HCL WebSphere Portal roadmap: Web content servers

In this roadmap, the web server, database, and user registry software are distributed to different physical servers. Use this roadmap if we are an organization with the following requirements:

• Needs an environment to create and test your web content before they publish to other staging or production servers
• Needs to create presentation templates (Authoring or Presentation) for content authors and content rendering
• Needs to create the site structure and entitlements
• Needs to develop content with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JSP, or Java.
• An organization needs a staging server to perform final quality tests before publishing.
• An organization needs a server to publish content to end users.

Important: Developing or publishing web content requires a supported database other than Apache Server. An Apache Server database is available after installation. Therefore, we must transfer to a supported database; for example DB2 or Oracle.

Topology diagram

The topology for a web content server includes a remote database and LDAP server. The topology depicts an HCL Web Content Manager server, instead of a portal server. When you install HCL DX, it includes the HCL Web Content Manager. The configuration steps for the web content development server are different from a basic stand-alone server. The web content server configuration includes syndication with the rendering or test server.

Prepare for the installation process

Gather information and software before installing HCL WebSphere Portal.

1. Check requirements.
2. Get the software.

Install prerequisites

Before installing HCL WebSphere Portal, install any prerequisites that are necessary for the environment. We can use existing prerequisite software installations. Verify that your existing version is supported. If it does not, upgrade to the appropriate version.

1. Prepare a database server.

2. Prepare a user registry.

Install the HCL WebSphere Portal

Install HCL WebSphere Portal involves preparing the operating system, installing or upgrading the installation manager, and running the installation program.

• Install the HCL WebSphere Portal software

Apply the latest cumulative fix

Portal maintenance is delivered through individual fixes (Fixes) and Combined Cumulative Fixes (CFs), which is recommended to the environment.

Transfer the database

After we install the web experience, Apache Server is your available database. Depending on our requirements, we might need to transfer to a different database. The Database Transfer configuration option in the Configuration Wizard assigns users and permissions, creates databases, obtains support for database collation, and transfers the database.

Log in to HCL WebSphere Portal to verify that we have a working portal:

http://hostname.example.com:10039/wps/portal

...where hostname.example.com is the fully qualified host name of the server where Portal is running and 10039 is the default transport port that is created by DX Application Server. The port number might be different for the environment.

1. To get the latest updates for the wizard, apply the most recent Combined Cumulative Fix. For more information about applying the latest fix pack, visit Combined cumulative fix strategy for more topic information.

   Note: Skip this step, if we have the most recent fix pack applied.

2. Access the Configuration Wizard. Go to:
   http://your_server:10200/hcl/wizard.

   Note: If working with HCL WebSphere Portal 8.5 or 9 software level prior to CF18, the wizard address will be: http://your_server:10200/ibm/wizard. After installing CF18, the configuration wizard will automatically be adjusted to http://your_server:10200/hcl/wizard. Restriction: There is a known issue with Chrome version 45.x and the Configuration Wizard. If we are experiencing difficulties, use a different browser when you access the wizard.

3. Log in to the Configuration Wizard with the administrative ID for the configuration wizard profile, cw_profile.

   Note: If the language is not currently supported for the user interface, we might see the English version. For details on supported languages and the language codes for all of the HCL WebSphere Portal user interfaces, see Supported languages in the HCL WebSphere Portal v8.5 documentation.

4. Select...
   Set Up a Stand-alone Server > Database Transfer

5. Provide information about the environment.

6. Save the configuration settings.
7. Choose one of the following options:
   • Click Download Files to run the steps remotely.
   • Click Run All Steps to run the steps locally.

8. Optional: To shorten the site URL for search engine optimization benefits, we can modify your context root and remove navigational state information from your URL using the Modify Site URLs for SEO configuration option.

9. Log in to HCL WebSphere Portal to verify that we have a working portal server.

Enabling federated security

After we install the web experience, a default file-based repository is your available user registry. Depending on our requirements, we might need to enable a federated LDAP user registry.

Note: If you set Use Administrator IDs stored in the LDAP user registry to yes, the WebSphere Application Server and HCL WebSphere Portal user IDs and passwords are changed to the LDAP user ID and password. If we do not want to change both user IDs and passwords to match the LDAP user ID and password, set this value to no. After we configure the LDAP user registry, we can manually change the user IDs and passwords.

1. To get the latest updates for the wizard, apply the most recent Combined Cumulative Fix. For more information about applying the latest fix pack, visit Combined cumulative fix strategy for more topic information.

   Note: Skip this step, if we have the most recent fix pack applied.

2. Access the Configuration Wizard. Go to: http://your_server:10200/hcl/wizard.

   Note: If working with HCL WebSphere Portal 8.5 or 9 software level prior to CF18, the wizard address will be...

   http://your_server:10200/ibm/wizard

   After installing CF18, the configuration wizard will automatically be adjusted to...

   http://your_server:10200/hcl/wizard

   Restriction: There is a known issue with Chrome version 45.x and the Configuration Wizard. If we are experiencing difficulties, use a different browser when you access the wizard.

3. Log in to the Configuration Wizard with the administrative ID for the configuration wizard profile, cw_profile.

   Note: If the language is not currently supported for the user interface, we might see the English version. For details on supported languages and the language codes for all of the HCL WebSphere Portal user interfaces, see Supported languages in the HCL WebSphere Portal v8.5 documentation.

4. Select Set Up a Stand-alone Server > Enable Federated Security.

   Note: If you set Use Administrator IDs stored in the LDAP user registry to yes, the WebSphere Application Server and HCL WebSphere Portal user IDs and passwords are changed to the LDAP user ID and password. If we do not want to change both user IDs and passwords to match the LDAP user ID and password, set this value to no. After we configure the LDAP user registry, we can manually change the user IDs and passwords.

5. Provide information about the environment.

6. Save the configuration settings.
7. Choose one of the following options:

   • Click Download Files to run the steps remotely.

   • Click Run All Steps to run the steps locally.

8. Log in to HCL WebSphere Portal to verify that we have a working portal server.

Tune the servers in the environment

Tune the servers is important to the performance of the portal environment. HCL WebSphere Portal is not tuned for a production environment after installation and deployment. The database needs tuning for improved performance. We can organize the database now or soon after finishing the configuration. We need to tune and maintain the database on a regular basis.

Run the performance tuning tool to complete an initial tuning of the servers.

Configure the Authoring portlet

Configure your Authoring portlet on the HCL WebSphere Portal server.

1. Configure extra Authoring portlet parameters.
2. Configure the workflow, profiling, and version control settings.
3. Configure the Authoring portlet search.
4. Configure the server to import large files and images.
5. Configure the server to avoid timeout issues.
6. Configure remote server access so we can link to files and documents on remote content management systems.
7. Set up support for federated documents.

Syndication

Use syndication to synchronize content between authoring, staging, and publishing environments.

1. Plan your syndication strategies.

   • Syndication relationships

2. Define syndication properties.

   • Syndication properties

3. Tune your syndication strategy to improve performance.

   • Syndication tuning

4. Create your syndication relationships.

   • Create a syndication relationship using the Administration Portlet

Deploy the delivery environment

The delivery environment is used to deliver the website to the website viewers. The delivery environment is deployed based on the requirements defined in the project design document.

1. Based on the database architecture defined in the project design document, the database administrator does the following:

   1. Deploys a database server for the delivery environment.

   2. Clones the data stored on the authoring database onto the delivery database.

2. Based on the server architecture defined in the project design document, the HCL WebSphere Portal administrator does the following:

   1. Installs a HCL WebSphere Portal server or cluster of servers.

   2. Configures the HCL WebSphere Portal server or cluster to use the database server setup by the database administrator.

   3. Configures various WebSphere Application Server, HCL WebSphere Portal and Web Content Manager configuration properties to ensure that the system is correctly set up for web content delivery and is tuned for optimal performance.

3. Based on the information architecture and security architecture defined in the project design document, the HCL WebSphere Portal administrator:

   1. Create all pages that are required by the web content system.

   2. Adds all required web content viewer portlets to the appropriate pages.

4. The HCL WebSphere Portal administrator configures and enables syndication.

5. Final testing and tuning of the delivery environment is undertaken by all administrators.

The delivery environment is now ready to use.

Going live with the website

When the environments are installed, the authoring system is completed, the default content is created, and fully tested the system, we are ready to go live.

1. Ensure that your stakeholders are ready to use the website and authoring system:
   1. Ensure that the content authors are trained on how to use the new web content authoring system.
   2. Ensure that any legacy authoring or delivery systems are redirected to the new system.
   3. Start marketing campaigns to bring visitors to the new website.
2. Based on the maintenance architecture defined in the project design document, we run regular monitoring and maintenance tasks to ensure that the system is operating efficiently.

Parent topic: Roadmaps for installation and deployment