Plan for WebSphere Portal v6

 

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  1. WAS considerations
  2. Web server considerations
  3. Database considerations
  4. Other considerations

 

WAS considerations

For detailed installation scenarios, see:

WebSphere Portal 6 - Best Practices for Enterprise Scale Deployment

WebSphere Portal v6 requires a supported version of WebSphere Application Server.

If you have an existing version of WAS already installed the WebSphere Portal installation program detects and verifies the installed version of WAS. Ensure that the installed WAS is at the supported level before installing.

If WAS is not installed, the WebSphere Portal installation program will install the required level of WAS for you.

 

Web server considerations

If you have an existing Web server installed that you want to use with WAS, ensure that the existing version is at the supported level. The installation program does not detect a Web server during installation, so ensure that the existing version is at the supported level.

A Web server is not required by WebSphere Portal. However, an external Web server is recommended if you intend to support a large number of users or take advantage of workload management. To use a supported Web server with WebSphere Portal, follow the instructions in the Web server documentation for installation, and then set up a Web server with WebSphere Portal.

 

Database considerations

When installing WebSphere Portal, we can choose one of the following for the database software:

  • Install WebSphere Portal with the default Cloudscape database.

    Makes use of the Cloudscape database provided with WebSphere Portal. Supported by the default configuration without requiring changes. Creates a fully functional WebSphere Portal with a minimum of configuration.

  • Install WebSphere Portal with the default Cloudscape database and then transfer the database information to another database at a later time.

    If the environment requires database capability beyond what Cloudscape can provide, we can use another database, such as DB2 Universal Database, with WebSphere Portal.

 

Other considerations

Administrator user ID and password for portal

Used to log in to WebSphere Portal to perform administrative tasks. Not the same user ID that is used to access the machine where you installed WebSphere Portal.

Firewall software

Before starting the install, disable any firewall products running on the machine where Portal will be installed. If the installation program detects a firewall, a warning message displays.

Path name length

There is a known limitation with many Windows operating systems that limits path names to a maximum length of 259 characters. This can be a potential problem due to the depth of the WAS directory structure, particularly when deploying applications or performing migration. To avoid problems related to excessively long paths names, consider the following recommendations when installing:

  • Use a short installation path. For example, use...

    C:\WebSphere

    ...instead of...

    C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere

  • Specify short cell and node names. For example, you might use skycell1 instead of lookupintheskycell1.

If the path name is still too long, refer to Upgrade to WebSphere Portal V5.1.0.2 fails on Windows because of too long path names for information about creating a symbolic link.

 

Next steps