2 Getting Started with the Lifecycle Management Tools

Use the Lifecycle Management Tools tutorial and the API JavaDocs to help you get started working with the tools.

Locating the Lifecycle Management Tools in a Fusion Middleware Oracle Home

The Lifecycle Management Tools are installed automatically into the Oracle home when you install any Oracle Fusion Middleware product. The files, depending on their purpose and type, are stored in various directories within the Oracle home.

The following table lists the locations of the key components of the Lifecycle Management Tools inside a typical Fusion Middleware Oracle home.

File or Component Location

Fusion Middleware Composer

ORACLE_HOME/oracle_common/bin/fmw-composer.sh

Supporting libraries, the Action Framework, and APIs

ORACLE_HOME/oracle_common/modules/fmwplatform/

Using the Lifecycle Management Tools Tutorial

The most efficient way to get familiar with the Lifecycle Management Tools is to use the tutorial in this guide.

The tutorial explains, step-by-step, how to use Apache Groovy, a sample topology file, and sample code to deploy a basic Oracle Fusion Middleware domain on a single host. The domain topology is similar to the standard installation topology described in About the Oracle SOA Suite Standard Installation Topology in Installing and Configuring Oracle SOA Suite and Business Process Management.

The tutorial demonstrates how you can:

  • Open and edit a topology file in Fusion Middleware Composer.

  • Use the sample code to add the Oracle SOA Suite software to an Oracle home and deploy the sample topology.

  • Review sample Apache Groovy code that invokes the create-domain standard action.

When you finish the tutorial, you can then apply the concepts to your own environment.

For more information about the tutorial, see Tutorial: Installing and Configuring Oracle SOA Suite Using the LCM Tools.

Getting Help While Using Composer

When you start using Fusion Middleware Composer, you can get online help on each of the key Composer screens. You can use this information to learn about the properties and attributes that must be set for each element of the topology.

From within Composer, you can get help in the following ways:

  • From the Help menu, you can navigate to specific locations in the Lifecycle Management Tools documentation.

    Description of help_menu.png follows
    Description of the illustration help_menu.png

  • After you have created or opened a topology file, click the Help icon in the toolbar Diagram Help icon, and then click an object in the topology, to get help on a specific object in the topology diagram.

  • After you select an object in a topology diagram, such as the host or Managed Server, you can then click the help icon in the properties panel Help icon for information about the properties and attributes you can set for that object.

  • Click the help icon in the validation pane Help icon, at the bottom of the Composer screen, for information about how to use the validation pane to quickly address any missing information that is required for the topology.

Using the Provisioning API JavaDocs

The Lifecycle Management Tools Provisioning APIs are described in the JavaDoc for each API.

As you develop the required Java code for your environment, you can refer to the JavaDoc for specific information about each of the APIs. In addition, you can review the sample code provided as part of the Lifecycle Management Tools tutorial.

The following JavaDocs are available: