This section describes how to install and configure Oracle VM Manager securely.
All applications and components required to run Oracle VM Manager are packaged in an installer ISO image. To install, burn the image onto a DVD and insert it into the host server, or mount the image onto the host server file system. The components involved in the Oracle VM Manager installation are:
The Oracle VM Manager web application is provided as an Oracle WebLogic Server domain and container.
Oracle VM Manager runs on top of Oracle WebLogic Server 11g, including Application Development Framework (ADF) Release 11g Consult the Oracle WebLogic 11g documentation for more information.
Use of Oracle WebLogic Server with Oracle VM Manager is restricted to the servlet functionality without clustering for the Oracle VM management server.
Oracle VM uses an Oracle database as a backend repository. Depending on the version of Oracle VM and the type of installation you choose, the database may differ. These are the typical configurations:
Oracle VM 3.1 demo installation with Oracle XE database backend
Oracle VM 3.1 production installation with Oracle Database Standard Edition (Oracle SE) or Enterprise Edition (Oracle EE) database backend
Oracle VM 3.2 simple installation with MySQL database backend
Oracle VM 3.2 custom installation with Oracle Database Standard Edition (Oracle SE) or Enterprise Edition (Oracle EE) database backend
Only in non-production Oracle VM 3.1 environments the Oracle XE database may be used as Oracle VM Manager repository. Oracle XE is intended for testing and demo purposes. It is not a supported product, and Oracle Support Services cannot provide bug fixes or patches.
If you are deploying Oracle VM Manager in a production environment, you may use either MySQL database as part of the Oracle VM 3.2 simple installation, or Oracle Database Standard or Enterprise Edition, which you must install separately to Oracle VM. Oracle VM Manager includes a restricted-use license of these databases for use as the Oracle VM Manager Management Repository only.
When running the installer script from the Oracle VM Manager DVD or ISO image, you can choose between a quick installation to get started in the shortest possible time, and an advanced installation that offers more configuration options. In Oracle VM 3.1 these installation types are called demo and production; in Oracle VM 3.2 they are called simple and custom. The most flexible and preferred installation type of Oracle VM Manager is production or custom.
The production installation in Oracle VM 3.1, and the custom installation in Oracle VM 3.2, allow you to connect to an existing local or remote Oracle SE/EE database. You set the users and passwords to use for the Oracle Database, Oracle VM Manager database, Oracle WebLogic Server, and Oracle VM Manager during the installation. Choose clear user names and secure passwords. The password rules are:
8-16 characters in length
contains at least 1 uppercase letter
contains at least 1 lowercase letter
contains at least 1 numeric value
For more details, see Installing Oracle VM Manager in the Oracle VM Installation and Upgrade Guide.
For all security information related to the database, consult the following Oracle Technology Network (OTN) resources:
Oracle Database Security and Compliance: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/security/index.html
Oracle Database Documentation home page: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/enterprise-edition/documentation/index.html. Open the documentation library of your database version and select the topic Security.
MySQL home page: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/database/mysql/index.html
MySQL Security Guide: http://dev.mysql.com/doc/mysql-security-excerpt/5.5/en/index.html
Installing Oracle VM Manager as a guest on an Oracle VM Server in your managed environment is possible for testing and demo purposes, but not a recommended practice. Before you decide to create this setup, consider the following:
The setup procedure is relatively complicated.
The virtual machine running Oracle VM Manager could easily be shut down by accident.
If the server pool goes offline, recovering the environment will be difficult or may fail.
In addition to the risk of data loss or corruption, a race condition may occur because of the way the NTP service works: Oracle VM Manager is normally the NTP source for the entire environment, but as a virtual machine it is also a client of the NTP service.