5 Preparing the Database for an Enterprise Deployment

5.1 Overview of Preparing the Database for an Enterprise Deployment

For the WebCenter Portal enterprise topology, the database contains the Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository, which is a collection of schemas used by various Oracle Fusion Middleware components, such as the WebCenter Portal components, and OWSM. This database is separate from the Identity Management database, which is used in Identity Management Enterprise Deployment by components such as Oracle Internet Directory, DIP, and so on.

You must install the Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository before you can configure the Oracle Fusion Middleware components. You install the Oracle Fusion Middleware metadata repository into an existing database using the Repository Creation Utility (RCU), which is available from the RCU DVD or from the location listed in Table 2-2. For the enterprise topology, a Real Application Clusters (Oracle RAC) database is highly recommended.

Later on, when you configure WebCenter Portal components, the configuration wizard will prompt you to enter the information for connecting to the database that contains the metadata repository.

5.2 About Database Requirements

Before loading the metadata repository into your database, check that the database meets the requirements described in these subsections:

• Section 5.2.1, "Database Host Requirements"

• Section 5.2.2, "Supported Database Versions"

• Section 5.2.3, "About Initialization Parameters"

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/ias/downloads/fusion-certification-100350.html

SQL> ALTER SYSTEM SET processes=300 SCOPE=SPFILE;

5.3 Creating Database Services

Oracle recommends that you configure a separate database service for each product suite, even when product suites share the same database. Oracle also recommends that the database service used is different from the default database service.

For more information about connecting to Oracle databases using services, see the "Oracle RAC and Network Connectivity" section in the Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide. For complete instructions on creating and managing database services, see the "Workload Management with Dynamic Database Services" section in the Oracle Real Application Clusters Administration and Deployment Guide.

Run-time connection load balancing requires configuring Oracle RAC Load Balancing Advisory with service-level goals for each service for which load balancing is enabled. You can configure the Oracle RAC Load Balancing Advisory for SERVICE_TIME or THROUGHPUT. Set the connection load balancing goal to SHORT. For 10g and 11g Release1 databases, use the DBMS_SERVICE package for this modification. For 11g Release 2 use the srvctl command utility instead.

This section includes the following topics:

• Section 5.3.1, "Creating Database Services for 10g and 11g Release 1 (11.1) Databases"

• Section 5.3.2, "Creating Database Services for 11g Release 2 (11.2) Databases"

5.4 Loading the Oracle Fusion Metadata Repository in the Oracle RAC Database

The Repository Creation Utility (RCU) is available from the RCU distribution. The RCU used to seed the database must match the patch set level of the Oracle WebCenter Portal installation. This means that if you install Oracle WebCenter Portal 11gR1 (11.1.1.9) in this enterprise deployment, you must use RCU 11gR1 (11.1.1.9).

To load the Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository into a database:

1. Open the Repository Creation Utility (RCU) distribution.

2. Start RCU from the bin directory in the RCU home directory:

   cd RCU_Home/bin

   ./rcu

3. In the Welcome screen, click Next.

4. In the Create Repository screen, select Create to load component schemas into a database. Click Next.

5. In the Database Connection Details screen, enter the correct information for your database:

   • Database Type: select Oracle Database.

   • Host Name: Enter the name of the node that is running the database. For the Oracle RAC database, specify the VIP name or one of the node names as the host name: CUSTDBHOST1-VIP.

   • Port: Enter the port number for the database: 1521.

   • Service Name: Enter the service name of the database: wcpedg.example.com

   • Username: SYS

   • Password: Enter the password for the SYS user.

   • Role: SYSDBA

   Click Next.

6. In the RCU Checking Prerequisites dialog box that opens, verify that all global prerequisites are validated with green checkboxes. If so, click OK.

   If your database is not using the UTF-8 character set, you will see a warning message indicating that there may be data loss if you are going to use the database for multilingual support. If you are not planning to use multilingual support, then you can click Ignore. Otherwise, click Stop.

7. In the Select Components screen, do the following:

   1. Select Create a New Prefix, and enter a prefix to use for the database schemas. For example, wcpedg. Prefixes are used to create logical groupings of multiple repositories in a database. For more information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Repository Creation Utility User's Guide.

   2. Note the name of the schema because you will need the information later on.

   3. Select the following:

      • AS Common Schemas:

        - Metadata Services

        - Oracle Platform Security Services

      • WebCenter Content:

        - Oracle WebCenter Content Server - Complete

      • SOA and BPM Infrastructure:

        - SOA Infrastructure

        - Business Activity Monitoring

        - User Messaging Service

      • WebCenter Portal (select all schemas):

        - Spaces and Services^Foot 1 

        - Portlet Producers

        - Activity Graph and Analytics

        - Discussions

        Note:

        This will auto-select Metadata Services as well.

   Click Next.

8. In the Schema Passwords screen, select Use main schema passwords for auxiliary schemas. In the subsequent screen refresh, enter the schema passwords for all components.

   Tips:

   • Note the name of the schema because the upcoming steps require this information.

   • Make sure your schema passwords meet the database requirements. RCU does not have any way to retry a password when a too-simple one is rejected by the database server during schema creation. You have to start over and run RCU from scratch again.

   • Password expiration can become a significant maintenance. The database security and policy limits apply to users created by RCU. You can either exempt schema users from the default database security policy and expirations or plan a proactive maintenance schedule (and portal outage) to reset the passwords periodically.

   Click Next.

9. In the Custom Variables screen, choose whether or not to use partitioning for analytics and activity graph.

   Partitioning is optional in an enterprise deployment. Click Next to accept the default, N. Alternatively, set Install Analytics with Partitioning to Y to use partitioning in your environment., and then click Next.

   Note:

   For information about partitioning analytics data, see the "Partitioning Oracle WebCenter Portal's Analytics Data" section in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.

   If you chose to partition the tables, Oracle WebCenter Portal uses the native partitioning of the database to automatically create partitions.

   Partitioning the data makes it easier to purge data, because you can purge the data by dropping the older partitions that the partition manager creates. In a partitioned environment, the recommended method for purging data is simply to drop the month-based partitions that are no longer required.

10. In the Map Tablespaces screen, click Next to accept the default tablespaces and sizes.

    Note:

    Click the Manage Tablespaces button to alter the configuration of the new tablespaces if needed to comply with custom naming, sizing, or options. For information about using the Manage Tablespaces screen, see "Creating Schemas for Oracle WebCenter Content Applications" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Installing and Configuring Oracle WebCenter Content.

    A confirmation dialog is displayed stating that any tablespace that does not already exist in the selected schema will be created. Click OK to acknowledge this message.

11. In the Summary screen, click Create.

12. In the Completion Summary screen, click Close.

13. Verify that the required schemas are created by connecting to the database with the new user added:

    ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus
    

    For example, log in as the SYSDBA user and enter the password. A simple verification can be performed by querying the schema version registry:

    -bash-3.00$ $ORACLE_HOME/bin/sqlplus SYS/password as SYSDBA
    SQL> SELECT version, status FROM schema_version_registry where owner = 'WCPEDG_WEBCENTER';
    
    VERSION STATUS
    -----------------------------------------
    11.1.1.9.0 VALID
    

    Note:

    Not all schemas have the 11.1.1.9.0 value. Some have 11.1.1.2.0, 11.1.1.5.0, 11.1.1.7.0, or 11.1.1.8.0, depending on the last time the schema was enhanced.

About Oracle WSM policies and the OWSM MDS schemas

If Oracle WSM is part of your WebCenter Portal enterprise deployment, Oracle recommends using the identity management database to store the Oracle WSM policies. Use the IM database connection information for the OWSM MDS schemas instead of the information used for the rest of SOA/WebCenter Portal schemas. To create the required schemas in the database, repeat the steps above (run RCU again) using the IM database information, but select only AS Common Schemas: Metadata Services in the Select Components screen (step 7). See Section 15, "Integrating an Enterprise Deployment with Oracle Identity Management" for information on using the identity management database to store the Oracle WSM policies.

5.5 Configuring SOA Schemas for Transactional Recovery Privileges

You need the appropriate database privileges to allow the Oracle WebLogic Server transaction manager to query for transaction state information and issue the appropriate commands, such as commit and rollback, during recovery of in-flight transactions after a WebLogic Server container crash.

These privileges should be granted to the owner of the soainfra schema, as determined by the RCU operations.

To configure the SOA schemas for transactional recovery privileges:

1. Log on to sqlplus as a user with sysdba privileges. For example:

   sqlplus "/ as sysdba"
   

2. Enter the following commands:

   SQL> Grant select on sys.dba_pending_transactions to wcpedg_soainfra;
   
   Grant succeeded.
    
   SQL> Grant force any transaction to wcpedg_soainfra;
    
   Grant succeeded.
    
   SQL> 
   

5.6 Backing Up the Database

After you have loaded the metadata repository into your database, make a backup before installing the software for your enterprise deployment.

Backing up the database is for the explicit purpose of quick recovery from any issue that may occur in the further steps. You can choose to use your backup strategy for the database for this purpose or simply make a backup using operating system tools or RMAN for this purpose. Oracle recommends to use Oracle Recovery Manager for the database, particularly if the database was created using Oracle ASM. If possible, you can also perform a cold backup using operating system tools such as tar.