Preparing for Installation
- Installation Modes
- Installable Product Components
- Product Distribution
- Installation Prerequisites
- Selecting Directories for Installation
- Choosing the Type of Installation
- Generating a Verbose Installation Log
Installation Modes
Installable Product Components
The installable product components vary depending on the installer that you are using. For example, the WebLogic Server Net installer includes the following components:
- WebLogic Server
- Core Application Server
- Administration Console
- Configuration Wizard and Upgrade Framework
- Web 2.0 HTTP Pub-Sub Server
- WebLogic JDBC Drivers
- Third Party JDBC Drivers
- WebLogic Server Clients
- WebLogic Web Server Plugins
- UDDI and Xquery Support
- Server Examples
- Workshop
- Workshop for WebLogic
- Workshop Runtime Framework
- WebLogic Integration
- Integration Server
- Workshop Integration Extension
- Integration Examples
- WebLogic Portal
- Portal Server
- Workshop Portal Extension
- Portal Examples
- Oracle Service Bus
- Service Bus Server
- Service Bus IDE
- Service Bus Examples
For more information about the product components, see Selecting the WebLogic Server Components in Getting Started With Installation.
Product Distribution
You can download your software from the Oracle Web site.
There are also developer editions.
The following types of installers are available for download:
- Net installer (recommended)
This type downloads a small setup file that enables you to select the components that you want to install on your system. The installer then downloads only the components you select. The Net installer eliminates the need to download the entire product before installing it, and thereby reduces the time needed to complete the download, the disk space, and also the RAM required by the WebLogic Server.
The Net installer allows you to avoid installing the components that are not required in the specific environment in which the product is being used. For example, an experienced developer who has Eclipse and a suitable Java Runtime may need only the Core Application Server, the WebLogic JDBC drivers, and the examples. An administrator may choose to install only the Core Application Server, Administration Console, Configuration Wizard and Upgrade Framework, Web Server plug-ins, the third-party JDBC drivers, and the JRockit JDK.
Before the download begins, the net installer prompts you to provide the following information:
- Storage directory
The installation program downloads an archive file to your system for each component that you choose to install. By default, these archive files are downloaded to the temporary directory on your system. You can specify an alternate directory on your system for these files; they need not be collocated with the installation setup file, or with the installed software. If you do not specify an alternate directory, your temporary directory must have sufficient space to accommodate the archive files and the installation program.
To conserve disk space, you can also specify that you want the downloaded files removed from your system after the installation is complete.
- HTTP Proxy
If you want to download these files using an HTTP proxy, specify the host address and port numbers for the proxy server.
- Proxy authentication
If the HTTP proxy you are using requires server-side HTTP authentication, enter your username and password.
The net installer supports standard resume processing in the case of interrupted downloads. If the download is interrupted for any reason, either manually or by an unplanned network interruption, you can resume the download from the point at which it was interrupted. When the download is complete, the installation program performs an integrity check on the archive files that were downloaded to your system to verify that the files are downloaded correctly.
- Package installer
This type downloads a standalone version of the installation program.
The WebLogic Server installation program contains WebLogic Server and related samples, Workshop and related samples as described in Installable Product Components, and the JRockit SDK and Sun JDK (for Windows and Linux platforms only).
If you are planning to install the software in silent mode, download the package installer. Silent-mode installation is not supported by the net installer.
- Generic installers (net and package)
This type of installer is a .jar file. It is the same as the package and net installers, except that it does not include JDKs. You can use this type of installers to install the product on UNIX machines on which Java is already installed.
Installation Prerequisites
The following sections describe the installation prerequisites:
System Requirements
Component Requirement Platform configuration A supported configuration of hardware, operating system, JDK, and database specific to the product you are installing. The Supported Configurations document specifies other prerequisites and recommendations, such as recommended versions of the JDK.
Processor 1-GHz CPU Hard disk drive A complete installation requires approximately 3.5 GB of disk space. Memory A Minimum of 1 GB RAM, although we recommend 2 GB of RAM. Color bit depth display and size For Graphical User Interface (GUI) mode installation, 8-bit color depth (256 colors) is required. For console-mode and silent-mode installation, there is no color bit depth requirement.
JDK The Products installation program requires a Java run-time environment (JRE) to run. A JRE is bundled in the Windows installation program and in some UNIX installation programs (those with filenames ending in .bin). For other UNIX platforms, the installation program does not install a JDK. Filenames for these installation programs end in .jar. To run the .jar installation programs, have the appropriate version of the JDK installed on your system, and include the bin directory of the JDK at the beginning of the PATH variable definition. It is important that you use a JDK because the installation process assigns values to JAVA_HOME and related variables to point to the JDK directory.
Temporary Disk Space Requirements
The installation program uses a temporary directory into which it extracts the files necessary to install the software on the target system. During the installation process, your temporary directory must contain sufficient space to accommodate the compressed JRE bundled with the installation program and an uncompressed copy of the JRE that is expanded into the temporary directory. The extracted files are deleted from the temporary directory at the end of the installation process. The files in the temporary directory require approximately 2.5 times the space that is ultimately required for the installation.
By default, the installation program uses the following temporary directories:
- Windows platforms: Directory referenced by the TMP system variable
- UNIX platforms: System-dependent temporary directory
If you do not have enough temporary space to run the installation program, you are prompted to specify an alternate directory or exit the installation program.
To make sure that you have adequate temporary space, you may want to allocate an alternate directory for this purpose. To do so, follow the instructions provided in the following table.
Platform Perform this step . . . Windows Do one of the following:
- Set the TMP system variable to a directory of your choice.
- If you run the installation program from the command line, include the option...
-Djava.io.tmpdir=tmpdirpath...replacing tmpdirpath with the full path of the directory that you want to designate as a temporary storage area for the installation program.
For example, to set up the temp directory while installing WebLogic Server net installer, execute this command:
net_server103_win32.exe -mode=console -Djava.io.tmpdir=C:\TempUNIX Enter the following option on the command line when you start the installation program: -Djava.io.tmpdir=tmpdirpath Here tmpdirpath is the full path of the directory that you want to designate as a temporary storage area for the installation program.
Administrator Privileges
When you are installing the software as a user with Administrator privileges, you are presented with the option to create the Start menu shortcuts in the All Users folder, or in the Local User's Start menu folder. The following table describes the options available.
If you select . . . The following occurs . . . All Users All users registered on the machine are provided with access to the installed software. Subsequently, if users without Administrator privileges use the Configuration Wizard from this installation to create domains, Start menu shortcuts to the domains are not created. In this case, users can manually create shortcuts in their local Start menu folders, if desired. Local user Other users registered on this machine will not have access to the Start menu entries for this installation.
If a user without Administrator privileges installs the software, the Start menu entries are created in the user's local Start menu folder.
Selecting Directories for Installation
During the installation process, you need to specify locations for the following directories:
Choosing a Home Directory
When you install your WebLogic software, you are prompted to specify a home directory. This directory serves as a repository for common files that are used by multiple WebLogic products installed on the same machine. For this reason, the home directory can be considered a central support directory for all the WebLogic products installed on your system.
The files in the home directory are essential to ensuring that WebLogic software operates correctly on your system. They facilitate checking of cross-product dependencies during installation.
When you are installing WebLogic software, you are prompted to choose an existing home directory or specify a path to create a new home directory. If you choose to create a new directory, the installation program automatically creates it for you.
Installation Considerations
- We recommend that you do not exceed a maximum of 12 characters when naming your home directory. If the name of this directory has more than 12 characters and if there are spaces in the directory name, the CLASSPATH may not be resolved properly.
- You can install only one instance of each version of a WebLogic product in a single home directory. For example, you can install only one instance of the current version of WebLogic Server in a home directory, but that home directory may also contain an instance of a previous version of WebLogic Server.
- If the home directory is not empty and it does not contain registry.xml, or if any of the product installation directories are not empty, the following messages will be displayed:
- For home directory selection task:
BEA_HOME directory is not empty. Proceed with installation?- For product installation directory(ies) selection task:
One or more installation directories are not empty. Proceed with installation?
Functions of the Home Directory
The directories in the home directory vary depending on the installer that you are using. For example, the WebLogic Server installer creates the directories listed in the following table if you have selected all the components for installation.
Component Description jdk<version> Contains the software for the Sun JDK if it is installed with your software. The JDK provides the JRE and tools for compiling and debugging Java applications. jrockit_<version> (Windows and Linux only) Contains the software for the JRockit JDK installed with your software. The JDK provides the JRE and tools for compiling and debugging Java applications. logs Contains a history file that contain information about installation and uninstallation for the home directory. modules Contains the modules installed in the Home Directory. tools Contains the eclipse packages, features and plugins. utils Contains utilities that are used to support the installation of all WebLogic installed in this home directory. See: Installing Patches and Maintenance Packs Using Smart Update.
wlserver_<version> This directory contains the following directories:
- common
- samples
- server
- uninstall
workshop_<version> This directory contains the following directories:
- common
- Samples
- uninstall
- weblogic-beehive
- workshop4WP
.home Contains the information about the home directory. registry.xml A registry file that contains a persistent record of all WebLogic products installed on the target system. This registry contains product-related information, such as version number, service pack number, and location of the installation directory.
Do not edit this file manually. Doing so may cause operating problems for the currently installed WebLogic products, or result in installation problems when future products or maintenance upgrades are installed.
registry.dat This is an encrypted file of registry.xml file.
The directory user_projects does not contain anything when the product is installed on the disk. It is used as the default location for your files when you create domains at the location.
Creating Multiple home Directories
Although it is possible to create more than one home directory, We recommend that you avoid doing so. In almost all situations, a single home directory is sufficient. There may be circumstances, however, in which you prefer to maintain separate development and production environments, with a separate product stack for each. With two directories, you can update your development environment (in a home directory) without modifying the production environment until you are ready to do so.
Choosing a Product Installation Directory
The product installation directory contains all the software components that you choose to install on your system, including program files and examples.
For example, the default installation directories for components of WebLogic Server are shown in the Table 2-4
Product Product Installation Directory WebLogic Server C:\bea\wlserver_<version> Workshop C:\bea\workshop_<version> WebLogic Integration C:\bea\wli_<version> WebLogic Portal C:\bea\wlportal_<version> Service Bus C:\bea\osb_<version>
The installation program installs the software components in a product installation directory represented by the WL_HOME variable. If, during your initial installation, you choose to install WebLogic Server only, and not all of the products available for installation, and you later decide to install additional products, such as Workshop (using the same home directory), you are not prompted, during the subsequent installations, to specify a product installation directory. The installation program detects the WL_HOME directory and installs the additional products under it.
Choosing the Type of Installation
The installation program provides two types of installation:
- Complete
- Custom
- In a complete installation, all of the components that are included in the installation program are installed.
- In a custom installation, you can choose the software components you want to install on your system.
Sample domains preconfigured to use the PointBase database are created only for the installed components.
On Windows and LINUX systems, two JDKs are installed:
- JRockit 1.6.0 JDK
- Sun JDK 1.6.0
Generating a Verbose Installation Log
If you launch the installation from the command line or from a script, you can specify the -log option to generate a verbose installation log. The installation log stores messages about events that occur during the installation process, including informational, warning, error, and fatal messages. This type of file can be especially useful for silent installations.
You may see some warning messages in the installation log. However, unless a fatal error occurs, the installation program completes the installation successfully. The installation user interface indicates the success or failure of each installation attempt, and the installation log file includes an entry indicating that the installation was successful.
Syntax
To create a verbose log file during installation, include the -log=full_path_to_log_file option in the command line.
For example, to create a verbose log file for the WebLogic Server net installer, enter:
net_server103_win32.exe -log=C:\logs\server_install.logThe path must specify a file. You cannot create a folder simply by including a name for it in a pathname; your path should specify only existing folders. If your path includes a nonexistent folder when you execute the command, the installation program does not create the log file.