A method and a system maintain a change to a component in an application server after the application server is re-started. The application server can be a Java-based application server that runs on a computer coupled to a management console. Through the management console, the application server receives an updated value of a component during runtime of the component. A profile service in the application server associates the component to a deployment descriptor that refers to an original value of the components. A representation of the component is then created and stored in a persistence data format in non-volatile data storage. The representation includes the updated value and indicates an association of the component with the deployment descriptor. When the application server is re-started, the representation is applied to the deployment descriptor to override the original value with the updated value.