Oracle SOA Suite on Kubernetes
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Oracle SOA Suite on Kubernetes

Published on: Category: Oracle

In previous posts, I explained how to transform a traditional application server, such as WebLogic, into a containerized platform—based on Docker containers managed by a Kubernetes Cluster. No effort has been made yet to look at how a huge and complex environment such as Oracle SOA Suite could fit into a container-based strategy. Short answer: you need to more or less lift and shift the current platform to run as Kubernetes managed containers.

There are multiple ways to run a product such as Oracle SOA Suite in Kubernetes. Here's how I did it.

Oracle SOA Suite on OKE

You can use the standard PaaS service Oracle provides: the SOA Cloud service. However, my implementation is based on IaaS, on the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, where I configured the Kubernetes Cluster as described in my previous posts. This can also be done on an on-premises infrastructure.

Ingredients

The following parts are involved to set up a SOA Suite domain based on version 12.2.1.4:

  • Docker Engine
  • Kubernetes base setup
  • Oracle Database Image
  • Oracle SOA Suite docker image (either self-built or from the Oracle Container Registry)
  • GitHub
  • A lot of patience

Set up the SOA Suite repository

A SOA Suite installation requires a repository, which can be Oracle or another flavor, to dehydrate SOA instance data and store metadata from composite deployments. I used a separate namespace to set up a database in Kubernetes.

The database I created, uses the image container-registry.oracle.com/database/enterprise:12.1.0.2. I used the database yaml that I previously obtained, but I had to add an ephemeral storage because after the first deployment, I got a message in Kubernetes about exhausted ephemeral storage. So, I solved it with this:

  • Create a namespace for the database
  • Create a secret to be able to pull images from the container registry
  1. 1.	kubectl create secret docker-registry ct-registry-pull-secret \  
  2. 2.	  --docker-server=container-registry.oracle.com \  
  3. 3.	  --docker-username=********* \  
  4. 4.	  --docker-password=********* \  
  5. 5.	  --docker-email=mschildmeijer@qualogy.com
  • Apply the database to Kubernetes. You can log in to see the progress of the database creation:
  1. 1.	kubectl get pods -n database-namespace  
  2. 2.	NAME                        READY     STATUS    RESTARTS   AGE  
  3. 3.	database-7b45749f44-kjr97   1/1       Running   0          6d  
  4. 4.	  
  5. 5.	kubectl exec -ti database-7b45749f44-kjr97 /bin/bash -n database-namespace

Or use:

  1. 1.	kubectl logs database-7b45749f44-kjr97 -n database-namespace

So far so good. The only thing left to do, is create a service to expose the database:

  1. 1.	kubectl expose deployment database --type=LoadBalancer --name=database-svc -n database-namespace

Repository Creation with RCU

To do this, running a temporary resource pod of the SOA Suite image was sufficient to run RCU from it:

  1. 1.	kubectl run rcu --generator=run-pod/v1 --image container-registry.oracle.com/middleware/soasuite:12.2.1.4 --overrides='{ "apiVersion": "v1", "spec": { "imagePullSecrets": [{"name": "regsecret"}] } }' -- sleep-infinity  
  1. 1.	And run rcu from it:  
  2. 2.	kubectl exec -ti rcu /bin/bash  
  3. 3.	  
  4. 4.	  
  5. 5.	/u01/oracle/oracle_common/bin/rcu \  
  6. 6.	  -silent \  
  7. 7.	  -createRepository \  
  8. 8.	  -databaseType ORACLE \  
  9. 9.	  -connectString 130.61.65.56:1521/OraPdb.my.domain.com \  
  10. 10.	  -dbUser sys \  
  11. 11.	  -dbRole sysdba \  
  12. 12.	  -useSamePasswordForAllSchemaUsers true \  
  13. 13.	  -selectDependentsForComponents true \  
  14. 14.	  -schemaPrefix FMW1 \  
  15. 15.	  -component SOAINFRA \  
  16. 16.	  -component UCSUMS \  
  17. 17.	  -component ESS \  
  18. 18.	  -component MDS \  
  19. 19.	  -component IAU \  
  20. 20.	  -component IAU_APPEND \  
  21. 21.	  -component IAU_VIEWER \  
  22. 22.	  -component OPSS  \  
  23. 23.	  -component WLS  \  
  24. 24.	  -component STB

Nevertheless, this is not completely silent as you have to manually fill in your passwords.

Through newer versions there is an rcu create script which makes it more easier to create your repository, which are located in the oracle github repo

-s = schema name

-t = domain type

-p = rcu secret

./create-rcu-schema.sh -s soa1 -t soaosb -d oracle-db.wls-fr.svc.cluster.local:1521/devpdb.k8s  -p fmwoci -n wls-soa -q **** -r ***** -o .

Creation of the SOA domain

I used the WebLogic Kubernetes Operator GIT repository to create my SOA domain and change it to what I need.

General steps to take:

  • Install the WebLogic Kubernetes Operator
  • Create persistent volumes and claims (PV/PVC)
  • Create a domain:
          - namespacesecrets:
                  * RCU secrets
                  * WebLogic domain secrets

Use the scripts and tools provided by Oracle

  • Roll out the domain

Install the WebLogic Operator

I used Helm to do this. In the GitHub repository, there are charts available at kubernetes/charts/weblogic-operator. Specify in the .yaml values which namespace needs to be managed.

The SOA domain needs to be managed:

  1. 1.	domainNamespaces:  
  2. 2.	  - "default"  
  3. 3.	  - "domain-namespace-soa"

Use the latest operator.

  1. 1.	# image specifies the docker image containing the operator code.  
  2. 2.	image: "oracle/weblogic-kubernetes-operator:3.0.1"

And install:

  1. 1.	helm install kubernetes/charts/weblogic-operator   --name weblogic-operator --namespace weblogic-operator-namespace   --set "javaLoggingLevel=FINE" --wait

Persistent volumes and claims (PV/PVC)

When running a WebLogic domain in Kubernetes pods, two different models can be chosen:

  • Domain on image: all artifacts are stored in the container
  • Domain on a persistent volume: domain artifacts are stateful stored

In the Git repository, there are some ready-to-go scripts for creating PVs:

  1. 1.	kubernetes/samples/scripts/create-weblogic-domain-pv-pvc/  
  2. 2.	create-pv-pvc-inputs.yaml  
  3. 3.	create-pv-pvc.sh  
  4. 4.	pvc-template.yaml  
  5. 5.	pv-template.yaml

Now, provide your own specifics in the input file, such as:

  1. 1.	# The version of this inputs file.  Do not modify.  
  2. 2.	version: create-weblogic-sample-domain-pv-pvc-inputs-v1  
  3. 3.	# The base name of the pv and pvc  
  4. 4.	baseName: soasuite  
  5. 5.	# Unique ID identifying a domain.   
  6. 6.	# If left empty, the generated pv can be shared by multiple domains  
  7. 7.	# This ID must not contain an underscope ("_"), and must be lowercase and unique across all domains in a Kubernetes cluster.  
  8. 8.	domainUID: soa-domain1  
  9. 9.	# Name of the namespace for the persistent volume claim  
  10. 10.	namespace: domain-namespace-soa  
  11. 11.	# Persistent volume type for the persistent storage.  
  12. 12.	# The value must be 'HOST_PATH' or 'NFS'.   
  13. 13.	# If using 'NFS', weblogicDomainStorageNFSServer must be specified.  
  14. 14.	weblogicDomainStorageType: HOST_PATH  
  15. 15.	# The server name or ip address of the NFS server to use for the persistent storage.  
  16. 16.	# The following line must be uncomment and customized if weblogicDomainStorateType is NFS:  
  17. 17.	#weblogicDomainStorageNFSServer: nfsServer  
  18. 18.	# Physical path of the persistent storage.  
  19. 19.	# When weblogicDomainStorageType is set to HOST_PATH, this value should be set the to path to the  
  20. 20.	# domain storage on the Kubernetes host.  
  21. 21.	# When weblogicDomainStorageType is set to NFS, then weblogicDomainStorageNFSServer should be set  
  22. 22.	# to the IP address or name of the DNS server, and this value should be set to the exported path  
  23. 23.	# on that server.  
  24. 24.	# Note that the path where the domain is mounted in the WebLogic containers is not affected by this  
  25. 25.	# setting, that is determined when you create your domain.  
  26. 26.	# The following line must be uncomment and customized:  
  27. 27.	weblogicDomainStoragePath: /u01/soapv  
  28. 28.	# Reclaim policy of the persistent storage  
  29. 29.	# The valid values are: 'Retain', 'Delete', and 'Recycle'  
  30. 30.	weblogicDomainStorageReclaimPolicy: Retain  
  31. 31.	# Total storage allocated to the persistent storage.  
  32. 32.	weblogicDomainStorageSize: 20Gi

And run it:

  1. 1.	./create-pv-pvc.sh -i create-pv-pvc-inputs.yaml -o soapv -e

-e is just a path where you put your yamls locally in your client.

Secrets

Create WebLogic domain access:

  1. 1.	kubectl -n domain-namespace-soa \  
  2. 2.	        create secret generic domain1-soa-credentials \  
  3. 3.	        --from-literal=username=weblogic \  
  4. 4.	        --from-literal=password=*****

Create SOA repository access:

  1. 1.	./create-rcu-credentials.sh -u fmw1_opss -p qualogy123 -a sys -q qualogy123 -d soa-domain-3 -n domain-namespace-soa -s opss-secret  
  2. 2.	secret "opss-secret" created  
  3. 3.	secret "opss-secret" labeled

Do this for all the SOA Suite schemas.

Domain rollout

Because domain rollout is a complicated process, this is all enclosed in a pod that runs several jobs to configure a domain.

The only thing you have to do, is fill in some inputs in a .yaml file. Using a shell script will create a job that will implement all your values.

A few important ones:

  1. 1.	<span><span># Port number for admin server  
  2. 2.	adminPort: 7001  
  3. 3.	# Name of the Admin Server  
  4. 4.	adminServerName: admin-server  
  5. 5.	# Unique ID identifying a domain.  
  6. 6.	# This ID must not contain an underscope ("_"), and must be lowercase and unique across all domains in a Kubernetes cluster.  
  7. 7.	domainUID: soa-domain-1 (no underscores!)  
  8. 8.	# Home of the WebLogic domain  
  9. 9.	# If not specified, the value is derived from the domainUID as /shared/domains/<domainUID>  
  10. 10.	domainHome: /u01/domains/soa-domain-1  
  11. 11.	# Determines which WebLogic Servers the operator will start up  
  12. 12.	# Legal values are "NEVER", "IF_NEEDED", or "ADMIN_ONLY"  
  13. 13.	serverStartPolicy: IF_NEEDED  
  14. 14.	# Cluster name  
  15. 15.	clusterName: soa-cluster-1  
  16. 16.	# Number of managed servers to generate for the domain  
  17. 17.	configuredManagedServerCount: 3  
  18. 18.	# Number of managed servers to initially start for the domain  
  19. 19.	initialManagedServerReplicas: 2  
  20. 20.	# Base string used to generate managed server names  
  21. 21.	managedServerNameBase: soa-ms  
  22. 22.	# Port number for each managed server  
  23. 23.	managedServerPort: 8001  
  24. 24.	# WebLogic Server Docker image.  
  25. 25.	# The operator requires WebLogic Server 12.2.1.3.0 with </span><a class="oracle-km-link-patch oracl-km-link" href="https://support.oracle.com/rs?type=patch&id=29135930" target="_blank">patch 29135930</a><span> applied.  
  26. 26.	# The existing WebLogic Docker image, `store/oracle/weblogic:12.2.1.3`, was updated on January 17, 2019,  
  27. 27.	# and has all the necessary patches applied; a `docker pull` is required if you already have this image.  
  28. 28.	# Refer to [WebLogic Docker images](../../../../../site/weblogic-docker-images.md) for details on how  
  29. 29.	# to obtain or create the image.  
  30. 30.	image: container-registry.oracle.com/middleware/soasuite:12.2.1.3  
  31. 31.	# Image pull policy  
  32. 32.	# Legal values are "IfNotPresent", "Always", or "Never"  
  33. 33.	imagePullPolicy: IfNotPresent  
  34. 34.	# Name of the Kubernetes secret to access the Docker Store to pull the WebLogic Server Docker image  
  35. 35.	# The presence of the secret will be validated when this parameter is enabled.  
  36. 36.	imagePullSecretName: ct-registry-pull-secret  
  37. 37.	# Boolean indicating if production mode is enabled for the domain  
  38. 38.	productionModeEnabled: true  
  39. 39.	# Name of the Kubernetes secret for the Admin Server's username and password  
  40. 40.	# The name must be lowercase.  
  41. 41.	# If not specified, the value is derived from the domainUID as <domainUID>-weblogic-credentials  
  42. 42.	weblogicCredentialsSecretName: domain1-soa-credentials  
  43. 43.	# Whether to include server .out to the pod's stdout.  
  44. 44.	# The default is true.  
  45. 45.	includeServerOutInPodLog: true  
  46. 46.	# The in-pod location for domain log, server logs, server out, and node manager log files  
  47. 47.	# If not specified, the value is derived from the domainUID as /shared/logs/<domainUID>  
  48. 48.	logHome: /u01/domains/logs/soa-domain-3  
  49. 49.	# Port for the T3Channel of the NetworkAccessPoint  
  50. 50.	t3ChannelPort: 30012  
  51. 51.	# Public address for T3Channel of the NetworkAccessPoint.  This value should be set to the  
  52. 52.	# kubernetes server address, which you can get by running "kubectl cluster-info".  If this  
  53. 53.	# value is not set to that address, WLST will not be able to connect from outside the  
  54. 54.	# Name of the domain namespace  
  55. 55.	namespace: domain-namespace-soa  
  56. 56.	#Java Option for WebLogic Server  
  57. 57.	javaOptions: -Dweblogic.StdoutDebugEnabled=false  
  58. 58.	# Name of the persistent volume claim  
  59. 59.	# If not specified, the value is derived from the domainUID as <domainUID>-weblogic-sample-pvc  
  60. 60.	persistentVolumeClaimName: soa-domain1-soasuite-pvc  
  61. 61.	# Mount path of the domain persistent volume.  
  62. 62.	domainPVMountPath: /u01/domains  
  63. 63.	# Mount path where the create domain scripts are located inside a pod  
  64. 64.	#  
  65. 65.	# The `create-domain.sh` script creates a Kubernetes job to run the script (specified in the  
  66. 66.	# `createDomainScriptName` property) in a Kubernetes pod to create a WebLogic home. Files  
  67. 67.	# in the `createDomainFilesDir` directory are mounted to this location in the pod, so that  
  68. 68.	# a Kubernetes pod can use the scripts and supporting files to create a domain home.  
  69. 69.	createDomainScriptsMountPath: /u01/weblogic  
  70. 70.	#  
  71. 71.	# RCU configuration details  
  72. 72.	#  
  73. 73.	  
  74. 74.	# The schema prefix to use in the database, for example `SOA1`.  You may wish to make this  
  75. 75.	# the same as the domainUID in order to simplify matching domains to their RCU schemas.  
  76. 76.	rcuSchemaPrefix: FMW1  
  77. 77.	  
  78. 78.	# The database URL  
  79. 79.	rcuDatabaseURL: 130.61.65.56:1521/ORAPDB.MY.DOMAIN.COM  
  80. 80.	  
  81. 81.	# The kubernetes secret containing the database credentials  
  82. 82.	rcuCredentialsSecret: opss-secret  
  83. 83.	rcuCredentialsSecret: iau-secret  
  84. 84.	rcuCredentialsSecret: iauviewer-secret  
  85. 85.	rcuCredentialsSecret: iauappend-secret  
  86. 86.	rcuCredentialsSecret: wls-secret  
  87. 87.	rcuCredentialsSecret: soainfra-secret  
  88. 88.	rcuCredentialsSecret: mds-secret  
  89. 89.	rcuCredentialsSecret: wls-secret  
  90. 90.	rcuCredentialsSecret: wlsruntime-secret  
  91. 91.	rcuCredentialsSecret: stb-secret  
  92. 92.	</span></span>

Execute the script:

  1. 1.	./create-domain.sh -i create-domain-inputs-soa.yaml -o wlssoa -e -v

You can follow the script using the logs:

  1. 1.	kubectl logs -f soa-domain-2-create-fmw-infra-sample-domain-job-572r6 -n domain-namespace-soa

This is basically what it takes. Next time, I will dive deeper into how to manage a SOA Suite domain in Kubernetes.

Unfortunately, at the moment, the internal configuration was not successfully completed...

Could be the case as described in MOS Doc ID 2284797.1

Update fix

As I expected, the above issue was caused by how I chose the password. This has to be in the structure, as described in the MOS document. So there was no actual Kubernetes issue

Stopping and starting

Stop and starting a WebLogic SOA domain managed by Kubernetes goes a bit different than the conventional way of doing that using scripts or controlling it by the nodemanager. Stopping is starting by the WebLogic Kubernetes operator and uses the kubectl patch commands and jsonpath syntax to update a policy against the so called replica’s. A replica in this case is a running pod with a Managed or AdminServer.

The above command will tell to the operator to scale up the Adminserver pod with one replica. After a while you can access the console and login as usual.

For more standardization there are some scripts which makes life easier:

Example of stopping an entire WebLogic domain:

Michel Schildmeijer
About the author Michel Schildmeijer

Michel started his career as a medical officer in the Royal Dutch Airforce, with a focus on pharma. After the air force, he continued in pharma, followed by time working in clinical pharmacology. While there, he transitioned to IT by learning UNIX and MUMPS, and developed a system for managing patients’ medical records. As his career developed, his responsibility shifted from a deep technical perspective to a more visionary role. At the end of 2011, Michel authored a book on WebLogic Administration for beginners. He joined Qualogy in April 2012 where he expanded his repertoire significantly, serving a wide range of customers with his knowledge about Java Application Servers, Middleware and Application Integration. He also increased his multiple-industry knowledge in his role as Solutions or IT architect by working for customers in a range of sectors, including financials, telecom, public transportation and government organizations. In 2012, he received the IT Industry-recognized title of Oracle ACE for being an ambassador and community leader in his area of expertise. In 2019, this was enhanced to Oracle ACE Director. Michel is asked regularly to speak about technology and the impact of innovation at national and international conferences such as KubeCon, Oracle OpenWorld, Groundbreakers Developers Tours and others. He contributes actively to the OpenSource community and solutions regarding containerization, CI/CD and DevOps. In October 2021, Michel took an exciting step in his career by becoming Business Unit Manager for Qualogy Managed Services. While he still has a finger on the pulse in terms of technology, he is expanding his scope by combining his experience with the new insights gained in his new position. Read more via blog: https://bit.ly/3fAxrqf | Medium: https://mschildmeijer.medium.com/ | Books: Oracle Weblogic Server 11gR1 PS2: Administration Essentials: https://bit.ly/3IhALmf | Oracle WebLogic Server 12c: First Look1: https://bit.ly/31olbpj

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