| Oracle® Content Database Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Suite 10g (10.1.3.2) Part Number B32191-01 |
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| Oracle® Content Database Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Suite 10g (10.1.3.2) Part Number B32191-01 |
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View PDF |
This chapter explains key architectural and administration concepts related to Oracle Content DB.
This chapter provides information about the following topics:
Typically, Oracle Content DB system administrators are responsible for the following tasks:
Planning for Oracle Content DB deployment
Installing and configuring Oracle Content DB
Optionally customizing their Oracle Content DB deployment by enabling an antivirus solution, BFILE archiving or aging, and other options
Managing the Oracle Content DB domain, node, service, and server
Performing system tuning and troubleshooting
Managing the Oracle Content DB Site
Managing custom BPEL workflows
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Note: Oracle Content DB application administrators are responsible for tasks such as managing users, quotas, categories, and content. There are a variety of application administration roles, such as the Category Administrator, Configuration Administrator, and Security Administrator. Users with one or more application administration roles should refer to Oracle Content Database Application Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Suite for information about application administration tasks. |
System administrators need to have the following skills:
Basic Oracle Database administration experience. Because the file system is stored in an Oracle database, administrators need to understand the basics of how to administer the database, including knowledge of Oracle Text.
Knowledge of Internet and intranet protocols. Administrators need to understand how HTTP, WebDAV, and the other networking protocols work.
Oracle Application Server administration experience. Administrators need to understand how to administer the various components of Oracle Application Server, such as Oracle HTTP Server and Oracle Containers for J2EE (OC4J), using administrative tools such as the Application Server Control and opmnctl.
Table 1-1 is a summary of the administrative accounts used by system administrators.
Table 1-1 Administrative Accounts
| Account Name | Purpose | Notes |
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Used to access the Application Server Control. |
The password is set during Oracle Content DB middle-tier installation. |
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Used to access Oracle Content DB after installation. You only use this account if you are using a file-based user repository. |
This user has all the application administrator roles for Oracle Content DB. The initial password is the same as the Oracle Content DB schema password. You can use this account to create new users for a file-based user repository using the OracleAS JAAS Provider Admintool. See "Managing Users in a File-Based User Repository" for more information. |
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Used to access Oracle Content DB after installation. You only use this account if you are using Oracle Internet Directory as your user repository. |
This user has all the application administrator roles for Oracle Content DB. The password was entered during OracleAS Infrastructure installation. You can use this account to create new users for an Oracle Internet Directory user repository using the Oracle Internet Directory Self-Service Console ( |
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Used to access Oracle Content DB after installation. You only use this account if you are using a third-party LDAP server as your user repository. |
This user has all the application administrator roles for Oracle Content DB. You provided the name and password of this user during Oracle Content DB installation. You can use this account to create new users for a third-party LDAP user repository using the administration tools provided with your LDAP server. Refer to the documentation for your LDAP server for more information. |
Several administration tools are provided with Oracle Content DB, including browser-based management tools and command-line tools. Using these administration tools, you can:
Start and stop domains and nodes
Manage service and server objects
Work from the command line
Monitor domain, service, and node performance
The following sections describe the administration tools available to Oracle Content DB administrators:
Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control (Application Server Control) provides access to basic Oracle Content DB process management and monitoring functions, such as monitoring and dynamically tuning the domain, nodes, services, and servers. You can also use the Application Server Control to create users for a file-based user repository.
Typically, you can access the Application Server Control at the following URL:
http://host:port/em
Use the oc4jadmin account to log in.
See Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide for more information about how to access the Application Server Control.
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Note: Oracle HTTP Server and the "home" instance must both be started before you can access the Application Server Control. |
Most Oracle Content DB tasks in the Application Server Control can be performed from the Content DB Home page. The steps to access the Content DB Home page can vary, depending on whether you want to perform general Oracle Content DB tasks, such as configuring domain properties, modifying Site settings, or managing server configurations, or whether you want to perform tasks related to a particular node, service, or server.
To access the Content DB Home page for administration tasks related to a particular node, service, or server:
Connect to the Application Server Control on the middle tier where you want to manage Oracle Content DB processes.
On the Cluster Topology page, in the Members table, click the plus icon next to the node (OC4J_Content instance) that relates to the particular task you want to perform.
You cannot expand the OC4J_Content instance unless it is running. To start the OC4J_Content instance, select it and click Start.
Under the OC4J_Content heading, click content.
On the Application:content page, in the Related Links section, click Content DB Extension. The Content DB Home page appears and displays information about the particular node (OC4J_Content instance) you expanded in Step 2.
Figure 1-1 shows the Content DB Home page.
To access the Content DB Home page for general Oracle Content DB administration tasks:
Connect to the Application Server Control.
On the Cluster Topology page, in the Members table, click the plus icon next to one of the OC4J_Content instances. It does not matter which OC4J_Content instance you choose to expand.
You cannot expand the OC4J_Content instance unless it is running. To start the OC4J_Content instance, select it and click Start.
Under the OC4J_Content heading, click content.
On the Application:content page, in the Related Links section, click Content DB Extension. The Content DB Home page appears. Most general administration tasks can be performed from the Administration tab.
Figure 1-2 shows the Administration tab of the Content DB Home page.
Figure 1-2 Administration Tab of the Content DB Home Page
Oracle Content DB Administration Mode provides access to application administration functions such as allocating quota and assigning roles. To access Administration Mode, log in to the Oracle Content DB Web client as a user with one or more application administration roles, then click Switch to Administration Mode. See Oracle Content Database Application Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Suite for more information.
The following Oracle Application Server tools can be used to perform some Oracle Content DB tasks:
You can use the opmnctl utility to start and stop Oracle Content DB, the Application Server Control, OC4J processes, and Oracle HTTP Server. You can access opmnctl from ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin/.
See Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server Administrator's Guide for more information about using the opmnctl tool.
If you are using a file-based user repository with Oracle Content DB, you can use the OracleAS JAAS Provider Admintool to manage users. The Admintool is a lightweight Java application that provides administration for users, roles, policies, and login modules for a file-based user repository. However, you must restart OC4J_Content for changes made by the Admintool to take effect.
If you are using Oracle Internet Directory as your Oracle Content DB user repository, you can use a variety of Oracle Internet Directory administration tools to manage users. For example, you can use Oracle Internet Directory command-line tools like ldapadd and ldapmodify, you can use the Oracle Internet Directory Self-Service Console (oiddas), or you can use Oracle Directory Manager.
See Oracle Identity Management Guide to Delegated Administration for information about how to use the Oracle Internet Directory Self-Service Console; Oracle Identity Management User Reference for information about how to use Oracle Internet Directory command-line tools; and Oracle Internet Directory Administrator's Guide for information about how to use Oracle Directory Manager.
Some Oracle Content DB system administration tasks are not covered in this guide. The following table explains what these tasks are, and where to go for more information.
Table 1-2 System Administration Tasks and Information Not Covered in This Guide
| Task | Where to Go for More Information |
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Oracle Application Server Installation Guide for your platform |
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Oracle Application Server Enterprise Deployment Guide |
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Oracle Application Server Installation Guide for your platform |
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Accessing shared administrative tools, such as the Application Server Control |
Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide |
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Oracle WebCenter Framework Developer's Guide |
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OracleMetaLink ( Oracle Application Server Certification Information |
The following sections describe the underlying technology for Oracle Content DB, and explain how the Oracle Content DB nodes and other processes interact. Information is also provided about user repositories and the Oracle Content DB Site.
This section contains the following topics:
Oracle Content DB offers a comprehensive set of Web services that developers can use to build and enhance applications to provide sophisticated content management capabilities.
These Web services provide a large number of API calls for content and records management. The Web services also support the extensive business process automation capabilities provided by Oracle BPEL Process Manager.
Developers can use the Oracle Content DB Web services to:
Build custom applications that leverage Oracle Content DB to manage unstructured data
Build custom BPEL-based workflows and use them to drive and respond to Web service invocations
To see a list of available services descriptions, open a Web browser and go to the following URL:
http://host_name:port/content/ws/wsdl
To download developer documentation and sample code, see the Oracle Content DB product page on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) at:
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/contentdb/index.html
A Java API layer provides a uniform interface that encompasses content management business logic. This layer is the foundation for the Oracle Content DB Web application, protocol servers, and Web services. The Java API layer ensures that all components interfacing to Oracle Content DB do so at an abstraction level that respects the application business logic.
Oracle WebCenter Framework comes with an Oracle Content DB JCR Adapter that provides JSR-170 Level 1 support. You can use Oracle WebCenter Framework to configure this adapter so that you can access content stored in Oracle Content DB with the Oracle Content DB Data Control. See Oracle WebCenter Framework Developer's Guide for more information.
Figure 1-3 Oracle Content DB Application Architecture
An Oracle Content DB domain is a logical grouping of Oracle Content DB node and an Oracle Database instance that contains the Oracle Content DB data. The nodes run on Oracle Application Server. The Oracle Content DB node processes and the database can be physically configured on a single computer or across several, separate computers.
The Oracle Content DB schema is created in the Oracle Database during the configuration process. The schema owns all database objects, including metadata about Oracle Content DB and configuration information. You cannot have more than one Oracle Content DB schema in the same database.
Figure 1-4 shows the Oracle Content DB domain.
An Oracle Content DB node is the application software that comprises the product, along with the underlying Java Virtual Machine (JVM) required to support the software at run time.
Important concepts to understand about nodes include:
After installation, each Oracle Content DB middle tier includes one node by default that supports the Oracle Content DB application.
Each node supports protocol servers, such as HTTP, and agents, such as the Garbage Collection Agent.
Nodes support the Oracle Content DB application, WebDAV, Oracle Drive, and the Web services using servlets that are configured to work with OC4J.
The OC4J process for each node is guarded by OPMN, which restarts the OC4J process if it is stopped unexpectedly.
Each node has a node manager. It is responsible for starting the default services and servers for the node. It also provides an administrative API for the node that lets you find information about node log levels, locale information, available free memory, and the Oracle home for the node.
Figure 1-5 shows an Oracle Content DB node.
Each node supports a service that has specific configuration parameters, such as credential managers, connections to the database, and cache sizes. By default, a single service starts on each node, and that service supports all protocol servers and agents for that node.
The server supported by the service can be either protocol servers or agents. The protocol servers listen for requests from clients on a specific port and respond to requests according to the rules of the protocol specification. By default, each protocol server listens on the industry standard well-known port and adheres to the specification of the protocol server.
Agents perform operations periodically (time-based) or in response to events generated by other Oracle Content DB servers or processes (event-based). For example, the Content Garbage Collection Agent deletes content no longer associated with any document in Oracle Content DB. It does this based on an activation period parameter specified in the server configuration object.
Although different agents can run on different nodes, each agent must run only on a single node, except the Service Warmup Agent and the Statistics Agent. These agents must be running on all nodes. Typically, most of the shipped agents must be run to ensure a stable system. See Appendix E, "Server Configuration Properties" for more information about particular agents.
The Oracle Content DB architecture is flexible: services and servers are not coupled so that you can configure services, protocol servers, and agents across a wide array of hardware. For example, you can run all protocol servers on one node, and run all agents on another node; or, they can all run on the same node.
An initial domain and node configuration is set up for you during Oracle Content DB configuration, but you can change this later. You can configure the protocol servers and other processes at any point using the Application Server Control.
See Appendix D, "Service Configuration Properties" for information about service configuration parameters. See Appendix E, "Server Configuration Properties" for information about server configuration parameters.
Oracle Content DB supports three options for its user repository:
Oracle Internet Directory, a component of Oracle Identity Management
A third-party LDAP solution, such as Open LDAP or Microsoft Active Directory
File-based user repository
See Chapter 5, "Managing Oracle Content DB Users" for more information about choosing a user repository for Oracle Content DB.
The Oracle Content DB Site is an organizational entity that is used to manage settings for all Oracle Content DB users. There are a designated set of application administrators for the Site who can manage quota, specify Site settings, and perform other tasks. See Oracle Content Database Application Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter Suite for more information.
The Oracle Content DB Site is created during Oracle Content DB installation and configuration. See Chapter 11, "Managing the Oracle Content DB Site" for information about managing Site settings at the system administration level.
Users can connect to Oracle Content DB using protocols appropriate to their platform. For example, Windows users can use the Oracle Drive client or connect using Web Folders, and Macintosh users can connect through WebDAV. Users on all platforms can connect using HTTP for browser-based access.
Oracle Content DB supports the following protocols:
HTTP is used for browser-based access. Use the following URL to access Oracle Content DB with HTTP, using the Oracle Content DB Web client:
http://server_name:port/content
WebDAV, Web-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning, is an HTTP-related protocol that is designed for wide area networks such as the Internet. Currently, the most widespread WebDAV client is the Web Folders extension to Windows Explorer, also known as Network Places in Windows 2000 and Windows XP. Oracle Content DB also provides WebDAV support for Macintosh users.
The Oracle Drive client provides Windows users with SMB-like drive mapping capabilities, while using WebDAV as the actual file protocol. See "Using Oracle Drive with Oracle Content DB" for more information about Oracle Drive.
Table 1-3 lists some of the client platforms, protocols, and access methods supported by Oracle Content DB. See OracleMetaLink at http://metalink.oracle.com for complete client certification information.
Table 1-3 Client Platforms and Protocol Support
| Client Platform | Protocols Supported | Access UsingFoot 1 |
|---|---|---|
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Windows |
HTTP, WebDAV |
Browser, Oracle Drive, Windows Explorer |
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Macintosh (Mac OS 10.3) |
HTTP, WebDAV |
Browser, WebDAV client |
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UNIX |
HTTP |
Browser |
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Red Hat Linux Adv. Server 3.0 (Kernel 2.4.9-e.16) |
HTTP |
Footnote 1 For all protocols, if the server to which you are connecting uses DHCP, then you must use the current IP address of the host in the connection syntax instead of the host name.
The WebDAV protocol is enabled, by default, after Oracle Content DB is installed and configured.
Note that if you define a policy on a folder or Library that requires users to enter data associated with uploaded content, users will not be able to place content in that folder or Library using WebDAV. This limitation is because the WebDAV protocol does not provide a facility to enter metadata.
Use the following URL to access Oracle Content DB with WebDAV:
http://server_name:port/content/dav
The value for port varies depending on your platform. On UNIX systems, the port number is typically 7778. On Windows systems, the port number is typically 80, unless 80 is in use when the middle tier is configured.
To check the port number, use the following opmnctl command:
opmnctl status -l
You can run the opmnctl command-line tool from ORACLE_HOME/opmn/bin.
Note that users with multibyte user names cannot sign on to Oracle Content DB using WebDAV. For this reason, you should not create Oracle Content DB user names that contain multibyte characters.
Oracle Content DB uses the capabilities of both the Oracle Database and Oracle Application Server.
This section contains the following topics:
Oracle Content DB uses Oracle Database to store all content and metadata.
All content and metadata about the Oracle Content DB instance is stored in an Oracle database. These objects, including tablespaces, tables, indexes, views, sequences, and procedures owned by the schema, provide the underpinnings of a fully functioning system.
There is an additional schema created to ensure secure connectivity to other systems. The name for the additional schema is derived from the Oracle Content DB schema name. For example, if the Oracle Content DB schema name is CONTENT, the additional schema is CONTENT$CM.
User content, such as word processing files, spreadsheets, sound files, and presentations, is stored by Oracle Content DB in the database as large objects (LOBs).
LOBs enable fast access and optimized storage for large bits of content, often binary, stored in the database. Otherwise, all content in the Oracle Content DB schema is stored as standard data types in various tables.
Oracle Text is full-text retrieval technology built into Oracle Database for indexing and searching text and documents. Oracle Text supports mixed languages and character sets in the same index. Oracle Content DB uses the text indexing and retrieval features of Oracle Text.
Oracle Streams Advanced Queueing provides an infrastructure for distributed applications to communicate asynchronously using messages. Oracle Streams Advanced Queueing is built into Oracle Database.
Oracle Content DB uses Oracle Streams Advanced Queueing to integrate with Oracle Workflow and Oracle BPEL Process Manager.
A cluster is a group of computers that work together and behave as a single system. Clustering requires both hardware (interconnect) and software (clusterware) support. In the past, clusters were used in high availability read-only applications, such as data warehouses. Now, clusters are increasingly becoming a lower-cost approach for computing applications that require high availability and scalability.
An Oracle Real Application Cluster consists of two or more computers configured to interact and provide the appearance of a single Oracle database. These Oracle RAC nodes are linked by an interconnect. The interconnect serves as the communication path between each node in the cluster database. Each Oracle Database instance uses the interconnect for the messaging that synchronizes each instance's use of shared resources. Oracle also uses the interconnect to transmit data blocks that are shared by the multiple instances. The data files accessed by all the nodes are the primary type of shared resource.
Oracle RAC requires that all nodes have simultaneous access to the shared disks to give the instances concurrent access to the database. The implementation of the shared disk subsystem is based on your operating system: you can use either a cluster file system, or place the files on raw devices. Cluster file systems simplify the installation and administration of Oracle Real Application Clusters.
For more information about Oracle RAC, see Oracle Database Oracle Clusterware and Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide.
Oracle Content DB is designed to integrate with several components from the Oracle Application Server product family, including OC4J and the Application Server Control.
OC4J is a J2EE-compliant application server that supports Java Server Pages (JSP), Java servlets, and many other APIs from the Java 2 Platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE). Services are deployed to an OC4J instance using XML-based configuration files as standard Web Application Archive(.WAR), Enterprise Application Archive (.EAR), Resource Adapter Archive (.RAR), and Java Archive (.JAR) files. Oracle Content DB uses the Java Servlet and the run-time environment of OC4J to support the HTTP/WebDAV servlet and Web services.
OC4J is automatically configured for Oracle Content DB nodes as part of the Oracle Content DB configuration process. You can manage OC4J through the Application Server Control.
OPMN manages all the components within an application server instance, including Oracle HTTP Server and OC4J processes. It channels all events from different components to all components interested in receiving them.
OPMN provides the following functionality:
Provides a command-line interface for process control and monitoring for single or multiple Oracle Application Server components and instances.
Provides an integrated way to manage Oracle Application Server components.
Solves interdependency issues between Oracle Application Server components by enabling you to start and stop components in order.
Provides automatic restart of Oracle Application Server processes when they become unresponsive, terminate unexpectedly, or become unreachable as determined by ping and notification operations.
The OPMN server should be started as soon as possible after turning on the computer. OPMN must be running whenever OPMN-managed components are turned on or off.
You can use the OPMN command-line tool, opmnctl, to manage Oracle Content DB. For complete information about opmnctl syntax and usage, see Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server Administrator's Guide.
Oracle Enterprise Manager is a systems management software application that enables you to manage and monitor Oracle Application Server instances and other Oracle products.
You can use the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control (Application Server Control) to manage Oracle Content DB middle-tier hosts. For example, you can use the Application Server Control to operate and monitor system processes associated with the Oracle Content DB domain and nodes.
You can access the Application Server Control using a Web browser from anywhere on the network. The first page you see is the Cluster Topology page, which lets you view the OC4J instances in your Oracle Application Server cluster. See "Accessing the Oracle Content DB Home Page" for information about how to get to the Oracle Content DB Home page from the Cluster Topology page.
Oracle BPEL Process Manager provides a framework to design, deploy, monitor, and administer processes based on BPEL standards. You can define custom BPEL workflows in Oracle BPEL Process Manager, and then register them for use in Oracle Content DB. Custom workflows are only available to the default Site in Oracle Content DB; additional Sites cannot use the custom workflows. See Chapter 6, "Using Custom BPEL Workflows in Oracle Content DB" for detailed information.
The Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) is an XML-based language for enabling task-sharing across multiple enterprises using a combination of Web services. BPEL is based on the XML schema, Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP), and Web Services Description Language (WSDL). Using BPEL, you can design a business process that integrates a series of discrete services into an end-to-end process flow. For more information about BPEL and Oracle BPEL Process Manager, see Oracle BPEL Process Manager Developer's Guide.
Oracle Workflow is business-process automation software. You can use Oracle Workflow to automate the process of routing and approving information, according to business rules you specify. Oracle Content DB integrates with Oracle Workflow to support the default workflow processes shipped with Oracle Content DB.
You can view workflow notifications by accessing the Oracle Content DB Reports feature.
This guide typically uses a forward slash (/) when documenting directory locations or commands. If you are running Oracle Content DB on Windows, make sure to change the slashes to back slashes (\) when typing the paths or commands. For example, this guide provides the following instructions:
At the command prompt, go to ORACLE_HOME/content/bin and run the following command:
./changepassword -p
If you are running Oracle Content DB on Windows, you should read these instructions as:
At the command prompt, go to ORACLE_HOME\content\bin and run the following command:
.\changepassword -p
