Oracle Weblogic Installation and Configuration Guide

Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.2

For Red Hat JBoss BRMS

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Abstract

A guide to installing and configuring Red Hat JBoss BRMS on Oracle Weblogic.

Chapter 1. Introduction

1.1. About Red Hat JBoss BRMS for Oracle WebLogic Server

Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite for Oracle WebLogic Server is provided as two deployable web application archives:
  • business-central.war - The main business rules management application.
  • kie-server.war - Application for executing rules through REST, JMS or a Java client side application.
Installation of JBoss BRMS on Oracle WebLogic Server is supported from the 6.1 version of JBoss BRMS. In this guide, you will explore how it can be installed on a full profile version of Oracle WebLogic Server.
Before installation, several configuration steps have to be performed to enable a successful setup. This guide will outline these steps.
Before you proceed, make sure you have access to the server on Oracle WebLogic Server and that you are able to successfully access Oracle WebLogic Server's administrative console through a web browser (Usually at http://target-server:7001/console).
As noted earlier, JBoss BRMS for Oracle WebLogic Server is distributed as a WAR file. It is then deployed as an exploded archive and then configured as any other web application.

Chapter 2. Download and Extract

2.1. Download Red Hat JBoss BRMS for Oracle WebLogic Server

You can download the deployable Red Hat JBoss BRMS package file for Oracle WebLogic Server from Red Hat Customer Portal:
  1. Go to the Red Hat Customer Portal and log in.
  2. Click Downloads.
  3. In the Product Downloads page that opens, click Red Hat JBoss BRMS.
  4. From the Version drop-down menu, select 6.2.
  5. In the table, navigate to Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.2 Deployable for Oracle WebLogic Server row and then click Download.

2.2. Extract Red Hat JBoss BRMS for Oracle WebLogic Server

The installation zip file for JBoss BRMS that you have downloaded contains all necessary WAR deployables mentioned in Section 1.1, “About Red Hat JBoss BRMS for Oracle WebLogic Server”. Copy the installation zip to your WebLogic Server host and extract it to a location the server can access. 
$ mkdir ~/apps
$ cd ~/apps
$ unzip ~/jboss-brms-6.2.0-deployable-wls12c.zip .

Chapter 3. Configure

3.1. Setting Environment Variables

Certain environment variables on your Oracle WebLogic Server require configuration before deploying the application.

JVM Memory Size

With the default JVM memory size, the WebLogic Server freezes and/or causes deployment errors when deploying Business Central. Increase the memory size by setting the following environment variable: 
USER_MEM_ARGS=-Xms512m -Xmx1024m -XX:MaxPermSize=512m

JVM Custom Properties

The following custom properties require configuration on the WebLogic Server:
kie.server.jms.queues.response
JNDI name of the response queue for the Decision Server. Set to jms/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE.
javax.xml.bind.context.factory
The initialization class for the JAXB Context Factory. Set to com.sun.xml.bind.v2.ContextFactory
org.uberfire.start.method
Defines startable beans for Uberfire. Set to ejb (Enterprise JavaBeans).
org.uberfire.domain
Sets the domain for Uberfire to use. Set to OracleDefaultLoginConfiguration
com.sun.jersey.server.impl.cdi.lookupExtensionInBeanManager
Uses BeanManager to look up extensions. This avoids conflicts across multiple instances. Set to true.
Set all of these custom properties in a single environment variable: 
JAVA_OPTIONS="-Dkie.server.jms.queues.response=jms/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE -Djavax.xml.bind.context.factory=com.sun.xml.bind.v2.ContextFactory -Dorg.uberfire.start.method=ejb -Dorg.uberfire.domain=OracleDefaultLoginConfiguration -Dcom.sun.jersey.server.impl.cdi.lookupExtensionInBeanManager=true"

3.2. Configuring Security Settings

Several security settings on Oracle WebLogic Server must be set for the Business Central application to work. The following settings enable the container managed authentication mechanisms provided by the WebLogic server.
  1. In the WebLogic administrative console, click on Security Realms.
  2. Choose your desired security realm, or click on New to create a new security realm.
  3. Navigate to Users and Groups → Groups to get to the Groups list for your security realm.
  4. Click on New to create a new group. Create the following three new groups: admin, analyst, and kie-server. Also create the REST API groups if you will use API. For further information about API roles, refer to Chapter 17. Remote API from Red Hat JBoss BPM Suite Development Guide.
  5. Click on the Users tab and click New to create a new user. Provide this new user with a Name (For example, business-central-admin) and a Password. Click OK to save.

    Note

    Make sure usernames you create are not the same as the roles defined in the steps above.
  6. Click on the newly created user, then click the Groups tab. Use the selection tool to move the admin group from the Available field to the Chosen field. Click Save to save.

    Note

    You may assign this user to any of the groups previously created and in actual production systems you are likely to create separate users for separate groups that align with business roles. The admin group is all encompassing and is therefore useful for the purposes of this setup.

3.3. Creating a Data Source

The Business Central application requires a data source which must be created prior to the deployment of the actual WAR file. This also means that you must have access to an underlying database that the datasource connects to. Whatever your underlying database, make sure you have the datasource ready.
  1. Navigate to Services → Data Sources, which takes you to your JDBC Data Sources list.
  2. Click New → Generic Data Source to start creating a new data source.
  3. Provide your data source with the following details:
    • Name - Enter a name for your data source.
    • JNDI Name - Set to jdbc/jbpm.
    • Database Type - Set to MySQL.

    Note

    You can use alternative database types by editing WEB-INF/classes/META-INF/persistence.xml in the Business Central WAR archive. Edit the hibernate.dialect property to your preferred database. For example, to change to OracleDB, edit the hibernate.dialect to the following: 
    <property name="hibernate.dialect" value="org.hibernate.dialect.Oracle9Dialect"/>
    Click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  4. Select your Database Driver in the drop-down menu. Click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  5. Leave the Transaction Options as the defaults and click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  6. Provide the following Connection Properties for your data source:
    • Database Name - The name of the database to use on your data source.
    • Host Name - The hostname or IP address of the system containing the database.
    • Port - The port used to connect to the database. Unless you have configured the database to use a different port, use the default port provided in this field.
    • Database User Name - The database user that interacts with the database. Make sure the chosen user has the required permissions to access and write to the chosen database.
    • Password - The password for the chosen database user.
    Click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  7. The Test Database Connection page provides a means to test and confirm your database connection. Click Test Configuration and the page will refresh with a valid connection message. Click Finish to complete the data source configuration.
  8. Click on the name of the new data source and navigate to Targets tab. Click the checkbox for the server chosen to host the Business Central deployment. Click Save to save your selection.

3.4. Configuring Java Message Service (JMS)

Oracle WebLogic Server must be configured to send and receive JMS messages through Decision Server. This requires a JMS Server. Follow the steps below to create a JMS Server.
  1. Navigate to Services → Messaging → JMS Servers.
  2. Click New to start creating a new JMS Server.
  3. Provide your JMS Server with a Name. Click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  4. Select the Target server chosen for the Business Central deployment. Click Finish to complete the JMS Server creation.

Create JMS Module

A JMS Module stores your JMS resources, such as connection factories and queues. Use the following steps to create a new JMS Module.
  1. Navigate to Services → Messaging → JMS Modules.
  2. Click New to start creating a new module.
  3. Provide your module with a Name and click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  4. Select the Target server chosen for the Business Central deployment. Click Finish to complete the JMS Module creation.
  5. Click on the newly created module's name, then click on Subdeployments.
  6. Click New to create a subdeployment for your module.
  7. Provide your subdeployment with a Name and click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  8. Choose the previously created JMS Server by marking the checkbox. Click Finish to complete the Module's subdeployment configuration.

Create JMS Connection Factories

To send and receive messages from Decision Server, you will need to create the JMS connection factories - one for receiving messages and one for sending them. The following connection factories are required:
  • KIE.SERVER.REQUEST - for all requests to the Decision Server.
    Default value: jms/cf/KIE.SERVER.REQUEST.
  • KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE - receiving all responses produced by the Decision Server.
    Default value: jms/cf/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE.
Use the following procedure to create each connection factory.
  1. If you are not there already, navigate to Services → Messaging → JMS Modules to see your list of JMS Modules.
  2. Click on your previously created module, then click New to start creating a new JMS resource.
  3. Select Connection Factory and click Next.
  4. Enter the Name of the connection factory (for example, KIE.SERVER.REQUEST) and the JNDI Name (for example, jms/cf/KIE.SERVER.REQUEST).
    Click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  5. The connection factory automatically selects the servers assigned to the JMS Module as the default. Click Finish to complete the connection factory creation.
Repeat the above procedure for each connection factory.

Create JMS Queues

You will now need to create the JMS Queues. These queues are the destination end points for point-to-point messaging. You will create:
  • KIE.SERVER.REQUEST - for all requests to the Decision Server.
    Default value: jms/KIE.SERVER.REQUEST.
  • KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE - for the Decision Server responses.
    Default value: jms/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE.
Use the following procedure to create each queue.
  1. If you are not there already, navigate to Services → Messaging → JMS Modules to see your list of JMS Modules.
  2. Click on your previously created module, then click New to start creating a new JMS resource.
  3. Select Queue and click Next.
  4. Enter the Name of the queue (for example, KIE.SERVER.REQUEST) and the JNDI Name (for example, jms/KIE.SERVER.REQUEST).
    Click Next to advance to the next configuration screen.
  5. Choose the JMS Module's subdeployment that connects to the JMS Server. Click Finish to complete the queue creation.
Repeat the above procedure for each queue.

Chapter 4. Install

Now that the basic configuration is done the Oracle WebLogic Server is set to deploy JBoss BRMS.
As noted earlier, the JBoss BRMS zip file for Oracle WebLogic Server contains the deployable WAR file for Business Central.
Let's install Business Central for JBoss BRMS on Oracle WebLogic Server.

4.1. Install Business Central

Business Central is uploaded as a Web archive and then accessed by a familiar through a web browser. Start this deployment by installing the Business Central exploded WAR as a WebLogic Application.
  1. In your Oracle WebLogic Server administrative console, click on Deployments. This will show you all the existing applications in the system and allow you to install a new one.
  2. Click the Install button to start the process.
  3. Navigate to the exploded archive location for the Business Central WAR (For example, /apps/business-central.war/) and select it. Click Next to continue.
  4. Select Install this deployment as an application as the targeting style, then click Next.
  5. Set the application's Name to business-central and set the security model to DD Only. Leave the remaining options as default and click Next to continue.
  6. In the Additional Configuration section, choose No, I will review the configuration later and click Finish.
You have now successfully installed Business Central on Oracle WebLogic Server. To access the application, navigate to the following location:
http://target-server:7001/business-central

4.2. Install Realtime Decision Server

The Realtime Decision Server is distributed as a deployable WAR. To install it, please follow these steps:
  1. Navigate to Deployments. This will show you all the existing applications in the system and allow you to install a new one.
  2. Click the Install button to start the process.
  3. Navigate to the exploded archive location for the Decision Server WAR (For example, /apps/kie-server.war/) and select it. Click Next to continue.
  4. Select Install this deployment as an application as the targeting style, then click Next.
  5. Set the application's Name to kie-server and set the security model to DD Only. Leave the remaining options as default and click Next to continue.
  6. In the Additional Configuration section, choose No, I will review the configuration later and click Finish.
You can now access the Decision Server using this URL:
http://target-server:7001/kie-server

Chapter 5. Next Steps

Now that you have completed the installation, use the following guides to start using Red Hat JBoss BRMS:
  • Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.2 Getting Started Guide - Provides an introductory tutorial on the core features of BRMS.
  • Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.2 Users Guide - Provides steps on how to start creating your business rules.
  • Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.2 Administration and Configuration Guide - Provides steps on how to configure aspects of your JBoss BRMS deployment, including migration, data management, imports and exports, integration, and monitoring.

Appendix A. Additional Notes

  • The WebLogic class loading mechanism does not provide access to the application jars located in Business Central's WEB-INF/lib directory, which can cause problems for developers looking to inject KIE-CDI classes. As a workaround for this issue, JBoss BRMS includes a CDI extension that temporarily swaps class loaders to load the application. This class is located in WEB-INF/classes/org/kie/workbench/backend/weblogic/SwapClassloaderExtension.java and enabled in WEB-INF/classes/META-INF/services/javax.enterprise.inject.spi.Extension: 
    org.kie.workbench.backend.weblogic.SwapClassloaderExtension
  • If using a non-exploded archive, Weblogic packs contents of Business Central's WEB-INF/classes into WEB-INF/lib/_wl_cls_gen.jar. If a developer aims to create KieBase and KieSession from resources, KIE-Spring cannot find the classes. For this reason, the recommended deployment method is to use the exploded archives contained within the product's ZIP file.

Appendix B. Revision History

Note that revision numbers relate to the edition of this manual, not to version numbers of Red Hat JBoss BRMS.

Revision History
Revision 6.2.0-4Thu Apr 28 2016Tomas Radej
Updated with latest fixes.
Revision 6.2.0-3Tue Mar 29 2016Tomas Radej
Build for release update 2 of JBoss BRMS.
Revision 6.2.0-2Mon Nov 30 2015Tomas Radej
Added note about versions in Revision History, fixed changelog dates.
Revision 6.2.0-1Mon Nov 30 2015Tomas Radej
Initial build for release 6.2.0 of JBoss BRMS.

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