3 Pre-Installation and Post-Installation Tasks

This chapter introduces the installation tasks that you must complete before and after installing Oracle Portal. For complete instructions on how to install and configure the infrastructure and the middle tier in different topologies, refer to the Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide.

This chapter contains the following sections:

More on OTN

If you are planning to upgrade Oracle Portal from a previous release, you will need to refer to the Upgrade documentation on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN), http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/ias/portal/upgrade.html.

3.1 Installation Overview

Installing Oracle Portal 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) comprises the following stages:

3.1.1 WebLogic Server Installation

The WebLogic Server installation consists of the Core Application Server, Administration Console, Configuration Wizard and Upgrade Framework, Web 2.0 HTTP Pub-Sub Server, JDBC Drivers, WebLogic Server Clients, WebLogic Web Server Plug-Ins, UDDI and Xquery Support, and Server Examples. The WebLogic Server installation includes a Oracle WebLogic Server administration domain, which is a logically related group of Oracle WebLogic Server resources. Domains include a special Oracle WebLogic Server instance called the Administration Server, which is the central point from which you configure and manage all resources in the domain. Usually, you configure a domain to include additional Oracle WebLogic Server instances called Managed Servers. Managed Servers host the portal application components, Web services, and their associated resources. You deploy Web applications, EJBs, Web services, and other resources onto the Managed Servers and use the Administration Server for configuration and management purposes only. The Managed Servers can be grouped together into a cluster.

The default Portal managed server is WLS_PORTAL which resides at:

DOMAIN_HOME\config\fmwconfig\servers

Note:

Before you proceed with installing a Oracle Portal, ensure that you have installed WebLogic Server. See Oracle WebLogic Server Installation Guide. The WebLogic Server installation creates the Middleware Home, which is used to install all the Oracle Fusion Middleware components.

3.1.2 Infrastructure Component Installation

The Infrastructure Installation includes:

Note:

See Table 3-1, "Installation Components and Version"

Installing Oracle Database

Oracle Database enables you to store Portal data, update it, and efficiently retrieve it, with a high degree of performance, reliability, and scalability. You must install a supported Oracle Database Release. For more information, see System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/downloads/fmw-11gr1certmatrix.xls on OTN.

See:

Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository Creation Utility User's Guide and Loading Portal Schema Using RCU.

Installing Oracle Metadata Repository

A metadata repository contains metadata for Oracle Portal. It can also contain metadata about the configuration of Oracle Fusion Middleware and metadata for your Portal.

The Oracle Metadata Repository creates a new database and populates it with a collection of schemas used by Oracle Portal components, such as the Oracle Portal metadata schema during an infrastructure installation.

You can use the Repository Creation Utility (RCU) CD-ROM to create multiple repositories in a single database. RCU creates the necessary Portal schemas, refer to Section 3.1.2, "Loading Portal Schema Using RCU" for more information.

When you install Oracle Portal, some default database schemas and user accounts are also installed. Refer to Section 7.3.1, "Configuring Oracle Portal Security Options" in Chapter 7, "Securing Oracle Portal" for a description of the default database schemas.

See:

Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide

Note:

Before proceeding create schemas for the Portal you want to install.

Installing Oracle Single Sign-On 10g and Oracle Delegated Administration Services 10g

Oracle Identity Management enables you to configure and manage the identities of users, devices, and services across diverse servers, to delegate administration of these identities, and to provide end users with self-service privileges. Additionally, you can configure and enable single sign-on access across enterprise applications and restrict access to online resources to users with valid credentials.

Oracle Portal requires Oracle Single Sign-On (SSO) and Oracle Delegated Administration Services (DAS) from the 10g release. If you do not already have access to these 10g components, you must install them in order for your products to function properly. For more information, refer to Oracle Identity Management 10g (10.1.4.0.1) documentation library at http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B28196_01/index.htm.

Loading Portal Schema Using RCU

Repository Creation Utility (RCU) is a graphical and CLI-based tool used to create and manage Oracle Fusion Middleware database schemas in your database. Oracle Portal requires schemas in database prior to installation, these schemas are created and loaded in your database using RCU. To create the Portal schemas, perform the following steps:

  1. Run rcu.bat, (Windows) from ORACLE_HOME\bin\rcu.bat.

  2. The Welcome screen is displayed, click Next.

  3. In the Create Repository screen, select Create to load component schemas into a database and click Next to continue.

  4. In the Database Connect Detail screen enter the following information:

    • Database Type: Select the database type from the drop-down list.

    • Host Name: Enter the name of the server where your database is running. Use the following format:

      myhost.mydomain.com

      For Oracle RAC databases, specify the VIP name or one of the node names in this field.

    • Port: Enter the port number for your database. The default port number for Oracle databases is 1521.

    • Service Name: Specify the service name for the database. Typically, the service name is the same as the global database name.

    • User Name: Enter the user name for your database..

    • Password: Enter the password for your database user.

    • Role: Select the database user's role from the drop-down list.

    Click Next.

    The Repository Creation Utility-Checking Prerequisites screen is displayed, click OK when all the prerequisites are meet.

  5. In the Select Components screen, enter a prefix to be added to the database schema (for example: MPS), and check only the following check-boxes:

    • Check AS Common Schemas and Metadata Services Portal under it.

    • Check WebCenter Suite and WebCenter portlets under it.

    Click Next.

    Click OK, when the prerequisites are validated.

  6. In the Schema Passwords screen, enter the schema passwords for each main and additional (auxiliary) schema user.

  7. Click next to accept the default settings, in the Map Tablespaces Screen, and then do the following:

    • Select Yes to allow the RCU to create any missing tablespaces

    • If there are any missing tablespaces. select OK to acknowledge Table space creation.

  8. In the Summary Screen (for Create Operation), review the information and click Create to begin schema creation.

  9. In the Completion Summary screen, note the location of the log files, then click Close to dismiss the screen. The main RCU log and component log files are written to the following directory:

    ORACLE_HOME\rcu\log\logdir.date_timestamp

See:

Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository Creation Utility User's Guide

3.1.3 Oracle Fusion Middleware Middle-tier Release Installation

During the Oracle Fusion Middleware middle-tier installation, Oracle Portal is configured to use the infrastructure services. The deployment of the portal applications in the middle tier also occurs at this time. The following steps are performed at this time:

  1. Oracle Web Cache configuration information is stored in the Oracle Portal schema in the Oracle Metadata Repository.

  2. User and Group information is created in Oracle Internet Directory.

  3. The Oracle Fusion Middleware Provider Group is added to Oracle Portal.

  4. Oracle Portal Service Monitoring is configured.

  5. The Provider user interface is configured to work with Oracle Portal. The middle-tier URL, used to access the provider user interface framework from Oracle Portal is added to the global settings page.

  6. The default Web providers, OmniPortlet and Web Clipping, are registered.

  7. The Web Services for Remote Portlets (WSRP) container is installed.

    The portal repository database contains the default preference store of this WSRP container. Refer to the Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle Portal for more information.

    Note:

    Oracle Portal supports communication with any WSRP producer.

  8. A sample JSR 168 application is installed to run the WSRP container.

  9. Oracle Text and Secure Enterprise Search are configured.

  10. The Oracle Portal DAD is created in the configuration file, DOMAIN_HOME\config\fmwconfig\servers\WLS_PORTAL\applications\portal\configuration\portal_dads.conf, using the parameters provided at installation time.

  11. The file webcache.xml is created in ORACLE_INSTANCE\config\WebCache\webcache1.

    webcache.xml stores Oracle Web Cache invalidation settings and it is used by Web providers such as OmniPortlet and Web Clipping. See the Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle Portal for more information.

The details for these steps are available, after the installation, in the file \Program Files\Oracle\Inventory\logs in Windows and /etc/oraInst.loc in Unix.

Refer to Section 7.1.2.1, "Oracle Portal Default, Seeded User Accounts" and Section 7.1.2.2, "Oracle Portal Default, Seeded Groups" for a description of the Oracle Portal default user accounts and groups.

Out of the box, the initialization parameters for this new database are suitable for a very small Oracle Portal configuration with few users. If you plan to use Oracle Portal, it is recommended that you modify the initialization parameters for the database based on the requirements for installing the Oracle Metadata Repository in an existing database, using the settings specified in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide. As you make changes in your configuration, you may need to further tune the initialization parameters based on the size of your configuration, and the number of simultaneous users of Oracle Portal.

3.1.4 Installation Components and Versions

Table 3-1, describes the various installation components and their versions.

Table 3-1 Installation Components and Version

Number of Databases Oracle WebLogic Server Infrastructure Components Oracle Fusion Middleware Mid-Tier

Single Database

10.3.4.0

  • Oracle Database: Identity Management and Metadata Repository: 10.2.0.4 or later and 11.1.0.7

  • Oracle Metadata Repository: 10.1.4.0.1

  • Oracle Single Sign-On 10g and Oracle Delegated Administration Services 10g: 10.1.4.0.1 + PS3+ (Patch:7215628 - 10.1.4.3.0)

  • Repository Creation Utility: 11.1.1.4.0

11.1.1.4.0

Two Databases

10.3.4.0

  • Oracle Database: Identity Management 10.1.0.5 (seeded) and Metadata Repository 10.2.0.4 or later and 11.1.0.7

  • Oracle Metadata Repository: 10.1.4.0.1 (IM)

  • Oracle Single Sign-On 10g and Oracle Delegated Administration Services 10g: 10.1.4.0.1 + PS3+ (Patch:7215628 - 10.1.4.3.0)(IM)

  • Repository Creation Utility: 11.1.1.4.0 (MR)

11.1.1.4.0

Two Databases

10.3.4.0

11.1.1.4.0

3.2 Accessing Oracle Portal After Installation

This section details the steps you should take to access Oracle Portal after installation:

  1. Access Oracle Portal by entering the following URL in your browser:

    http://<host>:<port>/portal/pls/<dad>

    For example:

    http://portal.example.com:8090/portal/pls/portal

    The Portal Builder page is displayed.

    Table 3-2 explains the components that make up the URL used to access Oracle Portal.

    Table 3-2 Portal URL Descriptions

    Parameter Description

    host

    Defines the computer on which you installed Oracle Portal.

    Enter both the hostname and the fully qualified domain name. For example, enter host.domain.com.

    This name must also match the ServerName parameter in the configuration file, httpd.conf, located in ORACLE_INSTANCE\config\OHS\ohs1.

    port

    Defines the port number to access Oracle Portal.

    This is the Oracle Web Cache Listen Port.

    portal

    Specifies that the request should be routed to the Portal Services running inside Oracle Portal WLS.

    Note: In earlier versions, the Oracle Portal URL was of the format http://<host>:<port>/pls/<dad>. Backward compatibility is provided for such URLs using rewrite rules in the Oracle HTTP Server configuration, so that URLs of the /pls/<dad> format are rewritten to /portal/pls/<dad>. When URLs of the older format are accessed, Oracle Portal either services the URL directly or alerts you to change the bookmarked URL to the new format.

    pls

    Specifies that the request is for a PL/SQL procedure.

    dad

    Defines the Database Access Descriptor (DAD) you specified earlier for your Oracle Portal installation. The DAD contains information on how to connect to the database. In a typical default installation, the DAD is 'portal'.

  2. Click the Login link, located in the top right corner as shown in Figure 3-1:

    Figure 3-1 Login Link

    Description of Figure 3-1 follows
    Description of "Figure 3-1 Login Link"

  3. Log in as the orcladmin user, using the orcladmin password.

    When you login, you go to by default to the Welcome tab Here you can view the documentation library, go to the Quick Tips, and Getting Started with Oracle Portal.

3.3 Configuring Oracle Portal During and After Installation

During a middle-tier installation that includes Oracle Portal, you can specify if you want to configure, and automatically start Oracle Portal at the end of the installation. If you select that option, Oracle Universal Installer (OUI) will configure Oracle Portal.

If you choose Install Only, the Portal will not be configured. To configure the Oracle Portal after the installation, refer to the Install Only section, in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Portal, Forms, Reports and Discoverer.