5 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 allows you to define an installation configuration only once and then use the configuration 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 before 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.

The instructions in this section are based on the assumption that you have already acquired the installation program as described in Product Distribution.

Overview of Silent-Mode Installation Steps

The silent-mode installation process has two primary steps:

  1. Create a silent.xml file that defines the installation configuration that you would normally enter during an interactive installation process, such as graphical-mode or console-mode installation. For example, in silent.xml, you can supply the values for the Middleware home directory, the product directory, and the components to be installed.

    For more information, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  2. Start the silent-mode installation as described in the section that is appropriate for your situation:

Important Considerations for Silent-Mode Installation

When using silent mode, keep the following considerations in mind:

  • Silent-mode installation requires the same amount of temporary disk space and uses the same temporary storage directories as a standard installation. The installation program does not alert you if there is not enough space in the temporary directory.

  • A silent-mode installation takes the same amount of time as a standard installation. At the beginning of a silent-mode installation, an initial installation program window or message is displayed briefly, indicating that the installation has started. No messages are displayed to indicate that the installation is in progress or has completed successfully.

  • Incorrect entries in the silent.xml file can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, Oracle recommends that you create a log file when you start the installation.

  • The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the silent.xml file. Do not enter a space or line breaks before the XML definition.

  • You cannot reinstall any WebLogic product on top of a previously installed version of the same product—in the same Middleware home directory or in the same file location. To reinstall the same version of a product, you must first uninstall the previously installed instance of it or install the new instance in another location.

    You can, however, add products and product components to an existing installation. For example, you can install Core Application Server, Administration Console, and Configuration Wizard Upgrade Framework during one installation, and add WebLogic JDBC Drivers and Server Examples during a separate installation.

Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation

When you install your software in silent mode, the installation program uses an XML file (silent.xml) to determine which installation options should be implemented. Before you can run the installation program in silent mode, you must first create a silent.xml file.

To create a silent.xml file:

  1. Copy the sample code provided in Sample silent.xml File for Silent Mode Installation, and paste the code in an XML file.

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

    Note:

    The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the silent.xml file. Do not enter a space or line breaks before the XML definition.
  3. In the silent.xml file that you saved on your system, edit the values for the data-value names to reflect your configuration.

    Table 5-1 describes all of the data-value names that are currently available.

    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 Sample silent.xml File for WebLogic Server

Data-Value Name Description
BEAHOME

The full path for the Middleware home directory of your choice. For more information about the home directory, see Choosing a Middleware Home Directory.

OCM_PROXY_HOST
OCM_PROXY_PORT
OCM_PROXY_USER
OCM_PROXY_PASSWORD

These parameters enable support for Oracle Configuration Manager (OCM). If your computer connects to the internet via a proxy server, use these data-values to specify the host name, port number, user name, and password for the proxy server.

OCM_SUPPORT_EMAIL
OCM_SUPPORT_PASSWORD

If you have a My Oracle Support account and want to receive security updates from Oracle, specify the email address and password for your My Oracle Support account.

If you do not want to receive security updates from Oracle, do not specify these values.

WLS_INSTALL_DIR

The full path for the directory where you want to install WebLogic Server (for example, for Windows:

C:\MW_HOME\wlserver_10.3

where MW_HOME is the name of the Middleware home directory specified by the BEAHOME data-value name).

COMPONENT_PATHS

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

To install WebLogic Server components, use the following values:

WebLogic Server/Core Application Server
|WebLogic Server/Administration Console
|WebLogic Server/Configuration Wizard and Upgrade
Framework
|WebLogic Server/Web 2.0 HTTP Pub-Sub Server
|WebLogic Server/WebLogic SCA
|WebLogic Server/WebLogic JDBC Drivers
|WebLogic Server/Third Party JDBC Drivers
|WebLogic Server/WebLogic Server Clients
|WebLogic Server/WebLogic Web Server Plugins
|WebLogic Server/UDDI and Xquery Support
|WebLogic Server/Server Examples

To install Coherence components, use the following syntax:

Oracle Coherence/Coherence Product Files
|Oracle Coherence/Coherence Examples

To install Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, use the following value (there are no sub-components for this product):

Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse

For additional information about entering these values, see Guidelines for Component Selection. Note that you should not have any spaces between components, as shown in the example in Sample silent.xml File for Silent Mode Installation,

INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE

(Windows platforms only)

  • yes to install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service.

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

Note: You must have Administrator privileges to install 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 Node Manager.

Note: The INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE option must be set to yes.

When the installation process completes, Node Manager is started using the specified port.

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

LOCAL_JVMS

This is an optional element with which you can specify the local JDKs to be installed. Enter the full path of the JDKs to be installed, separated by the pipe symbol ('|').

BEA_BUNDLED_JVMS

This is an optional element you can use to specify the Oracle-supplied JDKs to be installed. Enter the full path of the JDKs to be installed, separated by the pipe symbol ('|').


Guidelines for Component Selection

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

  • When you specify a product component to be installed, all subcomponents that are installed by default in a complete installation are also installed. For example, the following entry installs all WebLogic Server components:

    <data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Server" />
    
  • To install multiple components, separate the components with a bar (|). Do not leave a space before or after the bar.

    For example, to install the WebLogic Server component (and all of its subcomponents) and Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, enter:

    <data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Server|Oracle Enterprise Pack for Eclipse" />
    
  • To specify subcomponents, you must specify a component/subcomponent combination for each entry.

    For example, to install specific components of WebLogic Server and also install Enterprise Pack for Eclipse (which has no subcomponents), enter the following line in the file:

    <data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Server/Core Application 
    Server|WebLogic Server/Administration Console|Oracle Enterprise Pack for 
    Eclipse"/>
    
  • If you do not include the COMPONENT_PATHS data-value name in silent.xml, the complete WebLogic Server and Coherence products (as well as Enterprise Pack for Eclipse, if you have the WebLogic Server installer which includes this product) are installed.

    Note:

    The installation program performs dependency checking to ensure that all components that provide functionality on which other components depend are installed. These dependencies are visible during graphical and console mode installations. The same dependencies are enforced during silent mode installation. Components on which other components depend are installed even if they are not explicitly referenced in silent.xml.

Starting Silent Mode Installation

This section describes how to start a silent mode installation on a Windows or UNIX machine. It contains the following sections:

Starting the Installation Program in Silent Mode on Windows

To start the installation program in silent mode on a Windows system, follow these steps:

  1. Log in to the Windows system.

  2. 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 information about creating a silent.xml file, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  3. Open a command prompt window.

  4. Go to the directory that contains the installation program.

  5. Start the installer.

    For example, to launch the WebLogic Server Package installer on Windows 32-bit platforms, enter:

    wls1033_win32.exe -mode=silent -silent_xml=path_to_silent.xml

    Here, path_to_silent.xml is the full path of the silent.xml file.

Note:

Incorrect entries in silent.xml can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, Oracle recommends that you create a log file when you start the installation. See Generating a Verbose Installation Log.

An Oracle Installer window is displayed, indicating that the files are being extracted. No other prompt or text is displayed.

For more information, see Chapter 5, "Running the Installation Program in Silent Mode."

Starting .bin Installation Programs in Silent Mode

When using a .bin installation file, follow these steps to start a silent-mode installation:

  1. Log in to the target UNIX system.

  2. 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 information about creating a silent.xml file, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  3. Go to the directory that contains the installation program.

  4. Launch the installation program by entering the following commands:

    chmod a+x file_name.bin

    ./file_name.bin -mode=silent -silent_xml=path_to_silent.xml

    file_name.bin is the name of the installation file.

    path_to_silent.xml is the full path of the silent.xml file.

    Note:

    Incorrect entries in silent.xml can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, Oracle recommends that you create a log file when you start the installation. See Generating a Verbose Installation Log.

    An installer window is displayed, indicating that the files are being extracted. No other prompt or text is displayed.

Starting .jar installation programs in Silent Mode

When using a .jar installation file, follow these steps to start a silent mode installation:

  1. Log in to the target UNIX system.

  2. 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 information about creating a silent.xml file, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  3. Add the bin directory of the appropriate JDK to the beginning of the PATH variable definition on the target system. For example:

    PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH export PATH

  4. Go to the directory that contains the installation file.

  5. Launch the installation by entering the following command:

    java -jar file_name.jar -mode=silent -silent_xml=path_to_silent.xml

    file_name.jar is the name of the installation file

    path_to_silent.xml is the full path to the silent.xml file.

    Notes:

    If you are installing WebLogic Server on a 64-bit platform, see Installing WebLogic Server on 64-Bit Platforms Using 64-Bit JDK, for more information.

    Incorrect entries in silent.xml can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, Oracle recommends that you create a log file when you start the installation. See Generating a Verbose Installation Log.

    When you run the Generic Upgrade installer, include the -Xmxsize[g|G|m|M|k|K] option in the command to ensure that the heap size is adequate.

    An Installer window is displayed, indicating that the files are being extracted.

Installing WebLogic Server on 64-Bit Platforms Using 64-Bit JDK

If you are installing WebLogic Server on a 64-bit platform using a .jar installation program:

  • Include the -d64 flag in the installation command when using a 32/64-bit hybrid JDK (such as for the HP-PA, HPIA, and Solaris64 platforms). For example, if installing in graphical mode using the Package installer:

    java -d64 -jar filename.jar -mode=silent -silent_xml=path_to_silent.xml

  • Execute the java -version command (or java -d64 -version command on platforms using a 32/64-bit hybrid JDK) to ensure that your JAVA_HOME refers to a 64-bit JDK.

  • If you are using the Sun 64-bit JDK, use the following command to install WebLogic Server:

    java -Xmx1024m -jar filename.jar -mode=silent -silent_xml=path_to_silent.xml

Exit Codes for Silent Mode Installation

When run in silent mode, the installation program generates exit codes that indicate the success or failure of the installation.

Table 5-2 shows the exit codes.

Table 5-2 Exit Codes for Silent Mode Installation

Exit 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 launch the silent-mode installation process from a script, you can choose to have these exit codes displayed on the console.

Example 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.

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

rem Execute the installer in silent mode
@echo off
server103_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.

Sample silent.xml File for Silent Mode Installation

The following sample silent.xml file installs all default components of WebLogic Server, the optional Server Examples sub-component of WebLogic Server, and the Product Files component of Coherence.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- Silent installer option -mode=silent -silent_xml=C:\myfiles\silent.xml -->
<!-- Specify values for each data-value name as follows: 
 
     BEAHOME            Complete pathname to the Middleware Home directory that 
                        will contain this installation.
 
     WLS_INSTALL_DIR    Complete pathname to the product installation 
                        directory in which to install WebLogic Server.
 
     COMPONENT_PATHS    Components and subcomponents to be installed.
                        To install multiple components, separate the components
                        with a bar (|).
                        To install subcomponents, specify a 
                        component/subcomponent combination. For example,
                        to install Core Application Server, use
                        "WebLogic Server/Core Application Server".
     
     INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE  Install Node Manager as a Windows 
                                   service. The default is "no".
                                   Requires Administrator privileges.
 
     NODEMGR_PORT       Node Manager listen port number. If none specified,
                        installer uses default port 5556. 
                        INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE must be set to "yes".
     
     INSTALL_SHORTCUT_IN_ALL_USERS_FOLDER
                        The Windows Start menu folder in which you want the 
                        Start menu shortcuts created.
                        The user performing the installation must have 
                        Administrator privileges to install the shortcuts 
                        in the All Users folder.
                        Possible values:
                        true/yes  The shortcuts are created in 
                                  the All Users folder (default)
                        false/no  The shortcuts are created in 
                                  the local user's folder    

     BEA_BUNDLED_JVMS
                        Option to select BEA bundled JVMS (for e.g. either
                        jrockit_160_05 or jdk160_05 for Windows and Linux
                        platforms). The default value is all BEA bundled JVMs
                        for selected platform.

     LOCAL_JVMS
                        Option to select supported JVM, which is already
                        installed. Note: The presence of either(BEA_BUNDLED_JVMS
                        or LOCAL_JVMS) or both of these tokens negates any
                        default selection and only sets the values assigned for
                        these tokens as user selection. The value of the token
                        can be a pipe ('|') separated JavaHomes.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UFF-8"?>
   <bea-installer> 
     <input-fields>
       <data-value name="BEAHOME" value="D:\Oracle\Middleware_Home" />
       <data-value name="WLS_INSTALL_DIR" value="D:\Oracle\Middleware_Home\wlserver_10.3" />
       <data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS"
        value="WebLogic Server/Core Application Server|WebLogic Server
/Administration Console|WebLogic Server/Configuration Wizard and Upgrade 
Framework|WebLogic Server/Web 2.0 HTTP Pub-Sub Server|WebLogic Server/WebLogic 
JDBC Drivers|WebLogic Server/Third Party JDBC Drivers|WebLogic Server
/WebLogic Server Clients|WebLogic Server/WebLogic Web Server Plugins
|WebLogic Server/UDDI and Xquery Support|WebLogic Server/Server Examples|Oracle Coherence/Coherence Product Files" />
       <data-value name="INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE" value="yes" />
       <data-value name="NODEMGR_PORT" value="5559" />
       <data-value name="INSTALL_SHORTCUT_IN_ALL_USERS_FOLDER" value="yes"/>
    <!--
    <data-value name="LOCAL_JVMS" value="D:\jrockit_160_05|D:\jdk160_11"/>
    -->
 
   </input-fields> 
</bea-installer>

Running the Upgrade Installer in Silent Mode

The process for upgrading an installation in silent mode is similar to the process for a full installation in silent mode, except that the silent.xml file is much simpler.

Note:

If you created a silent.xml file when you initially installed WebLogic Server, you should store it in a safe location or make a backup copy of it so that you do not accidentally overwrite it with the silent.xml file you are creating for your upgrade installation. Alternatively, you can name your upgrade file using a different file name, for example silent_upgrade.xml.

Incorrect entries in silent.xml can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, Oracle recommends that you create a log file when you start the installation. See Generating a Verbose Installation Log.

To run the Upgrade installer in silent mode:

  1. Create a silent.xml file (or silent_upgrade.xml file) to specify the Middleware home directory that contains the WebLogic Server installation you want to upgrade. See the sample in Sample silent.xml File for Upgrade Installation.

  2. Save the XML file in the directory in which the Upgrade installer is stored.

  3. Start the Upgrade installer as described in one of the following sections:

    Make sure that the -silent_xml option points to the XML file you created for the upgrade installation.

  4. After the installation completes, if you are using the JRockit SDK, Oracle recommends that you upgrade your domains to use the latest production version. See Configuring Domains to Use the Latest Version of JRockit.

Sample silent.xml File for Upgrade Installation

When using an Upgrade installer, the silent.xml file needs to define only the BEAHOME data value name. This is the Middleware home directory that contains the WebLogic Server installation you want to upgrade. See the following example, where C:\Oracle\Middleware is the Middleware home directory where WebLogic Server is installed. Update this value to the appropriate directory for your installation.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1" ?>
<domain-template-descriptor>
<input-fields>
<data-value name="BEAHOME" value="c:\Oracle\Middleware" />
</input-fields>
</domain-template-descriptor>