1 Installing Oracle WebCenter Discussions

One of the services that yo u can integrate into your application is a discussion forum. Users can browse to locate pertinent messages from the discussion forum to read, and they can add their own posts or replies. In particular, Oracle WebCenter Discussions provides a J2EE application with an open architecture and extensive features.

Table 1-1 shows the supported technologies available for releases that include Oracle WebCenter Discussions.

Oracle WebCenter Discus sions 10.1.3.4.0 is deployed on Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3. Before you can deploy Oracle WebCenter Discussions, you must have Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3 installed. For information on system requirements and the steps to install Oracle WebLogic Server, see the installation guide posted at:

http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E12840_01/common/docs103/install/index.html

You will deplo y Oracle WebCenter Discussions in a domain. A domain is the basic administrative unit of Oracle WebLogic Server. The domain infrastructure consists of one administration server and optional managed servers and clusters.

To create a new domain, follow the instructions in Table 1-2. For additional information about the configuration p ages, see Appendix A, "Oracle WebLogic Configuration Screens".

MEM_ARGS="-Xms512m -Xmx1024m"
export MEM_ARGS
 
MEM_PERM_SIZE="-XX:PermSize=128m"
export MEM_PERM_SIZE
 
MEM_MAX_PERM_SIZE="-XX:MaxPermSize=256m"
export MEM_MAX_PERM_SIZE

MEM_ARGS="-Xms256m -Xmx512m"
export MEM_ARGS
 
MEM_PERM_SIZE="-XX:PermSize=48m"
export MEM_PERM_SIZE
 
MEM_MAX_PERM_SIZE="-XX:MaxPermSize=128m"
export MEM_MAX_PERM_SIZE

1. Download Oracle WebCenter Discussions 5.5.20 from Oracle's Electronic Delivery (edelivery) at http://edelivery.oracle.com/ or from the Oracle WebCenter Additional Services 10 g Release 3 (10.1.3.4.0) page on the Oracle Technology Network at http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/webcenter/owcs_10134_addtlservices.html . Follow the instructions on OTN to download the V15935-01.zip file to a folder on your system. The V15935-01.zip file contains two more zip files:

   • Oracle-Discussions.zip (Oracle WebCenter Discussions)

   • Oracle-Wikis-Blogs.zip (Oracle WebCenter Wiki and Blog Server)

2. Unzip the Oracle-Discussions.zip file. This contains the following files:

   • deploy-discussions-sso.jar

   • jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle_01092009.zip

   • oracle-discussions-sso.zip

3. Unzip jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle_01092009.zip.

   This document refers to this folder as $unzipped_dir.

4. Install Oracle WebCenter Discussions 5.5.20:

   1. Copy the jiveHome directory from the distribution ( $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/jiveHome) to a permanent directory. We use /opt/product/JIVE as an example.

      cd $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/
      mkdir -p /opt/product/JIVE (for example)
      cp -R $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/jiveHome /opt/product/JIVE
      

      
      

      Note: The directory must be readable and writable by your application server, but it should not be in the document path of your web server. That is, people should not be able to access the directory from a URL like http://www.yourserver.com/jiveHome.

      
      

   2. Set the location of the jiveHome directory using the EditWAR tool. The EditWAR tool is a small application that will modify the packaged web application ( jiveforums.war) to point to the jiveHome directory. The jiveforums.war file is also in the base directory of this distribution.

      export PATH=$WLS_HOME/jdk160_05/bin:$PATH
      cd $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle
       
      java -jar EditWAR.jar jiveforums.war
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------
      This utility will modify your WAR file to correctly point to
      your jiveHome directory by editing WEB-INF/classes/jive_init.xml
       
      Enter the full path to your jiveHome directory:
                                                 
      > /opt/product/JIVE/jiveHome
       
      Setting jiveHome to: /opt/product/JIVE/jiveHome
      .....................................................................
      ---------------------------------------------------------------------
                                              

   Complete instructions are located in $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/documentation/install-guide.html.

   For more information, see the Administrator's Guide located in $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/documentation/forums-admin-guide.pdf.

5. Go to the $WLS_HOME/user_projects/domains/owc_discussions directory and create a directory in it with the name owc_discussions. For example:

   cd $WLS_HOME/user_projects/domains/owc_discussions
   mkdir owc_discussions
   

   The new directory structure is $WLS_HOME/user_projects/domains/owc_discussions<this is the newly-created domain for Discussions>/owc_discussions (this is where you will deploy Discussions>.

6. Copy jiveforums.war from the zip extracted directory ( $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle) to this owc_discussions directory. For example:

   cd owc_discussions <to go into the newly created directory>
   cp $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/jiveforums.war
   

7. Extract jiveforums.war (for example, with unzip jiveforums.war) in the owc_discussions directory.

8. Delete jiveforums.war (for example, with rm jiveforums.war) from this directory.

9. Start your Oracle WebLogic Server from $WLS_HOME/user_projects/domains/owc_discussions/bin using startWebLogic.cmd on Windows or ./startWebLogic.sh on Linux.

10. After the server has started, access the WebLogic console from the URL http://<host>:<port>/console. The console port is the port entered when you created the domain. (See Section A.9, "Configure Clusters Screen") If you did not enter a console port when you created the domain, then, by default, the port is 7001.

11. Log on with the user name and password that you gave when creating the domain. By default, the user name in weblogic.

12. After you are logged-in, click the Deployments option on the left.

13. Click Install and choose the owc_discussions directory that you created under $WLS_HOME/user_projects/domains/owc_discussions when creating the domain. ( Figure 1-1).

    
    

    Note: If you are using Production Mode, then click the Lock and Edit button on the left side to activate the Install button.

    
    

    Figure 1-1 Install Application Assistant

    
    Description of "Figure 1-1 Install Application Assistant"
    
    

14. Click Next.

15. Choose targeting style as Install this deployment as an application.

16. Click Next.

17. Choose the managed server where you will deploy the owc_discussions application; for example, the discussionserver managed server.

18. Click Next.

19. For the default options, under Source Accessibility, select to enter the location of the target server on which owc_discussions will be installed. ( Figure 1-2)

    The option Use the defaults defined by the deployment's targets may go to the same location.

    Figure 1-2 Source Accessibility

    
    Description of "Figure 1-2 Source Accessibility"
    
    

20. Click Next.

21. Click Finish.

    
    

    Note: Oracle recommends deploying custom applications on a separate managed server. If you are not running a managed Oracle WebLogic Server as the target to deploy, then it will be deployed in the Admin Server. If you are using Production Mode, then you must click Activate changes after the deployment, select the application, and click Start - Servicing all request.

    
    

22. Start the managed server.

    • To start the managed server on Linux:

      1. Navigate to $WLS_HOME /user_projects/domains/owc_discussions /bin.

      2. Run the following

         ./startManagedWebLogic.sh <managedserver name> <AdminServer URL>

         For example, if your managed server named discussionserver is deployed on the default port on your local machine, then you can run the following command to start the managed server:

         ./startManagedWebLogic.sh discussionserver http://localhost:7001 .

      3. Enter the user name and password of the domain administrator to start the managed server.

    • To start the managed server on Windows:

      1. Navigate to $ORACLE_HOME /user_projects/domains/owc_discussions /bin.

      2. Run startManagedWebLogic.cmd discussionserver http://localhost:7001.

      3. Enter the user name and password of the domain administrator to start the managed server.

23. Access the Oracle WebCenter Discussions URL http://<host>:<port>/owc_discussions and follow the steps in the document $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/documentation/install-guide.html.

    1. For Installation Checklist, make sure that the jiveHome directory contains a valid jive.license file. If the jive.license file is not in the /opt/product/JIVE/jiveHome directory, then you must or copy and paste its value on to the UI.

       
       

       Note: If you cannot access the jive.license file, see note 789952.1 on My Oracle Support (formerly MetaLink) at https://metalink.oracle.com/ .

       
       

    2. For Datasource Settings, choose the Standard Database Connection option, and fill in all fields.

       First, you must create the JIVE schema within the database. Do so with the following:

       sqlplus system/<password>
       CREATE USER jive
       IDENTIFIED BY jive;
       GRANT CONNECT, RESOURCE TO jive;
       exit
        
       cd $unzipped_dir/jive_forums_silver_5_5_20_oracle/database
       sqlplus jive/jive @jive_forums_oracle.sql
       exit
       

       Then, choose Oracle as JDBC Presets, and fill in the rest of the details: JDBC URL, Username, Password, Connections and Connection Timeout.

    3. For User System, choose the authentication.

       
       

       Note: Most installations should use the default implementation. The other options can be used when you need to integrate Jive Forums with an existing user database or authentication system, such as Oracle Internet Directory.

       
       

    4. For Email Settings, fill in all the details in case you'd like watch updates, password resetting and other features, Jive Forums needs a way to connect to an email (SMTP) server.

    5. For Admin Account, choose the administrator account for Discussions.

24. When Jive prompts you to restart, restart your managed server.

25. To confirm that you have successfully set up Oracle WebCenter Discussions, go to the Admin Console and log on as the administrator you created during the installation process. For example:

    1. Go to http://<host>:<port>/owc_discussions/admin.

    2. Log on as the administer for Discussions (Jive 5.5.20). This was created in step 21.e.

       
       

       Note: The first time after successful login, you are prompted to follow the upgrade page before starting to use Oracle WebCenter Discussions.

       
       

    3. To start the upgrade process, verify that you have backed up your database and your Jive Forums configuration files (jiveHome). Also verify that your jiveHome directory is located at: /opt/product/JIVE/jiveHome.

    4. Click Start Upgrade.

    5. A message will display saying that all upgrade tasks have been completed and that you should restart the application before proceeding to the community home page.

    6. Restart again the managed server that contains the owc_discussions discussions server.

       cd $WLS_HOME/user_projects/domains/owc_discussions/bin
       ./startManagedWebLogic.sh discussionserver http://<host>:<port>:7001
       

    7. Go to http://<host>:<port>/owc_discussions/admin.

    8. Log on as the administrator the Discussions (Jive 5.5.20), created in step 21.e, to get to the Oracle WebCenter Discussions Admin Console.

This release su pports Oracle WebCenter Discussions deployed on Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3 and integrated with Oracle Access Manager for single sign-on.

1. Take a backup of your existing Oracle WebCenter Discussions database schema and jiveHome directory.

2. Log on to the Oracle WebCenter Discussions Admin Console; for example, http://<host>:<port>/owc_discussions/admin.

3. Go to the System Properties link from the sidebar, and the remove following system properties. You need to remove the below system properties only if they are pointing to custom Oracle classes as defined below:

   • AuthFacotry.className

     (if this is set to Oracle-specific class oracle.jive.sso.OracleSSOAuthFactory)

   • UserManager.className

     (if this is set to Oracle-specific class oracle.jive.sso.OracleSSOUserManager)

4. Install Oracle WebCenter Discussions 10.1.3.4.0, following the previous steps in this chapter.

5. You can use the same jiveHome directory that you have already configured with your existing setup. This will ensure that it points to the same database configured for existing setup even after migration.

6. Make sure jive_startup.xml in your jiveHome directory does not have tryAlternativeLogin option set to true for admin. If the following tag is present, remove it or comment it out:

   <!--admin> 
     <tryAlternativeLogin>true</tryAlternativeLogin> 
   </admin-->
   

7. Restart Oracle WebLogic Server.

8. Go to your Oracle WebCenter Discussions index page: http://<host>:<port>/owc_discussions.

9. It will display an upgrade page. Log on with the appropriate administrator user name and password. (For example: The user can be oc4jadmin with your configured password.)

   
   

   Notes: You may need to restart Oracle WebLogic Server and run through the upgrade screen a couple times. Ignore any errors on the WebLogic console about upgrade or table not found.

   
   

10. If you do not see the upgrade page, your browser page hangs with the "System is running upgrade" message, or logs show errors that table or view does not exist, then you can apply following steps as a workaround:

    1. Stop your Oracle WebLogic managed server.

    2. Go to your database schema, and run following SQL command:

       UPDATE "JIVEVERSION" SET VERSION = '0' WHERE NAME='community'; 
       commit;
       

       
       

       Note: There is only one row in this table.

       
       

    3. Start your Oracle WebLogic Managed server.

    4. Go to discussions page at http://host:port/owc_discussions.

    5. After login, the upgrade will start.

    6. You may see error messages for table or view already exists: "name is already used by an existing object".

       Figure 1-3 Error: name is already used by an existing object

       
       Description of "Figure 1-3 Error: name is already used by an existing object"
       
       

    7. Choose the Manual option.

    8. On the verification page, click Finished when you are done.

       Figure 1-4 Upgrade Finished

       
       Description of "Figure 1-4 Upgrade Finished"
       
       

    9. Now the upgrade will resume.

    10. If you are prompted again with the same table or view already exists error, then follow the previous steps to fix it.

    11. After all the required tables are upgraded successfully, restart your Oracle WebLogic managed server.

    12. Try to access the discussions URL. If it prompts for upgrade, then follow the Upgrade console page, and complete the process.

    13. After the second time, you should see the upgrade success page.

    14. Restart your Oracle WebLogic managed server again.

    15. Go to the discussions server URL. It should show the community home page.

        
        

        Note: Check the Oracle WebLogic managed server and Jive logs. They should not report any errors that table or view does not exist.

        
        

11. After the upgrade is complete and you can successfully see the Oracle WebCenter Discussions index page, follow the instructions in Chapter 2, "Configuring Single Sign-On."