Oracle WebLogic Server 11g: System Administration

A: A domain is the basic administration unit for WebLogic Server instances.
D: To define a WebLogic Server cluster there must be a domain:

Note: Before you start the Managed Servers in a domain, start the Administration Server. When you start a standalone or clustered Managed Server, it contacts the Administration Server for its configuration information. In this way, the Administration Server operates as the central control entity for the configuration of the entire domain.

References:
Configuring and Managing WebLogic Server (http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E13222_01/wls/docs81/adminguide/overview_domain.html)

A: You can view any changes that you have saved, but not yet activated, by clicking the View Changes and Restarts link in the Change Center.
C: The View Changes and Restarts link presents two tabs, Change List and Restart Checklist:

* The Change List tab presents all changes that have been saved, but not yet activated.
* The Restart Checklist lists all servers for which non-dynamic changes have been activated, but which require restarts before the changes become effective.

Incorrect:
D: is wrong because dynamic changes usually don't require a restart if that is all that was changed. If it were mix of dynamic and non-dynamic changes it would require a restart.
F: is wrong because in production mode the change center has the "undo all changes" button so you don't have to activate the changes before you undo them.

References:
Using the Change Center (http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E13222_01/wls/docs103/intro/console.html#wp1122447)

To prevent the Administration Server from becoming a single point of failure, Managed Servers can always function without the presence a running Administration Server. When a Managed Server starts, it contacts the Administration Server to retrieve its configuration information. If a Managed Server is unable to connect to the specified Administration Server during startup, it can retrieve its configuration directly by reading a copy of the config.xml file and other files located on the Managed Server's own file system.
A Managed Server that starts in this way is running in Managed Server Independence mode. In this mode, a server uses cached application files to deploy the applications that are targeted to the server.

References:
Overview of WebLogic Server System Administration, Managed Server Indepenence (http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E13222_01/wls/docs81/adminguide/)
overview.html

A (not B): For any given WebLogic Server instance, you can override the default filter and create a log filter that causes a different set of messages to be written to the domain log file.

Note:
To create and configure a log filter:
1. If you have not already done so, in the Change Center of the Administration Console, click Lock & Edit (not B) (see Use the Change Center).
2. In the left pane of the Console, select the name of the active domain in the Domain Structure panel.
3. On the Configuration: Log Filters page, click New.

4. On the Create a New Log Filter page, enter a value to identify the filter in the Name field.

5. Click Finish.

The new log filter appears in the Log Filters table.
6. To configure a filter expression, in the Log Filters table, click the log filter name.

7. On the Configuration page, in the Filter Expression text box, enter criteria for qualifying messages.

A filter expression defines simple filtering rules to limit the volume of log messages written to a particular log destination.

See D) below.

8. Click Save.

The filter and filter expression are listed in the Log Filters table.

D: Log Filter Configuration

Use this page to define a custom log filter to restrict the set of messages that one or more servers send to a message destination, such as the domain log, standard out, server log file, or memory buffer of recent log events.

You can click Edit to type or paste in an expression directly, using WLDF Query Language syntax (see Related Topics, below); or you can click Add Expression to construct an expression by choosing items from lists.

Once you create a filter, you cannot change its name. Instead, you must create a new filter under a different name.

References:
Administration Console Online Help, Log Filter Configuration Reference: Administration Console Online Help, Create log filters

Configurable JMS Resources in Modules
The following configuration resources are defined as part of a system module or an application module:
* Distributed destinations (A, D)
* Connection factories (B)
* Queue and topic destinations
* Templates
* Quota
* Foreign servers
* MS store-and-forward (SAF) configuration items

All other JMS environment-related resources must be configured by the administrator as domain configuration resources. This includes:
* JMS servers required (not E)
* Store-and-Forward agents (optional)
* Path service (optional)
* Messaging bridges (optional)
* Persistent stores (optional)

References:
Configuring And Managing WebLogic JMS, Configurable JMS Resources in Modules

A: The Configure the Administration Server window prompts you to define the configuration information for the Administration Server, including: Administration Server name Listen address Nonsecure and secure (optional) listen ports
B: The Configure Managed Servers window prompts you to define the configuration information for one or more Managed Servers, including: Managed Server name Listen address Nonsecure and secure (optional) listen ports
E: The Configure Clusters window prompts you to define the configuration information for one or more clusters, including: Cluster name Multicast address and port Cluster address that identifies the Managed Servers in the cluster Frontend host if you are using a proxy server or a firewall. Frontend HTTP port if you are using a proxy server or a firewall.
References:
To create a custom domain with Managed Servers, a cluster, and application services (http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E13196_01/platform/docs81/confgwiz/tutorials.html)

You can configure WebLogic Server to make backup copies of the configuration files. This facilitates recovery in cases where configuration changes need to be reversed or the unlikely case that configuration files become corrupted. When the Administration Server starts up, it saves a JAR file named config-booted.jar that contains the configuration files. When you make changes to the configuration files, the old files are saved in the configArchive directory under the domain directory, in a JAR file with a sequentially-numbered name like config-1.jar.
References:
Understanding Domain Configuration, Configuration File Archiving (http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E12840_01/wls/docs103/domain_config/config_files.html)

A: Main Steps for Creating Packaged JMS Application Modules Follow these steps to configure a packaged JMS module: If necessary, create a JMS server to target the JMS module to, as explained in "Configure JMS Servers" in the Administration Console Online Help.
Create a JMS system module and configure the necessary resources, such as queues or topics, as described in "Configure JMS system modules and add JMS resources" in the Administration Console Online Help.
The system module is saved in config\jms subdirectory of the domain directory, with a "- jms.xml" suffix.
Copy the system module to a new location, and then: Give the module a unique name within the domain namespace.
Delete the JNDI-Name attribute to make the module application-scoped to only the application. Add references to the JMS resources in the module to all applicable J2EE application component's descriptor files, as described in Referencing a Packaged JMS Application Module In Deployment Descriptor Files.
Package all application modules in an EAR, as described in Packaging an Enterprise Application With a JMS Application Module.
Deploy the EAR, as described in Deploying a Packaged JMS Application Module.

D: JMS application modules can be packaged as part of an Enterprise Application Archive (EAR), as a packaged module. Packaged modules are bundled with an EAR or exploded EAR directory, and are referenced in the weblogic-application.xml descriptor. The packaged JMS module is deployed along with the Enterprise Application, and the resources defined in this module can optionally be made available only to the enclosing application (i.e., as an application-scoped resource).
Such modules are particularly useful when packaged with EJBs (especially MDBs) or Web Applications that use JMS resources. Using packaged modules ensures that an application always has required resources and simplifies the process of moving the application into new environments.

References:
Packaging JMS Application Modules In an Enterprise Application

C: auto deployment is not allowed in production mode only development mode.
Note 1:
All servers in a domain run either in development mode or production mode. To configure all servers in a domain to run in production mode:

1. If you have not already done so, in the Change Center of the Administration Console, click Lock & Edit .
In the left pane of the Console, under Domain Structure, select the domain name.
2. Select Configuration > General and select the Production Mode check box.
3. Click Save, and then, to activate these changes, in the Change Center, click Activate Changes.
4. Shut down any servers that are currently running.
5. Invoke the domain's startWebLogic script.
The Administration Server starts in the new mode.
6. If the domain contains Managed Servers, start the Managed Servers.
Result

As each Managed Server starts, it refers to the mode of the Administration Server to determine its runtime mode.

Note 2: Once you have changed to production mode, whether by using a start command argument, the Console, or WLST, you cannot change back to development mode without restarting the server.

By default auto deployment is turned off in Production Mode (however it can be later turned on).
Incorrect:
E: if you want to go back to development mode you must change the config.xml file and restart the admin server. The window shown below shows from developemnt to production NOT production to development is allowed.
This is in development mode and you can change to production mode but in production mode this attribute states the word true.

References:
Administration Console Online Help, Change to production mode

Note #1: If your EJBs will run on a WebLogic Server cluster, Oracle recommends that you deploy them homogeneously--to each Managed Server in the cluster.
Alternatively, you can deploy an EJB to only to a single server in the cluster (that is, "pin" a module to a server). This type of deployment is less common, and should be used only in special circumstances where pinned services are required.

Note #2: When you deploy an EJB, you specify the servers and clusters to which the EJB deployment is targeted. After you have deployed an EJB, you can update the servers and clusters to which it is targeted.

To set target servers and clusters for a deployed EJB:
1. If you have not already done so, in the Change Center of the Administration Console, click Lock & Edit

2. In the left pane of the Administration Console, select Deployments.

The right pane lists the EJBs and other modules that you have deployed, or tried to deploy.
3. In the right pane, click the desired EJB.

4. Select the Targets tab.

Servers and clusters in the domain are displayed.
5. Select the check box next to the individual servers and/or clusters to which you wish to deploy the EJB and click Save.

By default, the Administration Console deploys an EJB to all server instances in the cluster (the "All servers in the cluster" option). To deploy the EJB to selected servers in a cluster, select "Part of the cluster", and then select the individual server instances to which you want to deploy the EJB.
6. To activate these changes, in the Change Center of the Administration Console, click Activate Changes.
Not all changes take effect immediately--some require a restart