8 Installing and Configuring the myBIFCompany Application Infrastructure

8.3.1 Installing the First Application Server on APPHOST1

Follow these steps to install an Oracle Application Server middle tier on APPHOST1:

1. Ensure that the system, patch, kernel and other requirements are met as specified in the Oracle Application Server Installation Guide. You can find this guide in the Oracle Application Server platform documentation library for the platform and version you are using.

2. Copy the staticport.ini file from the Disk1/stage/Response directory to a local directory, such as TMP.

3. Edit the staticport.ini file to assign the following custom ports:

   Oracle HTTP Server port = 7777
   Oracle HTTP Server Listen port = 7778
   Web Cache HTTP Listen port = 7777
   Web Cache Administration port = 9400
   Web Cache Invalidation port = 9401
   Web Cache Statistics port = 9402
   Application Server Control port = 1810
   
   

   
   

   Notes: Ensure that these ports are not already in use by any other service on the computer. Using the Static Ports feature as described to install the Application Server Tier ensures that the port assignments will be consistent with the documentation in this section, if the ports are correctly specified in the file and the port is not already in use. Otherwise: If a port is incorrectly specified, then the Oracle Universal Installer will assign the default port. If a port is already in use, then the Oracle Universal Installer will assign the next available port. See Section B.3, "Using the Static Ports Feature with Oracle Universal Installer" for more information. Port 80 is open on the firewall only to accept and redirect requests using the HTTP (non-secure) protocol. Requests using the HTTP protocol (in the form http://www.mycompany.com) are redirected to port 443. Requests using the HTTPS, or secure, protocol (in the form https://www.mycompany.com) are managed by port 443.

   
   

4. Start the Oracle Universal Installer as follows:

   On UNIX, issue this command: runInstaller

   On Windows, double-click setup.exe

   The Welcome screen appears.

5. Click Next.

   On UNIX systems, the Specify Inventory Directory and Credentials screen appears.

6. Specify the directory you want to be the oraInventory directory and the operating system group that has write permission to it.

7. Click Next.

   On UNIX systems, a dialog appears, prompting you to run the orainstRoot.sh script.

8. Open a window and run the script, following the prompts in the window.

9. Return to the Oracle Universal Installer screen and click Next.

   The Specify File Locations screen appears with default locations for:

   • The product files for installation (Source)

   • The name and path to the Oracle home (Destination)

10. Specify the path and click Next.

    The Select a Product to Install screen appears.

    Figure 8-1 Oracle Universal Installer Select a Product to Install Screen

    
    Description of "Figure 8-1 Oracle Universal Installer Select a Product to Install Screen"
    
    

11. Select Oracle Application Server 10g, as shown in Figure 8-1, and click Next.

    The Select Installation Type screen appears.

    Figure 8-2 Oracle Universal Installer Select Installation Type Screen

    
    Description of "Figure 8-2 Oracle Universal Installer Select Installation Type Screen"
    
    

12. Select Business Intelligence and Forms, as shown in Figure 8-2, and click Next.

    The Confirm Pre-Installation Requirements screen appears.

13. Ensure that the requirements are met and click Next.

14. The Select Configuration Options screen appears.

    Figure 8-3 Oracle Universal Installer Select Configuration Options Screen

    
    Description of "Figure 8-3 Oracle Universal Installer Select Configuration Options Screen"
    
    

15. Select Oracle Application Server 10g Portal, Oracle Application Server 10g Discoverer, Oracle Application Server 10g Reports Services, and Oracle Application Server 10g Forms Services, as shown in Figure 8-3, and click Next.

    The Specify Port Configuration Options screen appears.

16. Select Manual, specify the location of the staticports.ini file, and click Next.

17. The Register with Oracle Internet Directory screen appears.

    Figure 8-4 Oracle Universal Installer Register with Oracle Internet Directory Screen

    
    Description of "Figure 8-4 Oracle Universal Installer Register with Oracle Internet Directory Screen"
    
    

18. Enter the host name and port of the Oracle Internet Directory load balancing router. Do not select the SSL configuration option.

19. Click Next.

    The Specify OID Login screen appears.

20. Enter the user name and the password and click Next.

    The Select OracleAS 10g Metadata Repository screen appears, displaying the connect strings for the repository databases that the installer detected.

21. Select the application database (APPDBHOST1 and APPDBHOST2) and click Next.

    The Provide Outgoing Mail Server Information screen appears.

    Figure 8-5 Oracle Universal installer Provide Outgoing Mail Server Information Screen

    
    Description of "Figure 8-5 Oracle Universal installer Provide Outgoing Mail Server Information Screen"
    
    

22. Complete the field with the outgoing SMTP mail server name and click Next.

    The Specify Instance Name and ias_admin Password screen appears.

23. Specify an instance name and the Oracle Application Server administrator's password and click Next.

    The Summary screen appears.

24. Click Next.

    On UNIX systems, a dialog appears, prompting you to run the root.sh script.

25. Open a window and run the script, following the prompts in the window.

26. Return to the Oracle Universal Installer screen and click Next.

    The Configuration Assistants screen appears. Multiple configuration assistants are launched in succession; this process can be lengthy. When it completes, the End of Installation screen appears.

27. Click Exit, and then confirm your choice to exit.

28. Confirm that the installation was successful by accessing the test pages at the following URLs:

    • For OracleAS Reports Services:

      http://apphost1.mycompany.com:7777/reports/rwservlet

    • For OracleAS Forms Services:

      http://apphost1.mycompany.com:7777/forms/frmservlet

    • For OracleBI Discoverer:

      http://apphost1.mycompany.com:7777/discoverer/viewer

8.3.2 Configuring the First Application Server on APPHOST1

The configuration of the Oracle Business Intelligence application server tier on APPHOST1 consists of the following tasks:

• Configuring the Oracle HTTP Server with the Load Balancing Router on APPHOST1

• Re-registering mod_osso on APPHOST1

• Configuring OracleAS Reports Services Server Targets in Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console

• Testing the Configuration on APPHOST1

8.3.3 Installing the Second Application Server on APPHOST2

The installation procedure for the second application server is identical to that for the first. Therefore, on APPHOST2, follow the steps in Section 8.3.1, "Installing the First Application Server on APPHOST1".

8.3.4 Configuring the Second Application Server on APPHOST2

The configuration of the Oracle Business Intelligence application server tier on APPHOST2 consists of the following tasks:

• Configuring the Oracle HTTP Server with the Load Balancing Router on APPHOST2

• Re-registering mod_osso on APPHOST2

• Configuring OracleAS Reports Services Server Targets in Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console

8.3.5 Configuring OracleAS Web Cache Clusters

To configure OracleAS Web Cache clusters, follow the steps in Section 7.3.6, "Configuring OracleAS Web Cache Clusters".

8.3.6 Selecting the Secure Tunneling Protocol for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer Plus Deployment

OracleBI Discoverer Plus can communicate over secure tunneling, HTTP tunneling, or JRMP. The method used depends on the connections allowed by the firewall implementation. The myBIFCompany application infrastructure requires use of the secure tunneling protocol, since JRMP makes connections using arbitrary port numbers, and only a few designated ports are open on the firewall in the Enterprise Deployment configuration (as shown in Figure 2-3).

Follow these steps on each Oracle Business Intelligence instance to select the secure tunneling protocol:

1. In the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console, navigate to BIHome > Discoverer > DiscovererPlus.

2. Click Communication Protocols.

3. Select Secure Tunneling.

   The OracleBI Discoverer Plus configuration file is changed to designate the https transport.

8.3.7 Completing the Configuration

Follow these steps to configure the Load Balancing Router to recognize the second application server instance. The Load Balancing Router must be configured to:

• Balance requests to bif.mycompany.com on port 443 (an HTTPS listening port) to the Application tier OracleAS Web Cache running on APPHOST2 port 7777 (an HTTP listening port).

• Monitor OracleAS Web Cache. The Load Balancing Router must be configured to detect an inoperative computer and stop routing requests to it until it is functioning again. Two OracleAS Web Cache ports must be monitored: the HTTP request port and the invalidation port.

  Use this URL in the Load Balancing Router configuration to monitor HTTP request port 7777:

  host name:port/_oracle_http_server_webcache_static_.html

  for example:

  http://apphost2.mycompany.com:7777/_oracle_http_server_webcache_static_.html

  To monitor invalidation port 9401, use this URL:

  http://apphost2.mycompany.com:9401/_oracle_http_server_webcache_static_.html

8.3.8 Managing Connection Availability for OracleAS Reports Services

You must tune the time out settings to manage idle connections for the Load Balancing Router, firewall, Oracle HTTP Server, and OC4J according to their OracleAS Reports Services application requirements. For example, if the Load Balancing Router and firewall connection time out is set to 10 minutes, and the execution time for a report exceeds 10 minutes, then the browser connection is timed out by the Load Balancing Router, and the OracleAS Reports Services output does not reach the browser. The time out value for the connection between OracleAS Reports Services clients and the Oracle Reports server is governed by the idleTimeout attribute of the connection element in the OracleAS Reports Services Server configuration file server_name.conf.

For more information, see Oracle Application Server Reports Services Publishing Reports to the Web.

8.3.9 Configuring Session State Replication in OC4J Instances

To ensure proper session failover, you must add Oc4jMount directives and state replication capability to each middle tier for the OC4J_BI_Forms instance. To do this, follow the instructions in:

Section 6.7, "Configuring OC4J Routing", using the configuration shown in Example 6-3, "OC4JMount Directive to Load Balance Requests to FAQApp on Multiple Instances".

Section 7.5.2.1, "Configuring State Replication in the OC4J Instances", substituting the OC4J_BI_Forms instance name in the instructions.

8.3.10 Modifying the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console Welcome Page

You must modify the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console to prevent display of internal server names. Follow the instructions on Section 7.3.9, "Modifying the Oracle Application Server Welcome Page".

8.3.11 Updating Host and Port Entries in OC4J_BI_Forms

Upon installation, the images in OracleBI Discoverer portlet are associated with the local installation host and port. In order for the portlet to display the images when configured with the Load Balancing Router, the portlet configuration must contain the host and port values for the Load Balancing Router. Follow these steps to update the configuration:

1. Open the ORACLE_HOME/j2ee/OC4J_BI_FORMS/config/oc4j.properties file.

2. Modity the port and host entries as shown in bold:

   java.rmi.server.randomIDs=true
   oracle.disco.activation.preferencePort=16001
   oracle.path=C\:/1012_BIF_050803_1930/bin;C\:/WINNT/system32;C\:/WINNT;C\:/WINNT/System32/Wbem;
   oracle.home=C\:\\1012_BIF_050803_1930
   oracle.forms.configFileName=C\:/1012_BIF_050803_1930/forms/server/formsweb.cfg
   oracle.discoverer.applications.port=443
   oracle.discoverer.applications.host=bif.mycompany.com
   
   

3. Use the Oracle Enterprise Manager 10g Application Server Control Console to restart the OC4J_BI_Forms instance.