Exporting and importing a deployment manifest file
You can export the deployment manifest file from an application, then import the manifest file into another instance of the same application located somewhere else. This process is useful when an application moves from one environment to another, for example from a test environment to a production environment.
About this task
A deployment manifest file, META-INF/DEPLOYMENT.MF, is created automatically when you import an EBA asset. The deployment manifest file lists, at specific versions, all the bundles and composite bundles that make up the application, including bundles that are determined following dependency analysis. The manifest file is used to ensure that each time an application server starts, the bundles that make up the application are the same.
You can export the current deployment manifest from an EBA asset, then import the deployment manifest into another asset that contains the same application. The target asset then uses the imported manifest instead of the generated manifest.
This is useful during application development, when an application is fully tested and moves to a production environment. By importing the deployment manifest from the test environment, you ensure that the bundles and their versions that make up the application in the production environment are exactly the same as the bundles that make up the application in the test environment.
Note:
- Do not edit an exported manifest file. Use the export and import options only in situations where you can treat the exported file as a
black box
. - If you deploy an application and subsequently extend it by adding one or more composite bundles, information about the composite bundles is not included in the exported deployment manifest file.