Specifications

VMware and BEA WebLogic Solutions Deployment Guide

5.0 Deployment of BEA WebLogic Server Virtual

Machines

This section discusses how the BEA virtual machine base image can be used for deployment in

Development, Test or Production environments.

We have created a base image consisting of the OS and BEA WLS environment. We will now create a

template out of this virtual machine image. This template will then be used to generate (by cloning)

additional BEA WLS nodes which are customized with unique IP, SID, hostname and WLS instances. This

process of generating pre-built templates (or library of template images) and using them to clone multiple

WLS nodes provides for rapid deployment in any BEA environment.

5.1 Templates

A template is a golden image of a virtual machine that can be used as a master copy to create and provision

new virtual machines. This image typically includes a specified operating system and configuration that

provides virtual counterparts to hardware components. Typically, a template includes an installed guest

operating system and a set of applications. You can install all standard components into a VM, convert it into

a template and use that image for rapid deployment across your virtual infrastructure.

Templates coexist with virtual machines at any level within the template and virtual machine domain. You

can order collections of virtual machines and templates into arbitrary folders and apply a variety of

permissions to both virtual machines and templates. Virtual machines can be transformed into templates

without requiring a full copy of the virtual machine files and the creation of a new object.

You can use templates to create new virtual machines by cloning the template as a virtual machine. When

completed, the deployed virtual machine is added to the inventory panel datacenter where the host resides.

Templates are created from existing virtual machines. After a template is created, it can be deployed only to

managed hosts that have access to the datastore where the template resides. On ESX Server hosts, the

datastores are the VMFS, local, or NAS volumes that you configured for your ESX Server.

If a managed host with templates stored in it is removed from VMware VirtualCenter, all the templates are

also removed from the inventory. Returning the managed host to VirtualCenter does not re-register the

templates because they are invisible to the host. When a host is added back to VirtualCenter, you can

5.2 Creating Templates

The BEAVMBase virtual machine created in the previous sections is the base image for our BEA WLS

deployments and is now ready to be cloned to a template.

Use the following steps to create a template out of the BEAVMBase virtual machine.

Shutdown the BEAVMBase virtual machine.

From VirtualCenter, right click on BEAVMBase, select “shutdown guest OS”.

Right click on “BEAVMBase” and select “clone to template”

(You can select “clone to template” or “convert to template”).

Clone to template Æ would keep the current VM intact and create a new VM template.