iPlanet Application Server Installation Guide: Chapter 3 Advanced Installations for Solaris

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iPlanet Application Server Installation Guide

Chapter 3 Advanced Installations for Solaris

This chapter describes using the custom installation wizard to install and configure the application server for the Solaris platform. It contains the following information:

Using the Solaris Custom Installer

Setting Up Database Drivers

Configuring iPlanet Application Server Clusters

Using the Silent Installation Feature

Using the Silent Installation Feature

Verifying Installation of the Application Server

Using the Sample Applications

Installing the Web Connector Plug-in
Check the release notes for any updates to these instructions at:
http://docs.iplanet.com/docs/manuals/ias.html

Note Before you start iPlanet Application Server installation, make sure that you are running a Solaris 2.6 or Solaris 8 system and that the correct patches are installed for Solaris 2.6. See the iPlanet Application Server 6.0 SP2 Release Notes for more information.

Using the Solaris Custom Installer

This section explains how to install iPlanet Application Server on the Solaris platform. It includes the following topics:

Preparing for Installation

Starting Solaris Installations

Installing the Directory Suite

Configuring for iPlanet Application Server Communication

Note You can configure your database connections best after installation by running the database setup tool, db_setup.sh, which is found in: $iAS_home/bin.

Preparing for Installation

Before you begin installing iPlanet Application Server:

Satisfy Check List Requirements

Install and Configure the Web Server

Optional. Create a Raw Partition

Optional. Create a Mirror Directory for Transaction Manager

Optional. Install and Configure All Database Servers

Satisfy Check List Requirements

Before beginning installation, your system must meet the following requirements:

OS: Sun SPARC running Solaris 2.6 or Solaris 8

Minimum Memory: 256 MB per CPU

Recommended Memory: 512 MB per CPU

Disk space: 400 MB

Login to the system as root

Make sure you have your product key nearby; it's in the Welcome letter

Ensure that a static IP address is assigned to the server machine (contact your system administrator to get one)

Establish a UNIX user and group for iPlanet Application Server. You use this account to install and manage iPlanet Application Server.

Install a Web Server, record its path, and have it running.

Install Netscape Communicator 4.5 or later.

Install and Configure the Web Server

The Web Server and Web Browser must be installed and configured before you install iPlanet Application Server. The full path of the running Web Server instance is required for Solaris installation.
The iPlanet Web Server is available on the iPlanet Web site at: http://www.iplanet.com/downloads/download/
The iPlanet Application Server user and the Web Server user must either be the same or from the same group. If the Web Server is installed as a regular user, and the iPlanet Application Server user is installed as the root user, a file permission problem will exist and the Web Server won't start because it won't have access to the registry file reg.dat.
If your Web Server runs on a different machine than the iPlanet Application Server, so that you are not installing the Web Server with iPlanet Application Server, you perform what is referred to as a "webless" installation. After performing a webless installation, you must remember to install the Web Connector plug-in on the Web Server in your configuration after you finish installing iPlanet Application Server.
For more information see, Part , "Installing the Web Connector Plug-in" on page 75.

Create a Raw Partition

Optional. Create a raw partition on a separate disk prior to running the installation program. This is where the transaction manager log file gets stored for each Java Server.

Create a Mirror Directory for Transaction Manager

Optional. Create a directory on a separate drive from the iPlanet Application Server installation directory and specify a path to it - prior to installing the application server.

Install and Configure All Database Servers

Before installing iPlanet Application Server, install the database servers and clients to use with this iPlanet Application Server installation.
During application server Custom installation, you can choose to configure iPlanet Type 2, third party JDBC, or no JDBC drivers. Although you can only configure either the Type 2 drivers or Type 3 JDBC drivers during installation, you can choose to configure both after installation.
You can configure JDBC drivers after installation by executing a JDBC driver configuration tool. When configuring after installation, you must restart the application server to apply the driver changes.

For Solaris: execute the db_setup.sh script. (This is the same command used to configure iPlanet Type 2 drivers).

Starting Solaris Installations

Before you begin installing iPlanet Application Server, see "Satisfy Check List Requirements".

Note A Web server and Web browser must be installed and running before you begin iPlanet Application Server installation. You can download iPlanet Web Server, Enterprise Edition 4.1 (SP5) from:
http://www.iplanet.com/downloads/download/

During a Solaris platform, iPlanet Application Server installation, use the following keystroke commands:

Enter key; accepts that screen's default setting and goes to next screen.

CTL-B; goes back to the previous screen within an installation section, as defined by the title at the top of the screen. You cannot use CTL+B to go back to a screen in a different section.

CTL-C; exits the installation once exited, the installer starts over at the beginning.

Comma (,) delimited list; specifies more than one item.

To Begin the Custom Installation

The following procedure is common to all the Solaris installations.

Login as root.

Insert the iPlanet Application Server Install CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.

At the prompt, run the following command: /cdrom/cdrom0/solaris/setup

The Tips screen appears.

When the license agreement appears you must enter Y to continue.

The installer installs, by default, the iPlanet Servers group unless you select the iPlanet Console instead.

If you select iPlanet Console (formerly Netscape Console), the iPlanet Console is installed as a standalone application, which can be used from any machine to administer your iPlanet Application Server configuration.

.

Enter the number 3 to select the Custom Installation type.

Enter and installation directory. The default iPlanet Application Server installation directory location is: /usr/iplanet/ias6

If you enter a different location, do not include spaces in the path name. All components are installed in this base directory

.

Note You must have at least 400 MB available on this drive to install iPlanet Application Server.

On the iPlanet Server Products Components panel, the default choice of [All] indicates which components are installed during a full install of iPlanet Application Server. You may choose to:

Keep the default selection. If you choose [All], the parts of each component are listed in subsequent screens, so that you can refine your choices further.

De-select the Directory Suite component if you have an already installed directory service available. This should also be de-selected if you intend to install multiple instances of iPlanet Application Server. See "Using the Silent Installation Feature" for more information.

De-select Administrations Services if you don't want the iPlanet Console

De-select everything but the iPlanet Application Server

Enter the system user and group name you set up for use with the iPlanet Application Server prior to running the installation program.

Installing the Directory Suite

For an overview of the Directory Server, see the iPlanet Directory Server Installation Guide.
Within the iPlanet Application Server installation there are several panels having to do with installing and configuring the Directory Suite. The Express Installation Wizard panels set up the:

Administrator for the Configuration Directory Server

Administrator for the Directory Server directory data; this "superuser" is identified by the Directory Manager Distinguished Name (DN)

Note For information about installing the Directory Server, see the iPlanet Directory Server Installation Guide at:
http://docs.iplanet.com/

To Configure the Directory Server

Accept the fully qualified domain name. It is already set to the computer where you're installing this Directory Server instance by the installer.

Type in the system user and system group names.

You should have already set up this user and group prior to running the installation program. Specify a user that has no privileges elsewhere on the system to avoid giving out access to restricted servers, such as the configuration Directory Server.

Enter to accept the default and register this Directory Server as the configuration Directory Server. If not installing the configuration Directory Server included in this installation, specify an existing Directory Server and type in the Relay Host.

Accept the default to specify this Directory Server instance as the general directory data storage server.

If you have an existing Directory Server already installed on your system for this purpose, specify it.

To set the Directory Server's Port Number, accept the default. which is 389 if you install as root. Otherwise, the default value is a random number greater than 1024, generated by the installer, that is available to be the port number.

Enter a Directory Server identifier, or accept the default.

Assign the Administrator ID and password for the Configuration Directory Server, as follows:

Keep the default Configuration Directory Administrator ID: admin

Enter a password: it can contain letters and number.

Note Record and keep the Configuration Directory Administrator ID and password for future reference. They are required when to login to the iPlanet Console and to uninstall the iPlanet Application Server and the Directory Server.

Keep the default value Directory Manager DN, which is set to the common name of Directory Manager (cn=Directory Manager). Or, if necessary, enter a different Directory Manager .

The Directory Manager's Distinguished Name is the special directory entry for the administrator of the Directory Server. Access control does not apply to the Directory Manager.

Enter a password for the Directory Manager that is at least 8 characters long.

If your installation has multiple domains setup for this Directory Server, enter a unique domain name here, otherwise keep the default entry.

To configure this Directory Server installation for replication, enter Y, otherwise accept the default choice.

You may enter sample directory data or accept the default .

Enter the word "suggest" at the prompt, to get the install program to add sample entries to the Directory Server.

To disable schema checking for an imported database, enter the default choice.

Configuring for iPlanet Application Server Communication

To Configure the Administration Server

Enter to accept the default port number or type in a different port number.

Enter to accept the default or enter the specific IP address you want the Administration Server to bind to.

To enable "root" user access to the Administration Server, press Enter.

Enter Y or N.

Depending on the configuration you are currently installing you may or may not want the locally installed Directory Server to be the instance which connects to iPlanet Application Server.

Enter to accept the default, or type in a unique global configuration name for this installation of iPlanet Application Server. This name is stored on the configuration Directory Server, under the o=iPlanetRoot tree, along with global configuration names of any other iPlanet Application Server installations.

Enter the Solaris product key.

You can find the product key in your iPlanet Welcome letter.

Enter the full path of your Web Server instance.

No default is provided.

Press Enter to accept the default listener port numbers.

Listener ports must be within the acceptable range (1025 to 32768), and must be unique (not used by any other services on your system).

Enter to accept the default number of Java Servers (KJS) you intend to use and their default port number(s), or type in different port numbers.

All Java Server port numbers are listener ports and must be within the acceptable range of 1025 to 32768. Port numbers must be unique (not used by any other services on your system).

Press Enter to accept the default number of C++ Servers (KCS) you intend to use and their default port number(s). Or type in different port numbers.

All C++ port numbers are listener ports and must be within the acceptable range of 1025 to 32768. Port numbers must be unique (not used by any other services on your system).

Type in your Administration Server username and password.

After installation, you'll need these to register iPlanet Application Server and to use the iPlanet Application Server Administration Tool.

Setting Up Database Drivers

iPlanet Application Server supports iPlanet Type 2 JDBC drivers and third party JDBC database drivers.

To Set Up Third Party JDBC Database Drivers

Enter iPlanet Type 2 JDBC drivers, third party JDBC drivers, or none.

It is recommended that you use the third party JDBC drivers, since the proprietary iPlanet Type 2 JDBC drivers are to be deprecated in the next major release.

Enter the number of JDBC third party drivers you need.

For each third party JDBC driver, enter the driver name, driver class name, and driver CLASSPATH. Follow the formats in the wizard examples. For details about this configuration information, see "Configuring Third Party JDBC Drivers".

The Third Party Native Driver Directory is required for Type 2 drivers only.

Note After installation you must register the datasource files for the third party JDBC drivers. See the iPlanet Application Server Administration Guide.

To Configure Type 2 Database Connectivity

The installation program lists the database clients supported by iPlanet Application Server. These clients are required for Type 2 connectivity.

Indicate if you want to configure this instance of iPlanet Application Server to connect with each of the supported database clients. For each client that you specify "Yes," provide the specified information for that client:

Oracle

Oracle home directory

ORACLE_SID

Class library

Sybase:

Sybase home directory

Sybase server name

Class library

Informix:

Informix home directory

Informix server name

Class library

DB2:

DB2 home directory

DB2 server name

Class library

Type Y (Yes) or N (No) to indicate whether or not to configure iPlanet Application Server for communication with Oracle, Sybase, Informix, and IBM DB2.

Rank each database according to its priority for your application's data lookup needs.

This enables you to write applications without specifying what database to use.

To Configure the Transaction Manager

The restart backup file for managing transactions, in case of engine failure, should be stored in a directory on a separate drive from the iPlanet Application Server installation directory. This needs to be setup prior to installing the application server.

Enter the mirror directory path where the transaction manager restart.bak file of each KJS process is to be stored.

The default directory is installDir/CCS0/TXNMGR_MIRROR/. This is the same path that is used to store the restart file. It is recommended that you store restart.bak in a different location than restart. Consider using a pointer to the different physical disk drive.

Set a location for the transaction monitor log file.

The log volume disk name is where the transaction manager log file is stored. The engine specified by /ENGx/represents the KJS engine process number. Create a directory on a separate disk drive and specify if it is a raw partition.

To configure iPlanet Application Server to use the Resource Manager with the Transaction Manager - to manage global transactions - by accepting the default setting.

If you have not yet configured a database, you are prompted to do it here.

Coordinate the first resource manager instance with a database driver. You must specify the database server name, administrative user name and password.

To configure others, type in a unique resource identifier, the database type to associate it with, as well as, the database server name, administrative user name and password.

To enable standard Java Internationalization support, enter Y, otherwise accept the default setting (N).

Configuring iPlanet Application Server Clusters

A simple cluster configuration is demonstrated in the instructions on the iPlanet Developer's Web site. This simplistic cluster configuration is not representative of a true production configuration, but is sufficient to demonstrate the behavior of the iPlanet Application Server.
The configuration consists of two machines that each have a Web server instance and an iPlanet Application Server instance installed. One machine also has a Directory Server instance that is used by the application servers on both machines, as shown in the following illustration.
Figure 3-1 A simple iPlanet Application Server cluster configuration

In this simple cluster, configuration data is stored in the directory server on the first machine. When the second application server is installed, it uses the same directory server for configuration information. It's preferable to use the same data tree in the directory server, so that the same configuration information can be shared between all servers and Web connectors.
During installation of the second application server, you must enter the same value for the cluster name and global configuration name as specified during the first application server installation.
In this example, the Web servers are on the same machine as the iPlanet Application Servers. If the Web servers were housed on a separate tier of machines, then you would enter the same global configuration name and cluster name during the Web connector installation.

Note This is not a production configuration. If it were a production configuration, it would most likely have the Web servers on separate machines and a second Directory Server configured to act as a backup for the first Directory Server. For information on how to set up the iPlanet Directory Servers for replication and failover, see the iPlanet Directory Server Installation Guide at: http://docs.iplanet.com

To Install iPlanet Application Server Clusters

Follow instructions for installing and verifying the simple cluster on the Solaris platform, shown in Figure 3-1 at: http://developer.iplanet.com/appserver/samples/cluster/docs/unix-cluster.html

To Configure Clusters for Data Synchronization

To set this iPlanet Application Server instance to participate in data synchronization accept the default (Y).

This sets up the synchronization of session and state information across multiple servers for failover and fault tolerance.

If you answered yes in the previous screen, you are asked to:

Enter the name of the cluster to which this instance of iPlanet Application Server belongs. The cluster may already exist, or this may be the first server assigned to the cluster.

Indicate if this iPlanet Application Server instance is to be a Sync Local or Sync Server instance.

Enter the IP address and priority for each Sync Server. Start with the highest priority Sync Server in the cluster. This is the first server to take over if Sync Primary fails. Enter each Sync Server's priority until all are ranked.

Enter the same IP addresses and port numbers for each installation of iPlanet Application Server in the cluster. These IP addresses and port numbers must match across installations for the cluster to function properly.

Specify the number of Sync Backup servers that should be active while the cluster is running.

To enable automatic restarts of this iPlanet Application Server instance, enter Yes.

Note You can only run iPlanet Application Server automatically at startup if you logged on as root.

The installation program now configures the iPlanet Application Server files in your system.

Using the Silent Installation Feature

Silent installation allows you to install the Application Server on multiple Solaris machines without running the installation program more than once.

To install on multiple Solaris machines

Run the setup -k command on the first machine.

Proceed with the installation program. An install.inf file is generated in the installDir/setup directory. In addition, a log file,userinput.log, is generated in the installDir/ias directory. This file contains all input entered during the installation procedure.

Once you have completed the installation process, copy install.inf and userinput.log and add them to the /tmp directory of a second system.

Modify the copies of install.inf and userinput.log, making the following changes:

Change the values for the following keys in install.inf by entering the machine name and IP address of the machine where you are silently installing the iPlanet Application Server:

FullMachineName

ConfigDirectoryLdapURL

UserDirectoryLdapURL

ServerIdentifier

ServerIpAddress

Change the following keys in the userinput.log file by entering the machine name and IP address of the machine where you are silently installing the iPlanet Application Server:

LDAP_Hostname

LDAP_ServerIdentifier

LocalHostName

NSRootDir

CLUSTERNAME

nsinst

LocalIPAddress

Enter the value of LDAP_RootDNPwd.

This is the password for the Directory Manager.

Run the following command on the second system to begin silent installation: setup -s -f fullpath/install.inf
This performs an installation with exactly the same setup as the first system.

Installing Multiple Instances on Solaris

Multiple instances benefits both the development and production environments. In the development environment, having multiple iPlanet Application Server instances enables you to isolate code. In a production environment, multiple iPlanet Application Server instances improves scalability.

Note This option is available only on Solaris.

To Install for Developer Deployment

Create logins for each iPlanet Application Server instance.

Install the initial instance of the iPlanet Application Server on each system.

Set up a home directory, such as: /usr/iplanet/ias6/instance0.

Store configuration data under the global configuration name, iasconfig0, on the Directory Server.

Configure the number of executive server (KJS) processes so there is one KJS per iPlanet Application Server instance.

Install additional iPlanet Application Server instances.

Use Custom Installation to assign different port numbers.

Set up different home directories for each instance, like:
/usr/iplanet/ias6/instance1, /usr/iplanet/ias6/instance2

Do not install the iPlanet Directory Suite or Administration Services.

Do not install iPlanet Core Java classes or Java Runtime Environment.

Store configuration data on the primary directory server in "iasconfig1", "iasconfig2", and so forth.

Install the Web Connector on all Web Server instances. Each Web Server instance is associated with one iPlanet Application Server instance.

To Install for Production Deployment

Install two Directory Servers; one to serve as a primary and the other a secondary server. Configure these servers so that the primary Directory Server replicates to the secondary.

Create logins for each Directory Server instance. The best performance comes from using 1 instance per processor, but up to eight (8) processors can be used per Directory Server instance.

Install the initial instance of the iPlanet Application Server on each system.

Setup an installation directory, like: /usr/iplanet/ias6/instance0.

Store configuration data in iasconfig_global on the primary Directory Server.

Configure for the secondary Directory Server.

Configure at least two KJS processes per iPlanet Application Server instance.

Optional: Configure the application server so that it starts up automatically

Install additional instances.

Use the Custom Installation to change port numbers.

Input different home directories for each instance, like:
/usr/iplanet/ias6/instance1, /usr/iplanet/ias6/instance2

Do not install the iPlanet Directory Suite or Administration Services.

Do not install iPlanet Core Java classes or Java Runtime Environment.

Do not install iPlanet Application Server Web Connector Component or Administration Tool or Deployment Tool.

Store configuration data on the primary Directory Server in:

iasconfig_global for most instances

iasconfig_aol for Web servers and iPlanet Application Servers in a cluster configuration dedicated to handling AOL customers

iasconfig_isp1 for Web servers and iPlanet Application Servers in a cluster configuration dedicated to handling isp1 customers

iasconfig_ispN for Web servers and iPlanet Application Servers in cluster configuration dedicated to handling ispN customers

Configure a secondary Directory Server.

Configure the number of KXS and KJS processes so that there are at least two KJS processes per instance. Configure for a maximum of 8 processors per instance, but definitely consider starting with 1 processor per instance.

Configure each instance so that it does not start up automatically.

Create a script to bind processes to individual processors. Consider binding the KXS and two KJS processes of an instance to the same processor if a processor per instance has been allocated. Otherwise, bind the KXS to one processor and each of the KJS processes to separate processors for each instance. Consider 2 processor sets for KXS processes on Primary instances.

Create a crontab script to periodically check process bindings. A restart of a KJS process should cause this script to run the process binding script.

Configure cluster pairs so that:

A ring topology is achieved as much as possible

Each instance is on a separate server

Example 1:

Server A runs Instance 0 and Instance 1

Server B runs Instance 2 and Instance 3

Server C runs Instance 4 and Instance 5

Create Cluster 0 with Instance 1 and Instance 2
Create Cluster 1 with Instance 3 and Instance 4
Create Cluster 2 with Instance 5 and Instance 0

Example 2:

Server A runs Instance 0, 1, 2, and 3

Server B runs Instance 4, 5, 6, and 7

Server C runs Instance 8 and 9

Create Cluster 0 with Instance 0 and 4

Create Cluster 1 with Instance 1 and 5

Create Cluster 2 with Instance 2 and 6

Create Cluster 3 with Instance 3 and 9

Create Cluster 4 with Instance 7 and 8

Configure all iPlanet Application Server clusters for Per Component load balancing. Per Server load balancing will be confused by the sharing of servers between instances.

On each server, modify the rc2 startup scripts so that all Sync Primary instances are started as soon as possible. Delay the startup of all Sync Backup Instances. Determine which instances are to be Sync Primary or Sync Backup by evenly dividing the load between the physical servers. The reason for making these changes is that Sync Primary servers do more work, so it is desirable to evenly divide the work. Sync Primary instances are determined based on the startup order.

Example 1:

Continuing from Example 1 in the previous section. Primary instances could be 1, 3, and 5.

Example 2:

Continuing from Example 2 in the previous section. Primary instances could be 0, 1, 6, 7, and 8.

Install Web Connector on all web server instances. Allocate appropriate numbers of web server instances for each cluster that is allocated to ISP proxies. All other web server instances can be shared by the remaining cluster pairs.

Configure the web tier load balancer so that sessions return to their original web servers.

Configure the web tier load balancer so that known ISP proxies are associated with the web servers which have been allocated for that purpose.

Configure the web tier load balancer so that application partitioning between clusters is supported (in cases where applications do not exist on all clusters).

Note Not all load balancing solutions can support all of these features. Resonate Central Dispatch is an example of a load balancer with these features.

Verifying Installation of the Application Server

The iPlanet Web site provides an application that verifies connectivity of your iPlanet Application Server installation. Since this basic application, which uses servlets and JSPs, does not rely on a database, it runs without any extra setup.

To Verify Installation

Open your browser and enter the following URL:

http://yourwebserver:portnumber/ias-samples/index.html

Press Enter.

Click the Test Connectivity to iPlanet Application Server link to run a basic application. Press shift the shift key and click on the browser's Reload button to ensure the application repeatedly returns a new HTML stream.

Using the Sample Applications

To better understand specific technology features provided by iPlanet Application Server, run the iPlanet Application Server Technology Samples.

To Use the Sample Applications

Start running iPlanet Application Server.

Open your browser, enter the following URL, and press Enter:

http://yourwebserver:portnumber/ias-samples/index.html

Select the iPlanet Application Server J2EE Application Samples link and select a specific sample application. Follow the application-specific setup instructions to establish the necessary database settings and to run the application.
After you become familiar with the iPlanet Application Server sample applications, run the Sun Samples, which are applications based on those found at http://java.sun.com. The Java Pet Store example in particular demonstrates how a popular J2EE application is deployed to iPlanet Application Server.
You can review the source code of the sample applications and associated J2EE XML Deployment Descriptors by browsing in the following location:
installDir/ias/ias-samples/
You can also find compile scripts at this site for experimenting with the sample code.

Installing the Web Connector Plug-in

The Web Connector plug-in passes requests from your Web server to applications on iPlanet Application Server. iPlanet provides a Web Connector plug-in for the iPlanet Web Server.
If you install iPlanet Application Server on a different machine than where the Web Server resides, you are configuring what is referred to as a "webless installation" of iPlanet Application Server. If this is the case, you must install the iPlanet Application Server Web Connector plug-in on the web server machine.
Before you install the Web Connector plug-in, do the following:

Check whether or not the iPlanet Application Server 6.0 Web Connector plug-in has already been installed. If it has, the Web Server instance is already configured for iPlanet Application Server and you do not need to re-install the plug-in.

Stop running your Web Server instance.

On Solaris, log on as the root user or as a user from the same group as the root user, who installed iPlanet Application Server before installing the Web Connector plug-in.
This procedure assumes that you have already installed iPlanet Application Server and Directory Server.

To Install the Web Connector Plug-in

After you finish installing iPlanet Application Server as a webless installation, take the installation CD-ROM to the machine or machines that host the Web Server.

Follow the instructions of the installation program.

When prompted, select "iPlanet Servers" as the components to install.

Select Typical as the installation type.

Specify a target installation directory. Do not include spaces in the path name.

When prompted for the components you want to install, select an iAS-only installation.

When prompted to install the iPlanet Application Server components, select the iPlanet Application Server Web Connector Component.

Follow the instructions of the installation program.
More information about the iPlanet Application Server Web Connector Component is contained in the iPlanet Application Server Administrator's Guide and in the Deployment Tool online help system.

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Copyright © 2000 Sun Microsystems, Inc. Some preexisting portions Copyright © 2000 Netscape Communications Corp. All rights reserved.

Last Updated February 09, 2001