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Installation Guide

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Running the Installation Program in Silent Mode

The following sections describe how to run the installation program in silent mode:

 

What Is Silent-Mode Installation?

Silent-mode installation is a way of setting installation configurations only once and then using those configurations to duplicate the installation on many machines. During installation in silent mode, the installation program reads the settings for your configuration from an XML file that you create prior to beginning the installation. The installation program does not display any configuration options during the installation process. Silent-mode installation works on both Windows and UNIX systems. Using silent-mode installation implies that you consent to the BEA License Agreement. You neither see a copy of the BEA Software License Agreement nor have any means of accepting the terms of the agreement.

The instructions in this section are based on the assumption that you have already acquired the installation program, either on CD or from the BEA Web site. For more information, see Product Distribution Methods.

 

Using Silent-Mode Installation: Main Steps

The silent-mode installation process has two primary steps:

  1. Create a silent.xml file that defines the configuration settings normally entered by a user during an interactive installation process, such as graphical-mode or console-mode installation. For example, values for the BEA Home directory, the product directory, and the components to be installed are supplied in a silent.xml file.

    2. For a detailed procedure, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation. For a sample silent.xml file, see Sample silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  2. Start the silent-mode installation process using the values specified in the silent.xml file.

    3. For details on starting the installation in silent mode, see Starting the Installation Program.

Important Considerations for Silent-Mode Installation

When you are performing an installation in silent mode, keep in mind the following considerations:

 

Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation

When you install your BEA software in silent mode, the installation program uses an XML file (silent.xml) to determine which installation options should be implemented. Therefore, before you can run the installation program in silent mode, you must first create a silent.xml file in which you specify the installation options that you want to have invoked.

Note: Incorrect entries in the silent.xml file can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, we recommend that you create a log file when you start the installation.

To create a silent.xml file for use in the silent-mode installation process, follow these steps:

  1. In a supported browser, display the sample silent.xml file for silent-mode installation. The sample file is available at http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E13179_01/common/docs90/install/scripts/silent.xml.

    2. This sample silent.xml file is also presented later in this chapter. See Sample silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  2. Save the sample XML file, with the name silent.xml, in the same directory that contains the installation program.

    3. Note: The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the silent.xml file. There cannot be any spaces or line breaks before the XML definition.

  3. In the silent.xml file that you saved on your system, edit the values for the keywords shown in Table 5-1 to reflect your configuration.

    4. Note: You must follow XML guidelines for characters when modifying values. That is, you cannot use characters reserved for use in XML, such as <, >, [, and ].

    Table 5-1 Values for the silent.xml File 

    For this data-value name . . .

    Enter the following value . . .

    BEAHOME

    The full pathname for the BEA Home directory of your choice. For details about the BEA Home directory, see Choosing a BEA Home Directory.

    USER_INSTALL_DIR

    The full pathname for the directory where you want to install your BEA software. For details, see Choosing a Product Installation Directory.

    INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE

    (Windows platforms only)

    • no to skip the installation of the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service.

    NODEMGR_PORT

    The Node Manager listen port.

    If you do not specify a port number, the installer uses the default port 5556.

    If the port number is in use, the installer scans for the next available port and assigns it to the Node Manager.

    Note: The INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE option must be set to yes.

    At the completion of the installation process, the Node Manager is started using the port specified.

    INSTALL_PUBLIC_JRE

    (Windows platforms only)

    • false to skip the installation of the Public JRE and Java Plug-in. The default is false.

    This option must be set to true to install the Java Plug-in.

    REGISTER_PLUGIN_WITH_IE

    • true to install the Java Plug-in for Internet Explorer if it is installed on your system.

    • false to skip the installation of the Java Plug-in for Internet Explorer.

    Note: The INSTALL_PUBLIC_JRE option must be set to true.

    REGISTER_PLUGIN_WITH_NS_AND_MOZILLA

    • true to install the Java Plug-in for Netscape and Mozilla if they are installed on your system.

    • false to skip the installation of the Java Plug-in for Netscape and Mozilla.

    Note: The INSTALL_PUBLIC_JRE option must be set to true.

    INSTALL_SHORTCUT_IN_ALL_USERS_FOLDER

    • true, or yes, to create the shortcuts in the All Users folder. The default is true.

    • false, or no, to create the shortcuts in the local users folder.

    The user performing the installation must have Administrator privileges to install the Start menu shortcuts in the All Users folder. For more information, see Administrator Privileges.

    COMPONENT_PATHS

    Specify the components and subcomponents you want to install on your system:

    • To install WebLogic Server, use the following values:

    WebLogic Server
      Server
      Server Examples
      Web Server Plug-Ins

    • To install AquaLogic Service Bus, use the following values:

    AquaLogic Service Bus
      Service Bus Server
      Data Transformation Tools
      Service Bus Examples

    For additional information about entering these values, see Guidelines for Component Selection.

    Note: If you are using the BEA Products installation program for WebLogic Server, you can specify the WebLogic Server components only.


     

Guidelines for Component Selection

Use the following guidelines when you specify values for the COMPONENT_PATHS data-value name:

Note: The installer performs dependency checking to ensure that all required components are installed.

 

Sample silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- Silent installer option: -mode=silent -silent_xml=C:\bea\silent.xml -->
 
<bea-installer> 
 
  <input-fields> 
     <data-value name="BEAHOME"                  value="C:\bea" /> 
     <data-value name="USER_INSTALL_DIR"          value="C:\bea\weblogic90" /> 
     <data-value name="INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE"   value="yes"  />
     <data-value name="NODEMGR_PORT"                   value="5559" /> 
     <data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Server/Server|WebLogic 
Server/Server Examples|WebLogic Server/Web Server Plug-Ins|AquaLogic Service Bus" />
 
     <!-- Install Public JRE
           Default value is false.
           This option is available in Win32 installer -->
     <data-value name="INSTALL_PUBLIC_JRE"             value="true" />
 
     <!-- Install Java plugin for Internet Explorer Web browser
           if Internet Explorer is installed on the system. 
           This option is available in Win32 JRE installer.
           It also works in Win32 JDK installer, but the 
           INSTALL_PUBLIC_JRE option must be "true"        --> 
      <data-value name="REGISTER_PLUGIN_WITH_IE"       value="true" /> 
 
      <!-- Install Java plugin with Netscape and Mozilla Web browsers 
           if they are installed on the system. 
           This option is available in Win32 JRE installer.
           It also works in Win32 SDK installer, but the 
           INSTALL_PUBLIC_JRE option must be "true"        --> 
      <data-value name="REGISTER_PLUGIN_WITH_NS_AND_MOZILLA"  value="true" />  
 
      <!-- If the current user is an administrator on a Windows machine
           This flag indicates where BEA shortcuts should be created.
           Possible values:
           true/yes  The shortcuts will be in All Users folder
           false/no  The shortcuts will be in the local folder
           The default is to create in All Users folder.   --> 
      <data-value name="INSTALL_SHORTCUT_IN_ALL_USERS_FOLDER"   value="yes"/>
 
</input-fields> 
</bea-installer>

 

Returning Exit Codes to the Console

When run in silent mode, the installation program generates exit codes that indicate the success or failure of the installation. These exit codes are shown in the following table.

Code

Description

0

Installation completed successfully

-1

Installation failed due to a fatal error

-2

Installation failed due to an internal XML parsing error


 

If you are launching the silent-mode installation process from a script, you can choose to have these exit codes displayed on the console. Listing 5-1 provides a sample command file that invokes the installation program in silent mode and echoes the exit codes to the console from which the script is executed.

Listing 5-1 Sample Command File Displaying Silent-Mode Exit Codes

rem Execute the installer in silent mode
@echo off
alsb200_wls900_win32.exe -mode=silent -silent_xml=C:\downloads\silent.xml -log=C:\logs\products_silent.log

@rem Return an exit code to indicate success or failure of installation
set exit_code=%ERRORLEVEL%

@echo.
@echo Exitcode=%exit_code%
@echo.
@echo Exit Code Key
@echo ---------------
@echo  0=Installation completed successfully
@echo -1=Installation failed due to a fatal error
@echo -2=Installation failed due to an internal XML parsing error
@echo.

 

What's Next?

By default, your BEA software uses the development license file installed in the BEA Home directory so that you can start using the product immediately. We recommend that you run the QuickStart application to familiarize yourself with the software and execute the samples provided. For additional information, see Post-Installation Information.

Note: QuickStart is not invoked automatically for console-mode or silent-mode installations. You can launch QuickStart from the Start Menu (Windows), or from the command line (Windows and UNIX). For instructions, see Using QuickStart.

For specific information about your software release, see the appropriate release notes:

 

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