version 9.2 and later releases.

- If the Administration Server is started as a lighter weight run-time instance, the WebLogic Server Administration Console does not display links to JMS, EJB, and Resource Adapters. This provides a visual cue regarding the server type of the Administration Server. However, if the Administration Server is started as the default server type (that is, not started using the wlx server type option), the WebLogic Server Administration Console does not distinguish lighter weight Managed Server instances that are running in the domain.

Provide User Credentials to Start and Stop Servers

To start and stop WebLogic Server instances, you must provide the credentials of a user who is permitted to start and stop servers for the domain. For information on user credentials, roles, and permissions, see "Users, Groups, and Security Roles" in Securing Resources Using Roles and Policies for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Table 2-1 describes providing user credentials when starting a WebLogic Server instance.

Table 2-1 Providing User Credentials

If you specify this...

The server instance does this...

User Name and password on the command line.

Uses them and does not prompt you for either credential.

User Name and password in boot.properties.

Uses them and does not prompt you for either credential.

Neither user name nor password on the command line.

- Prompts you for the user name.

- Prompts you for the password twice.

User Name but no password on the command line.

- Uses the user name from the command line.

- Prompts you for the password twice.

Password but no user name on the command line.

- Prompts you for the user name.

- Ignores the password from the command line and prompts you for the password twice.

These sections describe the following tasks:

- Specifying an Initial Administrative User for a Domain

- Boot Identity Files

- Specifying User Credentials for Starting a Server with Node Manager

Specifying an Initial Administrative User for a Domain

When you create a domain, the Configuration Wizard prompts you to provide the user name and password for an initial administrative user. The Configuration Wizard does the following with this information:

1. Assigns the user to the Administrators security group.
The Administrators group grants the highest level of privileges for starting and managing WebLogic Server. For information on administrative privileges, see "Users, Groups, And Security Roles" in Securing Resources Using Roles and Policies for Oracle WebLogic Server.

2. Adds the user to the myrealm security realm.
A security realm is a collection of components (providers) that authenticate user names, determine the type of resources that the user can access, and provide other security-related services for WebLogic resources. WebLogic Server installs the myrealm security realm and uses it by default.

You can use the Administration Console to add users to security realms. If you use an Authentication provider other than the one that WebLogic Server installs, you must use the provider's administration tools to create at least one user with administrative privileges.

3. If you are creating a domain in development mode, the wizard creates a boot identity file in the security directory of the Administration Server's root directory. The boot identity file contains an encrypted version of the user name and password which lets you bypass the login prompt during subsequent instantiations of the server. See Boot Identity Files.
In production domains, you are prompted to enter user credentials on the command line when booting the server.

Boot Identity Files

A boot identity file is a text file that contains user credentials for starting and stopping an instance of WebLogic Server. An Administration Server can refer to this file for user credentials instead of prompting you to provide them. Because the credentials are encrypted, using a boot identity file is much more secure than storing unencrypted credentials in a startup or shutdown script. If there is no boot identity file when starting a server, the server instance prompts you to enter a user name and password.

If you start a Managed Server from a script that invokes the java weblogic.Server command (or if you invoke the java weblogic.Server command directly), a Managed Server can also refer to a boot identity file. If the Managed Server and Administration Server use the same root directory, the Managed Server can refer to the Administration Server's boot.properties file. If a Managed Server's security directory contains a valid boot.properties file, it uses this file during its startup process by default. The boot.properties file can be different for each server instance in the domain.

If you use the Node Manager to start a Managed Server, the Node Manager encrypts and saves the credentials with which it started the server in a server-specific boot.properties file for use in automatic restarts. This file is located in DOMAIN_NAME/servers/SERVER_NAME/data/nodemanager, where DOMAIN_NAME is the name of the directory in which you located the domain and SERVER_NAME is the name of the server. For more information, see "Node Manager Configuration and Log Files" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

The following sections describe working with boot identity files:

- Creating a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server

- Using java weblogic.Server to Create a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server

- Creating Boot Identity Files for Managed Servers

- How a Server Uses a Boot Identity File at Startup

- Removing Boot Identity Files After Startup

- Limitation Regarding User weblogic

Creating a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server

If you use the Configuration Wizard to create a domain in development mode, the Configuration Wizard creates an encrypted boot identity file in the security directory of the Administration Server's root directory. For more information on domain directory files, see "Domain Directory Contents" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

If a boot identity file for an Administration Server does not already exist, and if you want to bypass the prompt for user name and password, create one as follows.

1. Start the Administration Server at least once and provide the user credentials on the command line.
During the Administration Server's initial startup process, it generates security files that must be in place before a server can use a boot identity file.

2. Place the following two lines in a text file:

username=username
password=password

The user name and password values must match an existing user account in the Authentication provider for the default security realm and must belong to a role that has permission to start and stop a server. For information on roles and permissions, see "Users, Groups, And Security Roles" in Securing Resources Using Roles and Policies for Oracle WebLogic Server.

3. Save the file.
If you save the file as boot.properties and locate it in the security directory of the server's root directory, the server automatically uses this file during its subsequent startup cycles. For more information, see How a Server Uses a Boot Identity File at Startup.

The first time you use this file to start a server, the server reads the file and then overwrites it with an encrypted version of the user name and password.

Using java weblogic.Server to Create a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server

Note:
Use this technique only if you invoke the java weblogic.Server command from the command line. If you use a script to start an Administration Server, Oracle recommends that you do not use the technique described in this section for the following reasons:

- It requires you to store an unencrypted password in the startup script.

- Each time you run the script, the server boots with the supplied user credentials and then creates a new boot identity file.

Instead of following the steps in the previous section, Creating a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server, you can create a boot identity file by invoking the weblogic.Server class directly on the command line and including the following options in the Java command:

-Dweblogic.management.username=username
-Dweblogic.management.password=password
-Dweblogic.system.StoreBootIdentity=true

These options cause the server instance to boot with the supplied user credentials and then store them in a file named boot.properties.

For example, the following command starts an Administration Server named myAdminServer and creates a boot identity file:

java -Dweblogic.management.username=weblogic
-Dweblogic.management.password=password
-Dweblogic.system.StoreBootIdentity=true
-Dweblogic.Name=myAdminServer weblogic.Server

For more information about invoking the weblogic.Server class directly from a command line, see "weblogic.Server Command-Line Reference" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Creating Boot Identity Files for Managed Servers

If a Managed Server uses the same root directory as the Administration Server, it can use the same boot properties file as the Administration Server. If you use a Node Manager to start a Managed Server, you do not need to create a boot identity file. For more information, see ""Node Manager Configuration and Log Files" in Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

To create a boot identity file for a Managed Server instance:

1. Start the domain's Administration Server to make sure that the required security files are in the security directory of the Administration Server's domain and root directories. If the files are not present, the Administration Server generates them.
For more information on domain directory files, see "Domain Configuration Files" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

2. Place the following two lines in a text file:

username=username
password=password

The user name and password values must match an existing user account in the Authentication provider for the default security realm and must belong to a role that has permission to start a server. For information on roles and permissions, see "Users, Groups, And Security Roles" in Securing Resources Using Roles and Policies for Oracle WebLogic Server.

3. Save the file.
If you save the file as boot.properties and locate it in the security directory of the server's root directory, the server automatically uses this file during its subsequent startup cycles. For more information, see How a Server Uses a Boot Identity File at Startup.

4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 for each Managed Server in the domain for which you want to create a boot identity file.
The first time you use this file to start a server, the server reads the file and then overwrites it with an encrypted version of the user name and password.

How a Server Uses a Boot Identity File at Startup

A server instance uses a boot identity file during its startup process as follows:

- If a server's security directory contains a valid boot.properties file, it uses this file during its startup process by default. For information about a server's root directory, see "A Server's Root Directory" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- If you want to specify a different file (or if you do not want to store boot identity files in a server's security directory), you can include the following argument in the server's weblogic.Server startup command:

-Dweblogic.system.BootIdentityFile=filename

where filename is the fully qualified pathname of a valid boot identity file.

To specify this argument in the startWebLogic script, add -Dweblogic.system.BootIdentityFile as a value of the JAVA_OPTIONS variable. For example:

set JAVA_OPTIONS=-Dweblogic.system.BootIdentityFile=C:\Oracle\user_domains\mydomain\myidentity.prop

- If you do not want a server instance to use a boot identity file during its startup cycle, include the following options in the server's weblogic.Server startup command:

-Dweblogic.management.username=username
-Dweblogic.management.password=password

These options cause a server instance to ignore any boot identity files and override other startup options that cause a server to use boot identity files during it startup cycle.

Note:
If you use a script to start a server instance, Oracle recommends that you do not use this technique because it requires you to store an unencrypted password in the startup script. Use this technique only if you invoke the weblogic.Server class directly from the command line. For more information, see "weblogic.Server Command-Line Reference" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- If a server is unable to access its boot identity file during its startup cycle, it displays the user name and password prompt in its command shell and writes a message to the log file.

For a given server instance, use only the boot identity file that the instance has created. WebLogic Server does not support copying a boot identity file from one server root directory to another.

For example, if you use ServerA to generate a boot identity file, use only that boot identity file with ServerA. Do not copy ServerA's boot identity file into the security directory of ServerB. Instead, create a boot identity file for ServerB as described in Creating a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server or Creating Boot Identity Files for Managed Servers.

Removing Boot Identity Files After Startup

If you want to remove the boot identity file after a server starts, you can include the following argument in the server's weblogic.Server startup command:

-Dweblogic.system.RemoveBootIdentity=true

This argument removes only the file that the server used to start. For example, if you specify -Dweblogic.system.BootIdentityFile=c:\secure\boot.MyServer, only boot.MyServer is removed, even if the server's root directory contains a file named boot.properties. Open a separate command shell and include the -Dweblogic.system.RemoveBootIdentity=true argument in each Managed Server's weblogic.Server startup command to remove its boot identity file.

To specify this argument in the startWebLogic script, add -Dweblogic.system.RemoveBootIdentity=true as a value of the JAVA_OPTIONS variable. For example:

set JAVA_OPTIONS=-Dweblogic.system.RemoveBootIdentity=true

Limitation Regarding User weblogic

If you install the WebLogic Server Examples component, the default user weblogic is created that has permission to start and stop WebLogic Server. When you set the password of the weblogic user, WebLogic Server does not automatically update this password in the boot.properties file, which is located in the DOMAIN_NAME/servers/AdminServer/security directory.

If you change the password for user weblogic, you can use either of the following workarounds so that you can continue to boot a WebLogic Server instance using that user name and its new password:

- Remove the boot.properties file. Subsequently each time you start WebLogic Server, you are prompted for the user name and password. The changed password for the weblogic user will be accepted.

- Modify the existing boot.properties file, changing the user name and password as follows:

username=weblogic
password=password

Subsequently during the server startup process, the boot.properties file is encrypted again.

Caution:
Do not install the WebLogic Server Examples on a production machine. Keeping the samples software and other development tools off the production machine reduces the leverage intruders potentially have if they were to get partial access to a WebLogic Server production machine.

Specifying User Credentials for Starting a Server with Node Manager

If you use the Node Manager to start a Managed Server, you must provide user credentials on the server's Configuration > Server Start page of the WebLogic Server Administration Console. If you do not provide these credentials, the Node Manager throws an exception when it tries to start the server.

When you use the WebLogic Server Administration Console or the Configuration Wizard to create a Managed Server, WebLogic Server adds the user credentials to the server's Configuration > Server Start page. If you want the server instance to run under a different WebLogic Server user account, see "Configure startup arguments for Managed Servers" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Other Startup Tasks

The following sections describe miscellaneous startup tasks:

- Making Java Classfiles Globally Available

- Configuring Managed Server Connections to the Administration Server

- Specifying Java Options for a WebLogic Server Instance

- Changing the JVM That Runs Servers

- Configuring Server Level Startup and Shutdown Classes

- Customizing Domain Wide Server Parameters

Making Java Classfiles Globally Available

There are two methods for making java classes globally available to WebLogic Server:

- Setting the $DOMAIN_DIR/lib environment variable.

- Specifying the -Dweblogic.ext.dirs startup option.

You can specify either or both of these methods. When specifying both, classes defined using the startup option take precedence.

In both cases, you must ensure that your classes are packaged into .jar files.

Configuring Managed Server Connections to the Administration Server

If you will be starting a Managed Server from a script that invokes the java weblogic.Server command, or if you invoke the java weblogic.Server command directly, you must make sure that the Managed Server specifies the correct listen address of the Administration Server. A Managed Server uses this address to retrieve its configuration from the Administration Server.

Use the following format to specify the listen address:

protocol://]Admin-host:port

1. For protocol, specify any of the following:

- t3

- t3s

- http

- https
If you will be using the domain-wide administration port, you must specify either T3S or HTTPS. If you do not specify a value, the servers use T3.

Note:
Regardless of which protocol you use, the initial download of a Managed Server's configuration is over HTTP or HTTPS. After the RMI subsystem initializes, the server instance can use the T3 or T3S protocol.

2. For Admin-host, specify any of the following:

- localhost
Valid only if you are starting the Managed Server on the same computer as the Administration Server.

- The DNS name of the computer that is hosting the Administration Server.
Configuring a DNS name for the Administration Server that maps to multiple IP addresses is particularly useful for Managed Servers to trying to reconnect after an Administration Server is restarted on a different IP address. For more information, see Managed Servers and the Re-started Administration Server.

If you are using the demo certificates in a multi-server domain, Managed Server instances will fail to boot if you specify the fully-qualified DNS name. For information about this limitation and suggested workarounds, see "Limitation on CertGen Usage" in Administering Security for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- The IP address of the computer that is hosting the Administration Server.
Because of the following security issue, Oracle recommends that you do not use IP addresses for Admin-host in a production environment:

To connect to the Administration Server through an SSL port, the Managed Server verifies that the Administration Server's host name matches the host name that is specified in the URL. If you specify an IP address, and if host name verification is enabled, the connection fails because the IP address, which is a series of numbers, does not match the name of the host, which is a string of characters.

In a development environment, where security is less of a concern, you can disable host name verification on the Managed Server so SSL connections that specify an IP address will succeed. See "Using Host Name Verification" in Administering Security for Oracle WebLogic Server.

If the Administration Server has been configured to use some other listen address, you must specify the configured listen address.

3. For port, specify any of the following:

- The domain-wide administration port.
When configured, the administration port is used by each Managed Server in the domain exclusively for communication with the domain's Administration Server. See "Configure the domain-wide administration port" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

If you have enabled the domain-wide administration port, you must specify this port. You must specify either the T3S or HTTPS protocol to use this port.

- The non-SSL listen port for the Administration Server's default network configuration (7001 by default).
If this listen port has been disabled for the Administration Server, you must use one of the other listen ports described in this list. You must specify either the T3 or HTTP protocol to use this port.

- The SSL listen port for the Administration Server's default network configuration (7002 by default).
If this listen port has been disabled for the Administration Server, you must use one of the other listen ports described in this list. You must specify either the T3S or HTTPS protocol to use this port.

- The port number that is associated with an optional, custom network channel.
If the port is secured with SSL, you must specify either the T3S or HTTPS protocol.

4. To verify the host IP address, name, and default listen port of the Administration Server, start the Administration Server in a shell (command prompt). When the server successfully finishes its startup cycle, it prints to standard out messages that are similar to the following (among other messages):

<Nov 5, 2004 12:16:04 PM EST> <Notice> <Server> <BEA-002613> <Channel "DefaultSecure[2]" is now
listening on 127.0.0.1:7012 for protocols iiops, t3s, ldaps, https.>
...
<Nov 5, 2004 12:16:04 PM EST> <Notice> <WebLogicServer> <BEA-000331> <Started WebLogic Admin Server
"MedRecServer" for domain "medrec" running in Development Mode>

For information on enabling SSL, see "Set up SSL" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help. For more information on network channels, see "Understanding Network Channels" in Administering Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Specifying Java Options for a WebLogic Server Instance

You use Java options to configure operating parameters for the JVM that runs a WebLogic Server instance.

You can also use Java options to override a server's configuration temporarily. The Java options apply only to the current instance of the server. They are not saved in the domain's config.xml file and they are not visible from the WebLogic Server Administration Console. For example, if a server is configured to listen on port 7201, you can use a Java option to start the server so that it listens on port 7555. The WebLogic Server Administration Console will still indicate that the server is configured to listen on port 7201. If you do not use the Java option the next time you start the server, it will listen on port 7201.

If you use a WebLogic Server script to start servers, do the following. If you use the Node Manager to start servers, see "Set Java options for servers started by Node Manager" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

1. Create a backup copy of the WebLogic Server start scripts:

- For scripts that start an Administration Server, back up DOMAIN_NAME\bin\startWebLogic.cmd (startWebLogic.sh on UNIX)

- For scripts that start a Managed Server, back up DOMAIN_NAME\bin\startManagedWebLogic.cmd (startManagedWebLogic.sh on UNIX)
where DOMAIN_NAME is the name of the directory in which you located the domain. By default, this directory is ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME.

2. Open the start script in a text editor.

3. Edit the set JAVA_OPTIONS command to specify the Java options. If you specify multiple options, separate each option by a space, and place quotes around the entire set of options. For example:

set JAVA_OPTIONS="-Xgc:gencopy -Xns:30"

For more information, see:

- "weblogic.Server Command-Line Reference" for information on the Java options that set run-time behavior of a WebLogic Server instance.

- "Using Start Scripts" in Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server for detailed information on how JAVA_OPTIONS are combined and how duplicate values are handled.

- The documentation that the JVM vendor provides for information on the Java options that other JVMs support.

4. Save the start script.

5. Start the server.

Changing the JVM That Runs Servers

When you create a domain, the Configuration Wizard lists the JDK used when you installed WebLogic Server. The default JDK is Oracle HotSpot, but you may have installed and used another JDK during installation.

After you create a domain, if you want to use a different JVM, you can modify the scripts as follows:

1. Change the value for the JAVA_HOME variable.
Specify an absolute pathname to the top directory of the JDK that you want to use.

On a Windows or Linux platform, Oracle recommends Oracle HotSpot.

2. Change the value for the JAVA_VENDOR variable.
Specify the vendor of the JDK. Valid values depend on the platform on which you are running. For more information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Supported System Configurations on Oracle Technology Network.

For example:

- Oracle or Sun indicates that you are using the Oracle HotSpot JDK. It is valid only on platforms that support Oracle HotSpot.

- HP and IBM indicate that you are using JDKs that Hewlett Packard or IBM have provided. These values are valid only on platforms that support HP or IBM JDKs.

3. Restart any servers that are currently running.

Configuring Server Level Startup and Shutdown Classes

Startup and shutdown (SU/SD) classes are Java programs that you create to provide custom, system-wide services for your applications. You add the classes to the WebLogic Server classpath and then configure them to load and run when a server starts or shuts down. You must deploy each class on one or more specific servers.

By default, startup classes are loaded and run after all other server subsystems have initialized and after the server deploys modules. See "Ordering Startup Class Execution and Deployment" in Deploying Applications to Oracle WebLogic Server. Shutdown classes are loaded and run when you gracefully shut down a server.

WebLogic Server 9.0 introduced a new and simpler POJO-based approach for SU/SD classes. This approach requires only that SU/SD classes have a static main(String args[]) method, which the server invokes after instantiating the class. Any arguments that you configure for SU/SD classes are passed via the String args [] parameter.

The POJO-based SU/SD classes follow the same deployment and configuration steps used in earlier versions-the classes needs to be made available on the server classpath, SU/SD classes are configured using the WebLogic Server Administration Console, and ultimately stored as an entry in config.xml.

For details, see Example 2-1, Example 2-2, and "Use custom classes to configure servers" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Example 2-1 Startup Classes

package sab.demo.utils;
public class StartupMain {
/**
* @param args
*/
public static void main(String[] args) {

log(StartupMain.class.getName() + "::main");
log("Arguments::");
for(int i=0;args!=null && i<args.length;i++) {
log("  arg[" + i + "]: " + args[i]);
}
}

private static void log(String msg) {
System.out.printf("  --> [SAB]: %s\n", msg);
}
}

Example 2-2 config.xml

<startup-class>
<name>StartupMain</name>
<target>AdminServer</target>
<deployment-order>1000</deployment-order>
<class-name>sab.demo.utils.StartupMain</class-name>
<arguments>arg1 arg2 arg3</arguments>
<failure-is-fatal>false</failure-is-fatal>
<load-before-app-deployments>false</load-before-app-deployments>
<load-before-app-activation>true</load-before-app-activation>
</startup-class>

Customizing Domain Wide Server Parameters

Every domain includes dynamically generated domain and server startup scripts, such as setDomainEnv. Oracle recommends that you do not modify these startup scripts, as any changes you make to them will be overwritten during subsequent domain upgrade operations.

To enable you to customize server startup parameters that apply to all servers in a domain, you can create a file called setUserOverrides.cmd (Windows) or setUserOverrides.sh (UNIX) and configure it to, for example, add custom libraries to the WebLogic Server classpath, specify additional java command line options for running the servers, or specify additional environment variables. Any customizations you add to this file are preserved during domain upgrade operations, and are carried over to remote servers when using the pack and unpack commands.

During server startup, if this file exists, it is included in the startup sequence and any overrides it defines take effect. The file must be stored in the domain_home/bin directory.

The following example shows how to add custom libraries and specify additional java command line options.

Example 2-3 Example Startup Customizations in a setUserOverrides file

# add custom libraries to the WebLogic Server system claspath
if [ "${POST_CLASSPATH}" != "" ] ; then
POST_CLASSPATH="${POST_CLASSPATH}${CLASSPATHSEP}${HOME}/foo/fooBar.jar"
export POST_CLASSPATH
else
POST_CLASSPATH="${HOME}/foo/fooBar.jar"
export POST_CLASSPATH
fi

# specify additional java command line options for servers
JAVA_OPTIONS="${JAVA_OPTIONS}  -Dcustom.property.key=custom.value"

Shutting Down Instances of WebLogic Server

It is recommended that you shut down WebLogic Server instances through the WebLogic Server Administration Console. See "Shut Down a Server Instance," "Control Graceful Shutdowns", and "Shutdown servers in a cluster" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Shutting Down Servers with a Stop Script

If you use a Configuration Wizard template that is provided by WebLogic Server, the bin directory under your domain directory includes a stop script named stopWebLogic that you can use to stop an Administration Server and one named stopManagedWebLogic for stopping Managed Servers. To use the scripts, you must set SERVER_NAME, ADMIN_URL, USERID, and PASSWORD as environment variables or specify them on the command line. When using the stopWebLogic script, if you do not specify SERVER_NAME, the Administration Server name is used by default.

- For an Administration Server, invoke:
DOMAIN_NAME\bin\stopWeblogic.cmd username password admin_url (Windows)

DOMAIN_NAME/bin/stopWeblogic.sh username password admin_url (UNIX)

- For Managed Servers, invoke:
DOMAIN_NAME\bin\stopManagedWeblogic.cmd managed_server_name admin_url username password (Windows)

DOMAIN_NAME/bin/stopManagedWeblogic.sh managed_server_name admin_url username password (UNIX)

Note:
On the command line, specify parameters in the order shown. User credentials come before the ADMIN_URL with stopWebLogic.cmd and after the ADMIN_URL with stopManagedWebLogic.cmd.

Killing the JVM

Each WebLogic Server instance runs in its own JVM. If you are unable to shut down a server instance using the methods described in the previous sections, you can use an operating system command to kill the JVM.

Caution:
If you kill the JVM, the server immediately stops all processing. Any session data is lost. If you kill the JVM for an Administration Server while the server is writing to the config.xml file, you can corrupt the config.xml file.

Some common ways to kill the JVM are as follows:

- If the shell (command prompt) in which you start the server is still open, you can type Ctrl-C.

- On a Windows computer, you can use the Task Manager to kill a JVM.

- On a UNIX computer, you can use the ps command to list all running processes. Then you can use the kill command to kill the JVM.

3 Setting Up a WebLogic Server Instance as a Windows Service

This chapter describes how to set up a WebLogic Server instance as a Windows service so that it starts automatically when you boot up a Windows host computer.

In Windows, the Microsoft Management Console (MMC), specifically Services, is where you start, stop, and configure Windows services.

For each server instance that you set up as a Windows service, WebLogic Server creates a key in the Windows Registry under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services. The registry entry contains such information as the name of the server and other startup arguments.

When you start the Windows host, the Microsoft Management Console uses the information in the Windows Registry key to invoke the weblogic.Server main class. The MMC cannot be configured to use Node Manager to start Managed Servers, therefore the Node Manager's monitoring and automatic restart features cannot be used for servers that run as a Windows service.

The following tasks set up and manage WebLogic Server instances that run as Windows services:

- Setting Up a Windows Service: Main Steps

- Verifying the Setup

- Using the Services Window to Stop or Restart a Server Instance

- Removing a Server as a Windows Service

- Changing Startup Credentials for a Server Set Up as a Windows Service

Setting Up a Windows Service: Main Steps

To set up a Windows service:

1. Create a script that sets values for server-specific variables and then calls a WebLogic Server master script. For more information, refer to Creating a Server-Specific Script.

2. If you are installing a Managed Server as a Windows service, add a variable to the server specific script that specifies the location of the domain's Administration Server. For more information, refer to Configuring a Connection to the Administration Server.

3. If you set up both an Administration Server and a Managed Server to run as Windows services on the same computer, modify the WebLogic Server master script so that the Managed Server starts only after the Administration Server finishes its startup cycle. For more information, refer to Requiring Managed Servers to Start After Administration Servers.

4. If you want a server instance to shut down gracefully when you stop the Windows service, create a Java class and modify the master script so that the Microsoft Management Console will invoke the class. For more information, refer to Enabling Graceful Shutdowns.

5. If you want to see the messages that a server instance prints to standard out and standard error (including stack traces and thread dumps), redirect standard out and standard error to a file. For more information, refer to Redirecting Standard Out and Standard Error to a File.

6. If you have created additional Java classes that you want the WebLogic Server instance to invoke, add them to the server's classpath. For more information, refer to Adding Classes to the Classpath.

7. Run the server-specific script. For more information, refer to Run the Server-Specific Script.

Creating a Server-Specific Script

The script that you create must set values for variables that identify the name of the server instance and other server-specific information. Then it must call a master script, WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd, where WL_HOME is the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server. The master scripts invokes the wlsvc utility, which adds a key to the Windows Registry.

Note:
You can specify a service description when installing a Windows service in the wlsvc utility by using the -svcdescription:<user_specified_service_description> option. You can also specify a service description by setting the environment variable SERVICE_DESCRIPTION prior to running your installSvc.cmd script.
For more information about wlsvc, enter the following command at a command prompt: WL_HOME\server\bin\wlsvc -help, where WL_HOME is the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server.

To see an example of a server-specific script, refer to Example 3-1.

To create a server-specific script:

1. In the root directory for the domain's Administration Server create a text file.

2. Add the following, required batch commands to the text file, each command on a separate line:

- SETLOCAL
This is a batch command that begins the localization of environment variables in a batch file.

- set DOMAIN_NAME=domain-name
where domain-name is the name of your WebLogic Server domain.

- set USERDOMAIN_HOME=absolute-pathname
where absolute-pathname is the absolute pathname of the Administration Server's root directory (the directory that contains the domain's configuration file). See "Specifying a Server Root Directory" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- set SERVER_NAME=server-name
where server-name is the name of an existing server instance that you want set up as a Windows service.

3. Add the following optional batch commands to the text file. Place each command on a separate line:

- set WLS_USER=username

- set WLS_PW=password
where username is the name of an existing user with privileges to start a server instance and password is the user's password. The wlsvc utility encrypts the login credentials and stores them in the Windows registry.

This is one of two possible methods for avoiding the user name/password prompt when a server instance starts. The disadvantage to this method is that changing the user name or password for the server instance requires you to delete the Windows service and set up a new one with the new user name and password. Instead of this method, you can use a boot identity file. With a boot identity file, you can change the login credentials without needing to modify the Windows service. For more information, see Boot Identity Files.

- set PRODUCTION_MODE=[true]
When the PRODUCTION_MODE variable is set to true, the server instance starts in production mode. When not specified, or when set to false, the server starts in development mode. For more information about development mode and production mode, see "Configure Server Start Mode" in Creating WebLogic Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

- set JAVA_OPTIONS=java-options
where java-options is one or more Java arguments that you want to pass to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). Separate multiple arguments with a space. For a list of Java options that are specific to WebLogic Server, refer to "weblogic.Server Command-Line Reference" in the Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server. The JVM that you use supports additional options and are documented by the JVM vendor.

- set JAVA_VM=-JVM-mode
where JVM-mode is a text string that indicates the mode in which you want the JVM to run. The values that you supply depend on the JVM that you are using.

- set MEM_ARGS=[-XmsNumberm] [-XmxNumberm]
where Numberm is a numerical value in megabytes (MB). The-XmsNumberm argument establishes a minimum heap size for the JVM and the -XmxNumberm sets a maximum heap size. By default, the minimum heap size is 23 MB and the maximum heap size is 200 MB.

Note:
To specify a non-default JVM heap size, set the MEM_ARGS values in WL_HOME\common\bin\commEnv.cmd; however, this change affects all the domains under the same WL_HOME.

- set MAX_CONNECT_RETRIES=number_of_attempts

- set HOST=ip_address

- set PORT=port_number
where number_of_attempts is the number of times that the Windows service will perform a status check to determine if a WebLogic Server instance is started. If you specify this variable along with HOST and PORT, the Windows service will wait until the WebLogic Server instance is started. ip_address is the IP address of the WebLogic Server instance and port_number is the port on which the WebLogic Server instance is listening for requests.

4. Add the following required commands to the end of the script:

- call "WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"
where WL_HOME is an absolute pathname for the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server. This command calls the WebLogic Server master script.

- ENDLOCAL
This is a batch command that ends the localization of environment variables in a batch file.

5. Save the text file with a .cmd extension. By default, the Windows command prompt associates the .cmd extension with batch files.

Configuring a Connection to the Administration Server

If you want to install a Managed Server as a Windows service, you must include a variable that specifies the location of the domain's Administration Server. The Managed Server must contact the Administration Server to retrieve its configuration data.

The Administration Server (which is not a service) must be started before installing and starting Managed Server as a Windows service.

To configure a connection to the Administration Server:

1. In a text editor, open the server-specific script.

2. In the text file, between the SETLOCAL command and the call command, create the following command:

set ADMIN_URL=protocol://listen-address:listen-port

where:

- protocol is http or https

- listen-address is a listen address of the Administration Server

- listen-port is a port of the Administration Server
For more information, see Configuring Managed Server Connections to the Administration Server.

For an example, refer to the bold text in Example 3-1.

3. Save your modifications to the server-specific script.

Example 3-1 Example Script for Setting Up a Managed Server as a Windows Service

echo off
SETLOCAL
set DOMAIN_NAME=myWLSdomain
set USERDOMAIN_HOME=d:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\myWLSdomain
set SERVER_NAME=myWLSserver
set PRODUCTION_MODE=true
set
JAVA_OPTIONS=-Dweblogic.Stdout="d:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\myWLSdomain\
stdout.txt" -Dweblogic.Stderr="d:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\myWLSdomain\
stderr.txt"
set ADMIN_URL=http://adminserver:7501
set MEM_ARGS=-Xms40m -Xmx250m
call "d:\Oracle\Middleware\wlserver_12.1\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"
ENDLOCAL

Note:
To use this example script to set up an Administration Server as a Windows service, remove the ADMIN_URL variable.
If you copy and paste examples, make sure that there are no trailing spaces in them.

Requiring Managed Servers to Start After Administration Servers

If you set up both an Administration Server and a Managed Server to run as Windows services on the same computer, you can specify that the Managed Server starts only after the Administration Server.

To require a Managed Server to start after the Administration Server Windows service:

1. Create a backup copy of the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.

2. If you have already installed the Administration Server as a Windows service, remove the service. For more information, refer to Removing a Server as a Windows Service.

3. Before you install (or reinstall) the Administration Server as a Windows service, do the following:

1. In a text editor, open the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.
The last command in this script invokes wlsvc, which is the WebLogic Server utility that modifies the Windows Registry.

2. In installSvc.cmd, add the following argument to the command that invokes the wlsvc utility:

-delay:delay_milliseconds

This specifies the number of milliseconds to wait before the Microsoft Management Console changes the service status from SERVER_START_PENDING to STARTED.

For example, if your Administration Server requires 2 minutes to complete its startup cycle and begin listening for requests, then specify -delay=120000. When you boot the Windows host computer, the Microsoft Management Console reports a status of SERVER_START_PENDING for 2 minutes. Then it changes the status to STARTED.

The modified wlsvc invocation for the Administration Server will resemble the following:

"%WL_HOME%\server\bin\wlsvc" -install
-svcname:"%DOMAIN_NAME%_%SERVER_NAME%"
-delay:120000
-javahome:"%JAVA_HOME%" -execdir:"%USERDOMAIN_HOME%"
-extrapath:"%WL_HOME%\server\bin" -password:"%WLS_PW%"
-cmdline:%CMDLINE%

For more information about wlsvc, enter the following command at a command prompt: WL_HOME\server\bin\wlsvc -help, where WL_HOME is the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server.

4. Install the Administration Server Windows service.

5. Before you install the Managed Server as a Windows service, do the following:

1. In a text editor, open the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.

2. In installSvc.cmd, add the following argument to the command that invokes the wlsvc utility:

-depend:Administration-Server-service-name

where Administration-Server-service-name is the name of the Administration Server Windows service. To verify the service name, look in the Microsoft Management Console under Services.

With this option, the Microsoft Management Console will wait for the Administration Server Windows service to report a status of STARTED before it starts the Managed Server Windows service.

For example, the modified wlsvc invocation for the Managed Server will resemble the following:

"%WL_HOME%\server\bin\wlsvc" -install
-svcname:"%DOMAIN_NAME%_%SERVER_NAME%"
-depend:"wlsvc myDomain_myAdminServer"
-javahome:"%JAVA_HOME%" -execdir:"%USERDOMAIN_HOME%"
-extrapath:"%WL_HOME%\server\bin" -password:"%WLS_PW%"
-cmdline:%CMDLINE%

You can also add the -delay:delay_milliseconds option to a Managed Server Windows service if you want to configure when the Microsoft Management Console reports a status of STARTED for the service.

Enabling Graceful Shutdowns

By default, if you use the Microsoft Management Console to stop a server instance, it kills the server's Java Virtual Machine (JVM). If you kill the JVM, the server immediately stops all processing. Any session data is lost. If you kill the JVM for an Administration Server while the server is writing to the config.xml file, you can corrupt the config.xml file.

To enable graceful shutdowns from Microsoft Management Console:

1. Create a Java class that invokes the weblogic.management.runtime.ServerRuntime.shutdown() method.
This method gracefully shuts down a server after the server has completed all in-flight work. For an example of such a class, refer to Java Class that Shuts Down a Server Instance.

2. Create a backup copy of the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.

3. In a text editor, open the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script and do the following:

1. Add the class that you created to the set CLASSPATH statement.
For example if you archived your class in a file named c:\myJar, the modified statement will be as follows:

set
CLASSPATH=%JAVA_HOME%\lib\tools.jar;%WL_HOME%\server\lib\weblogic_sp
.jar;%WL_HOME%\server\lib\weblogic.jar;c:\myJar;%CLASSPATH%

2. Add the following argument to the last line of the script, which calls the wlsvc utility:

-stopclass:javaclass

where javaclass is the full classpath name of the class that you created. This argument loads javaclass and then invokes its public void static stop() method.

For example, if you packaged the class in Example 3-2 in com.myClasses, the modified wlsvc command will be as follows:

"%WL_HOME%\server\bin\wlsvc" -install
-svcname:"%DOMAIN_NAME%_%SERVER_NAME%"
–stopclass:com.myClasses.ServerStopper
-javahome:"%JAVA_HOME%" -execdir:"%USERDOMAIN_HOME%"
-extrapath:"%WL_HOME%\server\bin" -password:"%WLS_PW%"
-cmdline:%CMDLINE%

For more information about wlsvc, enter the following command at a command prompt: WL_HOME\server\bin\wlsvc -help, where WL_HOME is the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server.

4. In the WebLogic Server Administration Console, on the server's Control page, configure the Managed Server's graceful shutdown behavior.
You can determine whether a graceful shutdown operation drops all HTTP sessions immediately and you can configure the amount of time that a graceful shutdown operation waits before forcing a shut down. For more information, refer to "Control graceful shutdowns" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

5. Consider modifying the default timeout value that the Windows service specifies.
By default, when you use the Microsoft Management Console to stop a Windows service, it waits 30 seconds for the service to stop before it kills the service and prints a timeout message to the System event log.

If you use -stopclass to gracefully shut down a server, 30 seconds might not be enough time for the server to gracefully end its processing.

To configure a timeout period, create a REG_DWORD registry value named ServicesPipeTimeout under the following registry key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control

The key value must be in milliseconds.

This value is read from the registry during the startup of the Windows operating system and it affects all services that are installed.

6. Save your changes to the WebLogic Server master script.

Java Class that Shuts Down a Server Instance

The following Java class uses Java Management Extensions (JMX) to shut down a server instance. Each server uses JMX Managed Beans (MBeans) to expose its management attributes and operations. One such MBean, ServerRuntime, exposes a shutdown() method that gracefully shuts down a server.

The class in Example 3-2 uses the Administration MBeanHome interface, which can retrieve and call ServerRuntime MBean operations for all server instances in a domain.

For more information about JMX programming, refer to Developing Custom Management Utilities Using JMX for Oracle WebLogic Server. For more information about the ServerRuntime MBean, refer to the WebLogic Server Javadoc.

Example 3-2 Java Class that Shuts Down a Server Instance

import java.util.Set;
import java.util.Iterator;
import java.rmi.RemoteException;
import javax.naming.Context;
import javax.management.ObjectName;

import weblogic.jndi.Environment;
import weblogic.management.MBeanHome;
import weblogic.management.WebLogicMBean;
import weblogic.management.configuration.ServerMBean;
import weblogic.management.runtime.ServerRuntimeMBean;
import weblogic.management.runtime.ServerStates;
import weblogic.management.WebLogicObjectName;

public class ServerStopper {
public static void stop() throws Exception {
MBeanHome home = null;

//url of the Admin server
String url = "t3://qa113:7001";
String username = "system";
String password = "password";
ServerRuntimeMBean serverRuntime = null;
Set mbeanSet = null;
Iterator mbeanIterator = null;

try {
// Set ContextClassloader to prevent assertions
URL[] urls = { new File("/").toURL() };
Thread.currentThread().setContextClassLoader(new
URLClassLoader(urls));

Environment env = new Environment();
env.setProviderUrl(url);
env.setSecurityPrincipal(username);
env.setSecurityCredentials(password);
Context ctx = env.getInitialContext();
home = (MBeanHome)
ctx.lookup("weblogic.management.adminhome");
mbeanSet = home.getMBeansByType("ServerRuntime");
mbeanIterator = mbeanSet.iterator();

while(mbeanIterator.hasNext()) {
serverRuntime = (ServerRuntimeMBean)mbeanIterator.next();
if(serverRuntime.getState().equals(ServerStates.RUNNING)){
serverRuntime.shutdown();
}
}
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
}

Note:
If two or more server instances are running, this sample Java class shuts down all server instances.

Redirecting Standard Out and Standard Error to a File

By default, when you install a WebLogic Server instance as a Windows service, you cannot see the messages that the server or its JVM print to standard out and standard error.

To view these messages, you must redirect standard out and standard error to a file:

1. Create a backup copy of the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.

2. In a text editor, open the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.

3. In installSvc.cmd, the last command in the script invokes the wlsvc utility. At the end of the wlsvc command, append the following command option:

-log:"pathname"

where pathname is a fully qualified path and filename of the file that you want to store the server's standard out and standard error messages.

The modified wlsvc command will resemble the following command:

"%WL_HOME%\server\bin\wlsvc" -install
-svcname:"%DOMAIN_NAME%_%SERVER_NAME%"
-javahome:"%JAVA_HOME%" -execdir:"%USERDOMAIN_HOME%"
-extrapath:"%WL_HOME%\server\bin" -password:"%WLS_PW%"
-cmdline:%CMDLINE%
-log:"d:\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\myWLSdomain\myWLSserver-stdout.txt"

4. By default, every 24 hours the Windows service archives messages to a file named pathname-yyyy_mm_dd-hh_mm_ss. New messages collect in the file that you specified in the previous step.
For information on changing the default behavior, see Changing the Default Rotation Criteria.

After you install the service and restart the Windows host, to view the messages that the server writes to standard out or standard error, do one of the following:

- Make a copy of the file that you specified and view the copy. The Windows file system cannot write to files that are currently opened.

- To view the messages as they are being printed to the file, open a command prompt and, using a DOS utility that supports the tail command, enter tail -f stdout-filename.

Changing the Default Rotation Criteria

By default, every 24 hours the Windows service archives messages to a file named pathname-yyyy_mm_dd-hh_mm_ss. New messages collect in the file that you specified when you set up the service.

You can change the time interval or you can set up rotation to occur based on the size of the message file instead of a time interval.

To change the default criteria at which the Windows service rotates message files:

1. If the Windows service is running, shut it down.

2. Edit the file you specified in the -log: pathname argument. If a file does not exist, create one.
For example, if you issued the example command in step 3 in the previous section, create a file named d:\Oracle\Middleware\wlserver_12.1\config\mydomain\myserver-stdout.txt.

3. Do one of the following:

- If you want the Windows service to rotate the message file at a specific time interval regardless of file size, add the following statements at the top of the file, each statement on a separate line (make sure to press the Enter or Return key after typing the last line):

# ROTATION_TYPE = TIME
# TIME_START_DATE = date-in-required-format
# TIME_INTERVAL_MINS = number-of-minutes

where TIME_START_DATE specifies when the first rotation should take place. If the specified time has already passed, the first rotation occurs when the time interval specified in TIME_INTERVAL_MINS expires. You must use the following format to specify the start time: Month Day Year Hour:Minutes:Seconds

where Month is the first 3 letters of a Gregorian-calendar month as written in English

Day is the 2-digit day of the Gregorian-calendar month

Year is the 4-digit year of the Gregorian calendar

Hour:Minutes:Seconds expresses time in a 24-hour format

TIME_INTERVAL_MINS specifies how frequently (in minutes) the Windows service rotates the file.

Optionally, you can add the MAX_FILE_COUNT attribute to specify a rotation limit for the output files that are generated from WebLogic Server as a service. By default, MAX_FILE_COUNT=-1, meaning no limit on the number of files exists. Defining MAX_FILE_COUNT with a value greater than 0 sets a limit on the number of files to rotate.

For example:

# ROTATION_TYPE = TIME
# TIME_START_DATE = Jul 17 2003 05:25:30
# TIME_INTERVAL_MINS = 1440

# MAX_FILE_COUNT = 999

When the time interval expires, the Windows service saves the file as pathname-yyyy_mm_dd-hh_mm_ss. It then creates a new file named pathname. This new file, which contains all of the headers that you specified originally, collects new standard out and standard error messages.

If you specify # ROTATION_TYPE = TIME but do not include the other lines, the Windows service rotates the message file every 24 hours.

- If you want the Windows service to rotate the message file after the file grows beyond a specified size, add the following statements at the top of the file, each statement on its own line (make sure to press the Enter or Return key after typing the last line):

# ROTATION_TYPE = SIZE
# SIZE_KB = file-size-in-kilobytes
# SIZE_TRIGGER_INTERVAL_MINS = polling-interval

where SIZE_KB specifies the minimal file size (in kilobytes) that triggers the Windows service to move messages to a separate file.

SIZE_TRIGGER_INTERVAL_MINS specifies (in minutes) how frequently the Windows service checks the file size. If you do not include this header, the Windows service checks the file size every 5 minutes.

For example:

# ROTATION_TYPE = SIZE
# SIZE_KB = 1024
# SIZE_TRIGGER_INTERVAL_MINS = 3

# MAX_FILE_COUNT = 999

When the Windows service checks the file size, if the file is larger than the size you specify, it saves the file as pathname-yyyy_mm_dd-hh_mm_ss. It then creates a new file named pathname. This new file, which contains all of the headers that you specified originally, collects new standard out and standard error messages.

If you specify # ROTATION_TYPE = SIZE but do not include the other lines, the Windows service checks the size of the message file every 5 minutes. If the file is larger than 1 megabytes, it rotates the file.

To cause the WebLogic Server instance to print a thread dump to standard out, do either of the following:

- Use the WLST threadDump command.

- Open a command prompt and enter the following command:
WL_HOME\bin\wlsvc -dump -svcname:service-name

where WL_HOME is the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server and service-name is the Windows service that is running a server instance.

For example:

D:\Oracle\Middleware\wlserver_12.1\server\bin\wlsvc -dump -svcname:mydomain_myserver

Adding Classes to the Classpath

The classpath is a declaration of the location of Java classes that a JVM can invoke. When you use the WebLogic Server master script to install a server instance as a Windows service, the master script specifies all classes required to run a server instance. If you want to extend WebLogic Server by adding your own Java classes, you must add them to the classpath.

To add classes to the classpath:

1. Create a backup copy of the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.

2. In a text editor, open the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script.

3. Add your class to the set CLASSPATH statement.
For example if you archived your class in a file named c:\myJar, the modified statement will be as follows:

set
CLASSPATH=%JAVA_HOME%\lib\tools.jar;%WL_HOME%\server\lib\weblogic_sp.
jar;%WL_HOME%\server\lib\weblogic.jar;c:\myJar;%CLASSPATH%

Note:
Win32 systems have a 2K limitation on the length of the command line. If the classpath setting for the Windows service startup is very long, the 2K limitation could be exceeded.

To work around this limitation:

1. Place the value of the set CLASSPATH command in a separate text file.

2. In the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script, find the set CMDLINE command.

3. Within the set CMDLINE command, replace the -classpath \"%CLASSPATH%\" option with the following option:

-classpath @pathname\filename

where pathname\filename is the absolute path and name of the file that contains the classpath values.

For example:

set CMDLINE="%JAVA_VM% %MEM_ARGS% %JAVA_OPTIONS%
-classpath @c:\myClasspath.txt -Dweblogic.Name=%SERVER_NAME%
-Dbea.home=\"D:\bea_70sp2\" -Dweblogic.management.username=%WLS_USER%
-Dweblogic.management.server=\"%ADMIN_URL%\"
-Dweblogic.ProductionModeEnabled=%STARTMODE%
-Djava.security.policy=\"%WL_HOME%\server\lib\weblogic.policy\"
weblogic.Server"

4. Save your changes to the WebLogic Server master script.

Run the Server-Specific Script

Note:
To run the server-specific script, you must log in to the Windows computer with a user account that has privileges to modify the Windows registry.

If you install the Windows service in a production environment, Oracle recommends that you do not run the service under an operating-system user account that has administrator-level privileges. For more information, see Verifying the User Account Under Which the Service Runs.

To run the server-specific script:

1. Open a command prompt and change to Administration Server's root directory, which is the directory that contains the server-specific script.

2. Enter the name of the server-specific script.
The command prompt runs the script as a batch file.

If the script runs successfully, it creates a Windows service named DOMAIN_NAME_SERVER_NAME and prints a line to standard out that is similar to the following:

mydomain_myserver installed.

By default, standard out is the command prompt in which you run the server-specific batch file.

3. If you modified the WL_HOME\server\bin\installSvc.cmd master script, consider undoing your modifications so the script can be used to set up other server instances.

Verifying the Setup

To verify that you successfully set up a WebLogic Server as a Windows service, do the following:

1. Open a command window and enter the following command:

set PATH=WL_HOME\server\bin;%PATH%

2. Navigate to the directory immediately above your domain directory. For example, to verify the setup for ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\mydomain, navigate to ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains.

3. Enter:

wlsvc -debug "yourServiceName"

For example, wlsvc -debug "mydomain_myserver".

If your setup was successful, the wlsvc -debug command starts your server. If the script returns an error similar to the following, make sure that you specified the correct service name:

Unable to open Registry Key ....... System\CurrentControlSet\Services\wlsvc example_examplesServer\Parameters

Verifying the User Account Under Which the Service Runs

In a production environment, WebLogic Server Windows services should run under a special operating-system user account that has limited access privileges. For example, the OS user should have access privileges only to Oracle files and to your domain files. This should be the only user account that has access to these files.

To ensure that the WebLogic Server instance runs under the special OS user account:

1. Open Services in the Microsoft Management Console.
For example, from the Windows XP desktop:

1. Select the Start menu.

2. On the Start menu, select Programs > Administrative Tools > Services.

2. In the Services window, right click the WebLogic Server Windows service and select Properties.

3. In the Properties window, select the Log On tab.

4. Under Log on, select This account. Then enter the user name and password of the special OS user account.

5. Click OK.

Note:
When accessing network drives, the Windows service must run under the same user name as the one who shared the network drive.

Using the Services Window to Stop or Restart a Server Instance

After you set up a server instance to run as a Windows service, you can use the Microsoft Management Console, Services window, to stop and restart the server.

By default, if you use the Microsoft Management Console to stop a server instance, it kills the server's Java Virtual Machine (JVM). If you kill the JVM, the server immediately stops all processing. Any session data is lost. If you kill the JVM for an Administration Server while the server is writing to the config.xml file, you can corrupt the config.xml file. For information on enabling graceful shutdowns, refer to Enabling Graceful Shutdowns.

To stop or restart a WebLogic Server instance that is installed as a Windows service:

1. Select Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Services.

2. In the Services window, find the service that you created. By default, the service name starts with wlsvc.

3. Right-click the service name and select commands from the menu.

Removing a Server as a Windows Service

To remove a Windows service that runs a WebLogic Server instance, you can use a script that causes the wlsvc utility to remove the associated key from the Windows Registry. Removing the Windows service has no effect on the server instance's configuration that is saved in the domain's configuration file. After you remove the Windows service, you can start the WebLogic Server instance with start scripts or, for Managed Servers, the Node Manager.

The script sets values for variables that identify the name of the server instance and other server-specific information. Then the script calls a master uninstall script, WL_HOME\server\bin\uninstallSvc.cmd, where WL_HOME is the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server. The master scripts invokes the wlsvc utility, which removes a key from the Windows Registry.

To see an example of a server-specific uninstaller script, refer to Example 3-3.

To create a script for removing a Windows service that runs a WebLogic Server instance:

1. In the root directory for the domain's Administration Server (the directory that contains the domain's config.xml file), create a text file.

2. Add the following, required batch commands to the text file, each command on a separate line:

- SETLOCAL
This is a batch command that begins the localization of environment variables in a batch file.

- set DOMAIN_NAME=domain-name
where domain-name is the name of your WebLogic Server domain.

- set SERVER_NAME=server-name
where server-name is the name of an existing server instance that you want remove as a Windows service.

- call "WL_HOME\server\bin\uninstallSvc.cmd"
where WL_HOME is an absolute pathname for the directory in which you installed WebLogic Server. This command calls the WebLogic Server master uninstall script.

- ENDLOCAL
This is a batch command that ends the localization of environment variables in a batch file.

3. Save the text file with a .cmd extension. By default, the Windows command prompt associates the .cmd extension with batch files.

4. Enter the name of the server-specific script.
The command prompt runs the script as a batch file.

If the removal script runs successfully, it prints a line similar to the following to standard out:

mydomain_myserver removed

By default, standard out is the command prompt in which you run the batch file.

Example 3-3 Script to Remove a Windows Service

echo off
SETLOCAL
set DOMAIN_NAME=myWLSdomain
set SERVER_NAME=myWLSserver
call "D:\Oracle\Middleware\wlserver_12.1\server\bin\uninstallSvc.cmd"
ENDLOCAL

Changing Startup Credentials for a Server Set Up as a Windows Service

To change a Windows service so that a WebLogic Server instance runs under different user credentials, do one of the following:

- If you set up the Windows service to retrieve user names and passwords from a boot identity file, you can overwrite the existing file with a new one that contains the new user name and password. You must specify the name of an existing user in the WebLogic Server default security realm. For more information, see Boot Identity Files.

- If you set up the Windows service to retrieve user names and passwords from the Windows registry, then you must remove the Windows service and create a new one that uses your new user name or password:

1. Uninstall the Windows service that runs the WebLogic Server instance. For more information, refer to Removing a Server as a Windows Service.

2. In a text editor, open the script that you used to install the service and enter the new user name and password as the value for the set WLS_USER and set WLS_PW commands. WebLogic Server encrypts these values in the Windows Registry.

3. Save your modifications to the script.

4. Enter the name of the server-specific script.
The command prompt runs the script as a batch file.

If the script runs successfully, it creates a Windows service named

DOMAIN_NAME_SERVER_NAME and prints a line to standard out that is similar to the following:

mydomain_myserver installed

By default, standard out is the command prompt in which you run the server-specific batch file.

5. (Optional) Remove the user name and password from the script file.

4 Avoiding and Recovering From Server Failure

This chapter describes how to avoid and recover from a server failure when using WebLogic Server. A variety of events can lead to the failure of a server instance and often one failure condition leads to another. Loss of power, hardware malfunction, operating system crashes, network partitions, and unexpected application behavior can all contribute to the failure of a server instance. For high availability requirements, implement a clustered architecture to minimize the impact of failure events. However, even in a clustered environment, server instances may fail periodically, and it is important to be prepared for the recovery process.

This chapter includes the following sections:

- Failure Prevention and Recovery Features

- Directory and File Backups for Failure Recovery

- WebLogic Server Exit Codes and Restarting After Failure

- Restarting a Failed Administration Server

- Restarting a Failed Managed Server

- Additional Failure Topics

For information about failover in a WebLogic Server cluster, see Failover and Replication in a Cluster in Administering Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Failure Prevention and Recovery Features

WebLogic Server offers several features that facilitate recovery from and protection against server failure.

Overload Protection

WebLogic Server detects increases in system load that can affect application performance and stability, and allows administrators to configure failure prevention actions that occur automatically at predefined load thresholds.

Overload protection helps you avoid failures that result from unanticipated levels of application traffic or resource utilization.

WebLogic Server attempts to avoid failure when certain conditions occur:

- Workload manager capacity is exceeded

- HTTP session count increases to a predefined threshold value

- Impending out of memory conditions

Failover for Clustered Services

You can increase the reliability and availability of your applications by hosting them on a WebLogic Server cluster. Clusterable services, such as EJBs and Web applications, can be deployed uniformly—on each Managed Server—in a cluster, so that if the server instance upon which a service is deployed fails, the service can fail over to another server in the cluster, without interruption in service or loss of state.

For more information, see "Failover and Replication in a Cluster" in Administering Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Automatic Restart for Failed Server Instances

WebLogic Server self-health monitoring improves the reliability and availability of server instances in a domain. Selected subsystems within each WebLogic Server instance monitor their health status based on criteria specific to the subsystem. For example, the JMS subsystem monitors the condition of the JMS thread pool while the core server subsystem monitors default and user-defined execute queue statistics. If an individual subsystem determines that it can no longer operate in a consistent and reliable manner, it registers its health state as "failed" with the host server.

Each WebLogic Server instance, in turn, checks the health state of its registered subsystems to determine its overall viability. If one or more of its critical subsystems have reached the FAILED state, the server instance marks its own health state FAILED to indicate that it cannot reliably host an application.

Using Node Manager, server self-health monitoring enables you to automatically reboot servers that have failed. This improves the overall reliability of a domain, and requires no direct intervention from an administrator.

For more information, see "Node Manager and System Crash Recovery" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Server-Level Migration

WebLogic Server provides the capability to migrate clustered server instances. A clustered server that is configured to be migratable can be moved in its entirety from one machine to another, at the command of an administrator, or automatically, in the event of failure. The migration process makes all of the services running on the server instance available on a different machine, but not the state information for the singleton services that were running at the time of failure. For more information, see "Whole Server Migration" in Administering Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Service-Level Migration

WebLogic Server supports migration of a individual singleton service as well as the server-level migration capability described in the previous section. Singleton services are services that run in a cluster but must run on only a single instance at any given time, such as JMS and the JTA transaction recovery system.

An administrator can migrate a JMS server or the JTS transaction recovery from one server instance to another in a cluster, either in response to a server failure or as part of regularly-scheduled maintenance. This capability improves the availability of pinned services in a cluster, because those services can be quickly restarted on a redundant server should the host server fail.

For more information, see "Service Migration" in Administering Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Managed Server Independence Mode

Managed Servers maintain a local copy of the domain configuration. When a Managed Server starts, it contacts its Administration Server to retrieve any changes to the domain configuration that were made since the Managed Server was last shut down. If a Managed Server cannot connect to the Administration Server during startup, it can use its locally cached configuration information—this is the configuration that was current at the time of the Managed Server's most recent shutdown. A Managed Server that starts up without contacting its Administration Server to check for configuration updates is running in Managed Server Independence (MSI) mode. By default, MSI mode is enabled. For information about disabling MSI mode, see "Disable Managed Server independence" in Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Directory and File Backups for Failure Recovery

This section describes file backups that WebLogic Server performs automatically, and recommended backup procedures that an administrator should perform.

Recovery from the failure of a server instance requires access to the domain configuration and security data. The WebLogic Security service stores its configuration data in the config.xml file, and also in an LDAP repository and other files.

For more information, see "Domain Configuration Files" in Understanding Domain Configuration for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Back Up Domain Configuration Directory

By default, an Administration Server stores the domain configuration data in the domain_name\config directory, where domain_name is the root directory of the domain.

Back up the config directory to a secure location in case a failure of the Administration Server renders the original copy unavailable. If an Administration Server fails, you can copy the backup version to a different machine and restart the Administration Server on the new machine.

Each time a Managed Server starts up, it contacts the Administration Server and if there are changes in to the domain configuration, the Managed Server updates its local copy of the domain config directory.

During operation, if changes are made to the domain configuration, the Administration Server notifies the Managed Servers which update their local /config directory. So, each Managed Server always has an current copy of its configuration data cached locally.

Back Up LDAP Repository

The default Authentication, Authorization, Role Mapper, and Credential Mapper providers that are installed with WebLogic Server store their data in an LDAP server. Each WebLogic Server instance contains an embedded LDAP server. The Administration Server contains the master LDAP server which is replicated on all Managed Servers. If any of your security realms use these installed providers, you should maintain an up-to-date backup of the following directory tree:

domain_name\servers\ adminServer\data\ldap

where domain_name is the domain root directory and adminServer is the directory in which the Administration Server stores run time and security data.

Each WebLogic Server instance has an LDAP directory, but you only need to back up the LDAP data on the Administration Server—the master LDAP server replicates the LDAP data from each Managed Server when updates to security data are made. WebLogic security providers cannot modify security data while the domain Administration Server is unavailable. The LDAP repositories on Managed Servers are replicas and cannot be modified.

The ldap\ldapfiles subdirectory contains the data files for the LDAP server. The files in this directory contain user, group, group membership, policies, and role information. Other subdirectories under the ldap directory contain LDAP server message logs and data about replicated LDAP servers.

Do not update the configuration of a security provider while a backup of LDAP data is in progress. If a change is made—for instance, if an administrator adds a user—while you are backing up the ldap directory tree, the backups in the ldapfiles subdirectory could become inconsistent. If this does occur, consistent, but potentially out-of-date, LDAP backups are available, because once a day, a server suspends write operations and creates its own backup of the LDAP data. It archives this backup in a ZIP file below the ldap\backup directory and then resumes write operations. This backup is guaranteed to be consistent, but it might not contain the latest security data.

For information about configuring the LDAP backup, see "Configure backups for embedded LDAP servers" in Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Back Up SerializedSystemIni.dat and Security Certificates

Each server instance creates a file named SerializedSystemIni.dat and locates it in the /security directory. This file contains encrypted security data that must be present to boot the server. You must back up this file.

If you configured a server to use SSL, you must also back up the security certificates and keys. The location of these files is user-configurable.

WebLogic Server Exit Codes and Restarting After Failure

When a server instance stops, it issues an exit code. The value of the exit code provides information about the conditions under which the server process ended. When a server instance under Node Manager control exits, Node Manager uses the exit code to determine whether or not to restart the server instance. The server exit code can be used by other high-availability agents or scripts to determine what, if any action, to take after a server instance exits. Server exit codes are defined in the following table:

Table 4-1 WebLogic Server Exit Codes

Exit Code Value

Meaning

Restart Recommendation

Less than 0

A negative value indicates that the server instance failed during a state transition, and did not terminate in a stable condition.

Example: If a Start in Standby command is issued for a server instance whose configuration is invalid, the server instance fails in the transitional STARTING state, and does not achieve the STANDBY state.

Do not attempt to restart the server. Diagnose the problem that caused the server process to exit.

0

Indicates that the server process terminated normally, as a result of a shutdown command, either graceful or forced.

None.

Greater than 0

A positive value indicates that the server instance stopped itself after determining that one or more of its subsystems were unstable.

Example: A server instance detects an out of memory condition or stuck threads, and shuts itself down.

The server instance can be restarted.

Restarting a Failed Administration Server

The following sections describe how to start an Administration Server after a failure.

Note:
You can use Node Manager to automatically restart a failed Administration Server. For more information see "Restart Administration and Managed Servers" in "Node Manager Overview" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Restarting an Administration Server

See Chapter 2, "Starting and Stopping Servers."

Restarting Administration Server Scenarios

Table 4-2 Administration Server Restart Scenarios

Listen Address Definition

Same Machine or Different Machine with Same IP Address

Different Machine with Different IP Address

Not defined

1. If you are starting AS on a different machine with the same IP address:
a. Install WebLogic Server.

b. Move data.

2. Start the Administration Server.
Running MSs will reconnect automatically at the next AdminReconnectIntervalSecs.

3. To start an MS that was not running when AS failed, no change in command is required.

1. Install WebLogic Server.

2. Move data.

3. Start the Administration Server.
MSs that were running when AS went down, will not reconnect because they know only the previous Administration Server URL. See Managed Servers and the Re-started Administration Server.

Restart MSs supplying the new AS listen address on the command line.

4. To start an MS that was not running when AS failed, supply the new AS listen address on the command line.

DNS name or IP address of the host

1. If you are starting AS on a different machine with the same IP address:
a. Install WebLogic Server.

b. Move data.

2. Start the Administration Server.
Running MSs will reconnect automatically at the next AdminReconnectIntervalSecs.

3. To start an MS that was not running when AS failed, no change in command is required.

1. Install WebLogic Server.

2. Move data.

3. Update the config.xml with the IP address of the new host machine. See Restarting an Administration Server on Another Machine.

4. Start the Administration Server.
MSs that were running when AS went down, will not reconnect because they know only the previous Administration Server URL. See Managed Servers and the Re-started Administration Server.

Restart MSs supplying the new AS listen address or DNS name on the command line.

5. To start an MS that was not running when AS failed, supply the new AS listen address or DNS name on the command line.

DNS name mapped to multiple hosts

1. If you are starting AS on a different machine with the same IP address:
a. Install WebLogic Server.

b. Move data.

2. Start the Administration Server.
Running MSs will reconnect automatically at the next AdminReconnectIntervalSecs.

3. To start an MS that was not running when AS failed, no change in command is required.

1. Install WebLogic Server.

2. Move data.

3. Update the config.xml with the IP address of the new host machine. See Restarting an Administration Server on Another Machine.

4. Start the Administration Server.
Running MSs that were started with a DNS name for the Administration Server URL that maps to multiple IPs, will attempt reconnection to AS on all the available URLs. MSs can then locate the AS that has been restarted at any of the URLs.

5. To start an MS that was not running when AS failed, supply the DNS name on the command line.

Restarting an Administration Server on Another Machine

If a machine crash prevents you from restarting the Administration Server on the same machine, you can recover management of the running Managed Servers as follows:

1. Install the WebLogic Server software on the new administration machine (if this has not already been done).

2. Make your application files available to the new Administration Server by restoring them from backups or by using a shared disk. Your application files should be available in the same relative location on the new file system as on the file system of the original Administration Server.

3. Make your configuration and security data available to the new administration machine by restoring them from backups or by using a shared disk. For more information, refer to Directory and File Backups for Failure Recovery.

- Update the config.xml with the IP address of the new host machine. If the listen address was set to blank, you do not need to change it. For example:

<server>
<name>AdminServer</name>
...
<listen-address></listen-address>
</server>

- You can edit config.xml manually or use WLST offline to update the listen address.

4. Restart the Administration Server on the new machine.

Managed Servers and the Re-started Administration Server

If an Administration Server stops running while the Managed Servers in the domain continue to run, each Managed Server periodically attempts to reconnect to the Administration Server, at the interval specified by the ServerMBean attribute AdminReconnectIntervalSeconds. By default, AdminReconnectIntervalSeconds is ten seconds.

In order for Managed Servers to reconnect after an Administration Server is restarted on a different IP address, you must have:

- Configured a DNS name for the Administration Server URL that maps to multiple IP addresses. For example, a DNS server named wlsadminserver which maps to 10.10.10.1 and 10.10.10.2

- Provided the DNS name for the Administration Server URL when starting the Managed Servers. For example:
-Dweblogic.management.server=protocol://wlsadminserver:port

or

startManagedWebLogic.cmd managed_server_name protocol://wlsadminserver:port

If the Administration Server goes down, Managed Servers will attempt to reconnect to the Administration Server on all the available URLs. When the Administration Server comes up on any of these URLs, Managed Servers connect to the Administration Server and stop attempting to reconnect on the other URLs. If the Administration Server goes down again, they attempt to reconnect again.

Restarting a Failed Managed Server

The following sections describe how to start Managed Servers after failure. For recovery considerations related to transactions and JMS, see Additional Failure Topics.

Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Accessible

If the Administration Server is reachable by a Managed Server that failed, you can:

- Restart it manually or automatically using Node Manager—You must configure Node Manager and the Managed Server to support this behavior. For details, see "Start, Shut Down, Suspend, and Restart Managed Servers" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- Start it manually with a command or script—For instructions, see Chapter 2, "Starting and Stopping Servers."

Starting a Managed Server When the Administration Server Is Not Accessible

If a Managed Server cannot connect to the Administration Server during startup, it can retrieve its configuration by reading its locally cached configuration data from the config directory. A Managed Server that starts in this way is running in Managed Server Independence (MSI) mode.

Understanding Managed Server Independence Mode

When a Managed Server starts, it tries to contact the Administration Server to retrieve its configuration information. If a Managed Server cannot connect to the Administration Server during startup, it can retrieve its configuration by reading configuration and security files directly. A Managed Server that starts in this way is running in Managed Server Independence (MSI) mode. By default, MSI mode is enabled. For information about disabling MSI mode, see "Disable Managed Server independence" in Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

In Managed Server Independence mode, a Managed Server:

- Looks in its local config directory for config.xml—a replica of the domain config.xml.

- Looks in its security directory for SerializedSystemIni.dat and for boot.properties, which contains an encrypted version of your user name and password. For more information, see Provide User Credentials to Start and Stop Servers.

If config.xml and SerializedSystemIni.dat are not in these locations in the server domain directory, you can copy them from the Administration Server domain directory.

MSI Mode and Node Manager

You cannot use Node Manager to start a server instance in MSI mode, only to restart it. For a routine startup, Node Manager requires access to the Administration Server. If the Administration Server is unavailable, you must log onto a Managed Server's host machine to start the Managed Server.

MSI Mode and the Security Realm

A Managed Server must have access to a security realm to complete its startup process.

If you use the security realm that WebLogic Server installs, then the Administration Server maintains an LDAP server to store the domain security data. All Managed Servers replicate this LDAP server. If the Administration Server fails, Managed Servers running in MSI mode use the replicated LDAP server for security services.

If you use a third party security provider, then the Managed Server must be able to access the security data before it can complete its startup process.

MSI Mode and SSL

If you set up SSL for your servers, each server requires its own set of certificate files, key files, and other SSL-related files. Managed Servers do not retrieve SSL-related files from the Administration Server though the domain configuration file does store the pathnames to those files for each server. Starting in MSI Mode does not require you to copy or move the SSL-related files unless they are located on a machine that is inaccessible.

MSI Mode and Deployment

A Managed Server that starts in MSI mode deploys its applications from its staging directory: server_root\stage\appName.

MSI Mode and the Domain Log File

Each WebLogic Server instance writes log messages to its local log file and a domain-wide log file. The domain log file provides a central location from which to view messages from all servers in a domain.

Usually, a Managed Server forwards messages to the Administration Server, and the Administration Server writes the messages to the domain log file. However, when a Managed Server runs in MSI mode, it continues to write messages to its local server log file but does not forward messages to the domain log file.

For more information, see "How a Server Instance Forwards Messages to the Domain Log" in Configuring Log Files and Filtering Log Messages for Oracle WebLogic Server.

MSI Mode and Managed Server Configuration Changes

If you start a Managed Server in MSI mode, you cannot change its configuration until it restores communication with the Administration Server.

Starting a Managed Server in MSI Mode

Note:
If the Managed Server that failed was a clustered Managed Server that was the active server for a migratable service at the time of failure, perform the steps described in "Migrating When the Currently Active Host is Unavailable" in Administering Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server. Do not start the Managed Server in MSI mode.

To start up a Managed Server in MSI mode:

1. Ensure that the Managed Server's root directory contains the config subdirectory.
If the config directory does not exist, copy it from the Administration Server's root directory or from a backup to the Managed Server's root directory.

Note:
Alternatively, you can use the -Dweblogic.RootDirectory=path startup option to specify a root directory that already contains these files.

2. Start the Managed Server at the command line or using a script—For instructions, see Chapter 2, "Starting and Stopping Servers."
The Managed Server will run in MSI mode until it is contacted by its Administration Server. For information about restarting the Administration Server in this scenario, see Restarting a Failed Administration Server.

Additional Failure Topics

For information related to recovering JMS data from a failed server instance, see "Configuring WebLogic JMS Clustering" in Administering JMS Resources for Oracle WebLogic Server.

For information about transaction recovery after failure, see "Transaction Recovery After a Server Fails" in Developing JTA Applications for Oracle WebLogic Server.

For information about recovering from a corrupt or unusable embedded LDAP server file, which prevents the Administration Server from starting, see "Backup and Recovery" in "Managing the Embedded LDAP Server" in Administering Security for Oracle WebLogic Server.

5 Understanding Server Life Cycle

This chapter describes the server life cycle, the series of states through which a WebLogic Server instance can transition. At any time, a WebLogic Server instance is in a particular operating state. Commands—such as start, stop, and suspend—cause specific changes to the operational state of a server instance.

This chapter includes the following sections:

- Diagram of the Server Life Cycle

- Getting and Using Server State

- Understanding Server States in the Server Life Cycle

- Using Server Life Cycle Commands

- Processing In-Flight Work During Suspend and Shutdown

Diagram of the Server Life Cycle

Figure 5-1 illustrates the server life cycle and the relationships between states and life cycle commands.

Figure 5-1 State Transitions for Server Life Cycle Commands

To understand each state and the relationships among states, see Understanding Server States in the Server Life Cycle. For information on life cycle commands, see Using Server Life Cycle Commands.

Getting and Using Server State

WebLogic Server displays and stores information about the current state of a server instance, and state transitions that have occurred since the server instance started up. This information is useful to administrators who:

- Monitor the availability of server instances and the applications they host

- Perform day-to-day operations tasks, including startup and shutdown procedures

- Diagnose problems with application services

- Plan corrective actions, such as migration of services, when a server instance fails or crashes

Get server state as follows:

- WebLogic Server Administration Console—Multiple pages display state information:

- On the Summary of Servers page (Environment > Servers), the Servers table displays the current state of each server instance in the current domain.

- The SERVER_NAME > Monitoring page displays the state of the currently running server instance, and the date and time it entered the state.

- Diagnostics > Log Files, includes timestamped messages for state transitions that have occurred since the server instance was last started.

- Programmatically—Use the getState() method on the server's weblogic.management.runtime.ServerRuntimeMBean. For example, to monitor the progress of a long-running graceful shutdown process, issue a getstate inquiry on a separate thread. For more information, see ServerRuntimeMBean in MBean Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- WebLogic Scripting Tool—See "Getting Run-Time Information" in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool.

Understanding Server States in the Server Life Cycle

These sections describe each state in the WebLogic Server life cycle.

SHUTDOWN State

In the SHUTDOWN state, a WebLogic Server instance is configured but inactive.

A server instance enters the SHUTDOWN state as result of a Shutdown or Force Shutdown command. In addition, a server instance can kill itself when it detects, as a result of self-health monitoring, that it has become unstable. Only a server instance with its Auto Kill If Failed attribute is true will kill itself when it detects that it is failed. For more information, see Automatic Restart for Failed Server Instances.

You can transition a server instance in the SHUTDOWN state to the STARTING state with the Start, Start in Admin, or Start in Standby commands.

STARTING State

During the STARTING state, a WebLogic Server instance transitions from SHUTDOWN to STANDBY, as a result of a Start, Start in Admin, or Start in Standby command.

In the STARTING state, a server instance cannot accept any client or administrative requests.

The server instance obtains its configuration data:

- An Administration Server retrieves domain configuration data, including the domain security configuration, from its config directory.

- A Managed Server contacts the Administration Server for its configuration and security data. If the Managed Server is configured for SSL communications, it uses its own certificate files, key files, and other SSL-related files and contacts the Administration Server for the remaining configuration and security data.

Note:
If the Managed Server cannot contact its Administration Server, by default, it starts up in Managed Server Independence mode, using its locally cached copy of the domain config directory. See Understanding Managed Server Independence Mode.

The server instance starts the services listed in Table 5-1, in the order listed.

Table 5-1 Services Started in STARTING State

Service

Function

weblogic.management.provider.internal.BeanInfoAccessService

weblogic.management.PropertyService

weblogic.management.internal.DomainDirectoryService

weblogic.upgrade.domain.DomainUpgradeServerService

weblogic.management.upgrade.ConfigurationMigrationService

weblogic.deploy.service.internal.DeploymentService

weblogic.management.provider.internal.RuntimeAccessDeploymentReceiverService

weblogic.management.provider.internal.RuntimeAccessService

weblogic.diagnostics.lifecycle.DiagnosticInstrumentationService

weblogic.t3.srvr.BootService

Includes basic services such as kernel, execute queues, and the server run time.

weblogic.management.provider.internal.DomainAccessService

The root for Administration Server-only services.

weblogic.diagnostics.lifecycle.DiagnosticFoundationService

The container service for logging and debugging.

weblogic.nodemanager.NMService

The Node Manager service, responsible for reporting changes to server status to Node Manager via the server output stream.

weblogic.timers.internal.TimerService

weblogic.rjvm.RJVMService

During shutdown, closes all RJVMs except the Administration Server connection.

weblogic.protocol.ProtocolService

weblogic.t3.srvr.DomainLibService

Registers configured protocols, making them available for outbound traffic and inbound configuration. Managed Servers require this service to be available early in the startup sequence, to allow them to provide correct addressing information to the Administration Server.

weblogic.server.channels.ChannelService

This service is dependent on consistent configuration, and protocols being registered. By this point in the startup sequence, all protocols should have been registered.

After this service starts, addressing information, such as ServerChannelManager.findDefaultLocalServer Channel(), is available.

weblogic.server.channels.AdminPortService

weblogic.t3.srvr.ListenerService

weblogic.transaction.internal.PrimordialTransactionService

The transaction helper is initialized, providing utilities that associate transactions with threads, obtaining the Transaction Manager, obtain the UserTransaction object, and perform other tasks.

The transaction service itself is not enabled at this point in the startup sequence.

weblogic.rmi.internal.RMIServerService

The RMI boot service that is used for initialization only.

weblogic.jndi.internal.NamingService

weblogic.iiop.IIOPClientService

Installs VM-wide delegates.

weblogic.management.PrimordialManagementService

weblogic.ldap.EmbeddedLDAP

weblogic.security.SecurityService

weblogic.jndi.internal.RemoteNamingService

weblogic.security.acl.internal.RemoteSecurityService

weblogic.rmi.cluster.RemoteBinderFactoryService

weblogic.cluster.ClusterService

weblogic.iiop.IIOPService

weblogic.protocol.ProtocolHandlerService

weblogic.management.internal.AdminService

weblogic.xml.registry.XMLService

weblogic.messaging.interception.MessageInterceptionService

weblogic.cluster.migration.rmiservice.MigratableRMIService

weblogic.messaging.interception.configuration.Configurator

weblogic.drs.internal.DataReplicationService

weblogic.management.provider.internal.EditAccessService

Start the Management Edit Service.

weblogic.health.HealthMonitorService

weblogic.cluster.migration.MigrationService

weblogic.t3.srvr.T3InitializationService

Initializes deprecated T3 server services such as BootServicesImpl.

weblogic.server.channels.ChannelRuntimeService

Addressing information, such as ServerRuntime.getListenAddress(), and dynamic updates are available after this point in the startup sequence.

weblogic.store.admin.DefaultStoreService

weblogic.transaction.internal.TransactionService

weblogic.jdbc.common.internal.JDBCService

weblogic.connector.common.ConnectorService

weblogic.store.admin.StoreDeploymentService

weblogic.jms.JMSServiceServerLifeCycleImpl

weblogic.jms.BridgeService

weblogic.application.ApplicationShutdownService

Checks pending application work during graceful shutdown. Applications are also shutdown here.

weblogic.messaging.saf.internal.SAFServerService

weblogic.ejb20.deployer.EJB20Service

weblogic.io.common.internal.FileService

weblogic.time.server.TimerService

Cancels application triggers during shutdown.

weblogic.rmi.internal.HeartbeatHelperService

Supports heartbeats in protocol-only clients.

weblogic.servlet.internal.WebService

weblogic.webservice.conversation.internal.ConversationServiceImpl

weblogic.wtc.gwt.WTCServerLifeCycleImpl

com.beasys.CORBA.pool.weblogic.WLECService

weblogic.management.service.ManagedServerNotificationService

weblogic.webservice.WSServerService

weblogic.management.mbeanservers.runtime.internal.RuntimeServerService

Run-time JMX services.

weblogic.management.mbeanservers.edit.internal.EditServerService

weblogic.management.mbeanservers.compatability.internal.CompatabilityMBeanServerService

weblogic.management.snmp.SNMPService

weblogic.management.deploy.classdeployment.ClassDeploymentService

Adds handling of startup and shutdown classes.

weblogic.server.ServerLifeCycleService

Handles creation of the server life cycle run-time MBeans to allow for control of the domain.

weblogic.server.channels.EnableAdminListenersService

Enables Admin port before server goes into ADMIN state.

domainweblogic.diagnostics.lifecycle.DiagnosticSystemService

STANDBY State

A server instance in STANDBY does not process any request—its regular listen port is closed. The administration port is open, and accepts life cycle commands that transition the server instance to either the RUNNING or the SHUTDOWN state. Other Administration requests are not accepted.

Starting a server instance in standby is a method of keeping it available as a "hot" backup, a useful capability in high-availability environments.

The only life cycle command that causes a server instance to enter the STANDBY state and remain in that state is the Start in Standby command. A server instance transitions through the STANDBY state when you issue a Start or a Start in Admin command.

ADMIN State

In the ADMIN state, WebLogic Server is up and running, but available only for administration operations, allowing you to perform server and application-level administration tasks. When a server instance is in the ADMIN state:

- The Administration Console is available.

- The server instance accepts requests from users with the admin role. Requests from non-admin users are refused.

- Applications are activated in the application ADMIN state. They accept requests from users with the admin and AppTester roles. Users with these roles, accessing an application in the application ADMIN state, have access to all application functionality, not just administrative functions.

- The JDBC, JMS, and JTA subsystems are active, and administrative operations can be performed upon them. However, you do not have to have administrator-level privileges to access these subsystems when the server is in the ADMIN state.

- Deployments or re-deployments are allowed, and take effect when you transition the server instance from the ADMIN to the RUNNING state (using the Resume command).

- ClusterService is active and listens for heartbeats and announcements from other cluster members. It can detect that other Managed Servers have joined the cluster, but is invisible to other cluster members.

You can transition a server instance to the ADMIN state using the Start in Admin, Suspend, or Force Suspend commands.

A server instance transitions through the ADMIN state as a result of Start, Shutdown, and Force Shutdown commands.

You can transition a server instance in the ADMIN state to RUNNING with the Resume command, or to SHUTDOWN, with the Shutdown or Force Shutdown command.

RESUMING State

During this transitional state, WebLogic Server performs the operations required to move itself from the STANDBY or ADMIN state to the RUNNING state.

A server instance transitions to the RESUMING state when you issue the Resume command. A server instance transitions through the RESUMING state when you issue the Start command.

RUNNING State

In the RUNNING state, WebLogic Server is fully functional, offers its services to clients, and can operate as a full member of a cluster.

A server instance transitions to the RUNNING state as a result of the Start command, or the Resume command from the ADMIN or STANDBY states.

You can transition a server instance in the RUNNING state to the SUSPENDING state or the FORCE_SUSPENDING state using graceful and force Suspend and Shutdown commands.

SUSPENDING State

During this transitional state, WebLogic Server performs the operations required to place itself in the ADMIN state, suspending a subset of WebLogic Server subsystems and services in an ordered fashion, and completing a predefined portion of the application work currently in process ("in-flight" work).

A server instance transitions to the SUSPENDING state when you issue the Suspend command. A server instance transitions through the SUSPENDING state when you issue a Shutdown command.

For information about in-flight work, see Processing In-Flight Work During Suspend and Shutdown.

Note:
While in the SUSPENDING state, Work Managers complete in-flight processing for pending work in application threads. However, while in this state, you cannot schedule new work to Work Managers. For more information, see "Understanding Work Managers" in Administering Server Environments for Oracle WebLogic Server.

FORCE_SUSPENDING State

During this transitional state, WebLogic Server performs the operations required to place itself in the ADMIN state, suspending a subset of WebLogic Server subsystems and services in an ordered fashion. During the FORCE_SUSPENDING state, WebLogic Server does not complete in-flight work gracefully; application work in progress is abandoned.

A server instance transitions through the FORCE_SUSPENDING state when you issue the Force Suspend or Force Shutdown command.

SHUTTING_DOWN State

During this transitional state, WebLogic Server completes the suspension of subsystems and services and does not accept application or administration requests.

A server instance transitions to the SHUTTING_DOWN state when you issue a Shutdown or Force Shutdown command.

FAILED State

A running server instance can fail as a result of out-of-memory exceptions or stuck application threads, or if one or more critical services become dysfunctional. A server instance monitors its health, and upon detecting that one or more critical subsystems are unstable, it declares itself FAILED.

When a server instance enters the FAILED state, it attempts to return to a non-failed state. If it failed prior to reaching the ADMIN state, the server instance shuts itself down with an exit code that is less than zero. For information about server exit codes, see WebLogic Server Exit Codes and Restarting After Failure.

If the server instance fails after reaching the ADMIN state, but before reaching the RUNNING state, by default, it returns to the ADMIN state, if the administration port is enabled.

Note:
If desired, you can configure a server instance that fails after reaching the ADMIN state, to shut itself down, rather than return to the ADMIN state.

A server instance can enter the FAILED state from any other state. However, once a server instance has entered the FAILED state, it cannot return to a running state directly. The FAILED state is fatal and a server must go into the ADMIN or SHUTDOWN state before returning to the RUNNING state.

Note:
It is theoretically possible that a server could become available again once the FAILED state is entered, for example if hung threads causing a failed state become un-hung.
However, once the FAILED state is entered, a server must go into the ADMIN or SHUTDOWN states before returning to RUNNING.

You can use the OverlaodProtectionMBean to configure automatic actions, such as SHUTDOWN or move to the ADMIN state, for when a server instance enters the FAILED state.

Using Server Life Cycle Commands

This section describes each life cycle command, how to issue it, and its effect on the state of a server instance. For more information on:

- How to issue life cycle commands, see:

- "Life Cycle Commands" and "Managing Servers and Server Life Cycle" in Understanding the WebLogic Scripting Tool.

- "Start and stop servers" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help

- Chapter 2, "Starting and Stopping Servers."

- Node Manager processing related to key life cycle events in environments that use Node Manager, see "How Node Manager Works in the WebLogic Server Environment" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

- The processing that occurs during each life cycle state, see Understanding Server States in the Server Life Cycle.

For an illustration of the relationship between server states and server life cycle, see Figure 5-1.

Start

The Start command transitions a server instance from the SHUTDOWN state to the RUNNING state. Depending on the initial state of a server instance, the Start command causes these state transitions:

SHUTDOWN > STARTING > STANDBY > ADMIN > RESUMING > RUNNING

The ServerMBean.StartupMode attribute lets you specify the state in which a server instance should be started. Its values are displayed and configurable in the WebLogic Server Administration Console, using WLST, or when specified as a java weblogic.Server startup option. If you do not specify a startup mode value (either on the command line, in the WebLogic Server Administration Console, or in config.xml), the default is to start in the RUNNING state.

For more information, see "Specify a startup mode" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help and "Other Server Configuration Options" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Command Usage

See start, startServer, and nmStart in WLST Command Reference for WebLogic Server and "Start Managed Servers from the Administration Console" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Start in Standby

The Start command, with Standby mode enabled, transitions a server instance from the SHUTDOWN state to the STANDBY state, with this sequence of state transitions:

SHUTDOWN > STARTING > STANDBY

Command Usage

See -Dweblogic.management.startupmode in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server and "Start Managed Servers in Standby mode" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Start in Admin

The Start command, with Admin mode enabled, transitions a server instance from the SHUTDOWN state to the ADMIN state, with this sequence of state transitions:

SHUTDOWN > STARTING > STANDBY > ADMIN

Command Usage

See -Dweblogic.management.startupmode in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server and "Start Managed Servers in Admin mode" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Resume

The Resume command transitions a server instance from the STANDBY or ADMIN state to the RUNNING state, with this sequence of state transitions:

STANDBY > ADMIN > RESUMING > RUNNING

Command Usage

See resume in WLST Command Reference for WebLogic Server and "Resume a server" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Graceful Suspend

The Graceful Suspend command transitions a server instance from the RUNNING state to the ADMIN state, allowing work in process to be handled gracefully, with this sequence of state transitions:

RUNNING > SUSPENDING > ADMIN

Command Usage

See suspend in WLST Command Reference for WebLogic Server and "Suspend a server" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Force Suspend

The Force Suspend command transitions a server instance from the RUNNING state to the ADMIN state, without handling work in process gracefully, with this sequence of state transitions:

RUNNING > FORCE_SUSPENDING > ADMIN

Command Usage

See "Suspend a server" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Graceful Shutdown

The Graceful Shutdown command transitions a server instance from the RUNNING state to the SHUTDOWN state, allowing work in process to be handled gracefully, with this sequence of state transitions:

RUNNING > SUSPENDING > ADMIN > SHUTTING_DOWN > SHUTDOWN

Command Usage

See shutdown in WLST Command Reference for WebLogic Server and "Shut down a server instance" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Controlling Graceful Shutdown

ServerMBean has two attributes for controlling the length of the graceful shutdown process. Their values are displayed and configurable on the SERVER_NAME > Control > Start/Stop page:

- Ignore Sessions During Shutdown—If you enable this option WebLogic Server will drop all HTTP sessions immediately, rather than waiting for them to complete or timeout. Waiting for abandoned sessions to timeout can significantly lengthen the graceful shutdown process, because the default session timeout is one hour.

- Graceful Shutdown Timeout—Specifies a time limit for a server instance to complete a graceful shutdown. If you supply a timeout value, and the server instance does not complete a graceful shutdown within that period, WebLogic Server performs a forced shutdown on the server instance.

See "Control graceful shutdowns" and "Shut down servers in a cluster" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Shutdown Operations and Application Undeployment

During both graceful and forced shutdown, subsystems undeploy applications as appropriate. This processing can result in invocation of application code, such as Servlet destroy() or ejbRemove() during shutdown. During the shutdown sequence, JMS, JDBC, and transactions are shutdown after applications are shutdown, allowing application code to access JMS, JDBC, and transaction services.

Force Shutdown

The Force Shutdown command transitions a server instance from the any state to the SHUTDOWN state, without allowing work in process to be handled gracefully. When run for a server instance in the RUNNING state, the Force Shutdown command results in these state transitions:

RUNNING > FORCE_SUSPENDING > ADMIN > STANDBY > SHUTDOWN

Command Usage

See shutdown in WLST Command Reference for WebLogic Server and "Shutdown a server instance" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

A forced shutdown is immediate—WebLogic Server subsystems stop all application processing currently in progress. A forced shutdown can be performed on a server instance in any state.

If a fatal exception causes the forced shutdown to fail, the server will exit after the number of seconds specified by the ServerLifecycleTimeoutVal attribute in ServerMBean.

Note:
When you force shutdown a server instance in a cluster, a clustered service will fail over to another server instance in the cluster, if its state is replicated on another server instance. However:

- If you issue a Forced Shutdown command on a server instance that hosts an HTTP session for which a secondary session has not yet been created, the session will be lost.

- If you issue a Forced Shutdown command on a server instance that hosts the replicated state of a stateful session EJB, and the server instance that hosts the EJB fails (the primary), the EJB will not fail over, because its replicated state no longer exists.

For information about undeployment processes during a forced shutdown, and related programming considerations, see Shutdown Operations and Application Undeployment.

Processing In-Flight Work During Suspend and Shutdown

The following sections describe how each subsystem handles work in process during SUSPENDING and SHUTTING_DOWN operations.

RMI Subsystem

The Remote Method Invocation (RMI) subsystem suspends in three steps. Each step in this process completes before the following step commences.

1. Non-transaction remote requests are rejected by the Non-Transaction RMI Service.

2. The Client Initiated Transaction Service waits for pending client transactions to complete.

3. The Remote RMI Service rejects all remote requests with or without transactions.
After these steps are completed, no remote client requests are allowed. Requests with administrative privileges and internal system calls are accepted.

When a clustered server instance is instructed to prepare to suspend, the RMI system refuses any in-memory replication calls, to allow other cluster members to choose new hosts for replicated sessions.

Web Container

After the Web Container subsystem is instructed to prepare to suspend, it rejects new sessions requests. Existing sessions are handled according to the persistence method:

- No persistence—Pending sessions with no persistence are allowed to complete.

- In-memory replication in a cluster—Sessions with secondary sessions are immediately suspended. If a primary session does not have a secondary session, the Web Container waits until a secondary session is created, or until the session times out, whichever occurs first.

- JDBC persistence and file persistence—The Web Container immediately suspends sessions that are replicated in a database or file store.

The completion of pending sessions is optional. To drop all sessions immediately, use the Ignore Sessions During Shutdown option on the SERVER_NAME > Control > Start/Stop page in the WebLogic Server Administration Console, or the -ignoreSessions option with the WLST shutdown command.

In a cluster, when a primary session is dropped, the corresponding replicated sessions on another clustered instance will be also destroyed, in addition to the primary session on the server that is being gracefully shut down.

Timer Service

The Timer Service cancels all triggers running on application execute queues. Application execute queues include the default queue and queues configured through the ExecuteQueueMBean.

Application Service

The Application Service completes pending work in the application queues before suspending. Application execute queues include the default queue and queues configured through the ExecuteQueueMBean.

EJB Container

The EJB Container suspends Message Drive Beans (MDBs).

JMS Service

The Java Messaging Service (JMS) marks itself as suspending, which causes new requests to be rejected. The JMS system suspends gracefully in this fashion:

If the server instance being shut down has a JMS server:

- Any send requests that are waiting because of message quotas are returned immediately.

- All consumers on destinations belonging the JMS Server are closed.

- The persistent store is closed.

If the server instance being shutdown has a JMS connection factory:

- Client connections are closed.

Generally each step in the graceful suspend of the JMS subsystem occurs quickly—in less than a second. Potentially, completion of a client request could take longer, if the request requires higher than normal disk I/O, for example, a request for a persistent "send" of a 100-megabyte message.

You can monitor the number of connections to a JMS server, the number of consumers to a JMS connection factory, and related run-time information using JMS run-time MBeans, including JMSRuntimeMbean, JMSConnectionRuntimeMBean, JMSConsumerRuntimeMBean.

JDBC Service

The JDBC Service closes idle connections in the connection pools.

Note:
If connections are still in use, the shutdown of the JDBC service will fail, and the graceful shutdown will not complete. To shut down a server instance while applications still hold connections, use a forced shutdown command, described in Force Shutdown.

Transaction Service

The Transaction Service waits for the pending transaction count in the Transaction Manager to drop to zero before suspending. Completing all pending transactions can be a lengthy process, depending on the configured transaction timeout.

If a graceful shutdown takes too long because of pending transactions, you can halt it with a forced shutdown command. Force Shutdown suspends all pending work in all subsystems.

A Starting and Stopping Servers: Quick Reference

This appendix describes simple, frequently used ways to start and shut down instances of WebLogic Server.

This appendix includes the following sections:

- Starting Instances of WebLogic Server

- Shutting Down Instances of WebLogic Server

For a comprehensive discussion of starting and shutting down WebLogic Server instances, see Chapter 2, "Starting and Stopping Servers."

Starting Instances of WebLogic Server

In the following table, WL_HOME refers to the top-level installation directory for WebLogic Server, such as c:\Oracle\Middleware\Oracle_Home\wlserver\.

Table A-1 Starting Server Instances

To Start

Do The Following

The MedRec server

Invoke:

ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\medrec\bin\startWebLogic.cmd (Windows)

ORACLE_HOME/user_projects/domains/medrec/bin/startWebLogic.sh (UNIX)

The server starts as an Administration Server in the medrec domain.

For more information, see "Sample Applications and Code Examples" in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server.

The MedRec server (Spring version)

Invoke:

ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\medrec-spring\bin\startWebLogic.cmd (Windows)

ORACLE_HOME/user_projects/domains/medrec-spring/bin/startWebLogic.sh (UNIX)

The server starts as an Administration Server in the medrec-spring domain.

For more information, see "Sample Applications and Code Examples" in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server.

The Examples server

Invoke:

ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\wl_server\bin\startWebLogic.cmd (Windows)

ORACLE_HOME/user_projects/domains/wl_server/bin/startWebLogic.sh (UNIX)

The server starts as an Administration Server in the wl_server domain.

For more information, see "Sample Applications and Code Examples" in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server.

An Administration Server that you have created

Invoke:

DOMAIN_NAME\bin\startWebLogic.cmd (Windows)

DOMAIN_NAME/bin/startWebLogic.sh (UNIX)

where DOMAIN_NAME is the name of the directory in which you located the domain, typically ORACLE_HOME\user_projects\domains\DOMAIN_NAME.

If the server prompts you to enter a user name and password, enter the name of a WebLogic Server user who has permission to start servers. For more information, see Provide User Credentials to Start and Stop Servers.

NOTE: In a development environment, it is usually sufficient to start an Administration Server and deploy your applications directly on the Administration Server. In a production environment, you typically create Managed Servers to run applications.

Managed Servers

1. Start the domain's Administration Server.

2. Start the Node Manager on the computer that will host the Managed Server you want to start.
If it's not already running, you can start Node Manager manually at a command prompt or with a script. See "Starting and Stopping Node Manager" in the Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

3. Start the domain's Administration Console.
See "Starting the Administration Console" in Understanding Oracle WebLogic Server.

4. Associate Managed Servers with Node Manager by assigning them to a Machine upon which Node Manager runs.
See "Create and configure machines" and "Assign servers instances to machines" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

5. In the left pane of the WebLogic Server Administration Console, expand Environment and select Servers.

6. In the right pane, select the Control tab.

7. In the Server Status table, select the check box next to the name of the server you want to start and click Start.

8. Click Yes to confirm.

For information on additional ways to start Managed Servers, see Chapter 2, "Starting and Stopping Servers."

A cluster of Managed Servers

To start clustered Managed Servers with Node Manager, see "Start Managed Servers in a cluster" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Shutting Down Instances of WebLogic Server

It is recommended that you shut down WebLogic Server instances through the Administration Console:

- See "Shut down a server instance" and "Control graceful shutdowns" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

- For information on gracefully shutting down the Managed Servers in a cluster, see "Shutdown servers in a cluster" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

Alternatively, invoke a WebLogic Server stop script to shutdown the server. See Shutting Down Servers with a Stop Script.

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