Introduction
Installing and configuring most of the Oracle Fusion Middleware products in single instance is usually a very straightforward affair.
Installing Oracle SOA Suite following the steps detailed in the Enterprise Deployment Guide, on the other hand, can be a very complex job consisting of lots of small steps. This complexity makes it prone to errors and Oracle's documentation can be a little daunting sometimes.
This article is a reference guide for the installation and configuration of Oracle SOA Suite 11g, including Oracle Weblogic 10.3.6, Oracle WebTier 11.1.1.7 and SOA Suite 11.1.1.7, in a 2-node highly available topology. This is not an exact copy of the environment described in the EDG, but a simplification made thinking in small-to-medium sized deployments.
Most of the operations can be performed by a Middleware administrator, but some of them will require the help of a DBA (or at least their authorization). The database instance should be already created in a differente server (or servers in case of a RAC db).
This guide is focused in the configuration of the SOA domain and the post installation tasks, binaries installation is merely mentioned along with the corresponding Oracle document as it usually is the simplest part of the process.
The end result will be a 2-node SOA suite installation, with WebLogic Managed servers for SOA/BPM, BAM and WSM. (OSB will not be used in this article).
Requirements
Servers: 2 physical or virtual servers with at least 8 GB RAM and 2 cores each.
Operating System: Oracle Enterprise Linux 6.x or RedHat Enterprise Linux 6.x
Database: Oracle Database Enterprise Edition 11.2.0.4
Load Balancer: Software or hardware based load balancer, for a test environment, Oracle WebCache can be used.
Storage: 25 GB of local storage in each server, 25 GB of shared storage (a NFS share presented from a storage appliance is recommended).
Environment
Hosts:
testserver2.mydom.com
Domain Name: soa_domain
Domain Home:
/opt/11.1.1.7/admin/domains/soa_domain/aserver/soa_domain
/opt/11.1.1.7/admin/domains/soa_domain/mserver/soa_domain
Java Home: /opt/11.1.1.7/jrockit
Middleware Home: /opt/11.1.1.7/middleware
Weblogic Home: /opt/11.1.1.7/middleware/wlserver_10.3
SOA Home: /opt/11.1.1.7/middleware/Oracle_SOA1
Environment Configuration
This section provides instructions on how to configure the network, file system and database resources necessaries to create a FMW HA environment. All binaries and configuration files will be installed with the operating system user “oracle” and group “oinstall”.
1. Configure /etc/sudoers
In all servers, edit file /etc/sudoers with root user, add the following lines:
Defaults:oracle !requiretty
oracle ALL=NOPASSWD:/sbin/ifconfig,/sbin/arping
2. Configure /etc/hosts
The hosts file should be editeed on all servers with the complete list of URLs and VIPs used on the environment:
127.0.0.1 localhost localhost.localdomain
::1 localhost localhost.localdomain
192.168.1.101 testserver1.mydom.com testserver1
192.168.1.102 testserver2.mydom.com testserver2
192.168.1.103 adminsoa-prod.mydom.com adminsoa-prod
192.168.1.104 soaprod-vip1.mydom.com soaprod-vip1
192.168.1.105 soaprod-vip2.mydom.com soaprod-vip2
192.168.1.106 bamprod-vip1.mydom.com bamprod-vip1
3. Repository Database Requirements
An Oracle database instance used as a metadata repository is necessary. In a HA environment, a RAC database with multiple nodes is expected in order to avoid having a single point of failure. The following parameters should be set at the time of the instance creation:
PROCESSES parameter equal or greater than 500
SESSIONS parameter equal or greater than 500
CHARACTER SET should be AL32UTF8
4. Metadata Repository Schemas Creation
Before starting the creation of the Weblogic Domain and the configuration of the applications deployed there, it’s necessary to create the metadata repository using Oracle’s Repository Creation Utility:
Download RCU from www.oracle.com
Unzip RCU zip file.
Start RCU GUI by executing the file “rcuHome/bin/rcu”
Press “Next” on the Welcome screen
Select “Create Repository”
Type the database connection information:
Database Type: select Oracle Database.
Host Name: Type database hostname
Port: Type database listener port.
Service Name: Type database service name
Username: SYS
Password
Role: SYSDBA
Select components.
Select “Create new prefix”. Use a descriptive prefix, in this case “PROD”
Select the following components
AS Common Schemas:
Metadata Services
Oracle Platform Security Services
SOA Infrastructure:
SOA and BAM Infrastructure
User Messaging Service
Business Activity Monitoring
Define Schemas Password. Select “Use same password for all schemas”, type password
Tablespaces definition. Leave default options.
Create.
End of repository
5. SOA Schema Configuration
Configure Transactional Recovery Privileges.
6. Change Database Default Profile Password Life Time limit
By default, Oracle 11g Release 2 databases are configured with a 180-days limit for password life time, after that, the users are locked and password must be mandatory changed. As Oracle products rely on datasources passwords that are kept secret for database connections, and the availability of the application depends on these connections, is recommended to modify this limit to avoid unexpected down time due to locked users.
SQL> select profile,limit from dba_profiles where resource_name = 'PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME';
PROFILE LIMIT
------------------------------ ----------------------------------------
DEFAULT 180
MONITORING_PROFILE DEFAULT
SQL> alter profile DEFAULT limit PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME unlimited;
Profile altered.
SQL> select profile,limit from dba_profiles where resource_name = 'PASSWORD_LIFE_TIME';
PROFILE LIMIT
------------------------------ ----------------------------------------
DEFAULT UNLIMITED
MONITORING_PROFILE DEFAULT
7. Create Leasing Tablespace and Schema
Weblogic servers use a database table to keep track of alive instances on a cluster configuration. It is necessary to create the corresponding tablespace and schema for this table.
SQL> create tablespace Leasing logging datafile '+SOA' size 32m autoextend on next 32m maxsize 2048m extent management local;SQL> create user leasing identified by xxxxx account unlock;SQL> grant create table to Leasing;SQL> grant create session to Leasing;SQL> alter user Leasing default tablespace Leasing;SQL> alter user Leasing quota unlimited on LEASING;
SQL> CREATE TABLE ACTIVE (
SERVER VARCHAR2(150) NOT NULL,
INSTANCE VARCHAR2(100) NOT NULL,
DOMAINNAME VARCHAR2(50) NOT NULL,
CLUSTERNAME VARCHAR2(50) NOT NULL,
TIMEOUT DATE,
PRIMARY KEY (SERVER, DOMAINNAME, CLUSTERNAME)
);
8. Mount Shared Directory on SOA Servers
The cluster installation needs a shared directory mounted on both servers running SOA Suite. The filesystem used can be either NFS (version 4) or OCFS2. It's important that this disk or filesystem is presented from a storage solution with a low latency connection to the servers.
For this installation the directory path chosen is: /opt/11.1.1.7/admin/domains/soa_domain/aserver
9. Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g binaries Installation
Install Oracle software in the order established below. WebTier installation should be done as “Software Only” mode. These installers should be run in both nodes before proceding with the configuration of the domain. Keep in mind that the directories described in the section "Environment information" should be used for the Oracle Homes.
Oracle JRockit. Refer to Oracle Installation Guide on: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E15289_01/doc.40/e15065/graphic.htm#BABDIHHD
Web Tier Utilities (11.1.1.7).
Refer to Oracle Installation Guide on:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E28280_01/install.1111/e14260/config.htm#CEGHFCGJ
Oracle Weblogic Server 11gR1 (10.3.6) + Coherence - Package Installer
Refer to Oracle Installation Guide on:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23943_01/core.1111/e12036/install.htm#CBHCJIIF
SOA Suite (11.1.1.7)
Refer to Oracle Installation Guide on:
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E28280_01/install.1111/e13925/install.htm#CHDHCJEC
10. Apply all recommended patches
As of the writing of this article, you should patch WebLogic Server 10.3.6 with PatcheSet Update 10.3.6.0.10 (Oracle Patch 19637463), and SOA Suite with Bundle Patch 11.1.1.7.6 (Patch 19953598).
To find out which patches you should install, review the following notes in My Oracle Support:
11. Create and execute soaScript.sh
This script automates several tasks described in the SOA Enteprise Deployment Guide needed to prepare the environment for the SOA installation. Before executing the script, you should read it carefully and update the required variables according to the environment.
It performs the following actions:
Documentation Reference
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