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Chapter 1 Before You Install iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition
The following sections provide the information you need to know before you install iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition.This chapter contains the following sections:
Supported Platforms
Hardware and Software Requirements
Installing Netscape Communicator
Supported Platforms
iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition runs on these platforms:
Required Patches
For the latest information on required patches and service packs, see the release notes at http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals/enterprise.html.
Hardware and Software Requirements
In addition to the Unix, Linux, or Windows NT operating system memory and disk space requirements listed above, your computer must have the following hardware and software:
Swap space at least as large as the amount of RAM on your system (twice the amount of RAM is recommended). Linux requires 256 MB swap space.
Netscape Communicator 4.72 or higher, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.
Java and cookies enabled in your browser.
If you are using Internet Explorer, you need to set your browser to check for a new version of a page every time you access it. To configure this setting, from the View menu, choose Internet Options. On the General tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click Settings. Click the radio button to check for newer versions of stored pages every visit to the page.
A Unix user and group that have the appropriate permissions for running iPlanet Web Server. This user is different from the user that runs the Administration Server. Often people use the user nobody and group nobody for this purpose, but you can also create a specific user and group.
A Java Development Kit (JDK), also known as a Java 2 Software Development Kit (SDK) installed on your system if you plan to use uncompiled Java Server Pages (JSPs). iPlanet Web Server requires the following versions of the JDK:
If you plan on running more than two separate instances of iPlanet Web Server on your system, an additional 16 MB RAM for each server instance.
Paging space at least as large as the amount of RAM on your system (twice the amount of RAM is recommended).
30 MB free disk space for the log files (for approximately 300,000 accesses per day).
Netscape Communicator 4.72 or higher, or Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher.
If you are using Internet Explorer, you need to set your browser to check for a new version of a page every time you access it. To configure this setting, from the View menu, choose Internet Options. On the General tab, in the Temporary Internet Files section, click Settings. Click the radio button to check for newer versions of stored pages every visit to the page.
Java and cookies enabled in your browser.
If you intend to use hostnames during the iPlanet Web Server installation, DNS properly configured with an entry for your server in a DNS server.
A static IP address on your machine.
A Java Development Kit (JDK), also known as a Java 2 Software Development Kit (SDK) installed on your system if you plan to use uncompiled Java Server Pages (JSPs). iPlanet Web Server for Windows NT requires JDK 1.2.2. For more information, see Installing a Java Developer's Kit.
Other Technical Requirements
Once you have the proper hardware and software necessary to install iPlanet Web Server, you should make sure that you meet the following requirements:
You know the host name and IP address of your server computer.
Your server has a DNS alias. For information on creating a DNS alias for your server, see Creating a DNS Alias for the Server.Your server has a user account on Unix, Linux, or NT. See Unix and Linux User Accounts for the Server or Windows NT User Accounts for the Server for more information.You have two port numbers - one for the Administration Server and the other for the first iPlanet Web Server server instance. For information on choosing port numbers for your server, see Choosing Unique Port Numbers.
Creating a DNS Alias for the Server
If your server will run on one machine among many in a network, you or your system administrator should set up a DNS CNAME record or an alias that points to the actual server machine. Later, you can change the actual hostname or IP address of the server machine without having to change all URLs that point to the server machine.For example, you might call the server my_server.my_company.com and then use an alias like www.my_company.com. So the URLs to documents on your server would always use the www alias instead of my_server.
Unix and Linux User Accounts for the Server
When the iPlanet Web Server starts, it runs with a Unix or Linux user account that you specify during installation. Any child processes of the server are created with this account as the owner. It is best to create a Unix or Linux account for the server that has restricted access to your system resources. The account needs read permissions for the configuration files and write permissions for the logs directory. For security reasons, the user account shouldn't have write permissions to some of the configuration files, though some, such as the access control files, should be group writable.If you don't create a dedicated user account for iPlanet Web Server, on many platforms you can use the account with the name nobody, but you might not want to give the user nobody permissions for running the iPlanet Web Server. In addition, the user nobody might not work on some systems. Some systems assign a user ID of -2 for the user nobody. A user ID of less than 0 generates an error during installation. Check the /etc/passwd file to see if the uid for nobody exists, and make sure it is greater than 0.
Note It's strongly recommended that you use a dedicated account for the server.
The Administration Server can also run with a user account that has write permissions to the configuration files for all installed servers. However, it's much easier to run the Administration Server as root because then the Administration Server user can start and stop servers with port numbers less than 1024. (Port numbers greater than 1024 can be started by any user).
The user you use to run the iPlanet Web Server (often nobody) must be in the same group as the user you use to run the Administration Server (often root).
Note When changing the server user, remove any /tmp/lock.* files created in the /tmp directory.
Windows NT User Accounts for the Server
You should create a Windows NT user account for your iPlanet Web Server. It should have restricted access to your system resources and run under a nonprivileged system user account (one that has a limited set of system permissions to your system). When the server starts, it runs with this user account. Any server extension modules the server uses are created with this user account as the owner.During installation, the server uses the LocalSystem account, not the user account you created. Once you start and run the server, you should use the user account you created. You can change the user account for the server after the installation process. You can configure that user account so that it has permissions to get files on another computer, so that your server can serve files that are mounted from another computer.
In addition, the user account you create for the server should belong to a group that contains the server users for all iPlanet servers so that multiple servers can have access to shared files.
Note It's strongly recommended that you use a dedicated account for the server.
Choosing Unique Port Numbers
You need multiple port numbers: one for the Administration Server and one for each instance of iPlanet Web Server. The Administration Server is a special instance of the iPlanet Web Server that you use to manage your iPlanet Web Server. This Administration Server is not the same as the Netscape Administration Server shipped with Netscape Console.The standard web server port number is 80 and the standard SSL-enabled web server port number is 443, but you can install iPlanet Web Server to use any port. If you use a port other than the default port (port 80), the URL used to gain access to your home page changes. For example, if your computer is called www.siroe.com and you choose port 9753, your server's URL will be http://www.siroe.com:9753/.
You should choose a random number for the Administration Server to make it harder for anyone to breach your server. When you configure your server, you use the Administration Server's port number. For example, for server mozilla.com, the server's URL could be http://www.mozilla.com:2634/.
Make sure the port you choose isn't already in use. On Unix and Linux systems, you can check the file /etc/services on the server machine to make sure you don't assign a port number that is reserved for another service. If you choose a port that is currently being used by another service, the installation program prompts you for another port.
Installation Overview
You can install iPlanet Web Server by downloading it off the iPlanet web site:http://www.iplanet.com/downloads/download
You can also install it from the iPlanet Web Server CD, which contains installation programs for both iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 6.0 and Netscape Communicator 4.72. In addition, the iPlanet Web Server software comes with a version of iPlanet Directory Server and Valicert, each on a separate CD.
When you install iPlanet Web Server, you follow these basic steps:
If you have iPlanet Web Server 4.x already installed and plan to migrate that server to work with iPlanet Web Server 6.0, shut down the 4.x web server and save a back up of all its files in the server root.
If you do not already have either Communicator 4.72 or higher or Internet Explorer 5.0 or higher installed, install one.
- You must install iPlanet Web Server 6.0 in a separate directory. For instance, if a previous version of the web server is installed in C:\netscape\server4, install iPlanet Web Server 6.0 in C:\iplanet\servers.
- On Windows NT you may also want to save copies of files added to Winnt/System32 during server installation, and copies of the registry as well. For more information on saving copies of the registry, see your operating system documentation.
If you are planning to use users and groups for access control, and you do not have an iPlanet Directory Server installed, install it from the Directory Server CD included with your iPlanet Web Server software. When you install iPlanet Directory Server, you also install Netscape Console.
Installing Netscape Communicator
Because you need a web browser such as Netscape Communicator to administer your server, you must install Communicator or another browser onto your machine before installing iPlanet Web Server.
Installing Communicator on Unix or Linux
To install Netscape Communicator you can download the software from http://home.netscape.com, or follow these steps to install from the CD:
Put the iPlanet Web Server CD-ROM in the drive and change to the directory for the Unix or Linux operating system that your computer uses.
Change to the comm472 directory on the iPlanet Web Server CD.
- For example, if you are using a Solaris system, type cd solaris.
Copy the comm472.tar file from the iPlanet Web Server CD to a temporary directory on your local disk.
Change to the staging directory on your local disk and untar the comm472.tar file by typing tar -xvf comm472.tar.
At the command line, type ./setup to start the Communicator installation.
Installing Communicator on Windows NT
To install Netscape Communicator you can download the software from http://home.netscape.com, or follow these steps to install from the CD:
Put the iPlanet Web Server CD-ROM in the drive and double-click the ntx86 folder.
Installing iPlanet Directory Server
If you are planning to use users and groups (for example, for access control) with your iPlanet Web Server, you need to install iPlanet Directory Server before installing the iPlanet Web Server, or use an exiting LDAP server installation.
For information on Directory Server see http://www.iplanet.com/.
For information on installing iPlanet Directory Server, see the Directory Server documentation. If you are installing from the CD, the iPlanet Directory Server Installation Guide is included in the box. The documentation is also available online at the following URL:
http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals/directory.html
Installing Netscape Console
When you install the iPlanet Directory Server, you also install Netscape Console. Use Netscape Console to manage your Directory Server. You can also access the iPlanet Web Server from Netscape Console if you run a script after you install the iPlanet Web Server. For more information, see Accessing iPlanet Web Server from the Netscape Console.
If you are not planning to use iPlanet Directory Server, you do not need to install Netscape Console or iPlanet Directory Server.
Installing a Java Developer's Kit
If you are planning to use JSPs that have not been compiled, you must install a Java Developer's Kit (JDK), also referred to as a Java 2 Software Development Kit (SDK). Servlets and precompiled JSPs require only the JRE that comes with iPlanet Web Server.
If you are using HP-UX, you must install the JRE included with iPlanet Web Server or supply a JDK. Without one or the other, the HP-UX iPlanet Web Server won't run.
Different platforms require different versions of the JDK. See Installing a Java Developer's Kit for specific version numbers.
Download the JDK in the following locations:
Sun Solaris:
You can install the JDK before you install iPlanet Web Server, and provide the path to it during installation, or you can wait until after you've installed iPlanet Web Server to install it.
HP-UX:
- http://java.sun.com/j2se/
IBM AIX:
- http://www.hp.com/go/java
Compaq Tru64:
- http://www.ibm.com/java/jdk/download/index.html
Windows NT:
- http://www.compaq.com/java
Linux:
- http://java.sun.com/j2se/
- http://www.blackdown.org
After installation, you can change the JRE or JDK iPlanet Web Server uses. In the Administration Server, on the Global Settings tab, use the Configure JRE/JDK Paths page. You can also change the path to the JRE/JDK in this page.
Accessing iPlanet Web Server from the Netscape Console
If you want to be able to access the iPlanet Web Server from the Netscape Console, run the installMCC script after you install iPlanet Web Server and the Netscape Console. installMCC is a perl script found in server_root/bin/https/bin.To run the script, follow these steps:
Copy installMCC from the server_root/bin/https/bin directory to your iPlanet Directory Server machine at directory_server_root/shared/bin.
Once you have run this script, your iPlanet Web Server appears in the Netscape Console window. When you double-click on the icon in the Netscape Console, the Console launches a web browser window and displays the iPlanet Web Server Administration Server page.Copy the files entserv60.jar and entserv60_en.jar from server_root/bin/https/jar to directory_server_root/java/jars.
At the command prompt, run the installMCC script using the following syntax:
If you are using Unix or Linux, go to the server root and run
- perl installMCC -root server_root -host hostname -port web_admin_port -ldaphost hostname -ldapport ldap_port -basedn basedn -binddn binddn -bindpwd bind_password
- For example:
- perl installMCC -root /usr/iplanet/servers -host austen.red.iplanet.com -port 8888 -ldaphost siroe.red.iplanet.com -ldapport 389 -basedn red.iplanet.com -binddn "cn=Directory Manager" -bindpwd password
./startconsole. If you are using Windows NT, start the Netscape Console from the Start menu.
Note You must specify a Netscape browser in your $PATH or Path or you cannot invoke invoke the iPlanet Web Server Administrator from Netscape Console.
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Copyright © 2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Some preexisting portions Copyright © 2000 Netscape Communications Corp. All rights reserved.
Last Updated May 07, 2001