Chapter 1 Installation Overview

This chapter provides an overview of Web Server installation. For detailed installation instructions, see Chapter 2, Installing the Web Server.

This chapter contains the following sections:

• Installation Enhancements and Changes

• New Administration Framework

• 64-bit Support

• Directory Structure

Installation Enhancements and Changes

This section provides a brief list of the major installation-related enhancements and changes in Web Server 7.0. For complete information about new features in this release, see the Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 Release Notes.

Web Server 7.0 provides the following features:

• A new look and improved installation experience

• Graphical install and uninstall wizards

• A robust command-line interface for installing, migrating, and administering the Web Server

• Three installation modes that provide interactive and non-interactive installation options on all supported platforms

• A 64-bit version of the Web Server for large-scale deployments (Solaris SPARC and AMD64, and Linux only)

• Enhanced distributed management across servers in a server farm

• A start-on-system-boot option for all supported platforms

• Java Software Development Kit, Standard Edition bundled with the product (version 1.5.0_09)

New Administration Framework

Web Server 7.0 includes a new administration framework that provides enhanced distributed management across servers in a server farm. Robust administration capabilities enable Web Server configurations to be managed and deployed remotely using both graphical and command-line interfaces. Server configurations can be managed on a central location in a server farm and distributed to one or more nodes to create server instances. Monitoring and lifecycle management of these server instances are also provided.

Server farms, clusters, and this new administration framework are described in detail in the Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 Administrator’s Guide, but a general understanding of related terms will be helpful as you perform the installation:

• Node refers to a server or host in a network.

• Configuration refers to a set of metadata that configures the runtime services of a Web Server. Serving web pages from a given document root is an example of a runtime service. The configuration metadata is used by the server runtime to load built-in services (SAFs) and third party plug-ins, and to configure other server extensions such as database drivers. All of these services help serve web pages and dynamic web applications.

  The metadata for a configuration is stored in the Config Store, which contains the configuration files, applications, and other elements that are part of a configuration. The configuration files managed by the administration framework are magnus.conf, server.xml, obj.conf, mime.types, keyfile and digestfile, acl files, and the certificate database files. These files are described in detail in the Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 Administrator’s Configuration File Reference.

  Web applications are uploaded as WAR files during deployment and expanded into the Config Store. Third-party NSAPI plug-ins and third-party Java Archive (JAR) files are also stored in the Config Store, as are search collections if the search collection index directory is not specified during migration (for more information, see Search). The Config Store is located in the config-store directory under the instance_dir directory of the Administration Server instance. For detailed information about the contents of the config-store directory, see the Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 Administrator’s Configuration File Reference.

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  Caution –

  Do not edit any file under config-store directory. The files under this directory are created by Web Server for internal use.

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• Instance refers to the environment of a Web Server daemon on a given node, including its configuration, log files, deployed applications and the resources needed by them, and other runtime artifacts such as lock databases, caches, and temporary files. Server instances are created from configurations.

• Cluster refers to a set of instances spanning one or more nodes, all running an identical configuration and offering an identical set of runtime services. All instances in a cluster must be homogeneous, that is, run on an identical operating system version and patches, use an identical Web Server configuration, and offer identical services.

It is important to note the distinction between a configuration and an instance. In Web Server 7.0, a server instance is created by deploying a configuration to one or more nodes in a server farm. A configuration is a virtual representation of an instance.

Web Server Components

During installation you will make choices about the Web Server components to be installed. In general, these choices are based on the role the server will play in a server farm environment and on other administration considerations. Component choices are made only if you are performing a Custom installation. For Express installations, default components are installed automatically, as listed in Table 2–2. Web Server 7.0 includes the following components:

• Server Core

• Server Core 64–Bit Binaries (Solaris SPARC, AMD64, and Linux only)

• Administration Command Line Interface

• Sample Applications

You can install the administration command-line interface without installing server core, but you cannot install server core without installing the administration command-line interface.

Server Core

Server core refers to the core binaries required for the Web Server environment. If Server Core is selected, an Administration instance is created and it can be configured as either the Administration Server or the Administration Node, both of which are described below. If the Administration instance is configured as Administration Server, a default Web Server instance is installed. These installation options are used in server farm environments in which a centralized Administration Server resides on one of the nodes and Administration Nodes reside on the rest.

• Administration Server

  The Administration Server is a specially configured Web Server instance used only for administration purposes and on which administration applications are deployed. Each node in a server farm or cluster environment has an Administration Server running on it. Of these nodes, one is configured to be the master server, referred to as the Administration Server, and the rest are configured to be slave servers, referred to as Administration Nodes (described below). The Administration Server is used to administer all Web Server instances in a server farm and to push configurations to the various nodes. The master Administration Server runs the graphical administration console and command-line administration interface, while the nodes in the farm run just the Administration Node application. The Administration Server maintains the configuration repository for all instances.

• Administration Node

  The Administration Node is a Web Server instance without the features and functionality of the Administration Server (no graphical console, for instance). The Administration Node receives commands from the designated Administration Server and performs limited actions on that particular node, such as creating, deleting, starting, and stopping Web Server instances. Instances can be created on Administration Nodes only by the Administration Server. The nodes within a server farm or cluster cannot be configured independently.

  The Administration Node must be registered with the Administration Server, either during the installation (see the related steps in Chapter 2, Installing the Web Server) or after installation (see Registering the Administration Node From the Command-Line). The Administration Server must be running during the registration.

When considering the options described above, use the following general guidelines:

• If you are not setting up a server farm and want just a straightforward Web Server, choose to configure the Administration instance as the Administration Server. A default Web Server instance will also be created.

• If you are setting up a server farm, first configure the centralized Administration Server instance. Then configure the rest of the nodes in the server farm as Administration Nodes by selecting the option to configure the Administration instance as an Administration Node. If you configure the Administration instance as the Administration Server, a default Web Server instance is also created.

Server Core 64–bit Binaries (Solaris SPARC, AMD64, Linux Only)

If this option is selected, the 64–bit binaries required for setting up the 64–bit runtime for the default Web Server instance are installed. This option is selected by default and displays only if the system on which you are installing has 64-bit support. If this option is selected, both 64- and 32-bit binaries are installed. For more information about 64-bit support in Web Server 7.0, see 64-bit Support.

Administration Command-Line Interface

If you specify Administration Command-Line Interface in the component selection portion of the installation, just the command-line administration interface is installed. This tool is used to administer and configure all Administration Server and Web Server instances in a server farm remotely from the command line. For detailed information about the command-line tool and the powerful new command-line administration interface, see the Web Server 7.0 CLI Man Pages document. For basic information that will help you get started, also see Using the Administration Command-Line Interface in this document.

You can install the administration command-line interface without installing server core, but you cannot install server core without installing the administration command-line interface.

Sample Applications

If you select Sample Applications in the component selection portion of the installation, sample applications demonstrating Web Server features and functionality are installed. The default installation location is install-dir/samples. For more information about the sample applications, see Sample Applications in Web Server in Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 Developer’s Guide to Java Web Applications.

64-bit Support

Web Server 7.0 provides the option of installing a 64-bit version of the Web Server on Solaris SPARC and Solaris AMD64. If the installer detects a 64-bit system, you have the option to install the 64-bit binaries. This option is available only for the following platforms:

• Oracle Enterprise Linux 4 U8+

• Oracle Enterprise Linux 5 U4+

• Oracle Solaris 8, 9, and 10 on SPARC v9

• Oracle Solaris 10 on AMD64

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 64–bit

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 64–bit

• SuSE Enterprise Linux 10.2 64–bit

• SuSE Enterprise Linux 11 64–bit

Also note the following considerations:

• The 64-bit binaries are bundled with the 32-bit binaries, and both are installed if the 64-bit option is selected during installation. You cannot install just the 64-bit binaries.

• If you choose to install the 64-bit binaries during installation, all internal binaries are placed in the install-dir/lib/architecture directory, for example, /opt/oracle/webserver7/lib/sparcv9.

• To determine if your Solaris operating system is 32- or 64-bit, use the isainfo -v command.

• Following installation, the Web Server runs in 32-bit mode by default. For information about actions that must be taken to run the Web Server in 64-bit mode, see Enabling 64–bit Support.

• When the server is configured to run in 32-bit mode (the default), 32-bit NSAPI plug-ins will continue to work even if 64-bit runtime is installed. Existing 32-bit plug-ins, however, will need to be recompiled as 64-bit plug-ins to work with a 64-bit server. In some cases, code changes will also be necessary. For more information, see the Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 NSAPI Developer’s Guide.

• Pure Java code does not need to be recompiled for the 64-bit architecture. If the Java code uses native Java Native Interface (JNI) user code, only the JNI code needs to be compiled. No changes are required for any JAR files. For more information about migrating Java Web applications to the 64-bit architecture, see the Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 Developer’s Guide to Java Web Applications.

• The Administration Server is a 32-bit application, but manages both the 32- and 64-bit Web Server instances.

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  Note –

  ASP 4.0.3 is supported in Web Server 7.0.

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• Web Server 64-bit Linux is a separate stand alone distribution and cannot exist with Web Server 7.0 32-bit Linux. Web Server 7.0 64-bit Linux requires 64-bit JDK 5.0 Update 12 or above. Both Administration Server and server instance only are in 64-bit server

Directory Structure

For detailed information about the directory structure created when you first install the Web Server, see the Oracle iPlanet Web Server 7.0.9 Administrator’s Configuration File Reference.