3 Preparing For the Application Server Installation

This chapter explains the tasks that must be completed before you start the installation of the Oracle Communications MetaSolv Solution (MSS) application server(s).

What's in This Chapter

This chapter explains:

Required software information
How the MSS installer works
The MSS directory structure
Using worksheets to plan your installation
Prerequisites for installing MSS

About Required Software Installation

MSS requires Oracle database software and Oracle WebLogic application server software. This document does not explain how to install the software for either of these products. Chapter 2, "Setting Up The 6.2.x Database" describes how to install or upgrade your Oracle database. Table 3-1 shows where to find information for configuring Oracle WebLogic application server for MSS.

Table 3-1 Required Software Information

If you are setting up:	Find information on how to do it here:
An application server for use with MSS with or without XML APIs	In this guide: "Installing and Deploying MetaSolv Solution on a Single Server" or "Installing and Deploying MetaSolv Solution on a Clustered Server"

If you are setting up:

Find information on how to do it here:

An application server for use with MSS with or without XML APIs

In this guide:

"Installing and Deploying MetaSolv Solution on a Single Server"

"Installing and Deploying MetaSolv Solution on a Clustered Server"

Oracle WebLogic Software Installation on an MSS Host Machine

Figure 3-1 shows the steps involved in installing Oracle WebLogic 10.3.1 software on a machine that will host MSS. The figure describes step 3B in Figure 1-1, "Overview of the MSS 6.2 Installation Process".

Figure 3-1 Installing Oracle WebLogic Software on an Application Server Machine

Description of "Figure 3-1 Installing Oracle WebLogic Software on an Application Server Machine"

About the Oracle WebLogic Installation

This document does not explain how to install the Oracle WebLogic software, but it does provide basic information on how to set up and configure an Oracle WebLogic domain for MSS.

Where to Find Oracle WebLogic Server Software

You can find Oracle WebLogic software in the following location:

If you purchased Oracle WebLogic software as part of or separately from MSS, you can find the software in the Oracle Communications MetaSolv Solution 6.2 Media Pack on the Oracle software delivery Web site.

Where to Find Oracle WebLogic Server Documentation

You can find Oracle WebLogic documentation in the following location:

If you purchased Oracle WebLogic software as part of or separately from MSS, you can find the documentation on the Oracle software delivery Web site.

Installation Notes

If you are installing on a UNIX/Linux platform, you can run an X-Windows emulator like Hummingbird Exceed. The installer defaults to console mode if no X-Windows connection is made.
Install Oracle WebLogic Server or WebLogic Platform on every machine that will be either the WebLogic administration server, a clustered server, or a single server hosting the MSS application.

Setting the BEA_HOME Environment Variable

Once you have installed WebLogic Server or WebLogic Integration on a machine, add the environment variable for BEA_HOME that points to the WebLogic directory.

For example:

For UNIX/Linux:

BEA_HOME=/MSLV_Home/bea

For Windows:

BEA_HOME=c:\MSLV_Home\bea

Setting the environment variable BEA_HOME for Windows and UNIX/Linux before the installation and configuration of MSS is optional. However, it is a good practice to follow and Oracle recommends that you set these variables before you start the installation process.

Installing WebLogic Patches

There are no required patches for WebLogic Server 10.3.1.

After you install WebLogic Integration 10.3.1, you must install a number of patches. The patches must be downloaded from the My Oracle Support Web site and can be applied using the WebLogic Smart Update tool. Download the following private patches, from the My Oracle Support Web site:

T4EH
EB3S
PS4A
7SSV
4DRC
RT9X
3Q67
GUFX

Note:
The PS4A patch must be applied before applying the 7SSV, 4DRC, RT9X, 3Q67, and GUFX patches.

Note:
These patches are password protected. Contact WebLogic Server Support for more information

For information about downloading and applying private patches, see Knowledge Article 1302053.1 - Master Note: How to Locate and Download Patches for WebLogic Server Using My Oracle Support and Knowledge Article 1075833.1 - Master Note on WebLogic Server (WLS) Patches, Upgrade Installers, and Full Installers.

If You are Using the IBM AIX Operating System

MSS 6.2.x is certified to run on AIX 6.1. Oracle includes JDK 1.6 for Windows, HP, and Sun operating systems. JDK 1.6 for AIX is not provided by Oracle. If you have an AIX operating system, you must download the AIX JDK from the IBM Web site and install it in the following location:

/usr/java16

For information on the AIX JDK, see the following Web site:

http://www.ibm.com/us

About JacORB 2.3.1

JacORB 2.3.1 is installed automatically during the MSS installation. Do not install JacORB 2.3.1 manually.

How the Installer Works

You must download the installer, MSS.R6_2_1.bxxx_AppServerInstaller.jar, from the Oracle software delivery Web site, then copy or FTP the installer into a temporary directory on each machine on which you intend to install MSS.

Two options are available in the installer:

Full installation: Select this option for new installations of any 6.2.x release. This option is also used when upgrading to 6.2.x from a pre-6.2 release.
Upgrade installation: Select this option for subsequent MSS 6.2.x maintenance releases and patches.

The installer is delivered in a jar file. You only have to run the installer on each physical machine in a domain one time, regardless of the number of Oracle WebLogic application server instances and/or clusters running on the machine. The following actions are automated by the installer:

Parameter configuration: Default parameters are entered for logging, threads, JDBC pool creation and sizing, reload, JMS/Bridge, memory GC, and SSL.
Deployment: You can deploy to both clustered and non-clustered configurations from the installer.

The program validates the database connection and creates custom scripts for starting JacORB 2.3.1 and WebLogic application server.

Directory Structure

MSS requires each server directory and its WebLogic domain directory to be placed in the MSLV_Home directory. This directory is a location on the server under which the MSS software will be installed.

In the example shown in Figure 3-2, "Example of an MSS Directory Structure", the following structure exists:

MetaSolv home directory: /opt/m62Single/single
Server directory: /opt/m62Single/single/mslv01
Server domain directory: /opt/m62Single/single/m62domain
Application directory: /opt/m62Single/single/application

Figure 3-2 shows an example of a typical MSS directory structure.

Figure 3-2 Example of an MSS Directory Structure

Description of "Figure 3-2 Example of an MSS Directory Structure"

In the example shown in the figure, the following structure exists:

MetaSolv home directory: /opt/m62Single/single.
Server directory: mslv01. The directory is located in /opt/m62Single/single.
Server domain directory: m6domain. The directory is located in /opt/m62Single/single.

Using Worksheets to Plan Your Installation

Before you begin to install MSS, it is prudent to plan the installation on paper. This is important if you have a number of machines on which to install. In this case, the assignment of names, port numbers, and other information is critical so that contention issues do not arise when you try to run the system for the first time.

The WebLogic application server domain that you plan to create dictates how you install MSS and what information you need to know beforehand. A sample worksheet is provided in Appendix C to help you plan out the information required at installation time. The worksheet indicates the information you need to create the Oracle WLS/WLI domain and provide examples of the expected values. Included in the worksheet is:

Common installation information
Single server environment information
Clustered server environment information

Prerequisites for MSS 6.2.x

Upgrade to the MSS 6.2.x database.
Install Oracle WebLogic 10.3.1 software for the environment you need for MSS.
Do not need to install the Oracle client on the server machine. The Oracle thin client for these versions is supplied through Oracle. The API startup detects the database information from the WebLogic server connection pool. This removes the need to store any of the database information in non-Oracle configuration files. It also prevents the API connections from being configured to connect to a different database.
Resolve the DNS name of the database host machine. This means you must be able to ping the database server. If you cannot, add the IP address and host machine's name to the /etc/hosts file.
Make sure the database users APP_MSLV, APP_API, and APP_INT (for XML API installs only) exist. If they do not exist, ask your database administrator to create them before you proceed. These users should have been created during the database installation.
Read the section entitled "Preinstallation Checklist".
Make sure the user executing the installer has write permissions in the MetaSolv home directory and WebLogic home directory of the machine on which the installation is performed.

(Optional) Verify that the BEA_HOME environment variables have been set. The following text shows an example entry for these variables in .profile for a ksh (UNIX/Linux) user.

###################################################
# M62 Environment variables
###################################################
BEA_HOME=/opt/m62Single/single/bea; export BEA_HOME
###################################################

After installing Oracle WebLogic 10.3.1 on all target application server machines, verify that the PATH environment variable is set with the jdk directory defined as the first entry. See the following example:
```
PATH=$BEA_HOME/jdk160_11/bin:$PATH
```
Run the command java -version to verify that you have the correct version of the Java SDK in the PATH.
Download the MSS 6.2.x files from the Oracle software delivery Web site to an application server. Download the following files for the appropriate platform: Oracle WebLogic 10.3.1 files (if you purchased them as part of MSS) and MSS.R6_2_x.bnnn_AppServerInstaller.
Make sure the person installing has execute rights on the application server installation file. If you are using UNIX/Linux, use the chmod command to change permissions if this is necessary.
If you are a UNIX/Linux user using an X-Windows emulator, set the DISPLAY environment variable to send the graphical display to your workstation by typing $DISPLAY=mymachinename:0.0;export DISPLAY and pressing ENTER.