Technical Articles relating to Oracle Development Tools and Frameworks
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ADF
July 22, 2013
Setting up a standalone WebLogic 12c install for ADF Without a Database
Important
This article only applies to 12.1.* of Fusion Middleware. If you are on 12.2+ then there is a straightforward way of creating the domain without the need for a database. Set the following environment variable:
CONFIG_JVM_ARGS to -Dcom.oracle.cie.config.showProfile=true
See the Fusion Middleware Documentation and search for "Compact Domain" for more information
If you are on 12.1.* then read on...
One change that many folks have encountered with the 12c (12.1.2) release of WebLogic and ADF concerns the setup of stand-alone WebLogic instances extended with JRF for ADF Application deployment.
The main problem comes when creating the JRF extended domain. On page 6 of the config process screen you are confronted by the following:
Note here that you need to provide information for the database that OPSS should use.
Now this connection has a real purpose, the Oracle Platform security infrastructure for 12c needs to store it's information within a proper database so as to correctly (and supportably) manage itself across multiple servers in a cluster. However, if like me, you just wanted to stand up a single unclustered ADF enabled WebLogic for testing deployments etc. This could be a bit of a pain, particularly in my case as the database version I'm currently running is not of the correct version. So here I'm documenting the steps for avoiding this requirement on a single standalone server, although I stress, as far as I am aware, this is not a supported configuration for production usage.
The Steps to Install Without Needing a Database
- First of all install WebLogic (wls_121200.jar) and the ADF runtime (fmw_infra_121200.jar) into the same 12c Oracle Home using their respective installers. At the end of each of the WebLogic install make sure you uncheck the Configuration Wizard launch option as we'll be doing that manually later.
- Start a shell / command prompt in $MW_HOME/wlserver/common/bin
- Set the environment variable QS_TEMPLATES to point to $MW_HOME/wlserver/common/templates/wls/wls_jrf.jar
- Run qs_config.sh and define the name of the domain that you want to create (e.g. add_domain) along with the usual WebLogic passwords and ports that you require. Finish the Quick Start wizard without starting the new domain.
- Now run the conventional config.sh and on the first page choose "Update an Existing Domain" rather than "Create a new domain". The new domain (e.g. adf_domain) should now be listed for selection.
- On the second screen choose the templates that you wish to apply, e.g. Oracle JRF, Oracle Enterprise Manager etc. and move on through the wizard.
- On the Database Configuration Type screen this time you will see an extra option where Embedded Database (JavaDB) is offered and pre-selected. Select that and continue with the domain setup as usual with whatever managed servers you need.
Again to re-iterate this is only a setup that I would recommend for a development / testing environment and of course you should not take this approach if you're setting up any kind of clustered environment, even for testing, as the shared database has a real purpose in that case. Also consider that if your application uses MDS then you'll most likely need an database repository anyway, so again, in that instance don't use this technique.
The fact that the normal install for the ADF Web Runtime does not offer this non-database option should be taken a a strong hint as to how supported you will be running with this configuration in a production environment. Don't ask me for certification or support guidance, please contact Oracle Support for that information.
Further Reading
The use of an external RDBMS Security Store for WebLogic (the configuration that this article bypasses) is discussed in the WebLogic Documentation:
- Administering Security for Oracle WebLogic Server --> Chapter 9: Managing the RDBMS Security Store
Read that chapter for a better understanding of why the default JRF install asks you to define a database connection for this purpose and why I talk about only using the technique that I've outlined here for development purposes.
Thank you for putting this together Duncan! I will be trying this out in the near future. Also, the core technologies for our ADF application uses ADF Faces/BC/Mobile/WebServices and Dynamic JDBC. Our WLS deployment topology consist of a single server & domain without clusters. Can you foresee any issues for a standalone setup like you have documented used for production?
See my guidance in the main body of the article with respect to certification and support.