Advanced installation options

 

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  1. Set the default profile
  2. Installing an empty portal
  3. Installing as a non-root user
  4. Configure the WebSphere Portal ports

 

Set the default profile

When installing WebSphere Portal, we can pass parameters to make the profile either default or non-default. For example... 

cd CDROM_ROOT

install.sh -W detectProfileAction.isDefault="True"
The default is True.

To see a listing of all profiles currently installed... 

 /app_server_root/properties/profileRegistry.xml

To set the custom portal installation profile to be non-default... 

cd CDROM_ROOT

./install.sh -W detectProfileAction.isDefault="False"

To modify the default profile name and path, use the following options together... 

cd CDROM_ROOT
./install.sh -W detectProfileAction.isDefault="True" \
             -W detectProfileAction.profileName="your_profile"  \
             -W detectProfileAction.profilePath="C:\full\path\your_profile"

 

Install an empty portal

In some situations it is possible that you might want to install an empty portal, where WebSphere Portal is installed normally but no portlets are installed or deployed and no pages are created. This can be useful when transferring an entire portal configuration from one environment to another, for example, from test to production.

To install an empty portal with the WebSphere Portal installation program, execute... 

cd CDROM_ROOT

install.sh -W emptyPortal.active="True"

...and then proceed through the installation program panels and enter the requested information as you would with a typical installation.

When the installation program is finished, the portal is ready for importing the new configuration.

 

Install as a non-root user

For information on how to install as a non-root user, see...

Installing and running WebSphere Portal as a non-root user.

 

Configure WebSphere Portal ports

WebSphere Portal requires two port blocks of 25 ports or more....

  • One for WAS
  • One for WebSphere Portal

There are three methods one can use to configure ports...

     

  1. Allow the installer to detect ports.

    The WebSphere Portal installer by default attempts to detect ports that are actively being used at install time.

    To allow the installer to detect ports, have all the processes that will be running after installation, running at install time, ensuring the ports used by those other processes will not be considered for use by WAS or WebSphere Portal.

    By default, scanning of active ports starts at 10000 and ends at 65000.

    To specify the port range to be scanned for WAS... 

    cd CDROM_ROOT
install.sh -W adminPortBlockInput.startingPortToScan=<port number> \
           -W adminPortBlockInput.endingPortToScan=<port number>

    To specify the port range to be scanned for WebSphere Portal... 

    cd CDROM_ROOT
install.sh -W portalPortBlockInput.startingPortToScan=<port number> \
           -W portalPortBlockInput.endingPortToScan=<port number>

    The starting port to scan value can also be thought of as the starting port value if you know that port block is open.

     

  2. Specify a larger port block size for WAS or WebSphere Portal.

    Note that the port block size cannot be less than 25 ports.

    To specify the port block size for WAS... 

    cd CDROM_ROOT
install.sh -W adminPortBlockInput.portBlockSize=<port block size>

    To specify the port block size for WebSphere Portal... 

    install.sh -W portalPortBlockInput.portBlockSize=<port block size>

     

  3. Define your own set of ports for WAS or WebSphere Portal instead of allowing the installer to detect the ports.

    To explicitly define a custom set of ports use the ports file option.

    If a ports file is specified all other command-line options are ignored.

    The range for valid ports is 1 - 65535.

    Modify the sample WAS ports file...

    CDROM/WASDefaultPortsFile.props

    ...and then specify the ports file from the commandline... 

    cd CDROM_ROOT
install.sh -W adminPortBlockInput.portsFilePath=<full path to ports file>

    Modify the sample WebSphere Portal ports file...

    CDROM/WPDefaultPortsFile.props

    ...and then specify the ports file from the commandline... 

    cd CDROM_ROOT
install.sh -W portalPortBlockInput.portsFilePath=<full path to ports file>

    If the installer fails to detect ports for either WAS or WebSphere Portal, a warning message will be displayed and the installer offers another chance to enter the values.

    The panels will only display if the installer is run in GUI or console mode.

    During silent install this panel will not be displayed, and if there is a problem detecting ports the installer will exit.

    The port panels can be forced to display if you do not want to type in these values as options on the command line or options in the ports file

    To force the WAS ports panel to display... 

    cd CDROM_ROOT
install.sh -W adminPortBlock.active=false

    To force the WebSphere Portal ports panel to display... 

    cd CDROM_ROOT
install.sh -W portalPortBlock.active=false
    If ports cannot be detected for WAS or WebSphere Portal, a message will display.

    To change the WAS or WebSphere Portal ports installation, stop the servers and run... 

    cd <wp_root>/config 

./WPSConfig.sh action-modify-ports-by-startport \
               -DModifyPortsServer={server1 | WebSphere_Portal} \
               -DStartPort={starting port number}

./WPSConfig.sh action-modify-ports-by-portsfile \
               -DModifyPortsServer={server1 | WebSphere_Portal} \
               -DPortsFile={full path to ports file}

    Restart the servers. No validation is done on either task to see if the ports are in use or if the ports file is valid. Sample ports files are available on the Setup CD.