5 Things You Should Know Before Starting the Installation

5.1 Obtaining Software from Oracle E-Delivery

You can obtain Oracle products from Oracle E-Delivery at http://edelivery.oracle.com/. Oracle products are distributed as "E-Packs". An E-Pack is an electronic version of the software that is also available to Oracle Customers on CD-ROM or DVD-ROM.

c:\oraAS10g

c:\oraAS10g\Disk1
c:\oraAS10g\Disk2

5.2 Basic Concepts

Oracle Application Server is made up of:

• Oracle Application Server middle tier

• OracleAS Infrastructure

You deploy and run your applications on Oracle Application Server middle tiers. The infrastructure provides services that are used by middle tiers. Infrastructure services can be shared by one or more middle tiers.

When you run the installer, you select whether you want to install the middle tier or the infrastructure. Typically you need both, so you would run the installer twice.

Figure 5-1 shows a simple Oracle Application Server installation. The J2EE and Web Cache middle tier running on computer 1 uses OracleAS Infrastructure running on computer 2. The figure shows the OracleAS Metadata Repository and two Identity Management services (OracleAS Single Sign-On and Oracle Internet Directory).

Figure 5-1 A Middle Tier Using Infrastructure Services

Description of "Figure 5-1 A Middle Tier Using Infrastructure Services"

5.3 Order of Installation

In most cases, you must install OracleAS Infrastructure first, because the middle tiers depend on OracleAS Infrastructure services. The one case where the infrastructure is optional is the J2EE and Web Cache middle-tier type. (But see Section 7.4, "Configuration Options for the J2EE and Web Cache Middle Tier")

5.4 Where Do I Install Oracle Application Server?

You can install the middle tiers and the infrastructure on the same computer or on separate computers. You can get better performance if you install the infrastructure on its own computer, and the middle tiers on other computers.

For example, Figure 5-2 shows a topology with four computers:

• Computer 1 runs a J2EE and Web Cache instance that is not using any infrastructure services.

• Computer 2 runs a Portal and Wireless middle tier that uses infrastructure services from the infrastructure instance running on Computer 4.

• Computer 3 runs another Portal and Wireless middle tier that uses infrastructure services from the infrastructure instance running on Computer 4.

• Computer 4 runs OracleAS Infrastructure.

See Chapter 15, "Recommended Topologies" for topology examples.

Figure 5-2 Configuration with Multiple Middle Tiers and an Infrastructure

Description of "Figure 5-2 Configuration with Multiple Middle Tiers and an Infrastructure"

5.5 Oracle Home Directory

The directory in which you install Oracle Application Server is called the Oracle home. During installation, you specify the full path to this directory and a name for this Oracle home.

For example, you can install OracleAS Infrastructure in /opt/oracle/OraHome_Infra, and you can name it "Infra".

Names of Oracle homes must be 128 characters or fewer, and can contain only alphanumeric characters and underscores.

If you plan to install a middle tier and an infrastructure on the same computer, you must install them in different Oracle home directories. The installer does not allow you to install a middle tier and an infrastructure in the same Oracle home. Section 15.2, "Portal and Wireless Developer Topology" describes a configuration where you install a middle tier and an infrastructure on the same computer.

5.6 Can I Use Symbolic Links?

You can create symbolic links before installing Oracle Application Server and use them during installation. For example, if you run the following commands:

mkdir /home/basedir
ln -s /home/linkdir /home/basedir

then, when you run the installer, you can specify /home/linkdir as the Oracle Home.

After installation, you cannot create symbolic links to the Oracle Home. You also may not move the Oracle Home to a different location and create a symbolic link to the original Oracle Home.

5.7 First-Time Installation of Any Oracle Product

If Oracle Application Server is the first Oracle product to be installed on a computer, the installer displays a screen where you specify an "inventory" directory (also called the "oraInventory" directory). This inventory directory is used by the installer to keep track of all Oracle products installed on the computer.

The inventory directory is separate from the Oracle home directory for Oracle Application Server.

To ensure other users in the oinstall group have access to the inventory directory (so that they can install Oracle products), do not use the oracle user's home directory as the inventory directory because home directories might not have the proper permissions set up for the oinstall group. Instead, you can put the inventory directory in the /opt/oracle directory (for example, /opt/oracle/oraInventory).

If you have installed an Oracle product previously on the computer, the installer uses the existing inventory directory. Ensure that you have write permissions on that directory. The best way of ensuring this is to run the installer as the same operating system user who installed the existing Oracle products.

Oracle recommends creating an operating system user to perform all tasks related to installation of Oracle products. See Section 4.8, "Operating System User".

5.8 Installing Additional Languages

By default, the installer installs Oracle Application Server with text in English and in the operating system language. If you need additional languages, click the Product Languages button in the "Select a Product to Install" screen.

When you select additional languages to install, the installer installs text in the selected languages. It also installs fonts required to display the languages.

For some components, languages are installed only if you select them during installation. In this case, if you access the application in a language that is not available, it will fall back on the server locale language.

For other components, available languages are installed regardless of what you select during installation. In this case, however, fonts are installed only for the languages that are explicitly selected. When you access the application, it uses text in your language because the language was installed. However, if you do not have the appropriate fonts to render the text, the text appears as square boxes. This usually applies to the Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages.

You can install fonts after installation. See Section G.3.10, "User Interface Does Not Display in the Desired Language, or Does Not Display Properly".

Note that you cannot install additional languages after installation. You must install all languages that you need during installation. If you run Oracle Application Server in an environment that uses a language that you did not install, the user interface can display text in that language and/or in English, or it can display square boxes (caused by missing fonts) instead of text.

5.9 Oracle Application Server Instances and Instance Names

When you install the infrastructure or middle tier, what you get is an Oracle Application Server instance. The installer prompts you to provide a name for the Oracle Application Server instance you are installing. For example, you can name an instance "infra" or "J2EE". This name can be different from the Oracle home name.

You cannot change this name after installation.

Oracle Application Server appends the hostname and domain name to the given instance name to form a complete instance name. For example, if you are installing an instance on a computer named c1, and you name the instance infra1, then the full name of the instance is infra1.c1.mydomain.com, assuming the domain name is mydomain.com.

Valid Characters in Instance Names

Instance names can consist only of the alphanumeric characters (A-Z, a-z, 0-9) and the _ (underscore) character.

The maximum length for an instance name is 64 characters.

Restrictions on Oracle Application Server Instance Names

Do not use the hostname of the computer when naming Oracle Application Server instances.

If you are planning to place the Oracle Application Server instance in an OracleAS Cluster, the instance name must not contain the following:

• hostname or IP address of any computer in the OracleAS Cluster

• Oracle home of any Oracle Application Server installation in the OracleAS Cluster

How Oracle Application Server Uses Instance Names

Instance names are important because Oracle Application Server uses them to uniquely identify instances. This means that if you install multiple Oracle Application Server instances on the same computer (for example, an OracleAS Infrastructure and a J2EE and Web Cache instance), you must give them different names.

When you administer Oracle Application Server using Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control (or Application Server Control for short), the instance name appears on the screens. You can click the instance name to see details about the instance, such as the components that are installed in that instance, if the components are running or stopped, and the log files for the components. The Application Server Control is a browser-based administration tool for Oracle Application Server. See the Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide for details about this administration tool.

In addition, some dcmctl commands require an instance name as a parameter. dcmctl is a command-line tool for administering Oracle Application Server instances. See the Distributed Configuration Management Administrator's Guide for details about dcmctl.

5.10 The ias_admin User and Restrictions on its Password

The installer prompts you to specify the password for the ias_admin user. The ias_admin user is the administrative user for Oracle Application Server instances. To manage Oracle Application Server instances using Application Server Control, you log in as ias_admin.

On a computer, you can install multiple Oracle Application Server instances, each with its own unique instance name, but the name of the administrative user is ias_admin for all instances. The password for the ias_admin user can be different for each instance.

Password for the ias_admin User

The password for the ias_admin user must conform to Oracle Internet Directory's password policy:

• If you are using the Oracle Internet Directory that is shipped with this release of Oracle Application Server and you did not change the default password policy, passwords have the following restrictions:

  • The minimum length is five alphanumeric characters.

  • At least one of the characters must be a number.

• If you are using any other version of Oracle Internet Directory (for example, you are using an existing Oracle Internet Directory), your Oracle Internet Directory administrator might have defined a different password policy. The password you enter for the ias_admin user must conform to the existing Oracle Internet Directory's password policy.

In addition to the password policy defined in Oracle Internet Directory, the password for the ias_admin user has these restrictions:

• Passwords must be shorter than 30 characters.

• Passwords can contain only alphanumeric characters from your database character set, the underscore (_), the dollar sign ($), and the number sign (#).

• Passwords must begin with an alphabetic character. Passwords cannot begin with a number, the underscore (_), the dollar sign ($), or the number sign (#).

• Passwords cannot be Oracle reserved words. The Oracle Database SQL Reference lists the reserved words. You can find this guide on Oracle Technology Network (http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation). Or you can just avoid using words that sound like they might be reserved words.

You must remember the password because you need to enter it to perform the following tasks:

• When you log on to Application Server Control to manage Oracle Application Server, you log on as the ias_admin user.

• For middle-tier installations: if you want to install a larger middle tier in an ORACLE_HOME that already contains a middle tier (for example, you want to install the Portal and Wireless type over an existing J2EE and Web Cache type), you must enter the existing password during the installation.

If you forget the password, you can reset it. See the Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide for details.

5.11 Comparing Installing Components against Configuring Components

When you select components on the Select Configuration Options screen, the installer installs and configures the selected components. For the unselected components, the installer still installs them, but does not configure them.

In most cases, you can configure components that you did not select on the Select Configuration Options screen after installation using the Application Server Control. See the Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide for details.

5.12 Installing Oracle9i Application Server Release 2 (9.0.2) on the Same Computer

If you want to install the current release of Oracle Application Server and Oracle9i Application Server Release 2 (9.0.2) on the same computer, make sure you install Release 2 (9.0.2) first.

If you install Oracle9i Application Server Release 2 (9.0.2) Infrastructure after installing the current release of Oracle Application Server Infrastructure, you must disable the Net Listener installed by the 9.0.2 infrastructure. The current version of Net Listener is capable of listening for both the current and previous releases of the database. For information on starting and stopping Net Listener, see the Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide.

For more information on compatibility with earlier releases, see the Oracle Application Server Upgrade and Compatibility Guide.

5.13 Where Does the Installer Write Files?

The installer writes files to the following directories:

5.14 Why Do I Need to be Able to Log In as Root at Certain Times During Installation?

At least once during installation, the installer prompts you to log in as the root user and run a script. You need to be root because the script edits files in the /var/opt/oracle directory.

5.15 Running root.sh During Installation

The installer prompts you to run the root.sh script in a separate window. This script creates files in the local bin directory (/usr/local/bin, by default).

If the script finds files of the same name, it prompts you if you want to override the existing files. You should back up these files (you can do this from another window), then overwrite them.

The following lines show the prompts from the root.sh script. The default values are enclosed in square brackets.

Enter the full pathname of the local bin directory: [/usr/local/bin]:
The file "dbhome" already exists in /usr/local/bin.  Overwrite it? (y/n)[n]:  y
 Copying dbhome to /usr/local/bin ...
The file "oraenv" already exists in /usr/local/bin.  Overwrite it? (y/n)[n]:  y
 Copying oraenv to /usr/local/bin ...
The file "coraenv" already exists in /usr/local/bin.  Overwrite it? (y/n)[n]: y
 Copying coraenv to /usr/local/bin ...

After you run root.sh, you may see warnings that begin with "chmod: WARNING: Corresponding set-ID also disabled..." You may ignore these warnings.

5.16 Can I Modify Other Oracle Application Server Instances During Installation?

During the installation of an Oracle Application Server instance, you should not change the configuration or passwords of other installations in your environment. For example, if there is an OracleAS Infrastructure installation in your environment, you should not modify it during the installation of a middle tier.

5.17 Connecting to Oracle Internet Directory Through SSL Connections

When you install OracleAS Infrastructure or middle tiers, you can specify that Oracle Application Server components connect to Oracle Internet Directory only through SSL connections. On screens where you specify the hostname and port for Oracle Internet Directory, you can select the Use Only SSL Connections With This Oracle Internet Directory option.

Note that Oracle HTTP Server is not set up for SSL connections during installation. If you need Oracle HTTP Server to use SSL, you can set it up after installation. See the Oracle HTTP Server Administrator's Guide for details.

5.18 Setting the Mount Point for the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM

The Oracle Application Server CD-ROMs are in RockRidge format. The DVD-ROM is in DVD-ROM format.

If you are using the Solaris Volume Management software (installed by default with Solaris Operating Environment), then the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM is mounted automatically at /cdrom when you insert the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM. For example, when you insert Oracle Application Server Disk 1 into the CD-ROM drive, you can access its contents at /cdrom/10.1.2disk1.

If you are not using the Solaris Volume Management software, then you must mount the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM manually. To manually mount or unmount the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, you must have root privileges. Be sure to unmount the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM before removing it from the drive.

Follow these steps to mount a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM manually:

1. Log in as the root user.

   prompt> su
   Password: 
   
   

2. Create the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM mount point directory:

   # mkdir mount_point
   
   

3. Mount the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive on the mount point directory:

   # mount options device_name mount_point
   
   

   The following example mounts the CD-ROM manually on /cdrom, without using the Solaris Volume Management software. Execute the following commands as root user:

   # mkdir /cdrom
   # mount -r -F hsfs device_name /cdrom
   
   

   You can also use the same commands and options to mount the DVD-ROM.

4. Log out from the root user.

   # exit
   
   

5.19 Starting the Oracle Universal Installer

1. If you are installing from a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM and your computer does not mount CD-ROMs or DVDs automatically, you need to set the mount point manually. See Section 5.18, "Setting the Mount Point for the CD-ROMor DVD-ROM" for details.

2. Log in as the oracle user.

3. If you are installing Oracle Application Server on a multihomed computer, create the ORACLE_HOSTNAME environment variable. Set this variable to point to the hostname of the computer on which you are installing Oracle Application Server.

   
   

   See Also: Section 4.11.1, "Installing on Multihomed (Multi-IP) Computers"

   
   

4. If you are installing from your hard drive, go to the next step.

   CD-ROM users: Insert Oracle Application Server Disk 1 into the CD-ROM drive.

   DVD-ROM users: Insert the Oracle Application Server DVD-ROM into the DVD-ROM drive.

5. Run the Oracle Universal Installer using the command shown after the notes:

   
   

   Notes: Be sure you are not logged in as the root user when you start the Oracle Universal Installer. The installer gives an error message if you try to run it as the root user. Do not start the installation inside the mount_point directory. If you do, then you may not be able to eject the installation disk. The cd command below changes your current directory to your home directory.

   
   

   CD-ROM:

   prompt> cd
   prompt> mount_point/10.1.2disk1/runInstaller
   
   

   DVD-ROM:

   prompt> cd
   prompt> mount_point/application_server/runInstaller
   
   

   Hard Drive:

   prompt> cd disk1_directory
   prompt> runInstaller
   
   

   where disk1_directory is the directory where you unzipped the Disk 1 file.

This launches Oracle Universal Installer, through which you install Oracle Application Server.