Cloning?

Amarnath Cherukuri Cloning is the process
of copying an existing entity to a different location while preserving its state.
Cloning can be performed on a Middleware home and certain Oracle Fusion
Middleware components, such as Oracle SOA Suite, Oracle HTTP Server, Oracle
Internet Directory and Oracle Virtual Directory.
Situations in which
cloning Oracle Fusion Middleware will be useful :
· Creating
a Middleware home that is a copy of a production, test, or development
environment.
· Cloning
enables to create a new Middleware home with all patches applied to all of the
Oracle homes and the WebLogic Server home in a single step. This is in contrast to separately installing
and applying any patches to the WebLogic Server home and separate Oracle homes.
· Preparing
a "gold" image of a patched Middleware home and deploying it to many
hosts.