1 Installation Overview

Oracle WebCenter, an Oracle Fusion Middleware component, is an integrated suite of components designed for creating portals, web sites, and composite applications. This chapter provides an overview of Oracle WebCenter and outlines the tasks involved in installing and configuring it in a simple, non-cluster topology.

This chapter includes the following sections:

Section 1.1, "Oracle WebCenter Components"
Section 1.2, "Oracle WebCenter Installation Roadmap"
Section 1.3, "Other Starting Points for Oracle WebCenter Installation"

1.1 Oracle WebCenter Components

Oracle WebCenter combines the standards-based, declarative development of Java Server Faces (JSF), the flexibility and power of portals, and a set of integrated Oracle WebCenter services to boost end-user productivity. With the set of components offered through Oracle WebCenter, you can create social applications, enterprise portals, composite applications, and Internet/Intranet web sites.

Oracle WebCenter includes the following components:

Oracle WebCenter Framework

Provides the ability to embed portlets, content, and customizable components into WebCenter applications—WebCenter Spaces and WebCenter Portal applications.

Oracle WebCenter Framework is automatically installed when you install Oracle WebCenter.
Oracle WebCenter Spaces

Offers a single, integrated, web-based environment for social networking, communication, and personal productivity through a robust set of services and applications.

Configuring this component is optional.
Oracle Portlet Producers

Supports deployment and execution of both standards-based portlets (JSR 286 and WSRP 1.0 and 2.0) and traditional Oracle PDK-Java based portlets. Includes the following preconfigured portlet producers: OmniPortlet, Web Clipping, WSRP Parameter Form Portlet, sample WSRP portlet producers, and sample PDK-Java portlet producers.

Configuring this component is optional.
Oracle WebCenter Discussions Server

Supports integration of discussion forums and announcements into WebCenter applications.

Configuring this component is optional.
Oracle WebCenter Pagelet Producer

Provides the ability to create and manage a diverse set of web resources—applications, components, and programmable functions—and blend those resources together into existing web applications or new, developer-driven mashups. It enables you to use a wide variety of web technologies, such as AJAX, REST, and JavaScript, to build pagelets.

Configuring this component is optional.
Oracle WebCenter Analytics Collector

Delivers comprehensive reporting on activity and content usage within portals and composite applications.

Configuring this component is optional.
Oracle WebCenter Activity Graph Engines

Provides a central repository for actions that are collected by enterprise applications. Actions include tasks such as making a connection, uploading a document, visiting a discussion forum, and so on. Enables users to analyze various statistics collected by WebCenter Analytics. The output of a WebCenter Activity Graph analysis is the collected scores for objects and users, which are used to give recommendations.

Configuring this component is optional.
Oracle WebCenter Personalization

Provides the ability to deliver application content to targeted users based on selected criteria.

Configuring this component is optional.

1.2 Oracle WebCenter Installation Roadmap

Figure 1-1 shows the directory structure of an Oracle WebCenter installation on a single host, using all of the default values.

Figure 1-1 Directory Structure of Oracle WebCenter Installation

Description of "Figure 1-1 Directory Structure of Oracle WebCenter Installation"

Table 1-1 describes the high-level tasks for installing and configuring Oracle WebCenter, and specifies whether these tasks are mandatory or optional. The table also includes documentation links that you can access to get more details about each task.

Before you start, you might like to read Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Planning Guide.

Table 1-1 Installing Oracle WebCenter in a Simple Topology

Task	Description	Mandatory or Optional?	Documentation
Pre-Installation Tasks
Task 1 - Prepare your system environment for installation	Ensure that your system environment meets the general installation requirements for Oracle Fusion Middleware, Oracle WebCenter, and Repository Creation Utility (RCU).	Mandatory	For system requirements information, go to: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/ias/downloads/fusion-requirements-100147.html For certification information, see System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 on the Oracle Fusion Middleware Supported System Configurations page: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/ias/downloads/fusion-certification-100350.html For interoperability and compatibility, go to Oracle Fusion Middleware Interoperability and Compatibility Guide.
Task 2 - Install and configure a database	Oracle WebCenter requires the availability of a supported database. Ensure that you have a supported database up and running.	Mandatory	For the latest information about supported databases, see System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 on the Oracle Fusion Middleware Supported System Configurations page: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/ias/downloads/fusion-certification-100350.html
Task 3 - Create WebCenter schemas	Use the RCU to create WebCenter schemas. Note: If you are using an IBM DB2 database, make sure you create the operating system users (one for each schema) before running the RCU.	Mandatory	In Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository Creation Utility User's Guide, refer to the following sections: Section "Oracle WebCenter Schemas" for information about WebCenter schemas that must be created depending on the WebCenter components you plan to install. Section "Creating Schemas" for information about how to create schemas.
Task 4 - Install Oracle WebLogic Server	Install Oracle WebLogic Server.	Mandatory	See System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1 on the Oracle Fusion Middleware Supported System Configurations page to determine the exact version required for your installation: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/ias/downloads/fusion-certification-100350.html See "Product Distribution" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle WebLogic Server for instructions on how to download the latest Oracle WebLogic Server. See "Running the Installation Program in Graphical Mode" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle WebLogic Server for installation instructions.
Installation Tasks
Task 5 - Install Oracle WebCenter	Use the WebCenter installer to install Oracle WebCenter. The installer lays down the binaries for all Oracle WebCenter products. Within the Middleware home directory, the installer creates the Oracle home directory (`Oracle_WC1` by default) and the Oracle Common home directory (`oracle_common`), as shown in Figure 1-1.	Mandatory	Chapter 2, "Installing Oracle WebCenter"
Task 6 - Configure a domain for Oracle WebCenter	Create a domain for Oracle WebCenter and choose the components you want to install. The Configuration Wizard creates the Domain home and Application home directories, along with the domain for the products you choose to configure. The Domain home and Application home directories can reside anywhere on your system. While creating your WebCenter domain, if you choose not to configure one or more WebCenter components, you can add them later by extending your WebCenter domain.	Mandatory	Chapter 3, "Configuring Oracle WebCenter"
Post-Installation Tasks
Task 7 - Start the Administration Server, Node Manager, and managed servers	To start Oracle WebCenter, you must first start the Administration Server. You must also start Node Manager, which allows you to perform common operations for a Managed Server. To start working with any Oracle WebCenter component, you must start the managed server to which that component is deployed. You can then access the component's URL and configure the component according to your requirements.	Mandatory	Section 3.2, "Post-Configuration Tasks"
Task 8 - Install and configure an external LDAP-based identity store	By default, Oracle WebCenter uses Oracle WebLogic Server's embedded LDAP identity store. For a production environment, you must reassociate Oracle WebCenter with an external LDAP-based authentication provider.	Mandatory for production environment	Section 3.3, "Setting Up an External LDAP-Based Identity Store"
Task 9 - Install and configure back-end components for WebCenter services	Developers and applications users can integrate WebCenter services into WebCenter applications. Certain services, such as Documents, rely on back-end components, such as Oracle Content Server. To provide for service integration into WebCenter applications, you must install and configure required back-end components. WebCenter Spaces provides several prebuilt workflows for Space membership notifications, Space subscription requests, and so on. To enable them, you must install and configure a Business Process Execution Language (BPEL) server.	Optional	Chapter 5, "Preparing Back-End Components for WebCenter Services"

1.3 Other Starting Points for Oracle WebCenter Installation

This guide describes Oracle WebCenter installation and configuration in a simple, non-cluster topology. Table 1-2 lists the various other starting points for WebCenter installation.

You might also like to refer to Oracle WebCenter Installation and Configuration Roadmap to find instructions about how to install, upgrade, or patch Oracle WebCenter based the starting point that best describes your current environment.

Table 1-2 Other Starting Points for Oracle WebCenter Installation

Starting Point	Notes	Documentation Link
New WebCenter Installation
Instal all Oracle WebCenter products in a single domain on a single host	This scenario is useful if you are trying to set up an evaluation or test environment.	Oracle Fusion Middleware Quick Installation Guide for Oracle WebCenter
Install WebCenter in an enterprise topology	This scenario is for a distributed environment where you may have various components on a variety of different hosts.	Oracle Fusion Middleware Enterprise Deployment Guide for Oracle WebCenter For more information about high availability configuration, see Oracle Fusion Middleware High Availability Guide.
Existing WebCenter Installation
Upgrade from a previous WebCenter 11g release to the current version		Oracle Fusion Middleware Patching Guide
Upgrade from a previous WebCenter 10g release to the current version		Oracle Fusion Middleware Upgrade Guide for Oracle SOA Suite, WebCenter, and ADF

If you are installing Oracle WebCenter in an environment that contains other Fusion Middleware or third-party products and you intend to configure your Oracle WebCenter components to be used in conjunction with these other products, refer to Oracle Fusion Middleware Interoperability and Compatibility Guide to verify compatibility and interoperability.