BPEL process administration-frequently asked questions
Answers to a set of frequently asked questions about administering BPEL processes.
- How is administering enterprise applications that contain BPEL processes different when they are part of a process application, which is deployed using Process Center?
- How is administering enterprise applications that contain BPEL processes different when development mode is enabled, or when the application is running on a Process Center server?
- What happens if a process template is in the started state, but the application it belongs to is in the stopped state?
- How do I stop new process instances being created?
- What happens to running instances when a newer process template becomes valid?
- What happens to a running instance if the template it was created from is stopped?
- How can I tell if any process instances are still running?
- Why can't I stop an enterprise application if it has BPEL process instances?
How is administering enterprise applications that contain BPEL processes different when they are part of a process application, which is deployed using Process Center?
Applications that contain BPEL processes as part of a process application should be started, stopped, deployed, and undeployed using Process Center. Certain lifecycle operations, such as starting and stopping templates are not available in Process Center. You must perform these operations using either the administrative console or the administrative scripts.
Applications that contain BPEL processes cannot be stopped or undeployed if instances of BPEL process or human task templates in any state are present. This restriction does not apply if the process server is running in development mode or the process application is running on a Process Center server.
How is administering enterprise applications that contain BPEL processes different when development mode is enabled, or when the application is running on a Process Center server?
When development mode is enabled on a stand-alone process server, you can stop and uninstall business process applications even when the application contains running instances of BPEL processes or human tasks. In a production system, making sure that development mode is not enabled can protect your long-running instances from being accidentally stopped or uninstalled.
What happens if a process template is in the started state, but the application it belongs to is in the stopped state?
If a currently valid process template is in the started state, but the application is in the stopped state, no new process instances are created from the template. Existing process instances cannot be navigated while the application is in the stopped state.
How do I stop new process instances being created?
Using the administrative console, select a process template, and click Stop. This action puts the process template into the stopped state, and no more instances are created from the template. After the template stops, any attempts to create a process instance from the template result in an EngineProcessModelStoppedException error.
What happens to running instances when a newer process template becomes valid?
If a process template is no longer valid, this fact has no effect on running instances that were instantiated from the template. Existing process instances continue to run to completion. Old and new instances run in parallel until all of the old instances have finished, or until they have been terminated.
What happens to a running instance if the template it was created from is stopped?
Changing the state of a process template to 'stopped' only stops new instances being created. Existing process instances continue running until completion in an orderly way.
How can I tell if any process instances are still running?
Log in to the Business Process Choreographer Explorer as a process administrator, and go to the Process Instances Administered By Me page. This page displays any running process instances. If necessary, you can terminate and delete these process instances.
Why can't I stop an enterprise application if it has BPEL process instances?
For a process instance to run, its corresponding application must also be running. If the application is stopped, the navigation of the process instance cannot continue. For this reason, you can only stop an enterprise application if it has no BPEL process instances.