The sdd.xml file

The sdd.xml file

sdd.xml files...

Use ConfigEngine extension points to control how an application is installed.
Inform the ConfigEngine of the type of installation to be processed.
Determines where the deployable files are stored after registration with ConfigEngine.

There are three different levels of installation:

Offering level Large applications such as WebSphere Portal are offering level deployments.
Assembly level Group of applications that can be stand-alone or form the basis of a much larger application. An example of an assembly is the ap or base directories under WebSphere Portal.
Component level Finest level of granularity. A component can be an application or can be one of many small applications that make up a much larger application.

An assembly is made up of one or more components and an offering is made up of one or more assemblies.
The Solution Installer includes all the PAA files in a higher-level PAA offering. The directory structure for the Solution Installer and any offering setup details applied to the ConfigEngine are processed automatically. It is easier to manage the installation of the different components when they are installed under one hierarchy.
Each PAA file is treated as a separate assembly. The top-level sdd.xml contains installation information for the ConfigEngine relating to the assembly and its components. A PAA file containing an update has the same assembly name in its sdd.xml file. The Solution Installer checks the assembly exists before it adds each new component or update to the current assembly.
The assembly can be made up of one or more components, each requiring a component level sdd.xml file that can be automatically generated. The number of components depends on how the developer structures the application to be installed. Every artifact can potentially be included in a single component, although it might not be the most practical approach. However, we might want to separate larger applications into multiple components containing related artifacts to facilitate reuse. Because a component might be required by multiple PAA distributions, this approach allows it to be reused with little extra work for the developer.

Parent Create a Portal Application Archive (PAA) file
Related concepts:

The assembly level sdd.xml file

Offering level	Large applications such as WebSphere Portal are offering level deployments.
Assembly level	Group of applications that can be stand-alone or form the basis of a much larger application. An example of an assembly is the ap or base directories under WebSphere Portal.
Component level	Finest level of granularity. A component can be an application or can be one of many small applications that make up a much larger application.