WebSphere BLAs

Business-level applications

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

A business-level application has the following characteristics:

Consists of WebSphere and non-WebSphere artifacts. The BLA might not explicitly manage the lifecycle of every artifact. It is a model for defining an application.
Does not represent or contain application binary files. It is a configuration that lists one or more composition units, which represent the application binary files. A BLA uses the binary files to run the application business logic. Administration of binary files is separate from administration of the application definition.

Supports recursive composition by reference that facilitates hierarchical assembly of BLAs and individual deployed artifacts within or outside a WebSphere product. The composition at its lowest level consists of configured instances of application binary files running in a specific runtime environment such as an application server. Installable packages or archives, such as JAR or EAR files, typically deliver the business logic that these configured instances represent to corresponding runtime platforms.

Typically, we first create an empty BLA and then add composition units to it. The BLA 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/blas/application/bver/BASE/bla.xml

Comparisons to Java EE applications

Business-level applications can consist of or aggregate Java EE applications and modules with non-Java EE artifacts. The contents of Java EE applications integrate with BLA concepts for deployment and management of applications. Existing Java EE application management APIs continue to work after we add Java EE application or modules to a BLA. The BLA 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.

Java EE concept Business-level application concept Description
EAR or stand-alone module Asset Java EE application contents are assets.
Java EE application Composition unit A Java EE application is in an enterprise archive (EAR) file. WAS v9 saves the EAR file in the product repository as a composition unit.
Modules within EAR file Deployable units in the asset Each module in the EAR file is a deployable unit that we can install on independent deployment targets. The EAR file is still managed as a single asset in its entirety.
Application installation Multiple BLA management commands
During Java EE application deployment, we can specify the name of the BLA to include the Java EE application. If the BLA name is not set, the product creates a default BLA with the same name as the Java EE application name. WAS v9 adds a composition unit with the same name as the Java EE application name under the BLA. We can deploy multiple Java EE applications under a single BLA.
Make a Java EE application a business-level application and add it to another BLA:

Install the Java EE application (EAR file) using the enterprise application installation console wizard, programming, or wsadmin. Keep the default selection to create a BLA with the same name as the Java EE application.
Create an empty BLA.
Add the EAR file business-level application to the empty business-level application. The EAR file BLA is a composition unit of the containing BLA.

Make a Java EE application an asset and add it to another BLA:

Import an EAR file as an asset. It has an asset type aspect of Java EE ear.
Create an empty BLA.
Add the Java EE application asset to the BLA. The EAR file asset is a composition unit of the containing business-level application.
Collect targets for each deployable unit (Java EE module).

Uninstall Java EE application Multiple business-level application management commands We delete the Java EE application composition unit from the BLA:

Remove the composition unit for the Java EE application from the BLA.
If the EAR file is an asset, delete the asset.

Start the Java EE application. Start the composition unit. Starting a BLA starts any Java EE application in it.
Stop the Java EE application. Stop the composition unit. Stopping a BLA stops any Java EE application in it.

Subtopics

Assets
Composition units
Deploy business-level applications

Java EE concept	Business-level application concept	Description
EAR or stand-alone module	Asset	Java EE application contents are assets.
Java EE application	Composition unit	A Java EE application is in an enterprise archive (EAR) file. WAS v9 saves the EAR file in the product repository as a composition unit.
Modules within EAR file	Deployable units in the asset	Each module in the EAR file is a deployable unit that we can install on independent deployment targets. The EAR file is still managed as a single asset in its entirety.
Application installation	Multiple BLA management commands During Java EE application deployment, we can specify the name of the BLA to include the Java EE application. If the BLA name is not set, the product creates a default BLA with the same name as the Java EE application name. WAS v9 adds a composition unit with the same name as the Java EE application name under the BLA. We can deploy multiple Java EE applications under a single BLA.	Make a Java EE application a business-level application and add it to another BLA: Install the Java EE application (EAR file) using the enterprise application installation console wizard, programming, or wsadmin. Keep the default selection to create a BLA with the same name as the Java EE application. Create an empty BLA. Add the EAR file business-level application to the empty business-level application. The EAR file BLA is a composition unit of the containing BLA. Make a Java EE application an asset and add it to another BLA: Import an EAR file as an asset. It has an asset type aspect of Java EE ear. Create an empty BLA. Add the Java EE application asset to the BLA. The EAR file asset is a composition unit of the containing business-level application. Collect targets for each deployable unit (Java EE module).
Uninstall Java EE application	Multiple business-level application management commands	We delete the Java EE application composition unit from the BLA: Remove the composition unit for the Java EE application from the BLA. If the EAR file is an asset, delete the asset.
Start the Java EE application.	Start the composition unit.	Starting a BLA starts any Java EE application in it.
Stop the Java EE application.	Stop the composition unit.	Stopping a BLA stops any Java EE application in it.