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Administration Console Online Help

Messaging Bridge

The WebLogic Messaging Bridge allows you to configure a forwarding mechanism between any two messaging products—thereby, providing interoperability between separate implementations of WebLogic JMS or between WebLogic JMS and another messaging product.

A messaging bridge consists of two destinations that are being bridged: a source destination from which messages are received, and a target destination to which messages are sent. For WebLogic JMS and third-party JMS products, a messaging bridge communicates with source and target destinations using the resource adapters provided with WebLogic Server. For non-JMS messaging products, a customized adapter must be provided by either a third-party OEM vendor or by contacting BEA Professional Services in order to access non-JMS source or target destinations.

Source and target bridge destinations can be either queues or topics. You can also specify a quality of service (QOS), as well as message filters, transaction semantics, and connection retry policies. Once a messaging bridge is configured, it is easily managed from the Administration Console, including temporarily suspending bridge traffic when necessary, tuning the execute thread pool size to suit your implementation, and monitoring the status of all your configured bridges.

JMS Bridge Destination Tasks

For JMS messaging products, whether it is a WebLogic JMS implementation or a third-party JMS provider, you need to configure a JMSBridgeDestination instance for each source and target destination to be mapped by a messaging bridge.

Creating a JMS Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Click the JMS Bridge Destinations node to open the JMS Bridge Destinations tab in the right pane.

3. Click the Configure a New JMS Bridge Destination link. A Configuration dialog displays in the right pane showing the tabs associated with configuring a new JMS bridge destination.

4. On the Configuration tab, enter values in the Name, Adapter JNDI Name, Adapter Class Path, Connection URL, Initial Context Factory, Connection Factory JNDI Name, Destination JNDI Name, and Destination Type attribute fields. For more information about these general attributes, see Attributes.

5. Optionally, fill out the User Name and Password attributes. For more information about JMS bridge destination security attributes, see Attributes.

   Note: All operations done to the specified destination are done using that user name and password. Therefore, the User Name/Password for the source and target destinations must have permission to access the underlying JMS destinations in order for the messaging bridge to work.

6. Click Create to create an instance of the bridge destination with the name you specified in the Name field. The new instance is added under the JMS Bridge Destination node in the left pane.

7. When you finish defining attributes for a source JMS bridge destination, repeat these steps to configure a target JMS bridge destination, or vice versa.

For what's next in configuring a messaging bridge, see Creating a Messaging Bridge.

Cloning a JMS Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the JMS Bridge Destinations node. The JMS Bridge Destinations table displays in the right pane showing all the JMS bridge destination instances.

3. Click the Clone icon in the row of the JMS bridge destination instance you want to clone. A dialog shows the tabs associated with cloning a JMS bridge destination.

4. Enter values in the attribute fields.

5. Click Clone to create a JMS bridge destination with the name you specified in the Name field. The JMS bridge destination is added to the JMS Bridge Destination table in the right pane.

Deleting a JMS Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the JMS Bridge Destinations node. The JMS Bridge Destinations table displays in the right pane showing all the JMS bridge destination instances.

3. Click the Delete icon in the row of the JMS bridge destination that you want to delete. A dialog prompts you to confirm your deletion request.

4. Click Yes to delete the JMS bridge destination, and then click Continue to redisplay the JMS Bridge Destinations table in the right pane. The bridge destination is deleted from the JMS Bridge Destinations table.

Adding a Note to a JMS Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the JMS Bridge Destinations node to show the list of JMS bridge destinations defined in your domain.

3. Click the JMS bridge destination that you want to add a note to. A dialog shows the tabs associated with the JMS bridge destination instance.

4. Click the Notes tab.

5. Type a note in the Notes field.

6. Click Apply to save your changes.

General Bridge Destination Tasks

For non-JMS messaging products, you need to configure a general BridgeDestination instance for each source and target destination to be mapped by a messaging bridge.

Note: Although WebLogic JMS includes a "General Bridge Destination" framework for accessing non-JMS messaging products, WebLogic Server does not provide supported adapters for such products. Therefore, you must obtain a custom adapter from a third-party OEM vendor and consult their documentation for configuration instructions. You can also contact BEA Professional Services for information about obtaining a custom adapter.

Creating a General Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Click the General Bridge Destinations node to open the General Bridge Destinations tab in the right pane.

3. Click the Configure a New General Bridge Destination link. A Configuration dialog shows the tabs associated with configuring a new general bridge destination.

4. On the Configuration tab, enter values in the Name, Adapter JNDI Name, Adapter Class Path, and Properties attribute fields. For more information about these general attributes, see Attributes.

5. Optionally, fill out the User Name and Password attributes. For more information about general bridge destination security attributes, see Attributes.

   Note: All operations done to the specified destination are done using that user name and password. Therefore, the User Name/Password for the source and target destinations must have permission to access the underlying destinations in order for the messaging bridge to work.

6. Click Create to create an instance of the general bridge destination with the name you specified in the Name field. The new instance is added under the General Bridge Destination node in the left pane.

7. When you finish defining attributes for a source general bridge destination, repeat these steps to configure a target general bridge destination, or vice versa.

For what's next in configuring a messaging bridge, see Creating a Messaging Bridge.

Cloning a General Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the General Bridge Destinations node. The General Bridge Destinations table displays in the right pane showing all the general bridge destination instances.

3. Click the Clone icon in the row of the general bridge destination you want to clone. A dialog shows the tabs associated with cloning a general bridge destination.

4. Enter values in the attribute fields.

5. Click Clone to create a general bridge destination with the name you specified in the Name field. The general bridge destination is added to the General Bridge Destination table in the right pane.

Deleting a General Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the General Bridge Destinations node. The General Bridge Destinations table displays in the right pane showing all the general bridge destination instances.

3. Click the Delete icon in the row of the general bridge destination instance that you want to delete. A dialog prompts you to confirm your deletion request.

4. Click Yes to delete the general bridge destination, and then click Continue to redisplay the General Bridge Destinations table in the right pane. The general bridge destination is deleted from the General Bridge Destinations table.

Adding a Note to a General Bridge Destination

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the General Bridge Destinations node to show the list of general bridge destinations defined in your domain.

3. Click the general bridge destination that you want to add a note to. A dialog displays in the right pane showing the tabs associated with the general bridge destination instance.

4. Click the Notes tab.

5. Type a note in the Notes field.

6. Click Apply to save your changes.

Messaging Bridge Tasks

Creating a Messaging Bridge

To configure a messaging bridge, follow these steps:

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the Bridges node to open the Bridges tab in the right pane.

3. Click the Configure a new Messaging Bridge link. A Configuration dialog shows the tabs associated with configuring a new messaging bridge.

4. On the Configuration General tab, enter values in the Name, Source Destination, Target Destination, Selector, Quality of Service, QOS Degradation Allowed, Maximum Idle Time, Asynchronous Mode Enabled, Durability Enabled, and Started attribute fields. For more information about messaging bridge general attributes, see Attributes.

5. Click Create to create an instance of the messaging bridge with the name you specified in the Name field. The new instance is added under the Bridges node in the left pane.

6. On the Connection Retry tab, change the attribute fields or accept the default values as assigned. For connection retry attribute descriptions, see Attributes. Click Apply to save your changes.

7. On the Transactions tab, change the attribute fields or accept the default values as assigned. For transaction attribute descriptions, see Attributes. Click Apply to save your changes.

8. On the Targets tab, assign the messaging bridge to servers, clusters, or a migratable target server. See Assigning a Messaging Bridge to One or More Servers, or Clusters, or a Migratable Target for instructions.

9. Click Apply to save your changes.

Cloning a Messaging Bridge

1. Expand the Bridges node. The Messaging Bridges table displays in the right pane showing all the Messaging Bridge instances.

2. Click the Clone icon in the row of the messaging bridge you want to clone. A dialog shows the tabs associated with cloning a messaging bridge.

3. Enter values in the attribute fields.

4. Click Clone to create a messaging bridge with the name you specified in the Name field. The messaging bridge is added to the Messaging Bridges table in the right pane.

Deleting a Messaging Bridge

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node. The Messaging Bridges table displays in the right pane showing all the messaging bridge instances.

2. Click the Delete icon in the row of the messaging bridge that you want to delete. A dialog prompts you to confirm your deletion request.

3. Click Yes to delete the messaging bridge, and then click Continue to redisplay the Messaging Bridges table in the right pane. The messaging bridge is deleted from the Messaging Bridges table.

Assigning a Messaging Bridge to One or More Servers, or Clusters, or a Migratable Target

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the Bridges node to show the list of messaging bridges defined in your domain.

3. Click the messaging bridge that you want to assign to a server, cluster, or migratable target. A dialog displays in the right pane showing the tabs associated with the messaging bridge instance.

4. Click the Targets tab to display the following targeting tabs.

   - Servers—you can select a server or servers where the messaging bridge will be deployed. The messaging bridge will be available on all the selected servers.

   - Clusters—you can select a cluster where the messaging bridge will be deployed. The messaging bridge will be available on all servers in the selected cluster.

   - Migratable Targets—you can select a WebLogic Server migratable target where the messaging bridge will be deployed. When WebLogic Server is first booted, the messaging bridge is initially available only on the user-preferred server. After that, the bridge can be migrated to another server listed in the migratable target

5. On the Servers, Clusters, or Migratable Targets tabs, assign the messaging bridge, as follows:

   1. In the Available column, select one or more targets to assign to the messaging bridge.

   2. Move the targets into the Chosen column by either clicking the mover control or by double-clicking it.

   3. Click Apply to save your assignments.

Adding a Note to a Messaging Bridge

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Expand the Bridges node to show the list of messaging bridges defined in your domain.

3. Click the messaging bridge that you want to add a note to. A dialog displays in the right pane showing the tabs associated with the messaging bridge instance.

4. Click the Notes tab. Type a note in the Notes field.

5. Click Apply to save your changes.

Monitoring All Messaging Bridges

To monitor the status of all configured messaging bridges in the domain:

1. Expand the Server node.

2. Select the server instance where the messaging bridges are configured. A dialog displays in the right pane showing the tabs associated with the selected server instance.

3. Select the Services tab.

4. Select the Bridge tab.

5. Click the Monitor all Messaging Bridge Runtimes text link.

6. A table displays showing all the messaging bridge instances for the server and their status (either as running or not running).

Stopping and Restarting a Messaging Bridge

To temporarily suspend and restart a messaging bridge:

1. Expand the Messaging Bridge node.

2. Select the messaging bridge instance that you want to suspend.

3. On the Configuration General tab, clear the Started check box to suspend the bridge.

4. To restart the bridge, select the Started check box.

Configuring the Execute Thread Pool Size

You can configure the default execute thread pool size for your messaging bridges. For example, you may want to increase or decrease the default size to reduce competition from the WebLogic Server default thread pool. Entering a value of -1 disables this thread pool and forces a messaging bridge to use the WebLogic Server default thread pool.

1. Expand the Servers node.

2. Select the specific server instance where the messaging bridge is configured.

3. In the right pane, select the Services tab.

4. Select the Bridge tab.

5. Enter a new value in the Messaging Bridge Thread Pool Size field.

6. Click Apply to save your changes.