1. A method comprising: receiving, by a computer hosting an application server, an updated value of a component through a management console during runtime of the component; associating, by the computer, the component with a deployment descriptor that refers to an original value of the component; obtaining a persistence root associated with the component; and calling a persistence factory with reference to the persistence root, the deployment descriptor, and the component to create a representation; storing, by the computer, the representation of the component in a persistence data format in non-volatile data storage, the representation comprising the updated value and indicating an association of the component with the deployment descriptor; and applying, by the computer, the representation to the deployment descriptor when the application server is re-started to override the original value with the updated value, wherein, when the application server is re-started, determining whether the updated value is available by referring to the persistence root that points to the representation; and upon determining that the updated value is available, updating the deployment descriptor associated with the component before the component is instantiated for runtime operation.