Planning to install WebSphere Portal

Before you install IBM® WebSphere® Portal in a production environment, you need to assess your hardware and software needs, possible database configurations, security options, and LDAP server options. Skipping this important step can lead to unexpected results and costly delays.

About this task

Restriction: The serverName is hardcoded to WebSphere Portal. The serverName cannot be changed in a stand-alone environment. If you do change it, the ConfigEngine scripts do not work. For a clustered environment, see Technote 1370392 for options on replacing the WebSphere Portal JVM.
  • System requirements
    Before you install IBM WebSphere Portal, review the hardware and software requirements to ensure that you have the supported versions of prerequisite and corequisite software and the required hardware.
  • Release notes
    Known issues and problems are centrally available on the support page. Links into the support knowledge base are integrated throughout the documentation to make sure that you have the most current information. Before you start the installation process, check the IBM Support site for the most current information about known limitations or issues. Use the following dynamic queries to find late breaking information about this release.
  • WebSphere Portal Support Statement
    This support statement proposes a revision to the definition of "supported" and "unsupported" about the various products of which IBM WebSphere Portal depends on for proper operation.
  • User IDs and passwords
    Understanding character limitations for user IDs and passwords is important because they are used throughout the system to provide access and secure content. The character limitations provided here apply to the IBM WebSphere Portal administrator, IBM WebSphere Application Server administrator, database administrator, LDAP server administrator, and user IDs. Database and LDAP servers can have more restrictive limitations than provided here. Therefore, check the database and LDAP server product documentation for restrictions. Failure to correctly define user IDs and passwords during the installation process can result in installation failure. In addition, your company might have more restrictive user ID and password requirements that you must also follow.
  • Web Content Manager environments
    To use a Web Content Manager system, you need to deploy a set of Web Content Manager environments within your overall WebSphere Portal system. Reviewing the Web Content Manager environments help you understand what happens in each environment and how you might want to set up your physical severs. Web Content Manager is installed by using the WebSphere Portal installation user interface.
  • Database
    IBM WebSphere Portal includes an Apache Derby database that is configured and ready for immediate use. As a result, you have a running portal that is ready for exploration or portlet and theme development. But for a production environment or any environment for Web Content Manager, you must use one of the other supported database management systems.
  • User registry considerations
    A user registry or repository authenticates a user and retrieves information about users and groups to do security-related functions, including authentication and authorization.
  • Cluster considerations
    To increase capacity and availability, multiple portal servers can be clustered with IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment. In a cluster, the portals share a common configuration and the load is distributed evenly across all cluster instances.
  • Virtual environment overview
    You can use virtualized environments, for example VMWare ESX, to meet your business needs such as production server consolidation, centralized management, or dynamic test environments. The virtual environment provides transparency to the operating systems, applications, and middleware that it uses.
  • Multiple profile support
    IBM WebSphere Portal creates an application server configuration profile to represent its application server configuration, such as data source definitions, web applications, portlet deployments, and Java virtual machine configuration. A configuration profile represents the full configuration of a single portal instance. Multiple profiles give you the ability to have multiple, independently configured portal instances that run from the same installation. Before WebSphere Portal Version 7, there was only one configuration profile per installation, which was typically named wp_profile.
Parent topic: Installing
Next topic: Getting the software