Xml and More: WebLogic: How to Create a WLS Domain?

In WebLogic Server, you can create a domain using:^[1]

WebLogic Configuration Wizard
WLST
weblogic.Server (a command-line utility)

Your actual choice of a domain creation tool depends on whether you prefer a graphical or command-line interface, and whether you need to automate the domain creation process. Using above-mentioned tools, you can either create a domain or extend an existing domain.

In this article, we will look at two ways to create a WebLogic domain:

Creating a new domain based on an existing domain
Creating a new domain based on a domain template

Domain Template

A template is simply a jar file that contains the necessary scripts and files WebLogic Server needs to create or extend domains.

There are three basic types of templates in WebLogic Server:^[1]

Domain Templates

Help create an entire domain

Defines the full set of resources within a WebLogic domain, including:

Infrastructure components
Applications
Services
Security options
General environment and operating system options.

Extension Templates

Add to the functionality of a domain

Oracle uses special extension templates for various Fusion Middleware products.

Managed Server Templates

Defines the subset of resources within a WebLogic domain that are required to create a Managed Server domain directory on a remote machine.

You can create the first two types of templates with the Domain Template Builder,^[2] and you can create all three types with the pack utility.^[3]

Creating a New Domain Based on an Existing Domain

Follow these steps to create a new domain using WLST offline commands:

Execute the readDomain command to open an existing WebLogic domain

wls:/offline>readDomain('C:/Oracle/Middleware/user_projects/domains/base_domain')
wls:/offline/base_domain>

Execute the writeTemplate command to write the current domain configuration to a specific domain template.

wls:/offline/base_domain>writeTemplate('C:/Oracle/Middleware/user_templates/MyBaseTemplate.jar')
wls:/offline/base_domain>

Execute the closeDomain command to close it

wls:/offline/base_domain>closeTemplate()
wls:/offline/base_domain>

Execute writeDomain command to create a new domain

wls:/offline/base_domain>createDomain('C:/Oracle/Middleware/user_templates/ws_server_12.1.2.0.jar', 'C:/Oracle/Middleware/user_projects/domains/my_domain1','weblogic','welcome1')
wls:/offline/base_domain>

You won’t receive any confirmation that the domain has been created, but the absence of any error messages means that the domain was successfully created. Note that the createDomain WLST command works essentially the same as the unpack command.^[3]

Creating a New Domain Based on a Domain Template

Probably the easiest way to create a domain is through the Configuration Wizard. The Configuration Wizard uses default templates to create or extend an existing domain.

Follow these steps to create a new domain using Configuration Wizard on Windows:^[1,7,8]

Click the Windows shortcut at Start | Programs | Oracle | OracleHome | WebLogic Server 12c | Tools | Configuration Wizard
Select Create A New Domain On the Create Domain screen
Choose one of the following two options on the Templates screen

Create Domain Using Product Templates
Create Domain Using Custom Template

Specify the login credentials for this new domain on the Administrator Account screen
Configure startup mode and JDK on the Domain Mode And JDK screen
Configure the database schemas on the Configure JDBC Data Sources screen
Specify keystore password on the Configure Keystore Credentials screen
Perform certain advanced configuration tasks on the Advanced Configuration screen
Review your domain configuration settings on the Configuration Summary screen
Check Configuration Progress and Status

You can use Configuration Wizard to create a domain with just an Admin Server or a domain that includes additional Managed Servers or even a cluster. In addition, you can customize a domain by configuring JDBC settings, for example, to point to a different database rather than the default database (Apache Derby database) used by the domain and extension templates.

Avitek Medical Records Sample Domain

Avitek Medical Records Sample Domain Template is one of the WebLogic domain templates that are provided with your WebLogic Server installation.^[5] You can use it to extend the basic WebLogic Server domain, which creates the Avitek Medical Records sample domain.

This domain is a WebLogic Server sample application suite that demonstrates all aspects of the J2EE platform. Read [5] to view the details of generated domain output.