9 Configuring Oracle Web Tier for an Enterprise Deployment

This chapter describes how to configure Oracle Web Tier to support the Oracle WebCenter Content implementation.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• Section 9.1, "Overview of Configuring Oracle Web Tier"

• Section 9.2, "Running the Configuration Wizard to Configure Oracle HTTP Server"

• Section 9.3, "Validating the Installation"

• Section 9.4, "Configuring Oracle HTTP Server with the Load Balancer"

• Section 9.5, "Defining Virtual Hosts"

• Section 9.6, "Configuring Oracle HTTP Server for the WebLogic Server Domain"

9.1 Overview of Configuring Oracle Web Tier

Before configuring the Oracle Web Tier software, you need to install it on WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2, as described in Section 7.2, "Installing Oracle HTTP Server," and define the instance home, instance name, and Oracle HTTP Server component name, as described in Section 9.2, "Running the Configuration Wizard to Configure Oracle HTTP Server."

Then you can validate the installation and configure the load balancer to route all HTTP requests to WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2.

Finally, you can configure the virtual hosts by defining directives in configuration files. You created the following virtual host names when you configured the load balancer in Section 3.3, "Load Balancers":

• admin.example.com

• wcc.example.com

• wccinternal.example.com

9.2 Running the Configuration Wizard to Configure Oracle HTTP Server

The steps for configuring the Oracle Web Tier are the same for both WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2.

To configure Oracle Web Tier:

1. Change the directory to the location of the Web Tier configuration wizard:

   cd WT_ORACLE_HOME/bin
   

   In the reference topology, WT_ORACLE_HOME is the /u02/oracle/products/fmw_home/web_home directory.

2. Start the configuration wizard:

   ./config.sh
   

3. On the Welcome screen, click Next.

4. On the Configure Components screen, select Oracle HTTP Server, and ensure that Associate Selected Components with WebLogic Domain is selected. Make sure that Oracle Web Cache is not selected.

   Click Next.

5. On the Specify WebLogic Domain screen, specify the following value:

   • Domain Host Name: ADMINVHN

   • Domain Port No: 7001

   • User Name: weblogic

   • Password: password

6. On the Specify Component Details screen, specify the following values:

   • Instance Home Location: /u02/oracle/config/webn

   • Instance Name: webn

   • OHS Component Name: ohsn

   (where n is a sequential number for your installation; for example, 1 for WEBHOST1, 2 for WEBHOST2, and so on)

   Note:

   The Oracle HTTP Server instance names on WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2 must be different.

   Click Next.

7. On the Configure Ports screen, select Specify Ports using Configuration file, then select a file name, and then click View/Edit.

   In high-availability implementations, it is not mandatory for all of the ports used by the various components to be synchronized across hosts; however, it makes the enterprise deployment much simpler. You can bypass automatic port configuration by specifying the ports in a file.

   The file will look like this:

   [OHS]
   #Listen port for OHS component
   OHS Port = 7777
   
   [OPMN]
   #Process Manager Local port no
   OPMN Local Port = 1880
   

   You can find a sample staticports.ini file on installation disk 1 in the stage/Response/ directory.

   Click Next.

8. On the Specify Security Updates screen, choose whether you want to receive security updates from Oracle support and if you do, enter your email address.

9. On the Installation Summary screen, review the selections to ensure they are correct. If they are not, click Back to modify selections on previous screens. When you are ready, click Configure.

10. Multiple configuration assistants are launched in succession; this process can be lengthy. When it completes, click Next.

11. On the Installation Complete screen, click Finish to exit.

9.3 Validating the Installation

Once the installation is completed, check that it is possible to access the Oracle HTTP Server home page using the following URL:

http://WEBHOST1.example.com:7777/
http://WEBHOST2.example.com:7777/

9.4 Configuring Oracle HTTP Server with the Load Balancer

Configure your load balancer to route all HTTP requests to the hosts running Oracle HTTP Server (WEBHOST1, WEBHOST2). You do not need to enable sticky sessions (insert cookie) on the load balancer when Oracle HTTP Server is front-ending Oracle WebLogic Server. You need sticky sessions if you are going directly from the load balancer to Oracle WebLogic Server, which is not the case in the topology described in this guide. Also, you should set monitors for HTTP.

The instructions for this configuration will vary depending on which load balancer you use. See your load balancer documentation for specific instructions.

9.5 Defining Virtual Hosts

The reference topology in this guide requires that you define a set of virtual hosts for the Oracle HTTP Server. For each virtual host, you will later define a set of specific URLs that will route requests to the proper Administration Server or Managed Server in the WebLogic Server domain.

This section contains the following topics:

• Section 9.5.1, "Creating *_vh.conf Files to Define <VirtualHost> Directives"

• Section 9.5.2, "Validating the Configuration"

9.5.1 Creating *_vh.conf Files to Define <VirtualHost> Directives

You need to define each virtual host in its own *_vh.conf file in every ORACLE_INSTANCE/ohsn/moduleconf directory. This will make it easy to manage the URLs for each virtual host you define.

You define the <VirtualHost> directives in the following new files:

• admin_vh.conf

• wccinternal_vh.conf

• wcc_vh.conf

• wccui_vh.conf

In the reference topology, you create these files in each of the following directories:

/u02/oracle/config/web1/config/OHS/ohs1/moduleconf

/u02/oracle/config/web2/config/OHS/ohs2/moduleconf

To define each virtual host in its own *_vh.conf file:

1. Create the admin_vh.conf file in the ORACLE_INSTANCE/ohsn/moduleconf directory, and add the following directive:

   NameVirtualHost *:7777
   <VirtualHost *:7777>
       ServerName admin.example.com:80
       ServerAdmin [e-mail]
       RewriteEngine On
       RewriteOptions inherit
       RewriteRule ^/console/jsp/common/logout.jsp "/oamsso/logout.html?end_url=/console" [R]
   </VirtualHost>
   

   If the steps in Chapter 18, "Integrating with Oracle Identity Management," have not been completed, then comment out the RewriteRule lines until the integration has been completed.

2. Create the wccinternal_vh.conf file in the ORACLE_INSTANCE/ohsn/moduleconf directory, and add the following directive:

   NameVirtualHost *:7777
   <VirtualHost *:7777>
       ServerName wccinternal.example.com:80
       ServerAdmin [e-mail]
       RewriteEngine On
       RewriteOptions inherit
   </VirtualHost>
   

3. Create the wcc_vh.conf file in the ORACLE_INSTANCE/ohsn/moduleconf directory, and add the following directive:

   NameVirtualHost *:7777
   <VirtualHost *:7777>
       ServerName https://wcc.example.com:443
       ServerAdmin [e-mail]
       RewriteEngine On
       RewriteOptions inherit
   </VirtualHost>
   

4. Create the wccui_vh.conf file in the ORACLE_INSTANCE/ohsn/moduleconf directory, and add the following directive:

   NameVirtualHost *:7777
   <VirtualHost *:7777>
       ServerName https://wcc.example.com:443
       ServerAdmin [e-mail]
       RewriteEngine On
       RewriteOptions inherit
   </VirtualHost>
   

5. Restart both Oracle HTTP Servers:

   cd /u02/oracle/config/webN/bin
   opmnctl stopall
   opmnctl startall
   

Note:

Values such as wcc.example.com:443, ServerAdmin [e-mail], and admin.example.com:80 are only examples. Enter values based on your actual environment.

9.5.2 Validating the Configuration

Access the following URLs to ensure that your load balancer and Oracle HTTP Server are configured properly:

• http://admin.example.com/index.html

• https://wcc.example.com/index.html

• http://wccinternal.example.com/index.html

If you cannot access these URLs, check to ensure that you correctly completed the procedure in Section 3.3, "Load Balancers."

9.6 Configuring Oracle HTTP Server for the WebLogic Server Domain

This section describes tasks for configuring Oracle HTTP Server for the WebLogic Server domain, and for verifying the configuration.

This section includes the following topics:

• Section 9.6.1, "Configuring Oracle HTTP Server for the Administration Server"

• Section 9.6.2, "Turning On the WebLogic Server Plug-In Enabled Flag"

• Section 9.6.3, "Setting the Front-End URL for the Administration Console and Setting Redirection Preferences"

• Section 9.6.4, "Validating Access Through the Load Balancer"

9.6.1 Configuring Oracle HTTP Server for the Administration Server

To enable Oracle HTTP Server to route to the Administration Server, you must set the corresponding mount points in your HTTP server configuration.

To configure Oracle HTTP Server for the Administration Server:

1. For each of the web servers on WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2, add the following lines to the ORACLE_INSTANCE/config/OHS/ohs1/moduleconf/admin_vh.conf and ORACLE_INSTANCE/config/OHS/ohs2/moduleconf/admin_vh.conf files:

   # Admin Server and EM
   <Location /console>
      SetHandler weblogic-handler
      WebLogicHost ADMINVHN
      WebLogicPort 7001
      WLProxySSL OFF
      WLProxySSLPassThrough OFF
   </Location>
    
   <Location /consolehelp>
      SetHandler weblogic-handler
      WebLogicHost ADMINVHN
      WebLogicPort 7001
      WLProxySSL OFF
      WLProxySSLPassThrough OFF
   </Location>
    
   <Location /em>
      SetHandler weblogic-handler
      WebLogicHost ADMINVHN
      WebLogicPort 7001
      WLProxySSL OFF
      WLProxySSLPassThrough OFF
   </Location>
   

2. Restart Oracle HTTP Server on both WEBHOST1 and WEBHOST2:

   /u02/oracle/config/webN/bin/opmnctl restartproc ias-component=ohsX
   

   For WEBHOST1, use ohs1 for ias-component and for WEBHOST2 use ohs2.

9.6.2 Turning On the WebLogic Server Plug-In Enabled Flag

For security purposes, and since the load balancer terminates SSL requests (Oracle HTTP Server routes the requests as non-SSL to WebLogic Server), once you configure SSL for the load balancer, turn on the WebLogic Server plug-in enabled flag for the domain.

To turn on the WebLogic Server plug-in enabled flag:

1. Log in to the Administration Console.

2. Click the domain name in the navigation tree on the left.

3. Open the Web Applications tab.

4. Click Lock & Edit.

5. Select the WebLogic Plugin Enabled checkbox.

6. Save and activate the changes.

7. Restart the Administration Server (even if the Administration Console does not specifically prompt for that):

   1. Start the Oracle WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST):

      cd ORACLE_COMMON_HOME/common/bin
      
      ./wlst.sh
      

   2. In the WLST shell, connect to Node Manager with the nmConnect command and the Node Manager credentials (make sure Node Manager is up and running), and start the Node Manager using nmStart:

      wls:/offline>nmConnect("node_admin_user","node_admin_password", "WCCHOST1","5556", "domain_name","ASERVER_HOME")
      
      wls:/nm/domain_name> nmStart("AdminServer")
      

      The values of node_admin_user and node_admin_password are the Node Manager credentials. For more information about the credentials, see Section 8.4.3, "Starting the Administration Server on WCCHOST1."

      In the reference topology, ASERVER_HOME is the /u01/oracle/config/domains/WCCDomain directory.

   3. Stop the Administration Server, using either the Administration Console or, as follows, the WLST nmKill command:

      wls:/nm/domain_name>nmKill("AdminServer")
      

   4. Start the Administration Server using nmStart:

      wls:/offline>nmConnect("node_admin_user","node_admin_password", "WCCHOST1","5556", "domain_name","ASERVER_HOME")
      
      wls:/nm/domain_name> nmStart("AdminServer")
      

9.6.3 Setting the Front-End URL for the Administration Console and Setting Redirection Preferences

When you access the WebLogic Server Administration Console using a load balancer, you must change the Administration Server's front-end URL so that the user's web browser is redirected to the appropriate load-balancer address.

The WebLogic Server Administration Console application tracks changes made to ports, channels and security using the console. When changes made through the console are activated, the console validates its current listen address, port and protocol. If the listen address, port and protocol are still valid, the console redirects the HTTP request, replacing the host and port information with the Administration Server's listen address and port.

To change the Administration Server's front-end URL:

1. Log in to the WebLogic Server Administration Console.

2. Click Lock & Edit.

3. Expand the Environment node in the Domain Structure tree on the left.

4. Click Servers.

5. On the Summary of Servers page, click Admin Server in the Names column of the table.

6. On the settings page for AdminServer, click the Protocols tab.

7. Click the HTTP tab.

8. Set the Frontend Host field to admin.example.com and the Frontend HTTP Port field to 80 (modify accordingly if HTTPS is used for the admin URL).

9. Save and activate the changes.

10. Restart the Administration Server for changes to the front-end host directive to take effect.

Note:

If you have any issues with activating any configuration changes after modifying the front-end host and port settings, see Section 19.13.10, "Redirection of Users to Administration Console's Home Page After Activating Changes to Oracle Access Manager."

9.6.4 Validating Access Through the Load Balancer

Verify that the server status is reported as Running in the Administration Console. If the server is shown as Starting or Resuming, wait for the server status to change to Started. If another status is reported (such as Admin or Failed), check the server output log files for errors. For possible causes, see Section 19.13, "Troubleshooting the Oracle WebCenter Content Enterprise Deployment Topology."

Validate access to the Administration Console and Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control through the load balancer using the following URLs:

• http://admin.example.com/console

• http://admin.example.com/em

For information on configuring system access through the load balancer, see Section 3.3, "Load Balancers."

Oracle HTTP Server should appear as a manageable target in Fusion Middleware Control. To verify this, log in to Fusion Middleware Control. The WebTier item in the navigation tree should show that Oracle HTTP Server has been registered.