Installation Guide

      

Running the Installation Program in Silent Mode

The following sections describe how to run the installation program in silent mode:

 

What Is Silent-Mode Installation?

Silent-mode installation is a way of setting installation configurations only once and then using those configurations to duplicate the installation on many machines. During installation in silent mode, the installation program reads the settings for your configuration from an XML file that you create before beginning the installation. The installation program does not display any configuration options during the installation process. Silent-mode installation works on both Windows and UNIX systems.

The instructions in this section are based on the assumption that you have already acquired the installation program either on DVD or from the Oracle Web site.

You must use the package installer for silent-mode installation. Silent-mode installation is not supported with the net installer.

 

Using Silent-Mode Installation: Main Steps

The silent-mode installation process has two primary steps:

  1. Create a silent.xml file that defines the configuration settings normally entered by a user during an interactive installation process, such as graphical-mode or console-mode installation. For example, values for the BEA Home directory, the product directory, and the components to be installed are supplied in a silent.xml file.

    For a detailed procedure, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation. For a sample silent.xml file, see Exit Codes for Silent Mode Installation.

  2. Start the silent-mode installation process by using the values specified in the silent.xml file.

    For information about starting the installation in silent mode, see Starting the Installation Program.

 

Important Considerations for Silent-Mode Installation

When you are running the installation program in silent mode, keep in mind the following considerations:

 

Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation

When you install your software in silent mode, the installation program uses an XML file (silent.xml) to determine which installation options should be implemented. Therefore, before you can run the installation program in silent mode, first create a silent.xml file in which you specify the installation options.

Incorrect entries in the silent.xml file can cause installation failures. To help you determine the cause of a failure, We recommend that you create a log file when you start the installation.

To create a silent.xml file for use in the silent-mode installation process, follow these steps:

  1. In a supported browser, open the sample silent.xml file for silent-mode installation.

    This sample silent.xml file is also included in this chapter. For more information, see Exit Codes for Silent Mode Installation.

  2. Save the sample silent.xml file, with the name silent.xml, in the same directory that contains the installation program.

    The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the silent.xml file. Do not enter a space or line breaks before the XML definition.

  3. In the silent.xml file that you saved on your system, edit the values for the keywords to reflect your configuration.

    For example, for WebLogic Server installation, edit the values in the sample silent.xml file as shown in Table 6-1.

    You must follow XML guidelines for characters when modifying values. That is, you cannot use characters reserved for use in XML, such as <, >, [, and ].

    Table 6-1 Values for the Sample silent.xml File for WebLogic Platform
    For this data-value name . . . Enter the following value . . .
    BEAHOME The full path for the home directory of your choice. For more information about the home directory, see Choosing a Home Directory .
    WLS_INSTALL_DIR The full path for the directory where you want to install WebLogic Server: C:\bea_HOME\wlserver_10.3
    WLW_INSTALL_DIR The full path for the directory where you want to install Workshop: C:\bea_HOME\workshop_10.3. For more information, see Choosing a Product Installation Directory.
    WLI_INSTALL_DIR The full path for the directory where you want to install WebLogic Integration: C:\bea_HOME\wli_10.3
    WLP_INSTALL_DIR The full path for the directory where you want to install WebLogic Portal: C:\bea_HOME\wlportal_10.3
    ALSB_INSTALL_DIR The full path for the directory where you want to install Oracle Service Bus: C:\bea_HOME\osb_10.3
    COMPONENT_PATHS Specify the components and subcomponents you want to install on your system. For Example:

    • To install WebLogic Server, use the following values:

      WebLogic Server/Core Application Server

      |WebLogic Server/Administration Console

      |WebLogic Server/Configuration Wizard and Upgrade Framework

      |WebLogic Server/Web 2.0 HTTP Pub-Sub Server

      |WebLogic Server/WebLogic JDBC Drivers

      |WebLogic Server/Third Party JDBC Drivers

      |WebLogic Server/WebLogic Server Clients

      |WebLogic Server/WebLogic Web Server Plugins

      |WebLogic Server/UDDI and Xquery Support

      |WebLogic Server/Server Examples

    • To install Workshop use the following values:

      Workshop/Workshop for WebLogic

      |Workshop/Workshop Runtime Framework

    • To Install WebLogic Integration use the following values:

      WebLogic Integration/Integration Server

      |WebLogic Integration/Workshop Integration Extension

      |WebLogic Integration/Integration Examples

    • To Install WebLogic Portal use the following values:

      WebLogic Portal/Portal Server

      |WebLogic Portal/Workshop Portal Extension

      |WebLogic Portal/Portal Examples

    For additional information about entering these values, see Guidelines for Component Selection.

    If you are using the installation program for WebLogic Server, you can specify the WebLogic Server components only.

    USE_EXTERNAL_ECLIPSE If the correct version of Eclipse is already installed, this variable is ignored. The default value is false. If Eclipse is not installed, or is an older version,

    • If the value of this variable is true, only the Eclipse plug-ins are installed in the directory indicated by EXTERNAL_ECLIPSE_DIR. If the required dependencies are not installed in the Eclipse directory, the installation fails.

    • If the value of this variable is false, the complete Eclipse is installed in the default location. Note that this location is different from the location for older versions of Eclipse; this ensures that the older versions are not overwritten.
    EXTERNAL_ECLIPSE_DIR The directory where the existing Eclipse instance is installed. If the correct version of Eclipse is already installed, this variable is ignored. INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE (Windows platforms only)

    • yes to install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service.

    • no to skip the installation of the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service. The default is no.

    You must have Administrator privileges to install Node Manager as a Windows service. NODEMGR_PORT The Node Manager listen port. If you do not specify a port number, the installer uses the default port 5556. If the port number is in use, the installer scans for the next available port and assigns it to the Node Manager.

    The INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE option must be set to yes. At the completion of the installation process, the Node Manager is started using the port specified. INSTALL_SHORTCUT_IN_ALL_USERS_FOLDER

    • true, or yes, to create the shortcuts in the All Users folder. The default is true.

    • false, or no, to create the shortcuts in the local users folder.
    The user performing the installation must have Administrator privileges to install the Start menu shortcuts in the All Users folder. For more information, see Administrator Privileges. LOCAL_JVMS This is an optional element using which you can specify the local JDKs to be installed. Enter the full path of the JDKs to be installed, separated by the pipe symbol (‘|'). BEA_BUNDLED_JVMS This is an optional element using which you can specify the BEA-supplied JDKs to be installed. Enter the full path of the JDKs to be installed, separated by the pipe symbol (‘|').

 

Guidelines for Component Selection

The following are the guidelines for specifying values for the COMPONENT_PATHS data-value name:

The installation program performs dependency checking to ensure that all components that provide functionality on which other components depend for proper operation are installed. These dependencies are visible during graphical and console mode installations. The same dependencies are enforced during silent installation, components on which other components depend are installed even if they are not explicitly referenced in a silent script.

 

Exit Codes for Silent Mode Installation

When run in silent mode, the installation program generates exit codes that indicate the success or failure of the installation. Table 6-2 shows the exit codes.

Table 6-2 Exit Codes
Code Description
0 Installation completed successfully
-1 Installation failed due to a fatal error
-2 Installation failed due to an internal XML parsing error

If you are launching the silent-mode installation process from a script, you can choose to have these exit codes displayed on the console. Listing 6-1 provides a sample command file that invokes the installation program in silent mode and echoes the exit codes to the console from which the script is executed. Listing 6-1 Sample Command File Displaying Silent-Mode Exit Codes 

rem Execute the installer in silent mode

@echo off

server103_win32.exe -mode=silent -silent_xml=C:\downloads\silent.xml -log=C:\logs\products_silent.log



@rem Return an exit code to indicate success or failure of installation

set exit_code=%ERRORLEVEL%



@echo.

@echo Exitcode=%exit_code%

@echo.

@echo Exit Code Key

@echo ---------------

@echo  0=Installation completed successfully

@echo -1=Installation failed due to a fatal error

@echo -2=Installation failed due to an internal XML parsing error

@echo.

 

What's Next?

We recommend that you run the QuickStart application to familiarize yourself with the software and execute the samples provided. For additional information, see Post-Installation Information.

QuickStart is not invoked automatically for console-mode or silent-mode installations. You can launch QuickStart from the Start Menu (Windows), or from the command line (Windows and UNIX). For instructions, see Using QuickStart.

For specific information about your software release, see the appropriate release notes.