Deploying BPEL Processes



This document describes how to deploy a BPEL process so the ActiveBPEL
engine can execute it. For information about installing the engine, see
"Installing and Configuring the ActiveBPEL Engine" (install_engine.txt).

To deploy a BPEL process, you must create and install a deployment archive
containing your BPEL process files. To do this, you will use the jar utility,
which means you will need a Java SDK.

Any version of the JDK should work. BPEL processes deployment has been tested
using the 1.4.1 SDK.


Deploying Your BPEL Process
===========================

Deploying a BPEL process involves creating a deployment archive file (a JAR
with an extension of ".bpr") and copying that to your servlet container. To
create this archive, you need to organize your files into a particular
directory structure, create one or two configuration files, and then create an
archive from that directory.

Create a directory for your deployment files; we'll name it mybpel in this
example. Create the subdirectories

    * bpel
    * META-INF
    * wsdl
    * partners (optional)

The WSDL catalog (wsdlCatalog.xml) file, partner definition (.pdef) files, and
process deployment descriptor (.pdd) files are described in "ActiveBPEL Engine
File Formats" (file_formats.txt).

As an example, let's say you have one BPEL file my_process.bpel and two WSDL
files service1.wsdl and service2.wsdl. Your directory structure would look
something like this:

    mybpel
        META-INF
            wsdlCatalog.xml
        bpel
            my_process.bpl
        my_process.pdd
        wsdl
            service1.wsdl
            service2.wsdl

The partners directory is not necessary unless you have .pdef files.

Using this directory structure, create the archive and copy it to your servlet
container. Here's how you would deploy your BPEL process to Tomcat (remove
"partners" from the jar command if you don't have a partners directory):

Windows:

    C:\> cd mybpel
    C:\mybpel> jar cf mybpel.bpr *.pdd META-INF bpel partners wsdl
    C:\> cp mybpel.bpr $CATALINA_HOME/bpr

Unix:

    % cd mybpel
    % jar cf mybpel.bpr *.pdd META-INF bpel partners wsdl
    % cp mybpel.bpr $CATALINA_HOME/bpr

It is fine for more than one .bpel file or .pdd file to live in the same
.bpr deployment archive.

Your WSDL files could live anywhere, even on another machine. Packaging them
inside the .pdd lets the BPEL engine get to them quicker.

The Engine
==========

If the ActiveBPEL engine is running, soon after you deploy your BPEL
process the ActiveBPEL engine will notice the .bpr file and read it. Your
BPEL process is ready to use.

See "Starting the ActiveBPEL Engine" in install_engine.txt for instructions on
starting and stopping the engine.

"Engine Status Information" in install_engine.txt describes how to view the
runtime status of Web services, the engine, and BPEL processes.