Installing the Provider

This section provides information on:

• Installing Manually

• Transporting Using the psadmin Utility

Installing Manually

To install the provider manually

1. Compile the provider class file and copy the file to the provider class base directory which, by default, is PortalServer-DataDir/portals/portal-ID/desktop/classes. Or copy the file to the location specified in the PortalServer-DataDir/portals/portal-ID/config/desktopconfig.properties file.

2. Copy the resource bundle files, if any, to PortalServer-DataDir/portals/portal-ID/desktop/classes directory.

3. Develop the JSPs and templates for the provider and copy the files to the template root directory for the provider which, by default, is PortalServer-DataDir/portals/portal-ID/desktop/desktoptype/providerName.

4. Develop and upload the display profile XML fragments for the provider, the provider’s channels, and the container within which the channels will operate, if any.

Transporting Using the psadmin Utility

Utilize the psadmin export/import -t provider utility for deploying channels and providers. The psadmin export/import -t provider command enables you to transfer or move providers or channels from one the Portal Server software host to another. The psadmin export/import -t provider utility creates a specialized packaging mechanism called a .par file for transport of channels and providers into and out of the server.

A .par file is an extended form of the .jar file format, with added:

• MANIFEST information to carry the deployment information. The special records are called auto-extract operations

• XML document intended for integration into the Portal Server software display profile on the target server

The use of .par files is optional. You can just as well copy all files into their correct locations. The par utility makes deployment easier if you have to install the files on multiple servers.

To create a .par file from scratch, use the export sub command of the psadmin utility.

To export an existing provider, use the export sub command of the psadmin utility.

For example, if you have the provider associated files in the development environment ready for deployment into the production environment, use the following command to build the channel and provider into a PAR file which can then be deployed on the system.

psadmin export -u dn_amadmin -f passwordfile -t provider -p portal-ID -d|-g -x exportfile provider.par

To deploy the .par file into the system, use the following command:

psadmin import -u dn_amadmin -f passwordfile -p portal-ID dn -O '"provider=providername|channel=channelname","provider=providername|channel=channelname"'

All providers that ship with the Portal Server software are in the service-level Desktop display profile. There is no command to extract them all.

See Sun Java System Portal Server 7.1 Command Line Reference for more information on the psadmin utility.