WebLogic Server Installation

This Installation Guide describes how to use the WebLogic installation program on Windows and UNIX platforms. This document is intended for system administrators who are installing the WebLogic software.  

WebLogic Server Installation - Table of Contents

WebLogic Server Installation Modes Installable Product Components Product Distribution   Installation Prerequisites Starting the Installation Program on Windows: (.exe) Starting the Installation Program on UNIX Platforms Using Generic Installers with Filenames Ending .jar Running Graphical-Mode Installation Running Console-Mode Installation Using Silent-Mode Installation Post-Installation Information WebLogic Server Dependencies

WebLogic Server Installation Modes

The installation program can be used in the following modes:  

1. Graphical-Mode installation:

 It is an interactive, GUI-based method for installing software. It can be run on both Windows and UNIX systems.

Note: If you want to run the installation program in graphical mode, the console attached to the machine on which you are installing the software must support a Java-based GUI.  

2. Console Mode Installation:

It is an interactive, text-based method for installing your software from the command line, on either a UNIX system or a Windows system.  

3. Silent Mode Installation:

Silent-mode installation is a non-interactive method of installing your software that requires the use of an XML property file for selecting installation options. You can run the silent mode installation from either a script or from the command line. Silent-mode installation is a way of setting installation configurations only once and then using those configurations to duplicate the installation on many machines.  

Installable Product Components  

The installable product components vary depending on the installer that you are using.

1) WebLogic Server

2) WebLogic Workshop

3) WebLogic Portal

4) Oracle Service Bus

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Product Distribution  

1. 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.  

2. 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).

Note: If you are planning to install the software in silent mode, you must download the package installer. Silent-mode installation is not supported by the net installer.  

3. 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 installer to install the product on UNIX machines on which Java is already installed.  

Installation Prerequisites

The following sections describe the installation prerequisites:

1. System Requirements:

Platform configuration	Supported configuration of hardware, operating system, JDK, and DB specific to the product you are installing.
Processor	1-GHz CPU
Hard disk drive	Installation requires approximately 3.5 GB of disk space.
Memory	Minimum of 1 GB RAM and recommends 2 GB of RAM.
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, you must 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.

2. 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 Java Run-time Environment (JRE) bundled with the installation program and an uncompressed copy of the JRE that is expanded into the temporary directory.

Windows platforms: directory referenced by the TMP system variable

Ex: C: WINDOWSTemp

UNIX Platforms: system-dependent temporary directory

Ex: /tmp  

3. 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 options are available...

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, the 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.

4. 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 the home directory selection task: the BEA_HOME directory is not empty. Proceed with installation?
• For the product installation directory (ies) selection task: One or more installation directories are not empty. Proceed with installation?  

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Starting the Installation Program on Windows: (.exe)

The following sections describe how to start the installation program on a Windows platform. The name of the installation program for the WebLogic Server package installer is server923_win32.exe  

1. Starting Graphical Mode Installation:

 Double-click on the installer file

2. Starting Console Mode Installation:

• Open a command prompt window.
• Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program
• Launch the installation of WLS in console mode, enter

server923_win32.exe -mode=console -log=C:logsserver_install.log

Note: You can include the -log=full_path_to_log_file option in the command line to create a verbose installation log.

3. Starting Silent Mode Installation:

• 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.

Note: 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.

• Open a command prompt window.
• Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program.
• Launch the installation of the WebLogic Server installer, enter

Ex : server923_win32.exe -mode=silent -silent_xml=C:silent.xml

-log=C:logsserver_install.log  

Starting the Installation Program on UNIX Platforms:

The following sections describe how to start the installation program on a UNIX Platform.

Using Installers with Filenames Ending in .bin:

1. Starting Graphical-Mode Installation:

1. Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program
2. Launch the installation by entering the following commands:

chmod a+x <filename.bin> ./<filename.bin>

In these commands, filename.bin is the name of your installation program. For example, for WebLogic Server, the file name is server923_solaris32.bin.

Note: You can include the log file option in the command line to create a verbose installation log.

For example: chmod a+x  server923_solaris32.bin ./server923_solaris32.bin -log=/home/logs/install.log  

2. Starting Console-Mode Installation:

1. Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program
2. Launch the installation by entering the following commands:

chmod a+x <filename.bin> ./<filename.bin> -mode=console

For example: chmod a+x server923_solaris32.bin ./server923_solaris32.bin -mode=console -log=/home/logs/install.log  

3. Starting Silent-Mode Installation:

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.
2. Open a command prompt window.
3. Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program.
4. Launch the installation of the WebLogic Server installer, enter

For example: chmod a+x filename.bin ./<filename.bin> -mode=silent -silent_xml=/<path_to_silent.xml>

Here, filename.bin is the name of the installation file (for example, for WebLogic Server: server923_solaris32.bin), and path_to_silent.xml is the full pathname of the silent.xml template file. For example, for WebLogic Server, enter:

chmod a+x server923_solaris32.bin ./server923_solaris32.bin -mode=silent -silent_xml=/home/silent.xml -log=/home/logs/install.log

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Using Generic Installers with Filenames Ending .jar

1. Starting Graphical-Mode Installation:

  a) Add the bin directory of the appropriate JDK to the beginning of the PATH variable definition on the target system. Here JAVA_HOME represents the full path to the JDK directory.

Ex: PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

export PATH

  b) Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program.

  c) Launch the installation program by entering the following command:

java -jar net_server<version>_generic.jar

Note: You can include the -log=full_path_to_log_file option in the command line to create a verbose installation log.

Ex: server<version>_generic.jar -log=/home/logs/install.log

2. Starting Console-Mode Installation:

  a) Add the bin directory of the appropriate JDK to the beginning of the PATH variable definition on the target system. Here, JAVA_HOME represents the full path to the JDK directory.

Ex: PATH=JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

export PATH

  b) Go to the directory where you downloaded the installation program.

  c). Launch the installation by entering the following command:

java -jar <filename.jar> -mode=console

Here, filename.jar is the name of the Products installation file, for example,

net_server<version>_generic.jar.

Ex: java -jar server<version>_generic.jar -mode=console

-log=/home/logs/install.log  

3. Starting Silent-Mode Installation:            

  a) 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 information about creating a silent.xml file, see Creating a silent.xml File for Silent-Mode Installation.

  b) Add the bin directory of the appropriate JDK to the beginning of the PATH variable definition on the target system.

EX: PATH=JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH

export PATH

Here, JAVA_HOME is the full path of the JDK directory.

  c) Go to the directory that contains the installation file.

  d) Launch the installation by entering the following command:

java -jar <filename.jar> -mode=silent -silent_xml=/path_to_silent.xml

Here, filename.jar is the name of the Products installation file (for example, server<version>_generic.jar, where, path_to_silent.xml is the full path silent.xml file.  

Ex: server<version>_generic.jar -mode=silent -silent_xml=/home/silent.xml -log=/home/logs/install.log

Running Graphical-Mode Installation

     

1) Double-click on the installer file

2) Welcome:  Click Next to proceed with the installation. You may cancel the installation at any time by clicking Exit.

3) Choose BEA Home Directory: Specify the home directory that will serve as the central support directory for all products installed on the target system  

4) Choose Install Type: Select one of the following installation types:

Complete— All the software components included in your installation program, are installed on your system.

Custom— You can select the software components to be installed.

5) Choose Products and Components: Specify the components to be installed by selecting or clearing the appropriate checkboxes. This window displays a tree-view of all the components available for installation.

6) Choose Product Installation Directories: Specify the directories in which you want to install the products, and click Next.

7) Windows service: Choose whether you want to install the Windows services indicated, specifically the WebLogic Server Node Manager Service. Node Manager is used to monitor, start, and stop server instances in a domain. If you select Yes, enter the Node Manager Listen Port in the appropriate field. The default is 5556

8) Choose Shortcut Location: Specify the Start menu folder in which you want the Start menu shortcuts created  All Users Start menu folder & Local User’s Start menu folder

9) Installation Complete    

Running Console-Mode Installation  

To complete the console-mode installation process, respond to the prompts in each section by entering the number associated with your choice or by pressing Enter to accept the default. To exit the installation process, enter exit (or x, for short) in response to any prompt. To review or change your selection, enter previous (or p, for short) at the prompt. To proceed to the following window, enter next (or n, for short).

Note: In the sample console text and directory pathnames provided in this section, Windows conventions (such as backslashes in pathnames) are used, for example, C:beawlserver_<version>. When entering pathnames on a UNIX system, be sure to use UNIX conventions, instead. For example, use forward slashes in pathnames, such as /home/bea/wlserver_<version>.

• At the Welcome prompt, type next (or n for short), or press Enter to continue with the installation process. The Choose BEA Home directory prompt is displayed.
• Specify the home directory that will serve as the central support directory for all WebLogic products installed on the target system.
• Specify the type of installation you want to perform by entering the number associated with the install type.

To choose a complete installation, type 1 or press Enter – To choose a Custom installation, type 2. The Choose Products and Components to Install prompt is displayed.

• Select the components you want to install. The word Installed is shown in brackets for any component that is already installed in the current BEA_HOME directory.

Note: The installer displays the estimated size of the installation for the selected Components.

• Specify the directory in which you want to install the software. You can accept the default product directory (BEA_HOMEwlserver_<version>) or create a new product directory.
• Specify whether you want to install Node Manager as a Windows service.

Do one of the following:

Enter 1 to install a node manager as a Windows service.

Enter 2 if you do not want to install Node Manager as a Windows service.

Specify the folder in which you want to create the Start menu shortcuts.

Do one of the following:

Type 1 or press Enter to create Start menu shortcuts in the All Users folder.

Type 2 to create shortcuts in your local user’s Start menu folder.

Press Enter to continue. The installation program begins by copying the components you specified to your system.

Note: QuickStart is not started 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).  

Using Silent-Mode Installation

Main Steps Important Considerations for Silent-Mode Installation            

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

  a) We must use the package installer for silent mode installation. Silent-mode installation is not supported by the net installer.

  b) Silent-mode installation requires the same amount of temporary disk space and uses the same temporary storage directories as a standard installation. The installation program does not alert you if there is not enough space in the temporary directory.

  c) 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 is displayed briefly, indicating that the installation has started. No messages are displayed to indicate that the installation is in progress or has been completed successfully.

  d) 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.

  e) 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.

  f) You cannot reinstall any WebLogic product on top of a previously installed version of the same product—in the same home directory or in the same file location. You can, however, add products and product components to an existing installation.

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

Values for the Sample silent.xml File for WebLogic

BEAHOME  - The full path for the home directory of your choice.

WLS_INSTALL_DIR - The full path for the directory where you want to install WebLogic Server Ex - C:bea_HOMEwlserver_9.2

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

INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE (Windows platforms only)

• Yes to install the WebLogic Server Node Manager as a Windows service.
• No skipping the installation of the WLS Node Manager as a Windows service. The default is no.

NODEMGR_PORT The Node Manager listen port.

Note: The INSTALL_NODE_MANAGER_SERVICE option must be set to yes.

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 user's folder.

Post-Installation Information

Using QuickStart

When the product installation is completed using graphical-mode installation, the QuickStart application is launched automatically, by default. If you do not want to run QuickStart at the completion of the installation process, you can clear the Run QuickStart checkbox in the Install Complete window.

QuickStart is not invoked for console mode or silent-mode installations. QuickStart is designed to help first-time users evaluate, learn, and use Product software.

For example, the QuickStart application for WebLogic Server provides quick access to the following:

• Launch Oracle Workshop for WebLogic
• Start WebLogic Server 10.3
• Upgrade domains to version 10.3
• Access documentation online

After installation, you can launch QuickStart as follows:

On Window systems, choose Start > Programs > Bea Product > QuickStart

On UNIX systems, perform the following steps:

1. Go to the /common/bin subdirectory of your installation.

For example cd /home/bea/wlserver_<version>/common/bin

1. Enter the following command: sh quickstart. sh

  Post Installation: BEA Directory

WebLogic Directory Structure:

Samples Directory Structure  

JVM Run-Time Arguments

• WebLogic Server can be executed with most Java Virtual Machines.
• WebLogic Server supports JDK 1.6

The syntax for running a virtual machine:

java options FullyQualifiedJavaClass ProgramOptions

Some virtual machine options:

• Xms The minimum size of the dynamic heap.
• Xmx The maximum size of the dynamic heap.
• Dprop=val Defines an environment variable accessible by the program.
• classpath Specifies a list of files/directories containing dependent clauses.  

WebLogic Server Dependencies

To run WLS, you must configure:

• PATH to include all executable programs (including the Java interpreter)
• CLASSPATH to include dependencies

These parameters can be set:

• in your computer’s environment settings
• in a custom batch file or shell script

Configuring Your CLASSPATH

The WLS CLASSPATH is completely configured by the Java system CLASSPATH environment variable

Files that must be in the CLASSPATH:

• %WL_HOME%/server/lib/weblogic.jar
• Any additional service pack jar files (See release notes)

Files that can be in the CLASSPATH:

• %WL_HOME%/common/eval/pointbase/lib/pbclient51.jar
• %WL_HOME%/common/eval/pointbase/lib/pbtools51.jar
• %WL_HOME%/common/eval/pointbase/lib/pbembedded51.jar
• %WL_HOME%/server/lib/xmlx.jar
• JDBC drivers
• Startup classes, shutdown classes
• 3rd-party libraries
• Other common classes

Setting Environment Variables:

• Run setWLSEnv.cmd (setWLSEnv.sh for UNIX) under WL_HOME/server/bin to set WL_HOME, JAVA_HOME, PATH, CLASSPATH.
• cmd (setWLSEnv.sh for UNIX) makes a call to commEnv.sh under WL_HOME/common/bin to set common environment variables, such as BEA_HOME, ANT_HOME, and POINTBASE_HOME.
• Check the version of JDK –java -version  

Summary:

In this section, we discussed:

• WebLogic Server product overview
• Installing & Running WebLogic Server
• Installing WebLogic Server
• The WebLogic Server directory structure
• How to configure the CLASSPATH variable for WebLogic Server

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