4 Getting Started with WebCenter Components

4.1 Oracle WebCenter Components and Managed Servers

When you install Oracle WebCenter, the components that you choose to install are deployed to various default managed servers. Table 4-1 lists the managed server and the port number on which Oracle WebCenter components are deployed.

For deploying WebCenter Portal applications, you must create a custom portal WebLogic managed server.

4.2 Working with WebCenter Spaces

Oracle WebCenter Spaces is a web-based application, built using the Oracle WebCenter Framework, that offers the very latest technology for social networking, communication, collaboration, and personal productivity. To access WebCenter Spaces, start the WC_Spaces managed server. Then, log on to WebCenter Spaces as an administrator using the following URL format:

http://host:port/webcenter

Where, host:port refers to the host name and port number of the system where Oracle WebCenter Spaces is installed. By default, Oracle WebCenter Spaces is installed on port 8888.

While creating your WebCenter domain, if you specified any user other than weblogic as the domain administrator, you must manually grant the administrator role to that nondefault user for WebCenter Spaces. For information, see the section "Granting the WebCenter Spaces Administrator Role" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

WebCenter Spaces supports automatic configuration of certain Oracle WebCenter services. Every time you start WebCenter Spaces, connections for certain WebCenter services are automatically created, unless they already exist. You do not need to manually create certain connections. Table 4-2 lists such WebCenter Spaces connections.

For WebCenter Spaces connections to be automatically configured, the following general conditions must be met:

• WebCenter Spaces and the target component must be installed in the same domain.

• The managed server of the target component must have an explicit listening address. If its listening address is empty or null or "localhost", then it must have a system associated to it that has an explicit address.

• The target component must not be deployed to a cluster.

If the target component has already been automatically configured on application startup, it will not be configured again regardless of the result (Fail or Success). In addition, the target component will not be automatically configured if it does not pass the target component-specific rules. For information, refer to the required target component-specific section in this chapter.

If required, you can disable the auto-configuration feature by setting the following Java property:

-Dwebcenter.spaces.disableAutoConfigure=true

You can set this Java property in two ways. You can add the property to JAVA_PROPERTIES in domain_home/bin/setDomainEnv.sh (on UNIX) or domain_home\bin\setDomainEnv.cmd (on Windows). Alternatively, you can append it at the end of the script when starting up the WC_Spaces managed server. For example:

domain_home/bin/startManagedWebLogic.sh WC_Spaces -Dwebcenter.spaces.disableAutoConfigure=true

For information about getting started with Oracle WebCenter Spaces, see the "Getting WebCenter Spaces Up and Running" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

4.3 Working with Oracle WebCenter Discussions

Oracle WebCenter Discussions Server provides the ability to integrate discussion forums and announcements into your WebCenter applications. It is deployed to the WC_Collaboration managed server. You can choose to install Oracle WebCenter Discussions while installing Oracle WebCenter or later by extending your WebCenter domain, as described in Chapter 3, "Configuring Oracle WebCenter."

To access Oracle WebCenter Discussions:

1. Start the managed server WC_Collaboration.

   For information, see "Starting and Stopping Oracle Fusion Middleware" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.

2. Go to the following URL:

   http://host:port/owc_discussions
   

   Where, host:port refers to the host name and port number of the system where Oracle WebCenter Discussions is installed. By default, Oracle WebCenter Discussions is installed on port 8890.

   Note:

   You cannot directly start or stop the Oracle WebCenter Discussions application from Oracle WebLogic Server Administrator Console. If you want to start or stop Oracle WebCenter Discussion, you must start or stop the managed server, WC_Collaboration.

The default domain administrator created for Oracle WebCenter is also the administrator for Oracle WebCenter Discussions. While creating a domain, if you specify any user other than weblogic as the domain administrator, that user is granted all the domain administrative rights. After creating the domain, you must manually grant the administrator role to that nondefault user for Oracle WebCenter Discussions. For information, see section "Granting Administrator Role for Oracle WebCenter Discussions Server" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

To prepare Oracle WebCenter Discussions to work with Oracle WebCenter, perform the following tasks:

1. Enable the WS-Security trusted authentication for Oracle WebCenter Discussions, depending on your topology. WS-Security establishes a trust relationship between your WebCenter applications and Oracle WebCenter Discussions so that your application can pass the user identity information to the server without knowing the user's credentials. For information, see section "Discussions Server - Security Considerations" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

2. Register a connection to Oracle WebCenter Discussions.

   For information, see the "Registering Discussions Servers" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

   Note:

   For WebCenter Spaces, you may not need to manually register a connection to Oracle WebCenter Discussions. When you start the WebCenter Spaces application, a connection named WebCenterSpaces-Discussions is automatically configured and set as the default connection, unless it already exists, if the following conditions are met:

   • WebCenter Spaces and Oracle WebCenter Discussions are within the same domain.

   • The WC_Collaboration managed server has an explicit listening address or has a system associated to it with an explicit address.

   • Oracle WebCenter Discussions is not deployed to a cluster.

   • The user granted the Administrative role exists.

   For more information, refer to Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Spaces."

4.4 Working with Oracle Portlet Producers

Oracle Portlet Producers provides several preconfigured portlet producers. When you install Oracle Portlet Producers, the WC_Portlets managed server gets created, and the following applications are deployed to the server:

• portalTools - Supports OmniPortlet and Web Clipping

• wsrp-tools - Supports WSRP Tools

To access preconfigured portlet producers, you can use the following URLs, depending on the preconfigured portlet producer you want to access:

• OmniPortlet and Web Clipping portlets

  http://host:port/portalTools
  

• WSRP Tools

  http://host:port/wsrp-tools/
  

Where, host:port refers to the host name and port number of the system where Oracle Portlet Producers is installed. The default port number is 8889.

To work with the preconfigured portlets available in Oracle WebCenter, you must:

1. Start the WC_Portlet managed server.

   For information, see "Starting and Stopping Oracle Fusion Middleware" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.

2. Register the required preconfigured portlet producers.

   For information about portlet registration, see the "Managing Portlet Producers" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

   If you want to secure your portlet producers, refer to the chapter "Configuring Security for Portlet Producers" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

   Note:

   For WebCenter Spaces, you may not need to manually register connections to preconfigured portlet producers. When you start WebCenter Spaces, a connection is automatically configured if the following conditions are met:

   • WebCenter Spaces and Oracle Portlet Producers are in the same domain.

   • The WC_Portlet managed server is running.

   • The WC_Portlet managed server has an explicit listening address or has a system associated to it with an explicit address.

   • Oracle Portlet Producers is not deployed to a cluster.

   For more information, refer to Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Spaces."

After you have registered preconfigured portlet producers, application developers or WebCenter Spaces users can add portlets to their application pages.

4.5 Oracle WebCenter Pagelet Producer

Oracle WebCenter Pagelet Producer (previously called Oracle WebCenter Ensemble) provides a collection of useful tools and features that facilitate dynamic pagelet development.

WebCenter Pagelet Producer is deployed to the WC_Portlet managed server. To access WebCenter Pagelet Producer, use the following URL:

http://host:port/

Where, host:port refers to the host name and port number of the system where WebCenter Pagelet Producer is installed. The default port number is 8889.

To access the Pagelet Producer console, use the following URL: http://host:port/pageletadmin

All post deployment connection configuration is stored in the Oracle Metadata Services (MDS) repository. Pagelet Producer stores all configuration data on a separate partition in the MDS schema of RCU. Typically, this schema is installed as part of the Oracle WebCenter installation. This configuration data does not conflict with data that belongs to other services. When you deploy the Pagelet Producer domain template, Configuration Wizard prompts for connectivity information to the database in which the schema has been created. The names that the Pagelet Producer expects are:

• Datasource Name: mds-PageletProducerDS

• JNDI name: jdbc/mds/PageletProducerDS

• MDS partition name: pageletproducer

To work with WebCenter Pagelet Producer:

1. Start the WC_Portlet managed server.

2. Register the Pagelet Producer for WebCenter Spaces and WebCenter Portal applications. For information, see the "Managing the Oracle WebCenter Pagelet Provider" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

   You can also access the Pagelet Producer using the JavaScript or REST API.

   Note:

   For WebCenter Spaces, you may not need to manually register a connection. When you start the WebCenter Spaces application, a connection named WebCenterSpaces-PageletProducer is automatically configured and set as the default connection, unless it already exists, if the following conditions are met:

   • WebCenter Spaces and Oracle WebCenter Pagelet Provider are in the same domain.

   • The WC_Portlet managed server has an explicit listening address or has a system associated to it with an explicit address.

   • Oracle WebCenter Pagelet Provider is not deployed to a cluster.

   For more information, refer to Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Spaces."

4.6 Working with Oracle WebCenter Analytics Collector

Oracle WebCenter Analytics Collector provides the Analytics service that enables users to display usage and performance metrics for WebCenter applications. The Analytics service requires the Analytics schema (activities) to be installed. By default, Analytics Collector is installed on the WC_Utilities managed server on port 8891.

Out-of-the-box, the Analytics Collector is configured to receive events using installation defaults. However, it is not configured to send events to the Analytics Collector. If you want to collect usage and performance metrics for WebCenter Spaces (or any WebCenter Portal application) you must register the Analytics Collector and enable event collection.

To work with Oracle WebCenter Analytics Collector:

1. Start the WC_Utilities managed server.

2. Register an Analytics Collector for WebCenter applications. For information, see the "Managing the Analytics Service" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

4.7 Working with Oracle WebCenter Activity Graph Engines

Oracle WebCenter Activity Graph Engines 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. The scores are stored in the WebCenter Activity Graph database. Activity Graph Engines is installed as an application on the WC_Utilities managed server.

To access Activity Graph Engines, use the following URL:

http://host:port/activitygraph-engines

The default port number for Activity Graph is 8891.

When the Activity Graph Engines template is deployed, the Configuration Wizard prompts for connectivity information to the database in which the schema has been created. The names that the Activity Graph Engines expects are:

• Datasource Name: ActivitiesDS

• JNDI name: jdbc/ActivitiesDS

To work with Oracle WebCenter Activity Graph Engines:

1. Start the WC_Utilities managed server.

2. Register an Analytics Collector for WebCenter applications. For information, see the section "Registering an Analytics Collector for Your Application" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

For more information, refer to the "Managing the Activity Graph Service" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

4.8 Working with Oracle WebCenter Personalization Server

Oracle WebCenter Personalization Server enables you to deliver application content to targeted users based on selected criteria. It is installed as an application on the WC_Utilities managed server, on port 8891.

Customer applications access WebCenter Personalization remotely over HTTP using RESTful services. The WebCenter Personalization Server contains the Conductor and Property Service. The Conductor contains and runs units of work called scenarios. The Property Service uses Java REST APIs to store and retrieve properties about a user, such as their age or gender.

To access the Personalization Server's Property Service, use the following URL:

http://host:port/wcps/api/property/resourceIndex

Where, host:port refers to the host name and port number of the system where Oracle WebCenter Personalization Server is installed.

To access the Personalization Server's Conductor, use the following URL:

http://host:port/wcps/api/conductor/resourceIndex

To work with Oracle WebCenter Personalization Server:

1. Start the WC_Utilities managed server.

2. Register a connection to the Oracle WebCenter Personalization Server. This involves registering the Conductor and Properties connections. For information, see the "Managing WebCenter Personalization" chapter in Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle WebCenter.

   Note:

   For WebCenter Spaces, you may not need to manually register a connection. When you start WebCenter Spaces, the following Conductor and Properties connections are automatically configured if they do not exist already: Conductor-WCPSSpaces and Properties-WCPSSpaces. These connections are created if the following conditions are met:

   • WebCenter Spaces and Oracle WebCenter Personalization Server are in the same domain.

   • The WC_Utilities managed server has an explicit listening address or has a system associated to it with an explicit address.

   • Oracle WebCenter Personalization Server is not deployed to a cluster.

   For more information, refer to Section 4.2, "Working with WebCenter Spaces."

4.9 Working with Custom Portal

Application developers can use Oracle JDeveloper to develop WebCenter Portal applications and WebCenter Producer applications. To enable deployment of these applications, you must create a custom portal WebLogic managed server provisioned with Oracle WebCenter Framework shared libraries. For information, see Section 3.1.8.2, "Using Templates to Create Custom Managed Servers."

If application developers want to build WebCenter Portal applications, you must run the RCU to create the WebCenter schema. Note that this schema is separate from the WebCenter schema used by Oracle WebCenter Spaces. For information about the WebCenter services that require the WebCenter schema, see Table 5-1. For information about how to create schemas, refer to the Creating Schemas section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository Creation Utility User's Guide.