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.