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WebLogic in Docker: how to start managed servers automatically

I am learning Docker, and creating an image for Oracle WebLogic 12.2.1.4 server.

My image is ready, working fine. It contains

  • an admin server
  • two managed servers

When I run my image with docker run -d -p 7001:7001 --name WL oracle/weblogic-12.2.1.4.0:1.0 the admin server starts automatically because I added the following line at the end of my Dockerfile:

CMD /u01/oracle/user_projects/domains/$DOMAIN_NAME/startWebLogic.sh

But I need to start managed servers manually. I need to login into the container and start them by hand:

  1. docker exec -it WL /bin/bash
  2. ./startManagedWebLogic.sh MANAGED_SERVER_1 http://localhost:7001 &
  3. ./startManagedWebLogic.sh MANAGED_SERVER_2 http://localhost:7001 &

This is not what I want. I want to start managed servers automatically after admin server is up and running.

I was thinking about to create a new bash script, copy it into the image and use it to boot up the admin and managed servers. Like this:

start-wls-domain.sh

#!/bin/bash

/u01/oracle/user_projects/domains/$DOMAIN_NAME/startWebLogic.sh &

# there are a more sophisticated way to check the status of the admin server but it is okay for test
sleep 60

./startManagedWebLogic.sh MANAGED_SERVER_1 http://localhost:7001 &
./startManagedWebLogic.sh MANAGED_SERVER_2 http://localhost:7001 &

This script can be called from Dockerfile with CMD command.

But with this solution, I lost the ability to see the output on the default Docker log. The docker logs WL -f will display nothing. Another issue with this bash script solution is if this script finished the container will stop running. Do I need an infinite loop at the end of this script?

If possible I would like to have a solution without start-wls-domain.sh.

What is the best and easiest way to start Weblogic managed servers automatically within a Docker container?

Solution

  • I followed the suggestions and I run different servers in different containers. That way I was able to start properly the server.

    I published the solution on Github, here.