5 Preparing Back-End Components for WebCenter Portal Tools and Services

This chapter describes how to install back-end components for Oracle WebCenter Portal tools and services, such as documents, worklist, and search.

This chapter includes the following topics:

5.1 Introduction to Tools and Services

Oracle WebCenter Portal provides a set of tools and services that expose social networking and personal productivity features. These tools and services can be integrated into the out-of-the-box WebCenter Portal application and your own Portal Framework applications.

All tools and services rely on a database for their functionality. To integrate any tool or service into WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications, you must ensure that a supported database is available with the MDS schema. For information about:

In addition to a database, certain tools and services rely on a back-end component. To enable portal developers or users to integrate such tools and services into WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications, you must perform the following tasks:

  • Install the back-end component

  • Configure the back-end component, if required

  • Set up a connection to the back-end component

Table 5-1 describes Oracle WebCenter Portal tools and services and lists the back-end component, if any, required for them.

For information about the third party products that can be used with Oracle WebCenter Portal, see the "Third-Party Product Support" appendix in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

Table 5-1 Back-End Requirements for Tools and Services

Tool/Service Description Back-End Component Required in Addition to a Supported Database with MDS Schema Connection Configuration

Activity Graph

Provides suggestions of people that users may be interested in connecting with, based on their existing connections and shared interaction with objects within the portal or application.

Oracle WebCenter Portal's Activity Graph Engines, Analytics Collector, and a supported database containing the Activities schema

Connection required.

Connection automatically configured for WebCenter Portal if conditions are met. For information, see Section 4.7, "Working with Oracle WebCenter Portal's Activity Graph Engines."

Analytics

Displays usage and performance metrics

Oracle WebCenter Portal's Analytics Collector, and a supported database containing the Activities schema

Connection required.

Announcements

Enables users to post, personalize, and manage announcements.

Oracle WebCenter Portal's Discussion Server, and a supported database containing the Discussions schema

Connection required.

Connection automatically configured for WebCenter Portal if conditions are met. For information, see Section 4.3, "Working with Oracle WebCenter Portal's Discussion Server."

Discussions

Provides the ability to create and participate in threaded discussions.

Oracle WebCenter Portal's Discussion Server, and a supported database containing the Discussions schema

Connection required.

Connection automatically configured for WebCenter Portal if conditions are met. For information, see Section 4.3, "Working with Oracle WebCenter Portal's Discussion Server."

Documents

Provides content management and storage capabilities, including content upload, file, folder, wiki and blog creation and management, file check out, file versioning, and so on.

A content repository such as Content Server

Connection required.

Connection automatically configured for WebCenter Portal if conditions are met. For information, see Section 5.3.1.4, "Content Server - Integration."

Events

Provides personal and portal-specific calendars that users can use to schedule meetings, appointments, or any other type of team get-together.

A supported database containing the WEBCENTER schema

For personal events, Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007

Connection required for personal calendars, but not for portal calendars.

Instant Messaging and Presence (IMP)

Provides the ability to observe the online presence status of other authenticated users (whether online, offline, busy, or idle), and to contact them instantly.

A supported communication server like Microsoft Live Communication Server 2005

Connection must be created manually.

Links

Provides the ability to view, access, and associate related information; for example, you can link to a solution document from a discussion thread.

A supported database containing the WEBCENTER schema

No separate connection required.

Lists

Enables users to create, publish, and manage lists.

A supported database containing the WEBCENTER schema

No separate connection required.

Mail

Provides easy integration with IMAP and SMTP mail servers to enable users to perform simple mail functions such as viewing, reading, creating, and deleting messages, creating messages with attachments, and replying to or forwarding existing messages.

A mail server based on IMAP4 and SMTP, such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003

Connection must be created manually.

Notes

Provides the ability to "jot down" and retain quick bits of personally relevant information.

Note: This feature is available only in WebCenter Portal.

A supported database containing the WEBCENTER schema

No separate connection required.

People Connections

Provides online social networking tools for creating, interacting with, and tracking the activities of one's enterprise connections.

A supported database containing the WEBCENTER schema

No separate connection required.

Personalization

Delivers targeted content based on both user and application context.

Oracle WebCenter Portal's Personalization Server

Connection required.

Connection automatically configured for WebCenter Portal if conditions met. For information, see Section 4.8, "Working with Oracle WebCenter Portal's Personalization."

Polls

Enables users to create, edit, and take online polls. With polls, users can survey their audience (such as their opinions and their experience level), check whether they can recall important information, and gather feedback on the efficacy of presentations.

A supported database containing the WEBCENTER schema

No separate connection required.

Recent Activities

Provides a summary view of recent changes to documents, discussions, and announcements.

None

No separate connection required.

RSS

Provides the ability to publish content from other WebCenter Portal tools and services and external sources as news feeds in the RSS 2.0 and Atom 1.0 formats.

RSS news feeds are available from WebCenter Portal only. The RSS Viewer task flow is available in both WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications.

None

No separate connection required.

Search

Provides the ability to search tags, documents, and pages. Oracle recommends Oracle SES for best search performance and scalability.

No separate back-end component required for searching Oracle WebCenter Portal objects.

To search external repositories outside of Oracle WebCenter Portal, Oracle SES 11g updated with latest patches is required.

No separate connection required if you choose to use WebCenter Portal's live search adapter. Connection required for Oracle SES.

Tags

Provides the ability to assign one or more personally relevant keywords to a given page or document, making those items more easily discoverable in search results.

A supported database containing the WEBCENTER schema

No separate connection required.

Worklist

Provides a personal, at-a-glance view of business processes that require attention. These can include a request for document review and other types of business process that come directly from enterprise applications.

Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) server

Connection required.

Connection automatically configured for WebCenter Portal if conditions listed in Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Portal" are met.


5.2 Back-End Requirements for Instant Messaging and Presence (IMP)

Instant messaging and presence (IMP) relies on a back-end communication server. You can configure any of the following servers as the communication server for IMP:

  • Microsoft Live Communications Server (LCS) 2005

  • Microsoft Office Communications Server (OCS) 2007

  • Microsoft Lync 2010

This section includes the following subsections:

5.2.1 Communication Server - Installation

For information about installing Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005, Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, or Microsoft Lync, refer to the relevant Microsoft documentation.

5.2.2 Communication Server - Configuration and Integration

Consider the following for configuring a communication server for IMP:

  • To use Microsoft OCS 2007, you must install the Microsoft Unified Communications Managed API (UCMA) 2.0 SDK, and the Oracle RTC Web service for Microsoft OCS 2007. For information, see the "Microsoft OCS - Configuration" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

  • To use Microsoft Live Communications Server 2005, you must install and configure Microsoft RTC API v1.3, and the Oracle RTC Web service for Microsoft LCS 2005. For information, see the "Microsoft LCS - Configuration" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

  • For information about configuring Microsoft Lync, see the "Microsoft Lync - Configuration" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

After installing and configuring your communication server, you must set up connections to the communication server to enable integration of IMP with WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications. For information about setting up IMP connections, see the "Registering Instant Messaging and Presence Servers" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

Ensure that Oracle WebCenter Portal and your communication server are configured to use the same external LDAP-based identity store. If not, you must manually synchronize user entries between Oracle WebCenter Portal and communication server environments.

5.3 Back-End Requirements for Documents

Oracle WebCenter Portal supports content management and storage capabilities for WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications. To integrate content, you must have a content repository at the back end that contains the documents you want to manage. Oracle WebCenter Portal supports content integration with the following external repositories:

  • Oracle WebCenter Content Server

  • Oracle Portal 11g

  • Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Service Pack 2

  • Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) version 3 Service Pack 2

Note:

Oracle WebCenter Portal can use either Content Server or Oracle Portal as its external content repository. However, you must set Content Server 11g as the default content repository for WebCenter Portal if you want to enable portal and Home portal document content and the wiki and blog functionality.

This section includes the following subsections:

5.3.1 Oracle WebCenter Content Server Requirements

This section includes the following subsections:

5.3.1.1 Content Server - Installation

Oracle WebCenter Portal supports Oracle WebCenter Content Server 11.1.1.8.0 or later as an external content repository.

Content Server is installed as a part of Oracle WebCenter Content, which is an Oracle Fusion Middleware component.

While installing Content Server, it is recommended that you also install Oracle WebCenter Content: Inbound Refinery. Inbound Refinery is a conversion server that manages file conversions. It also provides thumbnail functionality for documents and images and storyboarding for video. You can use Inbound Refinery to convert content items stored in Content Server. If Inbound Refinery is not installed, thumbnails or renditions do not display in portals and applications.

For information about how to install Content Server and Inbound Refinery, see Oracle WebCenter Content Installation Guide.

Note:

Content Server and Inbound Refinery must be installed in the same domain. Oracle recommends that you install Content Server and Inbound Refinery in the same domain as Oracle WebCenter Portal. When they are installed in the same domain, no additional configuration is required to use an external LDAP authentication provider.

5.3.1.2 Preparing Oracle WebCenter Portal for FrameworkFolders Support

Content Server offers two folder solutions: Folders_g and FrameworkFolders. In release 11.1.1.8.3, new installations of Oracle WebCenter Portal can be integrated with FrameworkFolders. Previously, Oracle WebCenter Portal only supported Folders_g.

This section includes the following subsections:

5.3.1.2.1 Considerations for Enabling FrameworkFolders

For an Oracle WebCenter Portal instance patched from an earlier release, you must continue to use Folders_g. For new installations of Oracle WebCenter Portal, it is recommended that you enable the FrameworkFolders component on Content Server for better performance and so as to be able to use any new Content Server features.

The FrameworkFolders component can be enabled only for the installations that meet the following criteria:

  • You must have a new Oracle WebCenter Portal 11.1.1.8.0 installation. Oracle WebCenter Portal must not have been patched from a previous release, that is, it should be a completely fresh instance.

  • You must have a new installation of Oracle WebCenter Content 11.1.1.8.0, with the FrameworkFolders component enabled. Oracle WebCenter Content must not have been patched from a previous release, that is, it should be a completely fresh instance.

  • Content Server should never have been configured to run with the Folders_g component. You must not enable FrameworkFolders if Folders_g was previously enabled.

5.3.1.2.2 Applying Patches for FrameworkFolders Support

To configure FrameworkFolders support for Oracle WebCenter Portal, you need to apply various patches to your new installations of Oracle WebCenter Content 11.1.1.8.0 and Oracle WebCenter Portal 11.1.1.8.0.

To prepare Oracle WebCenter Portal for FrameworkFolders support:

  1. Ensure your Oracle WebCenter Portal and Oracle WebCenter Content installations meet the criteria specified in Section 5.3.1.2.1, "Considerations for Enabling FrameworkFolders."

  2. Ensure there is no content within Oracle WebCenter Content and Oracle WebCenter Portal.

  3. Download and apply the WebCenter Content MLR03 patch 18088049 from http://support.oracle.com.

  4. Download and apply the WebCenter Portal BP3 patch 18085041 from http://support.oracle.com.

  5. Download and apply the WebCenterConfigure component patch 18387955 from http://support.oracle.com.

    Before applying this patch on Content Server ensure that WebCenter Content MLR03 patch 18088049 has already been applied.

Note:

For more information about the patches and for installation instructions, refer to the readme file provided with each patch.

5.3.1.3 Content Server - Configuration

To use Content Server as an external content repository, you must configure it to work with Oracle WebCenter Portal. For information about the mandatory and optional tasks involved in configuring Content Server, see the "Configuring a Content Server Repository" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal. To get an overview of tasks required to get Oracle SES working for Portal Framework applications and WebCenter Portal, see the flowchart given in the "Configuration Roadmap for Content Server" section of the guide.

Note:

By default, Oracle WebCenter Content uses Oracle WebLogic Server's embedded Lightweight Directory Application Protocol (LDAP) server. In a production system, Oracle WebCenter Content applications must use an external LDAP authentication provider rather than the default embedded LDAP server. Therefore, you must reassociate your Content Server's identity store with an external LDAP-based identity store.

If Oracle WebCenter Portal and Content Server are installed in the same domain, no additional configuration is required for using an external LDAP authentication provider. Authentication provider configuration is applicable to an entire domain.

If Oracle WebCenter Portal and Content Server are installed in separate domains, they must be configured to use the same external LDAP authentication provider. Hence, ensure that you reassociate Content Server with the same identity store LDAP server as Oracle WebCenter Portal.

5.3.1.4 Content Server - Integration

To use Content Server as a content repository, you must create a repository connection. For WebCenter Portal, a repository connection is automatically configured and set as the default connection, if it does not already exist. The connection is configured at application startup if the general conditions specified in Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Portal" are met. However, the connection is not configured if the Server Socket port or the user granted the administrator role cannot be found.

For information about how to register content repositories and manage repository connections, see the "Registering Content Repositories" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

5.3.2 Oracle Portal Requirements

Oracle Portal offers a complete and integrated framework for building, deploying, and managing enterprise portals.

This section includes the following subsections:

5.3.2.1 Oracle Portal - Installation

To use Oracle Portal 11g as a content repository for WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications, you must install it. For information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports and Discoverer.

5.3.2.2 Oracle Portal - Configuration

Oracle Portal must be up-to-date with all the latest patches. For additional information about patches, see the product release notes. See also Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Portal.

5.3.2.3 Oracle Portal - Integration

To integrate Oracle Portal content into WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications, you must set up content repository connections to Oracle Portal. For information about how you can register content repositories and manage connections, see the "Managing Content Repositories" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

5.3.3 Microsoft SharePoint Requirements

You can install and configure Microsoft SharePoint as an external content repository for Oracle WebCenter Portal. This section describes the installation and integration requirements for using Microsoft SharePoint. It contains the following subsections:

Note:

WebCenter Portal does not support Microsoft SharePoint as the primary document store, and therefore, you must use Content Server instead.

5.3.3.1 Microsoft SharePoint - Installation

Oracle WebCenter Portal supports the following Microsoft SharePoint versions:

  • Microsoft Office SharePoint Server (MOSS) 2007 Service Pack 2

  • Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services (WSS) version 3 Service Pack 2

Refer to the appropriate Microsoft SharePoint documentation for installation information.

5.3.3.2 Microsoft SharePoint - Integration

To support Microsoft SharePoint as a content repository for Oracle WebCenter Portal, the following tasks are involved:

Post application deployment, you can manage Microsoft SharePoint connections by using WLST commands. To manage these connections, you must install WLST command scripts. For information, see the "Installing WLST Command Scripts for Managing Microsoft SharePoint Connections" and "Managing Microsoft SharePoint Connections Using WLST" sections in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

Note:

To enable Microsoft SharePoint connections in WebCenter Portal, refer to the "Integrating the SharePoint 2007 Adapter with WebCenter Spaces" whitepaper available on Oracle Technology Network here: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/webcenter/overview/index.html

5.4 Back-End Requirements for Calendar Events

WebCenter Portal supports portal calendars and personal calendars. In Portal Framework applications, support for only personal Microsoft Exchange calendars is available. For the portal calendar functionality, no separate back-end component is required. For events to work for personal calendars, you must install either Microsoft Exchange Server 2003 or Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. For information about Microsoft Exchange Server installation, refer to its product documentation.

You must configure Microsoft Exchange Server, and create a connection to the mail server. For information, see the "Managing Calendar Events" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

5.5 Back-End Requirements for Mail

To enable users to access mail within Oracle WebCenter Portal, you must install a mail server, such as Microsoft Exchange Server 2003, that supports IMAP4 and SMTP protocols. To install a mail server, refer to the documentation of the mail server you wish to use.

It is essential that users created on the mail server correspond with the users created in the identity store used by Oracle WebCenter Portal.

To integrate mail in WebCenter Portal and your Portal Framework applications, you must configure a connection to your mail server. For information, see the "Managing Mail" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

5.6 Back-End Requirements for Search

Oracle WebCenter Portal provides two ways of searching your applications: Oracle WebCenter Portal live (delegated) search and Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (SES) adapter. To search for the content created by tools and services within WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications, no separate back-end component is required. However, for better scalability and performance than Oracle WebCenter Portal's live search and to extend searches to include external content repositories, Oracle recommends Oracle SES. Oracle SES provides a crawler-based service that can search a multitude of sources, structured and unstructured, in a variety of file formats, indexed or real-time.

This section includes the following subsections:

5.6.1 Oracle SES - Installation

Supported Oracle SES versions include 11.1.2, 11.1.2.2, and 11.2.2.2.

Note:

Oracle recommends using Oracle SES release 11.2.2.2 for best performance and the latest search features.

Installing Oracle SES 11.2.2.2 or other supported versions in the same Fusion Middleware home as Oracle WebCenter Portal is not supported. The recommended and supported topology is to install Oracle SES in a separate Fusion Middleware home. That is, treat Oracle SES as a remote service for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

This section includes the following subsections:

5.6.1.1 Installing Oracle SES 11.1.2

To install Oracle SES 11.1.2 for Oracle WebCenter Portal:

  1. Install Oracle SES 11.1.2.

    For information, refer to the Oracle Secure Enterprise Search Online Documentation Library 11g Release 1 (11.1.2) available here on OTN:

    http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/search/oses/documentation/index.html

  2. Install the patch for Oracle Connector resource bundle 11.1.2.0.1. For this, download patch 10085593.

    Note:

    You can download patches from http://support.oracle.com.
  3. Install the patch for Oracle XML connector 11.1.2.0.2. For this, download patch 10070215.

  4. Install the patch for Oracle Database connector 11.1.2.0.2. For this, download patch 10070226.

  5. To set up Oracle WebCenter Portal for Oracle SES search, get webcenter_search_ses_plugins.zip from the WCP_ORACLE_HOME/ses directory on the Oracle WebCenter Portal instance, and put it in the SES_Oracle_Home directory on the Oracle SES instance.

    Note:

    WCP_ORACLE_HOME refers to the Oracle WebCenter Portal home directory. SES_Oracle_Home represents the software location that you specified at the time of installing Oracle SES.

    The Oracle WebCenter Portal instance and the Oracle SES instance might be on different computers.

  6. Navigate to the Oracle SES home directory. For example:

    cd $SES_Oracle_Home
    
  7. Delete the file ./search/lib/plugins/webcenter/search-crawl-ucm.jar.

  8. Run the following command to install necessary Oracle WebCenter Portal plug-ins:

    unzip webcenter_search_ses_plugins.zip
    

    This adds the following Oracle WebCenter Portal JAR files to an Oracle SES installation:

    • SES_Oracle_Home/search/lib/plugins/webcenter/search-auth-share.jar

    • SES_Oracle_Home/search/lib/plugins/webcenter/search-auth-plugin.jar

    • SES_Oracle_Home/search/lib/plugins/doc/search-crawl-ucm.jar

Note:

For information about the other Oracle SES patches that you may need to install, refer to the latest Release Notes.

5.6.1.2 Installing Oracle SES 11.1.2.2

For information about installing Oracle SES 11.1.2.2, refer to the Oracle SES Online Documentation Library 11g Release 1 (11.1.2.2) available here on OTN:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/search/oses/documentation/index.html

You can download Oracle SES from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/search/oses/downloads/index.html. No additional Oracle patches are required with Oracle SES release 11.1.2.2.

5.6.1.3 Installing Oracle SES 11.2.2.2

Oracle SES release 11.2.2.2 is recommended for use with Oracle WebCenter Portal.

Note:

Installing Oracle SES 11.2.2.2 or other supported versions in the same Fusion Middleware home as Oracle WebCenter Portal is not supported. The recommended and supported topology is to install Oracle SES in a separate Fusion Middleware home. That is, treat Oracle SES as a remote service for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

Download Oracle SES from http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/search/oses/downloads/index.html

For information about installing Oracle SES 11.2.2.2, refer to the Oracle SES Online Documentation Library 11g Release 2 (11.2.2.2) available here on OTN:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/search/oses/documentation/index.html

After installing Oracle SES release 11.2.2.2, perform the following steps to prepare Oracle SES to work with Oracle WebCenter Portal:

  1. Install the new version of Oracle WebCenter Portal's Document Service Manager on Oracle SES:

    1. Get webcenter_doc_pipeline_plugin.zip from the WCP_ORACLE_HOME/ses directory on the Oracle WebCenter Portal instance, where WCP_ORACLE_HOME refers to the Oracle WebCenter Portal home directory. Copy the file to the Oracle SES home directory on the Oracle SES instance.

    2. Navigate to the Oracle SES home directory.

    3. Delete the file ./search/lib/plugins/webcenter/search-crawl-ucm.jar.

    4. Unzip the webcenter_doc_pipeline_plugin.zip file.

      This adds the following Oracle WebCenter Portal JAR file to an Oracle SES installation:

      SES_Oracle_Home/search/lib/plugins/doc/search-crawl-ucm.jar
      
    5. Restart the Oracle SES server. For information, see the "Starting and Stopping Oracle SES Instance" chapter in Oracle Secure Enterprise Search Administrator's Guide in Secure Enterprise Search Online Documentation Library 11g Release 2 (11.2.2.2) on OTN.

      http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/search/oses/documentation/index.html

  2. Configure Oracle SES facets and sorting attributes for Oracle WebCenter Portal:

    1. Get webcenter_portal_ses_admin.zip from the WCP_ORACLE_HOME/ses directory on the Oracle WebCenter Portal instance, and copy it to the Oracle SES home directory.

    2. Navigate to the Oracle SES home directory.

    3. Unzip the webcenter_portal_ses_admin.zip file and follow the instructions in the readme.txt file.

5.6.2 Oracle SES - Configuration

For information about configuring Oracle SES for Oracle WebCenter Portal, see the "Managing Oracle Secure Enterprise Search in WebCenter Portal" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

5.7 Back-End Requirements for Worklist

Installation

Worklists rely on the Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) server, which is a component of Oracle SOA Suite. To use worklist in Oracle WebCenter Portal, you must install Oracle SOA Suite. For information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Management Suite.

Configuration

To enable integration of worklist in WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications, you must register a connection to the BPEL server. For WebCenter Portal, a connection named WebCenterSpaces-Worklist is automatically configured on application startup if the conditions described in Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Portal" are met.

For information about configuring worklists, refer to the "Managing Worklists" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal. The flowcharts in the chapter provide a pictorial overview of the prerequisites and tasks required to get worklists working in WebCenter Portal and Portal Framework applications.

Note:

For Oracle WebCenter Portal users to be able store and retrieve tasks from a BPEL server, it is essential that their user names exist in the identity stores used by Oracle WebCenter Portal and Oracle SOA Suite. You can achieve this by creating identical user names in both the identity stores or by using a common LDAP-based identity store for Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication. SSO authentication enables users to log in once and seamlessly navigate between WebCenter Portal or Portal Framework applications and BPEL applications without having to log in to each application separately. For information about setting up an external, shared LDAP-based server, see Section 3.5, "Setting Up an External LDAP-Based Identity Store."

5.8 Back-End Requirements for WebCenter Portal Workflows

WebCenter Portal provides several prebuilt workflows that handle portal membership notifications, portal subscription requests, and so on. WebCenter Portal workflows rely on the BPEL server, which is a component of Oracle SOA Suite.

Table 5-2 describes the tasks that you must perform to enable the WebCenter Portal workflow functionality in WebCenter Portal.

Table 5-2 Tasks for Enabling WebCenter Portal Workflows

Task Mandatory/Optional? Documentation

1. Install Oracle SOA Suite

Mandatory

For information, see Section 5.8.1, "Oracle SOA Suite - Installation"

2. Extend the SOA server domain with the oracle.wc_composite_template_11.1.1.jar template

Mandatory

For information, see Section 5.8.2, "Oracle SOA Server - Extending the Domain"

3. Configure WS-Security to secure Web service calls between Oracle SOA Suite and WebCenter Portal

Mandatory

For information, see Section 5.8.3, "Oracle SOA and WebCenter Portal - WS-Security Configuration"

4. Register a connection with the BPEL server

Mandatory, if not automatically configured

For information, see Section 5.8.4, "WebCenter Portal - Configuring the BPEL Server Connection"


Note:

For WebCenter Portal users to be able store and retrieve tasks from a BPEL server, it is essential that their user names exist in the identity stores used by WebCenter Portal and Oracle SOA Suite. You can achieve this by creating identical user names in both the identity stores or by using a shared LDAP-based identity store for Single Sign-On (SSO) authentication. For information about setting up an external shared LDAP-based server, see Section 3.5, "Setting Up an External LDAP-Based Identity Store."

5.8.1 Oracle SOA Suite - Installation

To support workflows, WebCenter Portal relies on the BPEL server, which is included with Oracle SOA Suite. For information about installing Oracle SOA Suite, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle SOA Suite and Oracle Business Process Management Suite.

5.8.2 Oracle SOA Server - Extending the Domain

WebCenter Portal workflows are deployed to an Oracle SOA server. To prepare a SOA server for workflows, you must extend the domain in which Oracle SOA is installed, by using the template oracle.wc_composite_template_11.1.1.jar. The template is located at the following path in your Oracle SOA installation:

ORACLE_SOA_HOME/common/templates/applications/oracle.wc_composite_template_11.1.1.jar

The oracle.wc_composite_template_11.1.1.jar template deploys WebCenterWorklistDetailApp.ear (which is the ADF application that displays invitations and messages) and sca_CommunityWorkflows.jar (which is the BPEL composite that manages the WebCenter Portal membership mechanism).

For information about how to extend a domain, see the "Extending WebLogic Domains" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Creating Domains Using the Configuration Wizard guide.

5.8.3 Oracle SOA and WebCenter Portal - WS-Security Configuration

WebCenter Portal Web services, deployed to Oracle WebCenter Portal, facilitate communication between WebCenter Portal and the SOA server. You must secure these Web service calls. To do this, set up WS-Security on the SOA server and WebCenter Portal.

To ensure a secure Web service connection between the Oracle SOA server and WebCenter Portal:

  1. Check the alias in the keystore file on the Oracle SOA server.

    For example, use the following command to list the content of the keystore file on the Oracle SOA server:

    keytool -list -v -keystore bpel.jks -storepass <password>

    There should be an entry with:

    Alias name: webcenter_spaces_ws
    
    
  2. Verify that the credential stores for both WebCenter Portal and Oracle SOA server are configured correctly.

    For information, see the "Updating the Credential Store" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

  3. Check that keystores exist at both ends of the connection, for example:

    - webcenter.jks (copied to WebCenter Portal server end)

    - bpel.jks (copied to Oracle SOA server end)

    For information, see the "Creating the SOA Domain Keystore" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

  4. Configure role members for the BPMWorkflowAdmin application role on Oracle SOA server (soa-infra).

    When associating the domain with an identity store that does not contain the user weblogic, you must assign some other valid user to the application role BPMWorkflowAdmin. Use WLST commands to do this from the SOA Oracle home, for example, to assign a user named "monty" that exists in LDAP:

    cd $SOA_ORACLE_HOME/common/bin/
    wlst.sh
     
    connect('<admin username>','<admin password>', 'mysoahost.xmlns.oracle.com:7001')
    revokeAppRole(appStripe="soa-infra", appRoleName="BPMWorkflowAdmin", principalClass="oracle.security.jps.service.policystore.ApplicationRole", principalName="SOAAdmin")
    grantAppRole(appStripe="soa-infra", appRoleName="BPMWorkflowAdmin", principalClass="weblogic.security.principal.WLSUserImpl", principalName="monty")
    
    

    For information, see the "Security Commands" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.

For more information, see the "Configuring WS-Security" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

5.8.4 WebCenter Portal - Configuring the BPEL Server Connection

When you start WebCenter Portal, a BPEL server connection named WebCenterSpaces-Worklist is automatically configured, if it does not already exist. However, automatic configuration takes place only if the conditions specified in Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Portal" are fulfilled.

The WebCenterSpaces-Worklist BPEL connection is configured to be shared by worklists and WebCenter Portal workflows. This enables users to see the assigned membership-related workflow items and notification subscriptions in their worklist component.

If a BPEL connection is not configured automatically, you must create it manually. As a best practice, for WebCenter Portal workflows, you must use the same BPEL connection that has been set as the active connection for worklists.

To configure a BPEL server connection for WebCenter Portal workflows:

  1. Register a BPEL server connection with the SOA server instance on which WebCenter Portal workflows are deployed. For information, see the "Registering Worklist Connections" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

  2. Ensure that this BPEL connection is set as the active connection for worklists. For information, see the "Activating a Worklist Connection" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.

    It is recommended that worklists and WebCenter Portal workflows use the same BPEL connection.

  3. Set the BPEL connection for WebCenter Portal workflows. For information, see the "Specifying the BPEL Server Hosting WebCenter Portal Workflows" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Portal.