Business-level applications

A business-level application is an administration model that provides the entire definition of an application as it makes sense to the business. A business-level application is a WebSphere® configuration artifact, similar to a server or cluster, that is stored in the product configuration repository.

Business-level application characteristics

A business-level application has the following characteristics:

The following diagram shows the composition model for business-level applications:

Business-level applications

A business-level application does not introduce new programming, runtime, or packaging models:

Typically, you first create an empty business-level application and then add composition units to it. The business-level application name must be unique within a cell. The business level application itself has minimal configuration data associated with it, solely the list of composition units, but individual composition units might save application-specific configuration data.

A business-level application is defined in the product configuration repository under profile_root/config/cells/cell_name/blas/business_level_application_name/bver/BASE/bla.xml.

Comparisons to Java EE applications

Business-level applications can consist of or aggregate Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) applications and modules with non-Java EE artifacts. The contents of Java EE applications integrate with business-level application concepts for deployment and management of applications. Existing Java EE application management APIs continue to work after you add Java EE application or modules to a business-level application. The business-level application management API accepts Java EE contents and configurations and delegates to existing Java EE management APIs. Control operations such as starting and stopping a Java EE composition unit are delegated to ApplicationManager MBean on application servers that start and stop Java EE applications.

Table 1. Java EE concepts compared to business-level application concepts. Business-level application concepts include assets, composition units, and deployable units.
Java EE concept Business-level application concept Description
EAR or stand-alone module for deployment Asset Java EE application contents are assets.
Java EE application created at the end of application install Composition unit A Java EE application is in an enterprise archive (EAR) file. The product saves the EAR file in the product repository as a composition unit.
Java EE modules within the EAR file Deployable units in the asset Each module in the EAR file is a deployable unit that you can install on independent deployment targets. The EAR file is still managed as a single asset in its entirety.
Java EE application installation using the administrative console, programming, or wsadmin commands Multiple business-level application management commands

During Java EE application deployment, you can specify the name of the business-level application to include the Java EE application. If the business-level application name is not set, the product creates a default business-level application with the same name as the Java EE application name. The product adds a composition unit with the same name as the Java EE application name under the business-level application. You can deploy multiple Java EE applications under a single business-level application.

You can make a Java EE application a business-level application and add it to another business-level application:
  1. Install the Java EE application (EAR file) using the enterprise application installation console wizard, programming, or wsadmin. Keep the default selection to create a business-level application that has the same name as the Java EE application.
  2. Create an empty business-level application.
  3. Add the EAR file business-level application to the empty business-level application. The EAR file business-level application is a composition unit of the containing business-level application.

Or, you can make a Java EE application an asset and add it to another business-level application:

  1. Import an EAR file as an asset. It has an asset type aspect of Java EE ear.
  2. Create an empty business-level application.
  3. Add the Java EE application asset to the business-level application. The EAR file asset is a composition unit of the containing business-level application.
  4. Collect targets for each deployable unit (Java EE module).
Uninstall Java EE application Multiple business-level application management commands You delete the Java EE application composition unit from the business-level application:
  1. Remove the composition unit for the Java EE application from the business-level application.
  2. If the EAR file is an asset, delete the asset.
Start the Java EE application. Start the composition unit. Starting a business-level application starts any Java EE application in it.
Stop the Java EE application. Stop the composition unit. Stopping a business-level application stops any Java EE application in it.



Related concepts
Assets
Composition units
Related tasks
Deploying and administering business-level applications
Concept topic    

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