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Running the Installation Program in Silent Mode

The following sections describe how to run the installation program in silent mode:

 

What Is Silent-Mode Installation?

Silent-mode installation is a way of setting installation configurations only once and then using those configurations to duplicate the installation on many machines. During installation in silent mode, the installation program reads the settings for your configuration from an XML file that you create before beginning the installation. The installation program does not display any configuration options during the installation process. Silent-mode installation works on both Windows and UNIX systems.

The instructions in this section are based on the assumption that you have already acquired the installation program either on DVD or from the BEA Web site.

 

Using Silent-Mode Installation: Main Steps

The silent-mode installation process has two primary steps:

  1. Create a silent.xml file that defines the configuration settings normally entered by a user during an interactive installation process, such as graphical-mode or console-mode installation. For example, values for the BEA Home directory, the product directory, and the components to be installed are supplied in a silent.xml file.

    2. For a detailed procedure, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation. For a sample silent.xml file, see Sample silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  2. Start the silent-mode installation process by using the values specified in the silent.xml file.

    3. For information about starting the installation in silent mode, see Starting the Installation Program.

Important Considerations for Silent-Mode Installation

When you are running the installation program in silent mode, keep in mind the following considerations:

 

Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation

When you install your BEA software in silent mode, the installation program uses an XML file (silent.xml) to determine which installation options should be implemented. Therefore, before you can run the installation program in silent mode, you must first create a silent.xml file in which you specify the installation options.

Note: Incorrect entries in the silent.xml file can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, BEA recommends that you create a log file when you start the installation.

To create a silent.xml file for use in the silent-mode installation process, follow these steps:

  1. In a supported browser, open the sample silent.xml file for silent-mode installation.

    2. The sample silent.xml file for the WebLogic Platform installation program is available at http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13179_01/common/docs102//install/scripts/silent.xml. For information about sample silent.xml files for other installation programs, see the respective installation guides.

    This sample silent.xml file is also included in this chapter. For more information, see Sample silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  2. Save the sample silent.xml file, with the name silent.xml, in the same directory that contains the installation program.
    3. Note: The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the silent.xml file. Do not enter a space or line breaks before the XML definition.
  3. In the silent.xml file that you saved on your system, edit the values for the keywords to reflect your configuration.

    4. For example, for WebLogic Platform installation, edit the values in the sample silent.xml file as shown in Table 6-1.

    Note: You must follow XML guidelines for characters when modifying values. That is, you cannot use characters reserved for use in XML, such as <, >, [, and ].

    Table 6-1 Values for the Sample silent.xml File for WebLogic Platform 
    For this data-value name . . .
    Enter the following value . . .
    BEAHOME
    The full pathname for the BEA Home directory of your choice. For more information about the BEA Home directory, see Choosing a BEA Home Directory .
    USER_INSTALL_DIR
    The full pathname for the directory where you want to install your BEA software.
    WLW_INSTALL_DIR
    The full path name for the directory where you want to install BEA Workshop for WebLogic: D:\bea\workshop_<version>. For more information, see Choosing a Product Installation Directory.
    INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE
    (Windows platforms only)
    • yes to install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service.
    • no to skip the installation of the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service. The default is no.

    Note: You must have Administrator privileges to install Node Manager as a Windows service.
    NODEMGR_PORT
    The Node Manager listen port.
    If you do not specify a port number, the installer uses the default port 5556.
    If the port number is in use, the installer scans for the next available port and assigns it to the Node Manager.

    Note: The INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE option must be set to yes.

    At the completion of the installation process, the Node Manager is started using the port specified.
    INSTALL_SHORTCUT_IN_ALL_USERS_FOLDER
    • true, or yes, to create the shortcuts in the All Users folder. The default is true.
    • false, or no, to create the shortcuts in the local users folder.
    The user performing the installation must have Administrator privileges to install the Start menu shortcuts in the All Users folder. For more information, see Administrator Privileges.
    COMPONENT_PATHS
    Specify the components and subcomponents you want to install on your system.
    For Example:
    • To install WebLogic Server, use the following values:

      • WebLogic Server/Server

      |WebLogic Server/Server Examples

      |WebLogic Server/Server Add-ons

    • To install Workshop for WebLogic use the following values:

      • Workshop/Workshop for WebLogic

      |Workshop/Workshop Runtime Framework

    • To Install WebLogic Portal use the following values:

      • WebLogic Portal/Portal Server

      |WebLogic Portal/Workshop Portal Extension

      |WebLogic Portal/Portal Examples

    • To Install WebLogic Integration use the following values

      • WebLogic Integration/Integration Server

      |WebLogic Integration/Workshop Integration Extension

      |WebLogic Integration/Integration Examples

    For additional information about entering these values, see Guidelines for Component Selection.

    Note: If you are using the BEA Products installation program for WebLogic Server, you can specify the WebLogic Server components only.
    ECLIPSE32_HOME
    Specifies the optional Eclipse installation. If this key/value is not specified, the installer continues as in the normal GUI installation.
    <data-value name="ECLIPSE32_HOME" value="D:\my_eclipse_home" />

    Note: For more information on prerequisites for using the existing Eclipse installation, see Requirements for Using the Existing Eclipse Installation.

Guidelines for Component Selection

The following are the guidelines for specifying values for the COMPONENT_PATHS data-value name:

Note: The installation program performs dependency checking to ensure that all components that provide functionality on which other components depend for proper operation are installed. These dependencies are visible during graphical and console mode installations. The same dependencies are enforced during silent installation: components on which other components depend are installed even if they are not explicitly referenced in a silent script.

 

Sample silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation

When you install your BEA software in silent mode, the installation program uses an XML file (silent.xml) to determine which installation options should be implemented. For details about creating the silent.xml file, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation. See silent.xml for the sample file for WebLogic Platform Installation.

Returning Exit Codes to the Console

When run in silent mode, the installation program generates exit codes that indicate the success or failure of the installation. These exit codes are shown as follows.

Code
Description
0
Installation completed successfully
-1
Installation failed due to a fatal error
-2
Installation failed due to an internal XML parsing error

If you are launching the silent-mode installation process from a script, you can choose to have these exit codes displayed on the console. Listing 6-1 provides a sample command file that invokes the installation program in silent mode and echoes the exit codes to the console from which the script is executed.

Listing 6-1 Sample Command File Displaying Silent-Mode Exit Codes 
rem Execute the installer in silent mode
@echo off
platform1020_win32.exe -mode=silent -silent_xml=C:\downloads\silent.xml -log=C:\logs\products_silent.log

@rem Return an exit code to indicate success or failure of installation
set exit_code=%ERRORLEVEL%

@echo.
@echo Exitcode=%exit_code%
@echo.
@echo Exit Code Key
@echo ---------------
@echo  0=Installation completed successfully
@echo -1=Installation failed due to a fatal error
@echo -2=Installation failed due to an internal XML parsing error
@echo.

Required Patches

For more information about installing the required patches, see Required Patches.

 

What’s Next?

We recommend that you run the QuickStart application to familiarize yourself with the software and execute the samples provided. For additional information, see Post-Installation Information.

Note: QuickStart is not invoked automatically for console-mode or silent-mode installations. You can launch QuickStart from the Start Menu (Windows), or from the command line (Windows and UNIX). For instructions, see Using QuickStart.

For specific information about your software release, see the appropriate release notes.


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