We will be launching the IBM WebSphere Portal 8 Administration Essentials Course in July 2013….Here is a sample….

Introduction

This How-To document covers the installation of WebSphere Portal. WebSphere Portal is officially supported for the following Linux flavours.

• Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Version 5 with update 6
  
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server (SLES) 11.0
  
• SUSE Linux Enterprise Server, Version 10 with SP3
  

Getting WebSphere Portal installed and is a Three step process. In the first step, the product Downloaded .In the second step, We prepare the Machine for Portal Installation. In the third step , we install portal and its components using IIM ( IBM Installation Manager )

Steps Involved

1. Installation Planning

Before beginning the installation which also involves downloading the product, it is recommended to answer the following questions, to avoid wastage of effort.

Is the appropriate edition and version of Portal is selected ?

Leveraging upon the strengths of the underlying WebSphere technology make it possible for
WebSphere Portal Server to support everything from the small workgroup (WebSphere Portal Express) to the high-volume enterprise, to the geographically distributed Portal. Indeed, IBM recognizes that “one size does not fit all” when it comes to planning and architecting a Portal

Below is basic info on various editions of Portal.

IBM WebSphere Portal Server software—provides foundational WebSphere Portal services and serves as the cornerstone of all WebSphere Portal offerings.

IBM WebSphere Portal Enable software—includes all the features of WebSphere Portal Server software plus significant added content management and workflow functionality to support core business applications and processes.

IBM WebSphere Portal Extend software—includes the capabilities of WebSphere Portal Enable software plus more robust collaboration and electronic forms capabilities.

IBM WebSphere Portal Express software—provides a comprehensive set of out-of-the-box and ready-to-use portal, document management and collaboration features designed
for small and midsize businesses and departments within larger organizations

• The code is exactly the same, but the bundle is different.
  
• WebSphere Portal Express is designed for small business.
  
• WebSphere Portal Enable and WebSphere Portal Extend are for large business and for large scale deployment.
  
• WebSphere Portal Express installs and configures DB2.
  
• WebSphere Portal Enable and WebSphere Portal Extend comes with derby, and you have to configure it with other databases.
  
• WebSphere Portal Express has a different license package from WebSphere Portal Enable or WebSphere Portal Extend.
  
• The license forbids clustering with WebSphere Portal Express.
  
• The license allows clustering with WebSphere Portal Enable and WebSphere Portal Extend
  

OS 32 bit Or 64 Bit ?

If OS is 64 bits Install 32-bit Linux libraries, as the Installer application is a 32 bit application.

Change the shell program /bin/sh to point to the right shell.

For the complete list of Supported OS , Software and Hardware prerequisites please go through below link ,.

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?rs=688&uid=swg27007791

2. Prerequisites

WebSphere Portal Server Express edition v8.0 comes as Trial version for download from IBM website.

Download all the parts given in the link

http://www14.software.ibm.com/webapp/download/preconfig.jsp?id=2010-12-07+03%3A32%3A48.750727R&S_TACT=&S_CMP=

Select all the components here and download (using Download Director or Download using http )

Extract them to the same folder.

You need to register yourself and then use the IBM username and password for downloading Product

1. Operating System Access Privileges
   

You need root privileges to install Portal in Linux.

1. Space requirements
   

Though the product can be installed in any directory, the standard location is “/opt/IBM”. WebSphere product installation occupies around 10 GB and make sure that the file system has enough free space.

Also during the installation process the installer needs around 8 GB free space under “/tmp”

1. The umask setting
   

The setting “umask” determines the permissions for the files created during installation. As we want the files to be secured, an umask setting of “022″ is recommended.

When “022″ setting is used, any folder created will have 755 (i.e. 777 – 022), which when viewed through “ls -l” unix command, prints “rwxr-xr-x”. Any file created will have 644, which is seen as “rw-r—r–” when you issue the “ls -l” command.

The first part “rwx” means read, write and execute access for the UNIX user who created it. The second part “r-x” means read and execute access for the UNIX user who is part of the same group. Similarly the third part gives the access privileges for users who are not part of the group (i.e. others)

• To check the existing setting, issue the command “umask”
  
• To modify the umask setting, issue the command “umask 022″
  

1. The ulimit setting
   

The “ulimit” setting determines the maximum number of open file descriptors for a user. For proper functioning of the Installer and WebSphere application server, it has to be set to 8192.

• To check the existing setting, issue the command “ulimit -n”
  
• To modify the ulimit setting, issue the command “ulimit -n 8192″
  

3. Installing the product

After downloading the 11 parts of Portal Installable files ,

We will follow the below steps for installation of IBM Portal server:

1. Installation of IBM Installation Manager v1.5.2
   
2. Update IBM Installation Manager to v1.6.1
   
3. Installation of IBM WAS v8.0.0.3
   
4. Installation of IBM Portal v8.0.0.0
   

1. i) Installation Manager Installation

Launch the Installation Manager installer from <Portal Installable Directory > SetUp/SetUp/IIM/Linux_x86/IIM

Issue ./install.sh

Click on Install

Select the IBM Installation Manager that is presented Under Installation Packages.

Click Next ..

Accept the license and click next in the above screen .

Give IM (Installation Manager ) installation Path in the above Path and click Next .

Review the Info Displayed and Click Install.

Click On Restart Installation Manager , this Restarts Installation Manager.

1. ii) Installation Manager Update to 1.6

In this section we see how we update installation manager (Version 1.5.2 ) to latest version. We Use Installation Manager to search for updates .

NOTE: This method requires Internet access.

Click File > Preferences > Updates and select Search for Installation Manager update.

Verify that service repositories are searched. Click File > Preferences > Repositories and select Search service repositories during installation and updates

Click on OK

You will be returned to main page of the Installation Manager,

Click Update

When you click update , you get the below screen .

Click Yes , so that Installation Manager Updates its version.

1. iii) Repository Configuration

In this section we configure the repository in Installation Manager with the directory which contains the Downloaded Portal files .

Go to File à Preferences

Click on Add Repository as per the below screenshot.

Locate and Add Portal repository.config file here (Click on Add Repository and Browse to Downloaded Portal files directory )

Locate and Add WAS repository.config file here (Click on Add Repository and Browse to Downloaded WAS files directory )

Click on Test Connection in the same page to check for validation of repository packages

Click On OK.

By Now , We have added Repositories to IIM ( IBM Installation Manager )

1. iv) Installation of Portal and Application Server.

In this section we see how to install Portal and Application server using Installation Manager

Open Installation Manager, Click on Install.

Select Both IBM Portal Server and IBM Application Server here and proceed further by clicking on next button.

Accept the license agreement and proceed further.

Click Next to Proceed.

Give Installation Path for Application Server ,

Give Installation Path for Portal Server

Click Next to Proceed .

If we want, we can create Dmgr profile later also. But select it here for completeness.

Click Next to Proceed .

Give Profile Details

Give Dmgr profile Details in the above screen.

Give DB2 Details in the above screen and Click Next

Review the Above Screen and click Install if you every thing apprears is as desired.

After Installation gets completed, final screen will be displayed as Shown Above , which indicates successful installation.