The WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST)

Most application servers provide you with a good scripting tool. For example, IBM's WebSphere has a scripting tool called wsadmin that is based on Jython, and JBoss has a similar scripting tool. Oracle WebLogic Server offers you a wonderful scripting tool called WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST). WLST is a very powerful tool, capable of performing several different types of administrative tasks for you, including configuration, management, and monitoring of tasks. As you'll see in Chapter 2, you can connect to Node Manager through the WLST interface to manage the server instances. For ease of use, you can use simple Python scripts as wrappers for WLST commands.

You can use WLST in interactive mode by invoking it at the command line. You can also use it in batch mode by putting WLST commands in scripts, and you can embed WLST commands in Java code by importing weblogic.management.scripting.utils.WLSTinterpreter into your Java class.