Announcing Oracle WebLogic Server 14.1.2

December 20, 2024 | 7 minute read
Monica Riccelli
Product Manager
Text Size 100%:

Oracle is excited to announce the release of Oracle WebLogic Server Version 14.1.2!  WebLogic Server 14.1.2 is the foundation for Oracle Fusion Middleware 14.1.2. It includes continued support for Jakarta EE 8, adds support for Java SE 17 and 21, and provides valuable new features and capabilities. It is supported on-premises and in the cloud, including Oracle Cloud certification and support and tooling for running WebLogic Server in containers and Kubernetes.   We integrate with a wide variety of platforms and Oracle products and services to deliver high performance and availability for your applications. WebLogic Server 14.1.2 Software is available for download from Oracle Technology Network and Oracle Software Delivery Cloud and you can view our updated product documentation here.

Increased performance

WebLogic Server 14.1.2 provides support for Java 17 and 21, enabling your applications to leverage performance improvements provided in these Java releases.  Our internal testing comparing performance of WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 and 14.1.2 applications showed performance gains in many use cases.  We expect that many existing customers upgrading to WebLogic Server 14.1.2 will observe improved application performance as a result.

We are also enabling performance improvements through improved integration between WebLogic Server and Oracle HTTP Server (OHS).  WebLogic Server and OHS 14.1.2 provide an additional, alternative option to round-robin routing called “Intelligent Load Balancing” to improve overall system performance.  At runtime, on a continuous basis, WebLogic Server instances report a “health score” that allows OHS to route traffic to the healthiest WebLogic server that can provide the fastest response.  WebLogic Server includes a default health score provider based on CPU consumption, memory consumption, and connection pool capacity. WebLogic also provides you with the capability to create your own health score provider that routes traffic based on other server performance metrics. 

Manageability

We’re delivering a new console!  In WebLogic Server 14.1.2, the WebLogic Remote Console replaces the WebLogic Administration Console.  The WebLogic Remote Console is built in open source with a modern UI framework that uses the existing WebLogic management REST API to communicate to WebLogic Server domains being managed.  It presents a graphical user interface that will be familiar to WebLogic Server users, but using technology that is more lightweight and more secure than the prior Administration Console.  It can be used to manage many domains from a single desktop, including domains running on a physical or virtual machines, in containers, in Kubernetes, or in Oracle Cloud.  We think you’re going to like it.

WebLogic Server 14.1.2 provides additional manageability improvements by bundling the Oracle JDBC 23ai driver. This driver can be extended through a Java Service Provider Interface (SPI) to enable retrieval of database credentials and connection properties stored in cloud vaults (e.g. OCI Vault or Azure Vault).  This feature enables the removal of database credentials and connection properties from WebLogic data source configurations, and allows for the information to be stored in a single location (the vault) for all applications using the database.  Database access information can now be stored and updated in a central location without requiring any changes to applications or WebLogic data source configurations. This makes WebLogic Server administration simpler, more reliable and more secure.

Finally, for users deploying WebLogic Server on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Oracle has released the Oracle WebLogic Management Service. This cloud service provides tools to easily manage WebLogic domains running on OCI. The first release of this service allows you to easily perform the following actions, with a click of a button:

  • View the state, readiness for patching, and other information about WebLogic Server components.
  • Manage WebLogic Server lifecycle, including starting, stopping, restarting, and performing a “rolling restart” of WebLogic domains.
  • Apply the latest Oracle WebLogic Server and Oracle Fusion Middleware Infrastructure Critical Patch Updates to improve the reliability and security of your WebLogic deployments.

You can find more information about this service in the WebLogic Management Service documentation or watch a demo on YouTube.

Improved security

WebLogic Server continues to provide features that improve security of WebLogic application deployments and environments. The most prominent is default use of more secure settings when creating production domains.  Most users know that WebLogic Server contains several configuration settings that affect the security of the WebLogic domain, but some users are not sure where to start when securing their configuration. In WebLogic Server 14.1.2, when you create a new production domain, the domain is created in “Secured Production Mode” by default.  When a domain is in Secured Production Mode, WebLogic Sever automatically sets selected configuration settings to more secure values.  For example, Secured Production Mode domains will enable SSL by default.   Users retain the ability to modify these settings, but can begin with a configuration that is assumed to be more secure.  We hope this helps you to simplify the creation and management of domains that meet your security requirements.

WebLogic Server 14.1.2 also adds support for Open ID Connect (OIDC) to enable single sign-on for WebLogic Server applications by introducing a new WebLogic OIDC provider. This provider is an authentication and identity assertion provider that facilitates access to web applications.  The WebLogic OpenID Connect provider consumes OIDC tokens for authenticating to applications, simplifying user management of security credentials while providing improved security and reducing the risk of data breaches. 

WebLogic Server 14.1.2 provides a number of additional enhancements, including improvements to SAML 2.0 single sign-on support, security improvements to the WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST), improvements to security when executing transactions across multiple WebLogic Server domains, and other improvements.  For more information, see the WebLogic Server “What’s New” documentation.

Cloud Native

The WebLogic Kubernetes Toolkit is a set of tools for managing WebLogic Server applications deployed to Kubernetes clusters.  The Toolkit has been enhanced to manage WebLogic Server 14.1.2 domains, so that you can start deploying WebLogic Server 14.1.2 domains on Kubernetes today.  For those of you who are running prior WebLogic Server versions in Kubernetes, the WebLogic Kubernetes Operator (operator) and the WebLogic Deploy Tooling (WDT) know how to upgrade 12.2.1.4 or 14.1.1 domains with Model in Image to 14.1.2 domains running in Kubernetes.  WDT can introspect, modify configuration, and create 14.1.2 domains in VMs, Persistent Volumes in Kubernetes, and the Cloud.

One of the benefits of running WebLogic domains in Kubernetes is the elasticity of WebLogic Server clusters.  The operator integrates with Horizontal Pod Autoscalers (HPA) so that WebLogic clusters can be scaled out or in using rules based on exported WebLogic metrics.  If, for example, a throughput threshold is reached the operator takes action to scale out or scale in the WebLogic cluster.  WebLogic Server 14.1.2 has introduced an enhancement to JMS so that JMS servers can automatically be rebalanced in the WebLogic cluster after a sequence of scale out and scale in operations.  This rebalancing allows work to be distributed evenly across the servers in the WebLogic cluster.

For WebLogic Server customers using Oracle HTTP Server (OHS), and for users of other Fusion Middleware products that depend on OHS, Oracle has also certified running OHS in Kubernetes. OHS 12.2.1.4 and 14.1.2 post-GA images are published to the Oracle Container Registry and on a quarterly basis we will publish additional OHS images with the latest OHS Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) applied. For Oracle Access Management (OAM) users, we have delivered documentation that explains how to configure OHS on a shared Kubernetes cluster where Oracle Access Management is deployed, or on its own independent Kubernetes cluster. Please see Oracle HTTP Server on Kubernetes.

The WebLogic Kubernetes Toolkit is broadly used by Fusion Middleware 14.1.2 products running in Kubernetes.  WebLogic Server, Fusion Middleware Infrastructure, SOA and Service Bus, WebCenter Portal, Sites, and Content, and OHS all standardize on the use of the WebLogic Image Tool to create 14.1.2 images that are published to the Oracle Container Registry.  The WebLogic Operator manages the lifecycle of WebLogic Server, Fusion Middleware Infrastructure, SOA and Service Bus, WebCenter Content and WebCenter Portal 14.1.2 domains in Kubernetes.  Please see Oracle Fusion Middleware on Kubernetes documentation for details.

Integration with Oracle Database

Oracle WebLogic Server continues to offer the best integration with the Oracle Database.  As stated above, WebLogic Server 14.1.2 bundles the Oracle JDBC 23ai driver to simplify and enable use of our latest driver, and has been certified for use with Oracle Database19c and 23ai to provide new functionality to WebLogic Server users. With Oracle Database 23ai support, WebLogic Server can support JSON Databases, users can store relational data in JSON Databases and use SODA drivers to query JSON data. The Oracle JDBC 23ai drivers have also delivered enhancements to Diagnostic and Logging, support for Oracle Database Sharding with native UCP data sources, support for the Native Boolean datatype, and enhancements to Transparent Application Continuity. Please see Administering JDBC Data Sources for Oracle WebLogic Server and New Features in the Oracle JDBC and UCP Release.

For more detailed information about new functionality in Oracle WebLogic Server 14.1.2, see What's New in Oracle WebLogic Server.

Upgrade

For existing WebLogic Server customers using prior versions of WebLogic Server, we are maintaining our commitment to maintaining compatibility and upgradeability across WebLogic Server versions.  In general we expect that WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 and 14.1.1 domains and applications will be readily upgradeable to 14.1.2. Some customers have expressed concern about the potential need to rewrite applications to move to Java 17 and 21, the versions of Java supported in WebLogic Server 14.1.2.   While we believe many WebLogic Server 12.2.1.4 and 14.1.1 applications can be redeployed without changes, we are providing new upgrade tools that simplify and automate the upgrade of WebLogic applications leveraging community-based OpenRewrite technology and OpenRewrite recipes.

Support

Finally, Oracle WebLogic Server 14.1.2 has been designated as a Long-Term Support (LTS) release.   This means we will provide five years of Premier Support, plus three years of Extended Support providing eight years of bugs and security fixes. WebLogic Server customers can continue to enjoy superior application performance, reliability, and security for many years on WebLogic Server 14.1.2 with clear paths to modernization and next-generation cloud technologies when ready to make the move.

We invite you to try Oracle WebLogic Server 14.1.2, and to monitor this blog to track additional announcements that will give you more options for building and deploying your applications on-premises or in the cloud. 

 

Monica Riccelli

Product Manager

WebLogic Server Product Manager


Previous Post

WebLogic Management Service - Limited Availability announcement

Adrian Padilla Duarte | 8 min read

Next Post


WLS For OKE, with Fluent bit and FSS

Sherwood Zern | 15 min read