Siebel Installation Guide for UNIX > Requirements for Installing and Configuring Siebel Business Applications > Requirements for Installing and Configuring the Siebel Web Server Extension >

Installing the Web Server

Before installing the SWSE, you must install, configure, and start the supported Web server software on the designated computers. Follow the vendor documentation for this task, and also see relevant information in this chapter.

For the best performance and scalability, put the Web server on a dedicated computer.

Some Web server configuration tasks are also included in Additional Tasks for the Siebel Web Server Extension and the Web Server.

This topic is part of Requirements for Installing and Configuring the Siebel Web Server Extension.

Planning the Web Server Topology

Before you install the Siebel Web Server Extension (SWSE), as described in Installing Siebel Enterprise Server Components and the Siebel Web Server Extension you must decide how to will distribute the Web servers and other components. Two basic methods are as follows:

• Single-node. Installing Siebel Enterprise Server components and your Web server and SWSE on a single computer or node. (If you do this, then use separate installation directories to avoid file permission problems at installation time.)
• Distributed. Distributing the preceding components, where multiple Web servers connect to multiple Siebel Servers in the Siebel Enterprise. These Web servers can be dynamically balanced for Application Object Manager components on different Siebel Server computers.

Each deployment choice involves a trade-off. However, in enterprise-sized deployments, it is strongly recommended that you use a distributed node deployment for the following reasons:

• Less resource contention. Distributing the Web servers and the Siebel Servers (with Application Object Manager components) on different computers eliminates contention for CPU and other server resources. However, to take advantage of the performance improvement, you must have a high-speed network connection between the two computers.
• Higher fault tolerance. Operating multiple instances of components on multiple computers reduces downtime and the effect of failure on any one computer.
• Greater flexibility with firewalls. Putting the Web components of Siebel Business Applications on a different computer from the Siebel Server with Application Object Managers lets you deploy your Web server in the DMZ while keeping the Siebel Enterprise Server behind a secure firewall.
• High availability. A multinode configuration is required for deployments that support large numbers of concurrent users or where high availability is an operating requirement.

For more information about Web servers and Siebel Web Server Extension, see About the Siebel Web Server Extension.

See also Siebel Deployment Planning Guide and Siebel Security Guide.

Editing the httpd.conf File for Apache-Based Web Servers

For Apache-based Web servers, to configure the Web server for use with the SWSE, you must edit the Web server configuration file httpd.conf. This file contains configuration directives for the Web server. Detailed information about the directives in httpd.conf is available at the Apache Web site:

http://www.apache.org

The httpd.conf file is located in the conf subdirectory under the Web server installation directory or instance directory. The following are some example paths (exact paths might vary).

• For Oracle HTTP Server, the httpd.conf file is located in a directory like /vol2/smithjones/dohs/web/ohs/conf.
• For IBM HTTP Server, the httpd.conf file is located in a directory like /usr/IBMIHS/conf.
• For HP Apache Web Server, the httpd.conf file is located in a directory like /opt/hpws/apache32/conf.

Specifying the Character Set Encoding for Apache-Based Web Servers

Apache-based Web servers might use the default character encoding setting AddDefaultCharset ISO-8859-1 in the httpd.conf configuration file. For nonresident user interface languages, this setting makes some static content, such as pop-ups, About boxes, and help pages, display incorrectly. Complete the procedure that follows to reset this for non-Western languages.

To specify a different character encoding setting

1. Open httpd.conf with a text editor, such as vi.
2. Locate the line AddDefaultCharset ISO-8859-1 and comment it out by placing a number sign (#) character at the beginning of the line.
3. Save the file.
4. Restart the server.

Specifying SWSE Port Number for Apache-Based Web Servers

If a different port number is specified for SWSE, then you also have to make the following modifications in the httpd.conf file.

To specify a different port number for SWSE

• Modify the following two lines in the httpd.conf file:

  Listen:PortNumber

  ServerName:PortNumber

  where:

  • Listen is the IP Address of the Web server computer
  • ServerName is the computer name
  • PortNumber is the port number

    For example:

  72.20.167.154:16131

  sdch70a012.oracle.com:16131

Adding Domain Name for Oracle iPlanet Web Server

For Oracle iPlanet Web Server installations, add the domain name to either /etc/hosts or resolve.conf.

Finding the Web Server Listening Port Number on Oracle iPlanet Web Server

During SWSE configuration, you are prompted to provide the listening port number for your Web server. You can find this number for Oracle iPlanet Web Server using the following procedure.

NOTE:  For Oracle iPlanet Web Server, you can instantiate a virtual Web server on existing installed software.

To find the Web server listening port number on Oracle iPlanet Web Server

1. Open the server.xml file located under the config subdirectory of your Web server instance.
2. Locate the line port=port_number.

   In this entry, port_number is a number for your listening port.