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Installing Oracle9i Application Server with Oracle Reports Services

The Oracle Reports Services is installed as part of the Enterprise Edition of Oracle9i Application Server. The Enterprise Edition is recommended for medium to large sized Web sites that handle a high volume of transactions.

For your convenience, the Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache, a Web listener that supports the Common Gateway Interface (CGI), is provided. The Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache can be installed through the Oracle Universal Installer, which is provided with the Oracle9i Application Server.

For more detailed information about installing Oracle Reports Services, refer to the Oracle9i Application Server Installation Guide. All necessary requirements and tasks are documented in this manual.

2.1 About the Oracle Universal Installer

The Oracle9i Application Server uses the Oracle Universal Installer, a Java-based tool to configure environment variables and to install components. The installer guides you through each step of the installation process, so you can choose different configuration options.

The installer includes features that perform the following tasks:

• Explore and provide installation options for the product.

• Detect preset environment variables and configuration settings.

• Set environment variables and configuration settings during installation.

• Deinstall the product.

2.2 About the Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache

The Oracle9i Application Server uses the Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache Web server technology. Using the Apache Web server technology offers the following:

• Scalability

• Stability

• Speed

• Extensibility

The Apache server delegates the handling of HTTP requests to its modules (mods), which add functionality not included in the server by default. Using the Apache APIs, it is easy to extend the Apache functionality. A large number of mods have already been created and are included on your CD-ROM. Although the default Apache HTTP server supports only stateless transactions,^{Foot 1} you can configure it to support stateful transactions^{Foot 2} by leveraging the functionality supplied by Apache JServ (mod_jserv), which is described in the Oracle9i Applications Server Overview Guide.

Additional information about the Oracle HTTP Server powered by Apache can also be found in the Oracle9i Application Server Installation Guide and the Apache Web Server, Release 1.3 manual on your CD-ROM.

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^{Foot 1} A stateless transaction consists of a request and a response. In a stateless transaction, no information about the user (the requestor) is tracked by the system, and each transaction is unrelated to those that precede or follow it.
^{Foot 2} Stateful transactions are similar to database sessions because information abut the user (the initiator of the transaction) is tracked by the system for one or more phases of the transaction. In addition to user information, with a stateful transaction, the system also keeps track of the state (the set of conditions at a moment in time) of one or more preceding events in the sequence of a transaction.