7 Configuring the Web Tier for an Enterprise Deployment

This chapter describes how to configure the Oracle Web Tier to support the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebCenter Portal implementation.

This chapter contains the following sections:

7.1 Overview of Configuring the Web Tier

Before configuring the Oracle Web Tier software, you must install it on WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2, as described in Section 6.2, "Installing Oracle HTTP Server" and define the instance home, the instance name, and the Oracle HTTP Server component name, as described in Section 7.3, "Running the Configuration Wizard to Configure Oracle HTTP Server".

Then you can validate the installation and configure the load balancer to route all HTTP requests to WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2.

Finally, you can configure the virtual hosts by defining <VirtualHost> directives in .conf files on both OHS servers. You created the following virtual host names when you configured the load balancer in Section 3.3, "Configuring the Load Balancers":

  • wcp.mycompany.com

  • admin.mycompany.com

  • wcpinternal.mycompany.com

7.2 Prerequisites for Configuring the Web Tier

Before configuring the Oracle Web Tier software, you must install it on WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2, as described in Section 6.2, "Installing Oracle HTTP Server".

7.3 Running the Configuration Wizard to Configure Oracle HTTP Server

The steps for configuring the Oracle Web Tier are the same for both WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2.

To configure the Oracle Web Tier:

  1. Change the directory to the location of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuration Wizard:

    WEBHOST1> cd ORACLE_BASE/product/fmw/web/bin
    
  2. Start the Configuration Wizard:

    WEBHOST1> ./config.sh
    
  3. In the Welcome screen, click Next.

  4. In the Configure Components screen, select Oracle HTTP Server and unselect Associate Selected Components with WebLogic Domain. Make sure that Oracle Web Cache is not selected.

    Click Next.

  5. In the Specify Component Details screen, specify the following values:

    • Instance Home Location: ORACLE_BASE/admin/webn

    • AS Instance Name: webn

    • OHS Component Name: ohsn

    (where n is a sequential number for your installation; for example, 1 for WEBHOST1, 2 for WEBHOST2, and so on.)

    Note:

    Oracle HTTP Server instance names on WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2 must be different.

    Click Next.

  6. In the Configure Ports screen, select Specify Ports using Configuration file, then select a file name, and then click View/Edit.

    In high-availability implementations, it is not mandatory for all of the ports used by the various components to be synchronized across hosts; however, it makes the enterprise deployment much simpler. You can bypass automatic port configuration by specifying the ports in a file.

    The file will look like this:

    [OHS]
    #Listen port for OHS component
    OHS Port = 7777
    
    [OPMN]
    #Process Manager Local port no
    OPMN Local Port = 1880
    

    You can find a sample staticports.ini file on installation disk 1 in the stage/Response/ directory.

    Click Next.

  7. In the Specify Security Updates screen, choose whether you want to receive security updates from Oracle support and if you do, enter your e-mail address.

  8. In the Installation Summary screen, review the selections to ensure they are correct. If they are not, click Back to modify selections on previous screens. When you are ready, click Configure.

  9. Multiple configuration assistants are launched in succession; this process can be lengthy. When it completes, click Next, and the Installation Complete screen appears.

  10. In the Installation Completed screen, click Finish to exit.

7.4 Validating the Oracle HTTP Server Configuration

Once the installation is completed, check that it is possible to access the Oracle HTTP Server home page using the following URL:

http://webhost1.mycompany.com:7777/

7.5 Configuring the Load Balancer to Route HTTP Requests

Configure your load balancer to route all HTTP requests to the hosts running Oracle HTTP Server (WEBHOST1, WEBHOST2). You do not need to enable sticky sessions (insert cookie) on the load balancer when Oracle HTTP Server is front-ending Oracle WebLogic Server. You need sticky sessions if you are going directly from the load balancer to Oracle WebLogic Server, which is not the case in the topology described in this guide.

The instructions for this configuration will vary depending on which load balancer you use. See your load balancer documentation for specific instructions. See also, Section 3.3, "Configuring the Load Balancers".

7.6 Defining Virtual Hosts

The reference topology in this guide requires that you define a set of virtual hosts for the Oracle HTTP Server. For each virtual host, you will later define a set of specific URLs that will route requests to the proper Administration Server or Managed Server in the WebLogic Server domain.

This section contains the following topics:

7.6.1 Defining the IP Address and Port in the httpd.conf File

You are defining name-based virtual servers. That means you have to define the IP address and port that will be used for each virtual host you define. You define the IP address and port once, in the httpd.conf file, then you can define the actual virtual host names (and their specific URLs) in the virtual host-specific .conf files.

To define the IP address and port, add the following entry in the httpd.conf file:

NameVirtualHost *:7777

The httpd.conf file is located in the following directory:

ORACLE_BASE/admin/instance_name/config/OHS/component_name

7.6.2 Creating .conf Files to Define <VirtualHost> Directives

Define each virtual host in its own .conf file. This will make it easy to manage the URLs for each virtual host you define.

There is an INCLUDE statement in the httpd.conf that includes all *.conf files in the \moduleconf subdirectory. This statement makes it possible to create separate virtual host files for each component, making it easier to update, maintain, and scale-out the virtual host definitions.

Create the following new files to define the <VirtualHost> directives:

  • wcp_vh.conf

  • admin_vh.conf

  • wcpinternal_vh.conf

Create the new files in the following directory:

ORACLE_BASE/admin/instance_name/config/OHS/component_name/moduleconf

To define each virtual host in its own .conf file:

  1. Create the wcp_vh.conf file and add the following directive:

    <VirtualHost *:7777>
        ServerName https://wcp.mycompany.com:443
        ServerAdmin you@your.address
        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteOptions inherit
    </VirtualHost>
    
  2. Create the wcpinternal_vh.conf file and add the following directive:

    <VirtualHost *:7777>
        ServerName wcpinternal.mycompany.com:80
        ServerAdmin you@your.address
        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteOptions inherit
    </VirtualHost>
    
  3. Create the admin_vh.conf file and add the following directive:

    <VirtualHost *:7777>
        ServerName admin.mycompany.com:80
        ServerAdmin you@your.address
        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteOptions inherit
        RewriteRule ^/console/jsp/common/logout.jsp "/oamsso/logout.html?end_url=/console" [R]
    </VirtualHost>
    
  4. Restart both Oracle HTTP Servers:

    cd ORACLE_BASE/admin/instance_name/bin
    opmnctl stopall
    opmnctl startall
    

7.6.3 Validating the Configuration

From the load balancer, access the following URLs to ensure that your load balancer and Oracle HTTP Server are configured properly:

  • https://wcp.mycompany.com/index.html

  • http://admin.mycompany.com/index.html

  • http://wcpinternal.mycompany.com/index.html

Note:

These URLs are only accessible through the load balancer. If you attempt to access them from a Web server host (WEBHOST1 or WEBHOST2), then these URLs will result in errors. These URLs are only valid for accessing the server through the load balancer and the defined virtual host URLs.

If you cannot access these URLs, check to ensure that you completed the procedure in Section 3.3, "Configuring the Load Balancers" correctly.