# WLOC Administration Console Online Help

# Define services and process groups

A service is a collection of one or more processes that WLOC manages as a unit. Each process in a service is a software stack starting from the Java Virtual Machine (JVM) and including the classes that are running in the JVM. Typically, you organize processes (JVMs) that perform the same function into process groups. For example, you can organize all of the servers in a cluster to a process group.

See also Configuring Services.

To define services and process groups, perform the following tasks:

- Define general properties of a service (for example, the name and priority of the service), as described in Define general properties for a service.

- Define process groups for the service, as described in Define process groups for a service, including:

  - Process group properties. For example, the name of the process and the number of JVM instances to configure initially.

  - JVM template properties. For example, the startup arguments for the JVM. The template is used to specify the properties for the JVM instances that are created initially. These properties can be modified for specific JVMs at any time.

  - Ready metric, which defines an MBean attribute that WLOC inspects to determine whether a JVM is completely initialized and ready for service.

Optionally, you can perform the following tasks:

- Define resource agreements for process groups

- Confirm required resources are available for services

- Copy files to the LVM local disk

- Quickly define and assign process policies based on MBean attributes

After you finish

Perform one of the following tasks, as required:

- Modify services or process groups, for example to add or update JVMs, as described in Modify services, process groups, and instances.

- Define the policy constraints and actions and assign them to services and process groups, as defined in Define and assign policies.

- Deploy services.