3 Creating and Configuring the WebLogic Domain

This chapter describes the steps required to create the WebLogic Server domain after the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Server and Coherence software has been successfully installed.

The following topics are covered:

3.1 Configuring the WebLogic Domain

This section provides instructions for creating a WebLogic domain using the Configuration Wizard. For more information on other methods available for domain creation, see "Additional Tools for Creating, Extending, and Managing WebLogic Domains" in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

The following topics are covered in this section:

3.1.1 Starting the Configuration Wizard

To begin domain configuration, navigate to the ORACLE_HOME/oracle_common/common/bin directory and start the WebLogic Server Configuration Wizard.

On UNIX operating systems:

./config.sh

On Microsoft Windows operating systems:

config.cmd

3.1.2 Navigating the Configuration Wizard Screens to Configure the Domain

Follow the instructions in this section to configure the domain using the Configuration Wizard.

Note:

You can use the same procedure described in this section to extend an existing domain. If your needs do not match the instructions given in the procedure, be sure to make your selections accordingly, or refer to the supporting documentation for additional details.

If you need to configure multiple products in a single domain, refer to "Installing Multiple Products in the Same Domain" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware for important information.

Task 1   Selecting the Domain Type and Domain Home Location

On the Configuration Type screen, select Create a New Domain.

In the Domain Location field, specify your Domain home directory.

It is recommended that you locate your Domain home in accordance with the directory structure summarized in "What are the Key Oracle Fusion Middleware Directories?" in Understanding Oracle Fusion Middleware, where the Domain home is located outside the Oracle home directory. This directory structure will help you avoid issues when you need to upgrade or re-install your software.

Tip:

More information about the Domain home directory can be found in "Choosing a Domain Home" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

More information about reinstalling the software can be found in Section 5.7

More information about the other options on this screen can be found in Configuration Type in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 2   Selecting the Configuration Templates

On the Templates screen select the following templates for configuration:

  • Basic WebLogic Server Domain (selected by default)

  • WebLogic Coherence Cluster Extension

    Selecting this template will cause the Managed Servers in the cluster to be managed Coherence servers, and the cluster will be a managed Coherence cluster. This serves as a starting point for setting up your Coherence environment. For more detailed information and next steps, see Table 4-1.

    Description of config_templates.gif follows
    Description of the illustration config_templates.gif

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Templates in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 3   Configuring the Administrator Account

On the Administrator Account screen, specify the user name and password for the default WebLogic Administrator account for the domain. This account is used to boot and connect to the domain's Administration Server.

Tip:

You must make a note of the user name and password you choose to enter here; you will need this in order to be able to start and access the Administration Server.

Task 4   Specifying the Domain Mode and JDK

On the Domain Mode and JDK screen:

  • Select Production in the Domain Mode field.

  • Select Oracle Hotspot JDK in the JDK field.

Selecting Production Mode on this screen gives your environment a higher degree of security, requiring a user name and password to deploy applications and to start the Administration Server.

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen, including the differences between development mode and production mode, can be found in Domain Mode and JDK in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 5   Selecting Advanced Configuration Options

To complete domain configuration for the topology, select the following options on the Advanced Configuration screen:

  • Administration Server

    This is required to properly configure the listen address of the Administration Server.

  • Node Manager

  • Managed Servers, Clusters and Coherence

    This is required to configure the Managed Servers and cluster, and also for configuring the machine and targeting the Managed Servers to the machine.

    Tip:

    If you want to configure dynamic clusters, see the following:

Task 6   Configuring the Administration Server Listen Address

On the Administration Server screen, select the drop-down list next to Listen Address and select the IP address on the host where the Administration Server will reside. Do not use "All Local Addresses."

Task 7   Configuring Node Manager

The Node Manager screen can be used to select the type of Node Manager you want to configure, along with the Node Manager credentials.

Select Per Domain Default Location as the Node Manager type, then specify the user name and password.

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Node Manager in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

More information about the types of Node Manager can be found in "Node Manager Overview" in Administering Node Manager for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Task 8   Configuring Managed Servers

Use the Managed Servers screen to create two new Managed Servers:

  1. Click the Add button to create a new Managed Server.

  2. Specify wls_server_1 in the Server name column.

  3. In the Listen Address drop-down list, select the IP address of the host on which the Managed Server will reside. Do not use "All Local Addresses."

  4. Repeat this process to create a second Managed Server named wls_server_2.

    Configuring a second Managed Server is one of the steps needed to configure the standard topology for high availability. If you are not creating a highly available environment, then this step is optional.

    For more information about the high availability standard topology, see "Understanding the Fusion Middleware Standard HA Topology" in High Availability Guide.

    For more information about the next steps to prepare for high availability after your domain is configured, see Section 4.3.

These server names will be referenced throughout this document; if you choose different names then be sure to replace them as needed.

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Description of the illustration config_managed_servers.gif

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Managed Servers in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 9   Configure a Cluster

Use the Clusters screen to create a new cluster.

  1. Click the Add button.

  2. Specify wls_cluster_1 in the Cluster Name field.

  3. Leave the cluster Address field blank.

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Description of the illustration config_cluster.gif

By default, server instances in a cluster communicate with one another using unicast. If you want to change your cluster communications to use multicast, refer to "Considerations for Choosing Unicast or Multicast" in Administering Clusters for Oracle WebLogic Server.

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Clusters in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 10   Assigning Managed Servers to the Cluster

Use the Assign Servers to Clusters screen to assign wls_server_1 and wls_server_2 to the new cluster wls_cluster_1.

  1. In the Clusters pane, select the cluster to which you want to assign the servers; in this case, wls_cluster_1.

  2. In the Servers pane, assign wls_server_1 to wls_cluster_1 by doing one of the following:

    • Click once on wls_server_1 to select it, then click on the right arrow to move it beneath the selected cluster (wls_cluster_1) in the Clusters pane.

    • Double-click on wls_server_1 to move it beneath the selected cluster (wls_cluster_1) in the clusters pane.

  3. Repeat to assign wls_server_2 to wls_cluster_1.

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Description of the illustration config_assign_servers_to_cluster.gif

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Assign Servers to Clusters in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 11   Configuring Coherence Clusters

Use the Coherence Clusters screen to configure the Coherence cluster that is automatically added to the domain. Leave the default port number 0 as the Coherence cluster listen port.

Note:

Setting the unicast listen port to 0 creates an offset for the Managed Server port numbers. The offset is 5000, meaning the maximum allowed value that can be assigned to a Managed Server port number is 60535, instead of 65535.

See Table 4-2 for more information and next steps for configuring Coherence.

Note:

For Coherence licensing information, refer to "Oracle Coherence" in Licensing Information.

Task 12   Configuring a New Machine

Use the Machines screen to create a new machine in the domain. A machine is required in order for the Node Manager to be able to start and stop the servers.

Tip:

If you plan to create a high availability environment and know the list of machines required for your target topology, you can follow the directions in this section to create all of the machines at this time. For more information, see "Optional Scale Out Procedure" in High Availability Guide.

  1. Click the Add button to create a new machine.

  2. Specify wls_machine_1 in the Name field.

  3. In the Node Manager Listen Address field, select the IP address of the machine where the Managed Servers are being configured.

    You must select a specific interface and not "localhost." This allows Coherence cluster addresses to be dynamically calculated.

  4. Verify the port in the Node Manager Listen Port field.

    The port number 5556, shown in this example, may be referenced by other examples in the documentation. Replace this port number with your own port number as needed.

Note:

If you are extending an existing domain, you can assign servers to any existing machine. It is not necessary to create a new machine unless your situation requires it.

Description of config_machine.gif follows
Description of the illustration config_machine.gif

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Machines in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

If you plan to create a high availability environment and know the list of machines required for your target topology, you can create all of the machines at this time. For more information, see "Optional Scale Out Procedure" in High Availability Guide.

Task 13   Assigning Servers to Machines

Use the Assign Servers to Machines screen to assign the Administration Server and Managed Servers to the new machine you just created:

  1. In the Machines pane, select the machine to which you want to assign the servers; in this case, wls_machine_1.

  2. In the Servers pane, assign AdminServer to wls_machine_1 by doing one of the following:

    • Click once on AdminServer to select it, then click on the right arrow to move it beneath the selected machine (wls_machine_1) in the Machines pane.

    • Double-click on AdminServer to move it beneath the selected machine (wls_machine_1) in the Machines pane.

  3. Repeat to assign both wls_server_1 and wls_server_2 to wls_machine_1.

Description of config_assign_servers_to_machines.gif follows
Description of the illustration config_assign_servers_to_machines.gif

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Assign Servers to Machines in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 14   Reviewing Your Configuration Specifications and Configuring the Domain

The Configuration Summary screen contains the detailed configuration information for the domain you are about to create. Review the details of each item on the screen and verify that the information is correct.

You can go back to any previous screen if you need to make any changes, either by using the Back button or by selecting the screen in the navigation pane.

Domain creation will not begin until you click Create.

Tip:

More information about the options on this screen can be found in Configuration Summary in Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard.

Task 15   Writing Down Your Domain Home and Administration Server URL

The Configuration Success screen will show the following items about the domain you just configured:

  • Domain Location

  • Administration Server URL

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Description of the illustration config_success.png

You must make a note of both items as you will need them to start the servers and access the Administration Server.

Click Finish to dismiss the Configuration Wizard.

3.2 Starting the Servers

After configuration is complete, in order to access the tools with which you can manage your domain, Oracle recommends that you take the following steps:

3.2.1 Starting the Node Manager

To start your per-domain Node Manager, go to the DOMAIN_HOME/bin directory.

On UNIX operating systems, start Node Manager as shown below, using nohup and nm.out as an example output file:

nohup ./startNodeManager.sh > nm.out&

On Windows operating systems, run:

startNodeManager.cmd

Note:

If you use Windows, Oracle recommends that you install Node Manager to run as a startup service. This allows Node Manager to start up automatically each time the system is restarted. (Node Manager is not required to start servers, Oracle recommends it over other methods.)

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

3.2.2 Starting the Administration Server

To start the Administration Server, go the DOMAIN_HOME/bin directory.

On UNIX operating systems, run:

./startWebLogic.sh

On Windows operating systems, run:

startWebLogic.cmd

If you selected Production Mode on the Domain Mode and JDK screen in Task 4, you will be prompted for the login credentials of the Administrator user as provided on the Administrator Account screen in Task 3.

Tip:

For more information about starting the Administration Server, see "Starting and Stopping Servers" in Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server.

In production mode, a boot identity file can be created to bypass the need to provide a user name and password when starting the Administration Server. For more information, see "Creating a Boot Identity File for an Administration Server" in Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server.

3.2.3 Starting the Managed Servers

To start the Managed Servers, go the DOMAIN_HOME/bin directory and run the following command:

On UNIX operating systems:

./startManagedWebLogic.sh managed_server_name admin_server_url

On Windows operating systems:

startManagedWebLogic.cmd managed_server_name admin_server_url

Replace managed_server_name with the names of the Managed Server you want to start. For this topology, the Managed Server names are wls_server_1 and wls_server_2, as defined on the Managed Server screen in Task 8. You need to run this command twice; once for each Managed Server.

Replace admin_server_url with the full URL of the Administration Server, as provided on the Configuration Success screen in Task 14.

Below are sample commands used to start wls_server_1 and wls_server_2 on UNIX operating systems:

./startManagedWebLogic.sh wls_server_1 t3:\\examplehost.exampledomain.com:7001 &
./startManagedWebLogic.sh wls_server_2 t3:\\examplehost.exampledomain.com:7001 &

Tip:

For more information about starting Managed Servers, see "Starting and Stopping Servers" in Administering Server Startup and Shutdown for Oracle WebLogic Server.

3.3 Verifying the Configuration

To verify that your domain is configured properly, see Section 4.1. You should familiarize yourself with the tasks described in this section and perform them to verify that your domain is properly configured.