1 Planning the Oracle WebLogic Server Installation

This chapter helps to prepare you for installing Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence.

Various topics are covered that should be reviewed thoroughly to help ensure that you do not encounter any problems either during or after the product installation and domain configuration.

The following sections are included:

1.1 Using this Document

This section contains the following topics:

1.1.1 Using the Standard Installation Topology as a Starting Point

This guide will help you create the standard installation topology for Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence (Figure 1-1). This topology can be extended to be highly available and secure, making it suitable for a production system.

The standard installation topology represents a sample topology for this product; it is not the only topology that is supported. For more information, see "Understanding the Standard Installation Topology" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

1.1.2 Using this Document in an Upgrade Scenario

If you are installing Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence as part of an upgrade procedure, follow the instructions in this book to install the software, but do not run the Configuration Wizard to create a WebLogic domain.

After the software is installed, refer to Upgrading Oracle WebLogic Server.

1.1.3 Using this Document to Extend a Domain

The instructions in this document describe how to create a new domain; the same instructions can be used to extend an existing domain. If you choose to do this, be sure to read "Installing Multiple Products in the Same Domain" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware for important information.

If you are creating a new domain but your needs do not match the instructions given in the procedure, be sure to make your selections accordingly and refer to the supporting documentation for additional details.

1.1.4 Using Installation Documents for Development Environments

This guide describes how to use the Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence distribution to install and configure a runtime, production environment for Oracle WebLogic Server.

In addition, Oracle provides Oracle WebLogic Server development-only and supplemental installers.

  • The development-only installer is a ZIP file that you simply extract to create a WebLogic Server installation. This ZIP file contains a WebLogic Server installation that includes all of the artifacts you need to develop Java applications development. You cannot apply a patch to the development-only installation; the installer does not contain OPatch.

    You must not use this WebLogic Server installation for production. Do not use the ZIP file installation to configure a production environment. For more information, refer to the readme file in the ZIP archive, which also contains up-to-date information about changes for this release.

  • The supplemental installer ZIP file is also available to provide additional features, such as server examples, for a development-only installation.

For more information about setting up a development environment, refer to the following resources:

  • See "Overview of WebLogic Server Application Development" in Developing Applications for Oracle WebLogic Server for a complete list of considerations to keep in mind when you set up a development environment for Oracle WebLogic Server.

  • See Installing Oracle JDeveloper for instructions to install Oracle JDeveloper, which is an integrated development environment (IDE) for building applications using the latest standards for Java, XML, Web services, and SQL.

1.2 Understanding the WebLogic Server and Coherence Standard Installation Topology

The standard installation topology for Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence is shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence Topology

Description of Figure 1-1 follows
Description of "Figure 1-1 Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence Topology"

This topology includes a standard WebLogic Server domain that contains two Managed Servers in a cluster and an Administration Server, all configured on a single host.

Each element in this topology illustration is described in Table 1-1.

Table 1-1 Description of the Elements in the Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence Standard Installation Topology

Element Description and Links to Additional Documentation

APPHOST

Standard term used in Oracle documentation referring to the machine that is hosting the application tier.

WebLogic Domain

A logically related group of Java components (in this case, the Administration Server, Managed Servers, and other related software components).

For more information, see "What is an Oracle WebLogic Server Domain" in Understanding Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Administration Server

The central control entity of a domain which maintains the domain's configuration objects and distributes configuration changes to Managed Servers.

For more information, see "What is the Administration Server" in Understanding Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Cluster

A collection of multiple WebLogic Server instances running simultaneously and working together.

For more information, see "Understanding Managed Servers and Managed Server Clusters" in Understanding Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Machine

Logical representation of the computer that hosts one or more WebLogic Server instances (servers). Machines are also the logical glue between WebLogic Managed Servers and the Node Manager; in order to start or stop a Managed Server with Node Manager, the Managed Server must be associated with a machine.

Managed Server

Host for your applications, application components, Web services, and their associated resources.

For more information, see "Understanding Managed Servers and Managed Server Clusters" in Understanding Oracle Fusion Middleware.

A roadmap describing the necessary steps to arriving at this topology can be found in Section 1.3.

1.3 Roadmap for Installing and Configuring the Installation Topology

This guide provides all the steps required to install and configure WebLogic Server. Within the procedures, the guide also provides references to additional information you can use if you want to create a modified version of this topology.

Table 1-2 shows the steps required to install and configure Oracle WebLogic Server.

Table 1-2 Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence Installation Procedure

Task Description Documentation

Verify your system environment

Before beginning the installation, verify that the minimum system and network requirements are met.

Section 1.4.

Obtain the appropriate distribution

To create the topology described in this section, obtain the Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence distribution.

Section 1.5.

Determine your installation directories

Verify that the directories that will need to be created can be created or accessed by the installer, and exist on systems that meet the minimum requirements.

"What are the Key Oracle Fusion Middleware Directories?" in Understanding Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Install the software

Run the installation program to install the software.

Chapter 2.

Create a WebLogic domain

Use the Fusion Middleware Configuration Wizard to create a WebLogic domain.

Chapter 3.

Perform post-installation tasks

After your domain is created, you can begin to manage the components in your domain, or continue to modify your environment for high availability.

Chapter 4.

1.4 Roadmap for Verifying Your System Environment

This section (Table 1-3) contains important information that you must read and understand prior to beginning the installation and configuration process. It identifies important tasks and checks to perform to make sure your environment is properly prepared for installing and configuring Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Server and Coherence.

Table 1-3 Roadmap for Verifying Your System Environment

Task Description Documentation

Verify certification and system requirements.

Verify that your operating system is certified and properly configured for Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Server and Coherence installation and configuration.

See "Verifying Certification, System Requirements and Interoperability" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Identify a proper installation user.

Verify that the installation user has the proper permissions to install and configure the software.

See "Selecting an Installation User" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Select the installation and configuration directories on your system.

Verify that you are able to create the necessary directories for installation and configuration, according to the recommended directory structure.

See "Selecting Directories for Installation and Configuration" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Install a certified JDK.

The installation program for the distribution requires that your system have a certified JDK.

See "Installing a JDK" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

1.5 Understanding and Obtaining the Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence Distribution

For complete information about how to obtain Oracle Fusion Middleware software, see "Understanding and Obtaining Product Distributions" in Planning an Installation of Oracle Fusion Middleware.

To download the Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence software for development or evaluation, see the following location on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN):

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/fusion-middleware/downloads/index.html

For more information about locating and downloading Oracle Fusion Middleware products, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Download, Installation, and Configuration Readme Files on OTN.

To obtain Oracle WebLogic Server and Coherence, go to Oracle Technology Network and follow these steps:

  1. Find fmw_12.1.3.0.0_wls_Disk1_1of1.zip and download this file onto your system.

  2. Extract the contents of this .zip file onto your system. One of the files extracted will be fmw_12.1.3.0.0_wls.jar; this file will be used to run the product installer and install the software onto your system (Chapter 2).

    The Oracle SOA Suite and Business Process Management distribution contains the products and feature sets described in Appendix A.