Have NodeManager start managed servers on machine reboot

Question

Is there any way to have the Node Manager start all the managed servers belonging to a domain when a server reboots?
I know I could create a separate Windows service for each of the managed servers I want running when the server comes on-line, or I could do some fancy scripting at start-up to connect to the Node Manager and have it start the managed servers.
But I was hoping there would be a more elegant way of having the NM start them when it comes on-line.
Ideas appreciated,
dmac.

Answer 1

Hi Dmac,
To achieve this in Windows, you must consider the following WLS Components:
1. Node Manager
2. Admin Server
3. Managed Server
Node Manager
For Node Manager, if you want the component to start automatically on boot up, your best option is to create a Windows Service. You may have selected the option to create a service for Node Manager during the WebLogic Server installation. Use Start -> Run -> services.msc from the Start menu to load the Windows Services Manager. If there is no service for Node Manager, use the following steps to create one.
Create a Windows service for Node Manager:
1. WL_HOME\server\bin\installNodeMgrSvc.cmd
2. Verify in Windows Services that a service was created.
Admin Server
For the Admin Server, you can also create a Windows Service. Here are the steps for doing so:
Create a Windows service for the Admin Server
1. Create a text file named %MIDDLEWARE_HOME%\user_projects\domains\<domain name>\servers\AdminServer\security\boot.properties. Add the following lines:
username=weblogic
password=<the weblogic username password>
2. Create a command script called installAdmServer_Service.cmd which you will want to make sure has lines like:
SETLOCAL
set DOMAIN_NAME=<your wls domain>
set USERDOMAIN_HOME=<path to domain> # e.g., C:\middleware\FMW11g\user_projects\domains\ClassicDomain
set SERVER_NAME=AdminServer
set PRODUCTION_MODE=true
cd %USERDOMAIN_HOME%
call %USERDOMAIN_HOME%\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd
call "<your middleware home>\wlserver_10.3\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"
ENDLOCAL
3. For troubleshooting/debugging purposes it is helpful to redirect standard out and error to a text file. Although most information is captured in the AdminServer server log files, you will not see all standard out and error when the server is started via a MS Windows Service (unlike when you start an AdminServer from the command prompt using startWebLogic.cmd). To redirect standard out to a text file, backup and edit installSvc.cmd and change the line at the bottom of the file so it includes the -log parameter, e.g.
"%WL_HOME%\server\bin\beasvc" -install -svcname:"%DOMAIN_NAME%_%SERVER_NAME%" -javahome:"%JAVA_HOME%" -execdir:"%USERDOMAIN_HOME%" -extrapath:"%WL_HOME%\server\bin" -password:"%WLS_PW%" -cmdline:%CMDLINE% -log:"<your middleware home>\user_projects\domains\<your wls domain name>\servers\AdminServer\logs\AdminServer-stdout.txt"
4. Now run "installAdmServer_Service.cmd." The Service should be installed. It will have a name like "beasvc %DOMAIN_NAME%_%SERVER_NAME%" (e.g. beasvc ClassicDomain_AdminServer). The Service "Startup Type" will be "Automatic." Start the Service. The Service will come back fairly quickly to say it is started. The actual time taken for the admin server to start and reach a state of 'RUNNING' will be longer - perhaps two or three minutes. The state of the server can be monitored by reviewing the stdout txt file.
Managed Server
For the Managed Server, you can also create a Windows Service. Here are the steps for doing so:
Create a Windows service for the Managed Server (using wls_forms as an example)
1. Create a text file named %MIDDLEWARE_HOME%\user_projects\domains\<domain name>\servers\WLS_FORMS\security\boot.properties. Add the following lines:
username=weblogic
password=<the weblogic username password e.g manager11g>
2. Create a command script called installWLSFORMS_Service.cmd which has lines like
SETLOCAL
set DOMAIN_NAME=<your wls domain>
set USERDOMAIN_HOME=<path to domain> # e.g. C:\middleware\FMW11g\user_projects\domains\ClassicDomain
set SERVER_NAME=WLS_FORMS
set PRODUCTION_MODE=true
set ADMIN_URL=http://mymachine.mycompany.com:7001
cd %USERDOMAIN_HOME%
call %USERDOMAIN_HOME%\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd
call "<your middleware home>\wlserver_10.3\server\bin\installSvc.cmd"
ENDLOCAL
NOTES:
a. The ADMIN_URL value should reference the AdminServer hostname and listen port.
b. The SERVER_NAME value is case sensitive. For example, if you are creating a MS Windows service for a different managed server such as 'wls_ods1' then the value needs to match the case of the server name otherwise the startup of the server via the MS Windows service will fail.
c. Be careful that there are no trailing spaces after each line in the command file - trailing spaces will cause the managed server to fail at startup. For example a trailing space in the ADMIN_URL value will result in the error
<19-Jan-2010 11:37:58 o'clock GMT> <Error> <EmbeddedLDAP> <BEA-171524> <Cannot determine the Listen address for the Admin server
3. Now run "installWLSFORMS_Service.cmd." The Service should be installed, it will have a name like "beasvc %DOMAIN_NAME%_%SERVER_NAME%" (e.g. beasvc ClassicDomain_WLS_FORMS). The Service "Startup Type" will be "Automatic." Start the Service. The Service will come back fairly quickly to say it is started. The actual time taken for the managed server to start and reach a state of 'RUNNING' will be longer - perhaps two or three minutes. The state of the server can be monitored by reviewing the stdout txt file.
Configuring the Windows service to restart upon failure
As with any Windows Service, it is possible to configure the service to restart itself upon failure. These are standard options available when configuring a Windows Service in the context of Windows Services Manager. However, it is important to understand that Windows Services Manager only monitors the JVM process. If the JVM process fails (shuts down), then Windows Services Manager will attempt to restart it. But there are some scenarios where the Admin Server or Managed Server may go into an unhealthy or failed state but the JVM is still running. The Windows Service will not know to restart the process in these cases, whereas if the Admin Server and Managed Server had been started using Node Manager, Node Manager would recognize such a state and restart the process accordingly. So it may be desirable to start Node Manager with a Windows Service and then start the Admin Server and Managed Servers with Node Manager to take advantage of this monitoring feature. Below you will find one such example of how to do this.
Example of starting the Admin Server and a Managed Server using Node Manager
1. Create a batch script similar to this:
Myscript.cmd
call D:\Product\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\base_domain\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd
java weblogic.WLST D:\Product\Oracle\Middleware\user_projects\domains\base_domain\ServerStart.py
2. Create a Python script similar to this:
ServerStart.py
nmConnect('weblogic', 'welcome1', '192.168.0.101', '5556', 'base_domain','D:\Product\Oracle\MIDDLE~1\USER_P~1\domains\BASE_D~1','ssl')
nmStart('AdminServer')
connect ('weblogic','welcome1','t3://192.168.0.101:7001')
nmstart('myserver','Server','t3://192.168.0.101:7002')
If you want this to happen automatically on boot up, you can run the script (myscript.cmd) from the Windows Scheduler. You must configure the scheduler to run the script on system startup. This will execute the script without requiring an interactive login to Windows (unattended).
Some Additional Information to Remember
The startup.properties file for the Admin and Managed servers must have "AutoRestart=true." This can be set in the "Health Monitoring" tab for each respective server in the WLS console.
The boot.properties file must be configured and present for each server that you plan to start automatically so that you are not prompted for the user name and password each time. If you are not currently prompted when you start the servers then it is already done.
The nodemanager.properties file must have "StartScriptEnabled=true" and "StartScriptName=StartWeblogic.cmd" in place.