Re: WLS51 multiple server instances - no clustering, no multihoming

Question

Hello - This is the answer to a private question, but I'm posting it to the
group too in hope it will help.
Our problem was, we had one computer (Solaris) with one IP address and one
Weblogic license, but we had two (now three) teams of developers working on
different projects for WLS. Since they needed different settings and
configurations, they could not use a single Weblogic server instance, so we
had to find a way to run multiple server instances independently on a single
machine.
I'd call this configuration "parallel-servers" - please remember that it is
quite different from both multihoming and clustering because all the server
instances are independent from one another (unlike clustering) but run on
the same IP (unlike multihoming) and different port numbers.
This is the simplest procedure for a Solaris computer:
1: Install WebLogic.
Let's say the WL installation folder is:
/wls/weblogic/
we'll call that:
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/
It contains the default server instance folder
/wls/weblogic/myserver/
we'll call that:
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/myserver/
2: Make some copies (as many as you need)
of the default server instance folder
with different names, you'll have:
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/myserver/
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/server_1/
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/server_2/
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/server_n/
3: Locate the general properties file
/wls/weblogic/weblogic.properties
(we'll call it: WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/weblogic.properties)
and make a copy of it into EACH of the individual
server instance folders; you'll end up with:
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/weblogic.properties
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/myserver/weblogic.properties
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/server_1/weblogic.properties
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/server_2/weblogic.properties
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/server_n/weblogic.properties
4: In EACH server instance's properties file
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/server_i/weblogic.properties
set per-server values to all the properties
specific to the individual server; at least:
weblogic.system.listenPort=PORT_i
weblogic.password.system=PWD_i
weblogic.system.SSLListenPort=SSLPORT_i
plus everything else it should need individually,
that is, all the things that make that single
server instance different from all the others
(connection pools, ACLs, EJB auto deployments and so on)
Do NOT modify the file
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/myserver/weblogic.properties
(it's a backup copy of the default settings)
5: In the GLOBAL properties file
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/weblogic.properties
cancel or comment out all the properties
that have been individually set for all
the individual server instances; at least:
weblogic.system.listenPort
weblogic.password.system
weblogic.system.SSLListenPort
6: Locate the default server's startup script
/wls/weblogic/startWebLogic.sh
(we'll call it: WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/startWebLogic.sh)
and make a copy of it (in the same folder)
for EACH of the new individual server instances;
you'll end up with:
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/startWebLogic.sh
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/startServer_1.sh
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/startServer_2.sh
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/startServer_n.sh
7: In EACH server instance's startup script
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/startServer_i.sh
set values to the properties:
weblogic.home=WL_HOME/WLS_HOME
(where WL libraries and global files are)
weblogic.system.home=WL_HOME/WLS_HOME
(where the GLOBAL weblogic.properties is)
weblogic.system.name=server_i
(where the PER-SERVER weblogic.properties is)
weblogic.system.listenPort=PORT_i
weblogic.system.SSLListenPort=SSLPORT_i
with the -D option, as in:
$JAVA $JAVA_OPTIONS -ms64m -mx64m -classpath
$JAVACLASSPATH -Dweblogic.class.path=$WEBLOGICCLASSPATH -Dweblogic.home=$WL_
HOME/$WLS_HOME -Dweblogic.system.home=$WL_HOME/$WLS_HOME -Dweblogic.system.n
ame=server_i -Djava.security.manager -Djava.security.policy=`pwd`/weblogic.
policy -Dweblogic.system.listenPort=PORT_i -Dweblogic.system.SSLListenPort=
SSLPORT_i weblogic.Server
8: If you like, you might also write a shutdown script
for each server instance (often faster than the console)
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/stopServer_i.sh
which might look like:
java -classpath $JAVACLASSPATH weblogic.Admin t3://$HOSTNAME:PORT_i SHUTDOWN
system $PWD_i
9: If you need individual per-server security policies,
also duplicate and customize the default policy file
WL_HOME/WLS_HOME/weblogic.policy
(just like you did with weblogic.properties in steps 3 to 5)
and specify the corresponding property in each startup script
with the -D option
-Djava.security.policy=`pwd`/server_i/weblogic.policy
10: Obviously, when you deploy and use your EJBs or JSPs or applications,
you must make sure that you specify the right individual server's parameters
(name, user, password, port, paths and everything else).
And that's all; obviously, there are better ways to achieve the
"parallel-servers" configuration, but this is the simplest one and is good
enough for a basic development environment; you might need to tune some more
properties to suit your specific requirements.
On a WinNT computer, the procedure should be more or less the same, the main
difference being: instead of .sh script files, you'll have to edit .cmd
script files.
I am very grateful to all the people on the newsgroups who helped me work
that out. Good luck!
Paola R.

Answer 1

"Paola R." wrote:
          > If understand that right, the way to do it is:
          >
          > - make two "clones" of the default /weblogic/myserver/ folder , say
          > /weblogic/server_1/ and /weblogic/server_2/;
          > - make a copy of file /weblogic/myserver/weblogic.properties into each new
          > folder;
          > - in the original /weblogic/myserver/weblogic.properties file, comment out
          > server-variant properties (ordinary and secure port numbers, at least) ;
          > - in each /weblogic/server_x /weblogic.properties file, set per-server
          > values to server-variant properties (ordinary and secure port numbers, at
          > least) and comment out (or leave unchanged) everything else;
          > - start each server from /weblogic/myserver/ , by specifying the path to
          > respective per-server properties in command line (or script) with
          > option -Dweblogic.home=./server_n .
          You also need weblogic.system.name=server_n and I believe it's
          weblogic.system.home rather than weblogic.home. The latter should point
          to
          your /weblogic directory.
          Hope this helps.
          Alexander Petrushko
          mailto:[email protected]
          Consulting Services available