Installing WebLogic Server Using Silent-Mode Installation

Installing WebLogic Server Using Silent-Mode Installation

The following sections describe how to install WebLogic Server using the installation program in silent mode on both Windows and UNIX systems:
What Is Silent-Mode Installation?
Before You Start
Using Silent-Mode Installation: Main Steps
Creating a Silent-Mode Installation Template File
Sample Silent-Mode Installation Template File
Starting the Silent-Mode Installation Process on a Windows System
Starting the Silent-Mode Installation Process on a UNIX System

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 installation options from an XML file that you create prior to 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.
In previous releases of WebLogic Server, you could optionally run the Configuration Wizard as part of the silent installation process. In WebLogic Server 8.1, the Configuration Wizard cannot automatically be run with the WebLogic Server installation program. It must be run separately. However, you can run both the installation program and the Configuration Wizard in silent mode from the same script. For more information about running the Configuration Wizard in silent mode, see Configuring WebLogic Platform at http://e-docs.bea.com/platform/docs81/confgwiz/index.html.
Note: Using silent-mode installation implies your consent to the BEA License Agreement. You neither see a copy of the BEA Software License Agreement nor have any means to accept the terms of the agreement.
The instructions in this section assume that you have already acquired the installation program, either on CD or from the Web. For more information, see WebLogic Server Distribution Methods.

Before You Start

Before you start the WebLogic Server installation, make sure you are installing the product on a supported platform. A complete list of supported platforms can be found at http://e-docs.bea.com/wls/certifications/certs_810/index.html. You should also read all of Preparing to Install WebLogic Server.

Using Silent-Mode Installation: Main Steps

The silent-mode installation process has two primary steps:

Create a template file with settings for the BEA Home directory and product installation directory.
For the detailed procedure, see Creating a Silent-Mode Installation Template File. For a sample template file, see Sample Silent-Mode Installation Template File.
Start the silent-mode installation process and use the values specified in the template file.
For the detailed procedure, see Starting the Silent-Mode Installation Process on a Windows System and Starting the Silent-Mode Installation Process on a UNIX System.

Important Notes About Silent-Mode Installation

You need to be aware of the following notes when you install WebLogic Server in silent mode:
You must use the package installer for silent-mode installation. Silent-mode installation is not supported with the net installer. Filenames for the net installer version of the installation program are preceded by net_, for example net_serverXXX_solaris.bin, where XXX is the version number of the software you are installing. Do not attempt to use installation programs with filenames beginning with net_ for silent-mode installation.
Silent-mode installation supports complete installation only: install all the components of WebLogic Server. For information about the components installed in a complete installation, see Choosing the Type of Installation.
Silent-mode installation requires the same temporary disk space and uses the same temporary storage directories as a standard installation. For more information, see Temporary Storage Space Requirements. The installation program does not prompt you if there is not enough space in the temporary directory.
A silent-mode installation takes the same amount of time as a standard installation. At the beginning of a silent-mode installation, an initial installation program window or message appears briefly, indicating that the installation has started. No message is displayed indicating the installation is in progress or has completed successfully.
The XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the silent.xml template file. There cannot be any spaces or line breaks before the XML definition.
You cannot re-install WebLogic Server in the same BEA Home as an existing installation of the same version of the product. Also, you cannot re-install WebLogic Server in the same physical location (directory) as an existing installation of any version of the product. You must first uninstall WebLogic Server, as described in Uninstalling WebLogic Server, or install in another BEA Home or physical location. You can, however, install additional WebLogic Platform components, such as Server Examples, in the same location without uninstalling existing components.

Creating a Silent-Mode Installation Template File

When you install WebLogic Server in silent mode, the installation program uses an XML file (silent.xml) to determine the installation options. Before you run the installation program in silent mode, create the silent.xml file with your installation options.
Note: During silent-mode installation, the installation program does not validate entries in the silent.xml file. If there are errors in the silent.xml file, the installation will fail.
To create a template file for use in the silent-mode installation process, follow these steps:

Display the sample silent-mode installation template file in a supported browser. The sample template is available at the following location:
/install/instsil.html#template
The sample template is also available later in this chapter. See Sample Silent-Mode Installation Template File.
Copy the contents of the template file and save it as a text file named silent.xml in the directory containing the WebLogic Server installer. Note that the XML definition (<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>) must be at the very beginning of the template file. There cannot be any spaces or line breaks before the XML definition.
In the silent.xml file, modify the values for the keywords shown in Table 4-1.

For this data-value name. . .

Enter the following value . . .
BEAHOME The full pathname for the BEA Home directory of your choice. For details about the BEA Home directory, see BEA Home Directory.
Note: For silent install only, the BEA Home directory cannot exist before installing the software.
USER_INSTALL_DIR The full pathname for the directory where you want to install the WebLogic Platform software. For details, see Product Installation Directory.
INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE(Windows platforms only) yes to install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service. See Installing the Node Manager as a Windows Service.no to not install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service.
COMPONENT_PATHS Specify the components and subcomponents you want to install on your system:
To install WebLogic Server, use the following values:

WebLogic Server
  Server
  Server Examples
To install WebLogic Workshop, use the following values:

WebLogic Workshop
  Workshop Runtime Framework
  WebLogic Workshop Application Developer Edition
  Workshop Samples
For additional information about entering these values, see Guidelines for Component Selection.

Guidelines for Component Selection

Use the following guidelines when you specify values for the COMPONENT_PATHS data-value name:
When you specify a software component, all subcomponents are also installed. For example, the following entry installs the Workshop Runtime Framework, WebLogic Workshop Application Developer Edition, and Workshop Samples:
<data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Workshop" />
To install multiple software components, separate each component with a bar (|). Do not include spaces before or after the bar. For example, to install WebLogic Server, WebLogic Workshop, and their subcomponents, enter the following line in the file:
<data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Server|WebLogic Workshop" />
If you specify subcomponents, specify the component/subcomponent combination for each entry. For example, use the following entry to install WebLogic Workshop without the related samples:
<data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Workshop/Workshop Runtime Framework|WebLogic Workshop/WebLogic Workshop Application Developer Edition" />
If you do not include this data-value name in the silent.xml file, the complete WebLogic Platform is installed.
Note that the installer checks for dependencies for all selected software components and automatically installs any additional required components.

Sample Silent-Mode Installation Template File

Listing 4-1 Sample silent.xml Template File
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<domain-template-descriptor>
<input-fields>


<data-value name="BEAHOME"                   value="C:\bea" />


<data-value name="USER_INSTALL_DIR"          value="C:\bea\weblogic81" />


<data-value name="INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE"   value="no" />


<data-value name="COMPONENT_PATHS" value="WebLogic Server|WebLogic Workshop"/>



</input-fields>
</domain-template-descriptor>
Starting the Silent-Mode Installation Process on a Windows System

To start the silent-mode installation process on a Windows system, follow these steps:
Log in to the Windows system.
Open an MS-DOS command prompt window.
Go to the directory that contains the installation file and start the installation procedure by entering the following command, making sure to specify the full pathname of the silent.xml template file:
filename.exe -mode=silent -silent_xml=path_to_silent.xml
where filename is the name of the WebLogic Server installation file, and path_to_silent.xml is the full path to the silent.xml template file.
Note: To create a verbose log file during installation, include the -log=/full_path_to_log_file option in the command line. For example:
serverXXX_win32.exe -mode=silent -silent_xml=D:\silent.xml -log=D:\logs\wls_install.log
where XXX is the version of the software you are installing.

The path must be to a file. All folders in the path must exist before you execute the command or the installation program will not create the log file.

Starting the Silent-Mode Installation Process on a UNIX System

The WebLogic Server installation program requires a Java run-time environment (JRE) to run. A JRE is bundled in the WebLogic Server installation program for some UNIX platforms (installers with filenames ending in .bin). For other UNIX platforms, the WebLogic Server installation program does not include a JRE. Filenames for these installation programs end in .jar. To run the .jar installation programs, have an appropriate version of a Java 2 SDK installed on your system, and include the bin directory of the Java 2 SDK at the front of the PATH system variable.
Note: It is important that you use an SDK because the installation process sets the JAVA_HOME and related variables to point to this directory. All scripts installed with WebLogic Server will use this SDK by default, including scripts to start sample applications, the Configuration Wizard, and other WebLogic development tools.

Starting Silent-Mode Installation for .bin Installation Files

Note: During silent-mode installation, the installation program does not validate entries in the silent.xml file. If there are errors in the silent.xml file, the installation will fail.
To start the silent-mode installation process using installation files ending in .bin, follow these steps:
Log in to the target UNIX system.
Open a command-line shell.
Go to the directory that contains the installation file and start the installation procedure by entering the following command, making sure to specify the full pathname of the silent.xml template file:
chmod a+x filename
./filename -mode=silent -silent_xml=/path_to_silent.xml
where filename is the name of the WebLogic Server installation file, and path_to_silent.xml is the full path to the silent.xml template file.
Note: To create a verbose log file during installation, include the -log=/full_path_to_log_file option in the command line. For example:
serverXXX_solaris.bin -mode=silent -silent_xml=/home/silent.xml -log=/logs/wls_install.log
where XXX is the version of the software you are installing.

The path must be to a file. All folders in the path must exist before you execute the command or the installation program will not create the log file.

Starting Silent-Mode Installation for .jar Installation Files

Note: During silent-mode installation, the installation program does not validate entries in the silent.xml file. If there are errors in the silent.xml file, the installation will fail.

To start the silent-mode installation process for installation files ending in .jar, follow these steps:
Log in to the target UNIX system.
Open a command-line shell.
Include the bin directory of an appropriate SDK at the beginning of the PATH variable on the target system. For example:
PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH



export PATH
where JAVA_HOME is the full path to the SDK directory.
Go to the directory that contains the installation file and invoke the installation procedure with the following command. Make sure you specify the full pathname of the silent.xml template file.
java -jar filename.jar -mode=silent -silent_xml=/path_to_silent.xml
Where filename.jar is the name of the WebLogic Server installation file (for example pj_serverXXX_generic.jar) and Filenames for the net installer are preceded by net_, for example, net_pj_platformXXX_generic.jar.
Where filename.jar is the name of the WebLogic Server installation file (for example pj_serverXXX_generic.jar) and path_to_silent.xml is the full path to the silent.xml template file.
Note: To create a verbose log file during installation, include the -log=/full_path_to_log_file option in the command line. For example:
java -jar filename.jar -mode=silent -silent_xml=/home/silent.xml -log=/logs/wls_install.log
The path must be to a file. All folders in the path must exist before you execute the command or the installation program will not create the log file. See Generating a Verbose Installation Log for more details.

For this data-value name. . .	Enter the following value . . .
BEAHOME	The full pathname for the BEA Home directory of your choice. For details about the BEA Home directory, see BEA Home Directory. Note: For silent install only, the BEA Home directory cannot exist before installing the software.
USER_INSTALL_DIR	The full pathname for the directory where you want to install the WebLogic Platform software. For details, see Product Installation Directory.
INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE(Windows platforms only)	yes to install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service. See Installing the Node Manager as a Windows Service.no to not install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service.
COMPONENT_PATHS	Specify the components and subcomponents you want to install on your system: To install WebLogic Server, use the following values: WebLogic Server Server Server Examples To install WebLogic Workshop, use the following values: WebLogic Workshop Workshop Runtime Framework WebLogic Workshop Application Developer Edition Workshop Samples For additional information about entering these values, see Guidelines for Component Selection.