Importing a deployment manifest using the importDeploymentManifest command
You can use this command to import a suitable deployment manifest to an enterprise bundle archive (EBA) asset. When you import the file, the bundles are resolved. If the bundles cannot be resolved, the import does not complete and an exception message is generated.
Before you begin
The file to import must be a valid deployment manifest file, using the naming format file_name.MF, for example DEPLOYMENT_TEST.MF. When you import the deployment manifest into the EBA asset, the file is renamed to DEPLOYMENT.MF.
- The deployment manifest to import must correspond with the application manifest of the OSGi application that is contained in the EBA asset.
- The bundles and their versions that are listed in the deployment manifest must be available, either within the EBA file or from a bundle repository.
- If the asset has previously been updated, the bundle downloads for the previous update must have completed. See Checking the bundle download status of an EBA asset.
You can import a deployment manifest by using the wsadmin commands, as described in this topic, or by using administrative console, as described in Importing a deployment manifest.
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 deployment manifest file from an application, then import the manifest file into another instance of the same application located somewhere else. 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.
When you import a deployment manifest into an EBA asset, the content of the deployment manifest must correspond with the existing application manifest in the EBA asset.
The application resolving process checks whether the deployment manifest contains all the required bundles. It should not have to pull in extra bundles to resolve the EBA asset.