Configure WebSphere Portal
Contents
Overview
There are three ways to configure WebSphere Portal:
- Use IBM Web Adminstration for iSeries (Recommended).
IBM Web Administration for iSeries includes a Portal Configuration Wizard to help you build a complete, production-level portal environment. The wizard guides you through configuration of all core WebSphere Portal components, including databases, HTTP server, and LDAP.
- Use the Install and Configure option of the WebSphere Portal installation program.
When installing WebSphere Portal, you may also choose to perform a basic configuration by selecting the Install and Configure option. This results in a functional portal configuration that may require manual adjustments. Note that this option is only available if WebSphere Portal is not already installed on the iSeries system.
- Use configuration tasks.
Configuration tasks perform specific configuration functions. While they are not as convenient for performing initial configuration of WebSphere Portal, configuration tasks are useful for modifying an existing configuration to meet the specific needs. The use of configuration tasks often also means working with the WebSphere Portal configuration properties file.
When configuring WebSphere Portal for the first time, consult Installation scenarios to determine which method use. This topic focuses on the use of configuration tasks and the WebSphere Portal configuration properties file. Regardless of how you initially configure WebSphere Portal, you may find it useful or necessary to use these tasks to adjust the configuration.
Use configuration tasks
Configuration tasks are run by invoking the following script file:
WPSconfig.shThis script file is found in both the Product directory...
/qibm/proddata/portalserver5/config...and the User directory...
/qibm/userdata/webas5/base/<instance>/portalserver5/config...and can be run from either location. Because running a task from the Product directory requires you to specify which WAS instance the task applies to, you may find it more convenient to run the task from the User directory.
If you do not find the WPSconfig.sh file in the User directory, it may be because you have not added WebSphere Portal to the WAS instance.
To run a task, first start the Qshell Interpreter on the iSeries server and change to the appropriate directory. To do this:
- Open an OS/400 command prompt and enter the following command to start the Qshell Interpreter:
STRQSH- Enter one of the following to change to the appropriate directory:
- Product directory:
cd /qibm/proddata/portalserver5/config- User directory:
cd /qibm/userdata/webas5/base/<instance>/portalserver5/config
The syntax for invoking a configuration script is as follows:
- From the Product directory:
WPSconfig.sh -instance [instance ...] task_name [task_name ...] [-Dproperty=value ...]- From the User directory:
WPSconfig.sh task_name [task_name ...] [-Dproperty=value ...]
To invoke the configuration task that creates the databases used by WebSphere Portal, you would use the following:
- From the Product directory:
WPSconfig.sh -instance <instance> create-database- From the User directory:
WPSconfig.sh create-database
Any property values you do not specify using the -D flag are instead pulled from...
/qibm/userdata/webas5/base/<instance>/config/wpconfig.propertiesBefore running a configuration task, make sure that the wpconfig.properties file contains the correct values for the task you are running.
Notes on using properties:
- You may notice that there is also a wpconfig.properties file in the Product directory...
/qibm/ProdData/portalserver5/configThis file serves as a template for the configuration properties file, and is copied to the User directory when WebSphere Portal is added to a WAS instance. Do not modify this file. Modifying this file will not affect any existing WebSphere Portal configurations.
- When specifying a property value for a configuration task with the -D flag, the value persists only while that particular task is running. Although the value temporarily supercedes the value for that property in the wpconfig.properties file, it does not overwrite the value stored in the property file. If the same configuration task is invoked again, the value in the property file will be used unless it is overridden again with the -D flag.
- Once a property is set during configuration, its value cannot be overridden by later attempts to set it. The precedence order for setting properties is as follows, from highest precedence to lowest precedence:
- Properties set on the command line when the configuration task is launched
- Properties set in a parent properties file (see Use configuration templates for more information)
- Properties set in the wpconfig.properties file
- Properties set in the XML configuration files themselves
Use configuration templates
When performing configuration tasks, WebSphere Portal derives the values for these tasks from the wpconfig.properties file. In addition to simplifying file management, the use of a single file for maintaining property values has the advantage of serving as a centralized reference for current configuration settings. However, depending on the task you want to perform, there might be many properties in the file that are unrelated to the task. In addition, the possible values for each property, which are often documented in the file, pertain to many different cases. For example, database properties are described for a number of different database types, although you would be interested in only one at any given time.
To make interaction with the wpconfig.properties file more convenient, WebSphere Portal includes configuration templates, which are condensed, special-purpose properties files. These templates provide only the properties needed for a given task and can also be tailored to a particular type of resource (for example, only for the DB2 database type).
Parent properties files
The basis for the configuration templates is WebSphere Portal's support for the use of parent properties files. When you invoke a parent properties file during configuration, a property value from that file supersedes a value for the same property in the wpconfig.properties file. The use of a parent properties file is useful in situations where you want to perform the same configuration tasks on multiple machines, such that some of the properties in wpconfig.properties would be the same on all machines, while other properties might be different. For example, the database type and drivers might be the same on each machine, while the user IDs and passwords might be different. In such a case, using a single main properties file (wpconfig.properties) to perform common tasks on each machine is not practical. By putting properties that are common across machines into a parent properties file, it is easier to ensure that each machine is configured in the same way.
To use a parent properties file, specify the parentProperties property when invoking the WPSconfig.sh script:
- From the Product directory:
WPSconfig.sh -instance[instance ...] -DparentProperties=<path_to_file>/parent.properties -DSaveParentProperties=true task_name [task_name ...]- From the User directory:
WPSconfig.sh -DparentProperties=<path_to_file>/parent.properties -DSaveParentProperties=true task_name [task_name ...]
where instance indicates the WAS instance the configuration task applies to, <path_to_file> is the path to the parent properties file, parent.properties is the name of the file, and task_name indicates the configuration task you want to run.
When using a parent properties file, if all the specified tasks execute successfully and the SaveParentProperties property is set to true, the properties from the parent properties file will automatically be saved to the wpconfig.properties file of the specified portal instance. In this way, the wpconfig.properties file should always reflect the property values that were used for the configuration.
Configuration templates
Configuration templates are essentially parent properties files that are provided with WebSphere Portal and are designed to support specific tasks or sets of tasks. For example, a configuration template might be used to configure WebSphere Portal for security with IBM Directory Server. Where possible, properties in these files are set to the most common default values, and only those values appropriate to the specific type of resource are included. Comments within each configuration template summarize the tasks you need to perform with the configuration template and also include additional details regarding the template's use.
To use a configuration template, invoke the WPSconfig.sh script file and specify the configuration template as a parent properties file. For example, if you have edited config_http.properties for the environment, you would invoke the configuration template from the directory...
/qibm/userdata/webas5/base/<instance>/portalserver5/config...as follows...WPSconfig.sh -DparentProperties=config/helpers/config_http.properties -DSaveParentProperties=trueNote that when no task is specified, the wpconfig.properties file is simply updated with the values from the configuration template. This enables you to set up templates specific to a particular task for the purpose of entering the properties and then have those properties saved to wpconfig.properties without being required to edit wpconfig.properties directly.
WebSphere Portal provides several example configuration templates in...
/qibm/proddata/portalserver5/config/helpers
Configuration template Description config_http.properties Configure WebSphere Portal to use an external Web server, instead of the internal HTTP transport provided by WAS.
iseries_instance.properties Set just those properties that are specific to an iSeries basic configuration.
security_active_directory.properties Configure WebSphere Portal to use WAS security with Active Directory as its Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) directory.
security_disable.properties Disable security for WAS if you have previously configured WebSphere Portal to use security.
security_domino.properties Configure WebSphere Portal to use WAS security with Domino as its LDAP directory.
security_ibm_dir_server.properties Configure WebSphere Portal to use WAS security with IBM Directory Server as its LDAP directory.
security_sun_one.properties Configure WebSphere Portal to use WAS security with Sun ONE as its LDAP directory.
Create the own configuration templates
In addition to using the configuration templates provided with WebSphere Portal, you can create the own configuration templates if you find it useful to do so. For example, if you found that you were commonly doing the same task across many WebSphere Portal nodes in the enterprise, you could create the own configuration template to make it easier to correctly perform this task on each node. Follow the conventions depicted in the example configuration template files for adding comments, specifying property values, and so on.
See also