Deployment Tools Reference

This chapter provides a reference to different tools used in deploying modules to WebLogic Server. It includes the following sections:

The weblogic.Deployer utility is new in WebLogic Server 7.0 and replaces the earlier weblogic.deploy utility, which has been deprecated. The weblogic.Deployer utility is a Java-based deployment tool that provides a command-line interface to the WebLogic Server deployment API. This utility was developed for administrators and developers who need to initiate deployment from the command line, a shell script, or any automated environment other than Java.

This section describes how to use the weblogic.Deployer utility to perform the following tasks:

You can also list the specific -files in the archive that are to be deployed (or redeployed, or undeployed, or unprepared, or deactivated, or removed). The file list can include file names and directories relative to the root of the application. If you specify a directory, its entire subtree is deployed or redeployed.

Action	Description
activate	Deploys or redeploys the application specified by -name to the servers specified by -targets.
cancel	Attempts to cancel the task identified by -id if it is not yet completed.
deactivate	Deactivates the application on the target servers. Deactivation suspends the deployed components, leaving staged data in place in anticipation of subsequent reactivation. This command only works in the two-phase deployment protocol.
delete_files	Removes files specified in the file list and leaves the application activated. This is valid only for unarchived applications. You must specify target servers.
deploy	A convenient alias for -activate.
examples	Displays example usages of the tool.
help	Prints a help message.
list	Lists the status of the task identified by -id.
remove	Physically removes the application and any staged data from the target servers. The components are deactivated and the targets are removed from the applications configuration. If you remove the application entirely, the associated MBeans are also deleted from the system configuration. This command only works with the two-phase deployment model.
undeploy	A convenient alias for -unprepare.
unprepare	Deactivates and unloads classes for the application identified by -name on the target servers, leaving the staged application files in a state where they may be edited or quickly reloaded.
upload	Transfers the specified source file(s) to the administration server. Use this option when you are on a remote system and want to deploy an application that resides on the remote system. The application files are uploaded to the WebLogic Server administration server prior to distribution to named target servers.
version	Prints version information.

Option	Description
adminurl	https://<server>:<port> is the URL of the administration server. Default is http://localhost:7001.
debug	Turns on debug messages in the output log.
external_stage	Indicates that user wants to copy the application to the servers' staging area externally on their own, or using a third-party tool. When specified, WLS looks for the application under StagingDirectoryName (of target server)/applicationName.
id	The task identifier -id is a unique identifier for the deployment task. You can specify an -id with the -activate, -deactivate, or -remove commands, and use it later as an argument to -cancel or -list. Make sure the -id is unique from all other existing deployment tasks. The system generates an -id if you do not specify one.
name	The application -name specifies the name of the application being deployed. This can be the name of an existing, configured application or the name to use when creating a new configuration.
nostage	Does not stage the application; instead, deploys it from its current location which you specify using the -source option. Defaults: nostage for admin server and stage for managed server targets.
nowait	Once the action is initiated, the tool prints the task id and exits. This is used to initiate multiple tasks and then monitor them later using the -list action.
password	Specifies the password on the command line. If you do not provide a password, you will be prompted for one.
remote	Signals that weblogic.Deployer is not running on the same machine as the administration server and that the source path should be passed through unchanged because it represents the path on the remote server.
source	Specifies the location of the archive, file or directory to be deployed. Use this option to set the application Path. The source option should reference the root directory or archive being deployed. If you are using it with the upload command, the source path is relative to the current directory. Otherwise, it is relative to the administration server root directory—the directory where the config.xml file resides.
stage	Indicates that application needs to be copied into the target servers staging area before deployment. Defaults: nostage for admin server, and stage for managed server targets. Sets the stagingMethod attribute on the application when it is created so that the application will always be staged. This value overrides the stagingMethod attribute on any targeted servers.
targets	Displays a comma-separated list of the targeted server and/or cluster names (<server 1>,...<component>@<server N>). Each target may be qualified with a J2EE component name. This enables different components of the archive to deployed on different servers. Default: For an application which is currently deployed, the default is all current targets. For a new application, it is deployed to the administration server, by default.
timeout	Seconds. Specifies the maximum time in seconds to wait for the completion of the deployment task. When the time expires, weblogic.Deployer prints out the current status of the deployment and exits.
user	User name.
verbose	Displays additional progress messages.

If you have added the module newmodule.war to the deployed application myapp.ear and updated the module in the application.xml file, you can deploy newmodule.war in myapp.ear using the following:

Note that this command will deploy the new module without redeploying the other modules in the application.

WebLogic Builder is a WebLogic Server tool for generating and editing deployment descriptors for J2EE applications. It can also deploy applications to single servers.

A deployment task is initiated through a DeployerRuntimeMBean—a singleton (an object for which only one instance exists) that resides on a WebLogic Administration Server. DeployerRuntimeMBean provides methods for activating, deactivating, and removing an application. These methods return a DeploymentTaskRuntimeMBean that encapsulates the request and provides the means for tracking its progress. DeploymentTaskRuntimeMBean provides ongoing status of the request through TargetStatus objects, one per target.

The WebLogic Server deployment management API is defined by the following WebLogic Server MBeans:

The deployment management API is asynchronous. The client must poll the status or utilize ApplicationMBean notifications to determine when the task is complete.

For more information about WebLogic Server deployment management APIs, see the weblogic.management.deploy Javadoc.