Enterprise Java

Scaling up to WebLogic 12c Server from GlassFish 3.x

One of the main goals of Oracle’s strategy for GlassFish server was to “integrate with Fusion Middleware and Products” (source: Community Roadmap May, 2010). Back in this year you heard a lot of fears and rumors about the two servers becoming one. Seeing both products moving forward in terms of features and releases it gets clearer what that strategy could be.

Beginning with GlassFish’s support for a limited set of weblogic specific deployment descriptors, Oracle also moved on with WebLogic to do the same. Beginning with 10.3.6 WebLogic Server adds support for reading and using GlassFish’s web deployment descriptors. These are glass?sh-web.xml and sun-web.xml. This is useful for providing speci?c GlassFish behavioral settings and mappings for resources and security to WebLogic Server. The goal behind that obviously is to allow a GlassFish application to be deployed more easily to WebLogic Server and vice verse.

What WebLogic knows about GlassFish

WebLogic Server detects the presence of GlassFish web deployment descriptors in WAR files and parses them. Known entries are parsed into WebLogic server settings and applied at runtime via WebLogic MBeans (weblogic.j2ee.descriptor.wl.WeblogicWebAppBean).
WebLogic always will use an existing weblogic.xml instead of the GlassFish deployment descriptors if it is present and WebLogic applies the settings at runtime which means, that no weblogic.xml is actually generated.

glassfish-web.xml Element NameWeblogic Support (weblogic.xml)
context-rootcontext-root
security-role-mapping

role-name

principle-name

group-name

security-role-assignment

role-name

principle-name

principle-name

session-config

session-manager:manager-properties:reapIntervalSeconds

session-manager:manager-properties:maxSessions

session-manager:manager-properties:directory

session-manager:manager-properties:timeoutSeconds

session-descriptor

invalidation-interval-seconds

max-in-memory-sessions

persistentOstoreOdir

timeout-secs

ejb-ref

ejb-ref-name

jndi-name

ejb-ref-description

ejb-ref-name

jndi-name

resource-ref

res-ref-name

jndi-name

resource-description

res-ref-name

jndi-name

resource-env-ref

resource-env-ref-name

jndi-name

resource-env-description

resource-env-ref-name

jndi-name

class-loader

delegate

container-descriptor

prefer-web-inf-classes

jsp-config

checkInterval

keepgenerated

scratchdir

jsp-descriptor

page-check-seconds

keepgenerated

working-dir

If you deploy a GlassFish web-application to WebLogic you get some log messages with INFO level and you can follow what is happening:

<Info> <HTTP> <BEA-101392>…
<Glassfish Descriptor element <glassfish-web-app> is not supported>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <context-root> was successfully parsed and applied>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <idempotent-url-pattern> is not supported>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <property> is not supported>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <reapIntervalSeconds> was successfully parsed and applied>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <res-ref-name> was successfully parsed and applied>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <jndi-name> was successfully parsed and applied>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <delegate> was successfully parsed and applied>
<Glassfish Descriptor element <keepgenerated> was successfully parsed and applied>

Compared to what GlassFish knows about WebLogic, this is still a very limited set of parameters. But it covers the most needed ones. And we are still looking forward to even less xml configuration with further Java EE versions. But let’s look at the other side.

What GlassFish knows about WebLogic

GlassFish Server offers limited support for the weblogic-application.xml, weblogic.xml, and weblogic-webservices.xml deployment descriptor files. The only element in weblogic-application.xml that GlassFish Server supports is security. The equivalent element in the glassfish-application.xml file is security-role-mapping.

weblogic.xml Element NameGlassFish Server Support
role-name under security-role-assignmentrole-name under security-role-mapping glassfish-web.xml equivalent
principal-name under
security-role-assignment
principal-name under security-role-mapping glassfish-web.xml equivalent
resource-descriptionresource-ref glassfish-web.xml equivalent, but resource-link not supported
resource-env-descriptionresource-env-ref glassfish-web.xml equivalent, but
resource-link not supported
ejb-reference-descriptionejb-ref glassfish-web.xml equivalent
service-reference-descriptionservice-ref glassfish-web.xml equivalent
timeout-secs under session-descriptortimeoutSeconds property of session-properties
glassfish-web.xml equivalent
invalidation-interval-secs under session-descriptorreapIntervalSeconds property of manager-properties glassfish-web.xml equivalent
max-in-memory-sessions under session-descriptormaxSessions property
of manager-properties glassfish-web.xml equivalent
persistent-store-dir under session-descriptordirectory property of store-properties glassfish-web.xml equivalent
prefer-web-inf-classes under
container-descriptor
delegate attribute of class-loader glassfish-web.xml equivalent
context-rootcontext-root glassfish-web.xml equivalent
cookies-enabled under session-descriptorServlet 3.0
cookie-name under
session-descriptor
Servlet 3.0
cookie-path under session-descriptorServlet 3.0
cookie-domain under session-descriptorServlet 3.0
cookie-comment under session-descriptorServlet 3.0
cookie-secure under
session-descriptor
Servlet 3.0
cookie-max-age-secs under session-descriptorServlet 3.0
cookie-http-only under session-descriptorServlet 3.0
url-rewriting-enabled under session-descriptorServlet 3.0
persistent-store-cookie-name under
session-descriptor
Cookie-based persistence is supported
keepgenerated under jsp-descriptorkeepgenerated init parameter of JspServlet
working-dir under jsp-descriptorscratchdir
init parameter of JspServlet
compress-html-template under jsp-descriptortrimSpaces init parameter of JspServlet
index-directory-enabled under container-descriptorlistings
init parameter of DefaultServlet
index-directory-sort-by under container-descriptorsortedBy init parameter of DefaultServlet
save-sessions-enabled under container-descriptorSame
as asadmin redeploy --keepstate=true or keep-state in glassfish-web.xml
run-as-principal-name under servlet-descriptorprincipal-name under servlet glassfish-web.xml

weblogic-webservices.xml Element NameGlassFish Server Support
webservice-typePossible values are JAXRPC or JAXWS. GlassFish Server
does not support JAX-RPC web services with JSR 181 annotations. The use of this
element is limited, because the container can find out if the type is
JAX-WS or JAX-RPC based on presence of JSR 181 annotations.
wsdl-publish-fileSame as wsdl-publish-location
in glassfish-web.xml
service-endpoint-addressSimilar to endpoint-address-uri in glassfish-web.xml, except that webservice-contextpath and webservice-serviceuri are
specified separately
j2ee:login-configSame as login-config in glassfish-web.xml
j2ee:transport-guaranteeSame as transport-guarantee in glassfish-web.xml
exposed under wsdlAccepts
true or false, defaults to true. Controls the publishing of WSDL to clients.
stream-attachmentsAccepts true
or false, defaults to true. Only for JAX-WS web services. Configures the JAX-WS runtime
to send attachments in streaming fashion.
validate-requestAccepts true or false, defaults to false. Only
for JAX-WS web services. Configures the JAX-WS runtime to validate that request messages
are as the WSDL definitions specify.
http-response-buffersizeProperty of ReliabilityMessagingFeature configuration, similar to ReliableMessagingFeature.setDestinationBufferQuota()
reliability-configPartially supported. Subelements
map to Metro’s ReliabilityMessagingFeature.
inactivity-timeout under reliability-configMaps to ReliableMessagingFeature. getSequenceInactivityTimeout()
base-retransmission-interval under reliability-configMaps to ReliableMessagingFeature. getMessageRetransmissionInterval()
retransmission-exponential-backoff
under reliability-config
Maps to ReliableMessagingFeature. getRetransmissionBackoffAlgorithm(). Returns enum values, one of them is exponential.
acknowledgement-interval
under reliability-config
Maps to ReliableMessagingFeature. getAcknowledgementTransmissionInterval()
sequence-expiration under reliability-configMaps to ReliableMessagingFeature. getSequenceInactivityTimeout(). In WebLogic Server this
value applies regardless of activity. In Metro it applies only to inactive sequences.
buffer-retry-count
under reliability-config
Maps to ReliableMessagingFeature. getMaxMessageRetransmissionCount()
buffer-retry-delay under reliability-configMaps to ReliableMessagingFeature. getMessageRetransmissionInterval()



But for what is all that good for?

Good question. There are some possible interpretations for what is happening.

  1. GlassFish could be positioned as a certified, lightweight development platform for Oracle’s FMW stack based on WebLogic server. If this would be the main goal, I wouldn’t expect WebLogic to understand any of the GF DDs but GF knowing about all tweaks and settings of WLS.
  2. Easy re-deployment of GF apps on WLS. This is what you find on the official launch slides. If you are running GF and you need to scale up to WLS you have a more easier migration path.
  3. Both teams are trying to get hands on the concepts and switches of the other side. The GF roadmaps from the past highlight a “Common Server Platform” for WLS and GF. So knowing each other could be an easy and obvious first step for the teams.

As always, a bit of everything might be true. So there is nothing else left for now than simply to be happy about and watch how both excellent servers come closer together and to be open for future possibilities.

Reference: Scaling up to WebLogic 12c Server from GlassFish 3.x from our JCG partner Markus Eisele at the Enterprise Software Development with Java blog.

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Markus Eisele

Markus is a Developer Advocate at Red Hat and focuses on JBoss Middleware. He is working with Java EE servers from different vendors since more than 14 years and talks about his favorite topics around Java EE on conferences all over the world. He has been a principle consultant and worked with different customers on all kinds of Java EE related applications and solutions. Beside that he has always been a prolific blogger, writer and tech editor for different Java EE related books. He is an active member of the German DOAG e.V. and it's representative on the iJUG e.V. As a Java Champion and former ACE Director he is well known in the community. Follow him on Twitter @myfear.
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