Technical data

1 Overview of WebLogic Server Management
1-2 Administration Guide
Domains, the Administration Server and
Managed Servers
An inter-related set of WebLogic Server resources managed as a unit is called a
domain. A domain includes one or more WebLogic Servers, and may include
WebLogic Server clusters.
The configuration for a domain is defined in Extensible Markup Language (XML).
Persistent storage for the domain’s configuration is provided by a single XML
configuration file
install_dir/config/domain_name/config.xml (where
install_dir is the directory under which the WebLogic Server software has been
installed). For more information on the
config.xml file, see BEA WebLogic Server
Configuration Reference.
A domain is a self-contained administrative unit. If an application is deployed in a
domain, components of that application cannot be deployed on servers that are not a
part of that domain. When a cluster is configured in a domain, all of its servers must
be a part of that domain as well. A domain may contain multiple clusters.
A J2EE application is a collection of components that are grouped together into a
deployment unit (such as an EAR, WAR or JAR file). The various WebLogic
resources required for an application — EJBs or Web applications, servers or clusters,
JDBC connection pools, and so on — are defined within a single domain
configuration. Grouping these resources into a single, self-contained domain provides
a unified viewpoint, and point of access, for managing these interrelated resources.
A WebLogic Server running the Administration Service is called an Administration
Server. The Administration Service provides the central point of control for
configuring and monitoring the entire domain. The Administration Server must be
running in order to perform any management operation on that domain.
Note: The Administration Server must be running the same version of WebLogic
Server as the Managed Servers in its domain. The Administration Server must
also have the same or later service pack installed as the Managed Servers in its
domain. For example, the Administration Server could be running version 6.1,
Service Pack 2 while the Managed Servers are running version 6.1, Service
Pack 1.