Oracle Weblogic Installation and Configuration Guide

Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.4

For Red Hat JBoss BRMS

Red Hat Customer Content Services

Emily Murphy

Gemma Sheldon

Michele Haglund

Mikhail Ramendik

Stetson Robinson

Vidya Iyengar

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 BRMS 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 Red Hat JBoss BRMS on Oracle WebLogic Server is supported from the 6.1 version of Red Hat 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, Red Hat 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 at the top of the page.
  3. In the Product Downloads page that opens, click Red Hat JBoss BRMS.
  4. From the Version drop-down menu, select 6.4.
  5. On the Releases tab, navigate to Red Hat JBoss BRMS 6.4.0 Deployable for Oracle Weblogic 12c and click Download.
  6. On the Patches tab, download the latest patch (if applicable).

2.2. Extract Red Hat JBoss BRMS for Oracle WebLogic Server

The installation ZIP file for Red Hat JBoss BRMS that you have downloaded contains all necessary WAR deployable archives mentioned in Section 1.1, “About Red Hat JBoss BRMS for Oracle WebLogic Server”.

Copy the installation ZIP file to your WebLogic Server host and extract it to a location the server can access. 

unzip ~/jboss-brms-VERSION-deployable-wls12c.zip

See the Patching and Upgrading Red Hat JBoss BRMS chapter from Red Hat JBoss BRMS Installation Guide for instructions on applying the patch updates.

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:

Properties Required for Business Central and Realtime Decision Server

  • org.kie.executor.jms.cf: JNDI name of the connection factory for sending messages with job executor requests.
  • org.kie.executor.jms.queue: JNDI name of the destination (queue) for sending messages with job executor requests.

Properties Required for Business Central

  • org.jbpm.designer.perspective=ruleflow: Changes the default perspective in the designer to RuleFlow instead of Full.
  • org.uberfire.start.method: Defines startable beans for Uberfire. Set to ejb (Enterprise Java Beans).
  • 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.

Properties Required for Realtime Decision Server

  • kie.server.jms.queues.response: JNDI name of the response queue for the Realtime Decision Server. Set to jms/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE.
  • org.kie.server.domain: JAAS LoginContext domain used to authenticate users when using JMS. Set to OracleDefaultLoginConfiguration.
  • org.jbpm.server.ext.disabled: Set to true to disable BPM support (for example, processes support).
  • org.jbpm.ui.server.ext.disabled: Set to true to disable the Intelligent Process Server UI extension..

For a full list of available Realtime Decision Server system properties, see chapter Realtime Decision Server of the Red Hat JBoss BRMS User Guide.

Set the following custom properties in a single environment variable: 

JAVA_OPTIONS="-Dkie.server.jms.queues.response=jms/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE
 -Dorg.jbpm.designer.perspective=ruleflow
 -Dorg.uberfire.start.method=ejb
 -Dorg.uberfire.domain=OracleDefaultLoginConfiguration
 -Dorg.kie.executor.jms.cf=jms/cf/KIE.EXECUTOR
 -Dorg.kie.executor.jms.queue=jms/KIE.EXECUTOR
 -Dcom.sun.jersey.server.impl.cdi.lookupExtensionInBeanManager=true
 -Dorg.jbpm.server.ext.disabled=true
 -Dorg.jbpm.ui.server.ext.disabled=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 Security Realms.
  2. Choose your desired security realm or click 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 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, see section REST API of 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.

    Important

    Make sure that the selected user name does not conflict with any known title of a role or a group.

    For example, if there is a role called admin, you should not create a user with the user name admin.

  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 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 data source connects to. Whatever your underlying database, make sure you have the data source 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 Oracle 12c, edit the hibernate.dialect to the following: 

      <property name="hibernate.dialect" value="org.hibernate.dialect.Oracle10gDialect" />

    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 Red Hat JBoss BRMS Realtime 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 Realtime Decision Server 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 subdeployment configuration.

Create JMS Connection Factories

To send and receive messages from Red Hat JBoss BRMS Realtime 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 Realtime Decision Server.

    Default value: jms/cf/KIE.SERVER.REQUEST.

  • KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE: receiving all responses produced by the Realtime Decision Server.

    Default value: jms/cf/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE.

  • KIE.EXECUTOR: sending executor requests for jobs running in Business Central.

    Default value: jms/cf/KIE.EXECUTOR.

  • KIE.SERVER.EXECUTOR: sending executor requests for jobs running on the Realtime Decision Server .

    Default value: jms/cf/KIE.SERVER.EXECUTOR.

Use the following procedure to create each connection factory:

  1. 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 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 Realtime Decision Server.

    Default value: jms/KIE.SERVER.REQUEST.

  • KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE: for the Realtime Decision Server responses.

    Default value: jms/KIE.SERVER.RESPONSE.

  • KIE.EXECUTOR: sending executor requests for jobs running in Business Central.

    Default value: jms/KIE.EXECUTOR.

  • KIE.SERVER.EXECUTOR: sending executor requests for jobs running on the Realtime Decision Server .

    Default value: jms/KIE.SERVER.EXECUTOR.

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 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 Red Hat JBoss BRMS.

As noted earlier, the Red Hat JBoss BRMS ZIP file for Oracle WebLogic Server contains the deployable WAR file for Business Central and Realtime Decision Server.

4.1. Installing 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 Deployments. This will show you all the existing applications in the system and allow you to install a new one.
  2. Click Install to start the process.
  3. Navigate to the exploded archive location for business-central.war and select it. Click Next to continue.
  4. Select Install this deployment as an application as the targeting style and click Next.
  5. Set the application 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.
  7. To ensure correct functionality of process diagram visualization, copy xercesImpl.jar to the server libraries, which is in /DOMAIN_HOME/lib/ by default.

You have now successfully installed Business Central on Oracle WebLogic Server. To access the application, navigate to http://TARGET_SERVER:7001/business-central.

4.2. Installing Realtime Decision Server

The Realtime Decision Server is distributed as a deployable WAR. Follow the steps below to install the server:

  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 Install to start the process.
  3. Navigate to the exploded archive location for kie-server.war and select it. Click Next to continue.
  4. Select Install this deployment as an application as the targeting style and click Next.
  5. Set the application 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.
  7. To ensure correct functionality of UI extension, copy xercesImpl.jar to the server libraries, which is in /DOMAIN_HOME/lib/ by default.

You can now access the Realtime Decision Server at http://TARGET_SERVER:7001/kie-server/services/rest/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 Getting Started Guide: provides an introductory tutorial on the core features of Red Hat JBoss BRMS.
  • Red Hat JBoss BRMS User Guide: provides steps on how to start creating your business rules.
  • Red Hat JBoss BRMS Administration and Configuration Guide: provides steps on how to configure aspects of your Red Hat JBoss BRMS deployment, including migration, data management, imports and exports, integration, and monitoring.

Appendix A. Additional Notes

  • The Oracle WebLogic Server class-loading mechanism does not provide access to the application JARs located in you application’s WEB-INF/lib directory, which can cause problems when looking to inject KIE-CDI classes. As a workaround, Red Hat JBoss BRMS includes a CDI extension that temporarily swaps class loaders to load the application: org.kie.workbench.backend.weblogic.SwapClassloaderExtension.

    Enabling CDI Extension workaround

    • Get the extension’s class file either by using the pre-compiled SwapClassloaderExtension.class file found in Business Central’s business-central.war/WEB-INF/classes/org/kie/workbench/backend/weblogic/ subdirectory, or by downloading and compiling its source. Put the file in your application’s /WEB-INF/classes/org/kie/workbench/backend/weblogic/ directory.

    • Enable the extension by putting its fully qualified name in the WEB-INF/classes/META-INF/services/javax.enterprise.inject.spi.Extension file in your application. If the file does not exist, create it.

      Contents of javax.enterprise.inject.spi.Extension

      org.kie.workbench.backend.weblogic.SwapClassloaderExtension

    Note

    When using Business Central, these steps are not necessary—​the workaround has already been applied.

  • 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. Versioning information

Documentation last updated on: Monday, May 13, 2019.

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