In a previous post series I detailed the steps to create an Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition sandbox on a completely empty environment – a "green field". That was for ODEE version 12.3, and mostly applicable to 12.4 but that was two years ago and version 12.5 is out now, so I figured it’s time to revisit this topic. Additionally, I’m going to change up our green field – instead of being Windows, this time I will be using Oracle Enterprise Linux 7. So we’re going for a full "red stack" deployment – Oracle Database 12c, Oracle WebLogic, Oracle SOA Suite, Oracle Documaker, and Oracle Linux. For this endeavor I’ll be using a freshly-built virtual machine running on Oracle VirtualBox. Keep in mind, of course, that anything here is supplemental to official product documentation. Let’s 

This post is the first in a series in which I will detail the steps needed to create an Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition sandbox. This installation will be a "green field" install, which means that all the prerequisites will need to be located, installed, and configured. This includes the database, application server, and all ancillary components. The goal of this post series is to detail the steps required to get you up and running with a sandbox in as little time as possible.

Before we get started, a few housekeeping items. You should know that these instructions are presented for a Windows system that will use Oracle Database and Oracle WebLogic. These instructions should be considered as supplemental to the official product documentation, and the information herein is presented as-is, and I am not responsible should it not work for you, etc, etc, (more legalese here). So that said, let’s get started!

Preparation

If your goal is to have a sandbox, you’re going to need a box! Almost quite literally – you’ll need to acquire a machine, virtual or physical, and it needs to have a functional Windows operating system on it. You will need to have an appropriate amount of disk space as well. You can probably get by with 50GB, but you’ll need to keep an eye on disk usage over time by pruning log files and trimming your database files. Go with as much space as you can get. A recommended system specification can be found in the ODEE 12.3 System Requirementsdocument. If you’re installing all the sandbox components onto a single server be aware that you will need some stout hardware (Intel dual core i5 or i7) with at least 12GB of RAM, preferably 16GB.

Next you’ll need to obtain the software. Oracle employees/partners have several options available; customers need to use MOS or eDelivery. Give yourself plenty of time to acquire the software, it’s about 6.7 GB of stuff you’ll need to download. The following items are required:

 

 

  • Oracle 11g R2: There are two downloads for the Oracle Database, Part 1 & Part 2. First, open the Oracle database page. Accept the license agreement, then scroll down to the Oracle Database 11g Release 2 section (note: you can also use Oracle Database 12c, however these instructions are specific to 11gR2). Locate the appropriate section for your operating system (these instructions will be based on the Windows 2012 64-bit version). Download part 1 and 2.
  • WebLogic 10.3.6: Navigate to here, accept the license agreement, and scroll down to the Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 section. Download the generic installer (do not use the Windows installer).
  • SOA Suite 11.1.1.7.0: There are two downloads for the Oracle SOA Suite, Part 1, Part 2. Navigate to here and accept the license agreement. Select the Generic: 64bit JVM from the dropdown in the Free Oracle SOA Suite 11g Installations box under Release 11gR1 (11.1.1.7.0). Click on the + symbol to expand the Preqrequisites & Recommended Install Process section. You’re going to download several items from here. Click the appropriate links to download Part 1 and Part 2 of the SOA Suite under Product Installation. Don’t leave this page yet – locate the Repository Creation Utility (RCU) 11.1.1.7.0. There’s only one part to download so go ahead and grab it.
  • JDK: you’ll need both a 64-bit and 32-bit JDK. You should be ok to use the latest version of the JDK, but please use nothing older that 1.6! Download the Windows version of the 32-bit and 64-bit JDKs for your desired version of the JDK. I’m only going to link to the Java SE site, then you’ll have to click the appropriate link for JDK download.
  • Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition: obviously you’re going to need this. It’s why you’re here, right? To obtain this software, login to the Oracle Software Delivery cloud. Accept and restrictions/license agreements, then tick the Programs box under Filter Products. Then, in the Product drop down type Documaker. Select Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition from the list (the latest version – 12.4 as of this writing). Under Select Platform, choose Microsoft Windows x64 (64-bit). Click Continue. Expand the list of download items by clicking the triangle on the left of the check box in the Available Release column. Untick all boxes except the Oracle Documaker Enterprise Edition then click Continue. Accept any terms and restrictions, and proceed to download. 

 

Once you’ve downloaded all this stuff, you’ll need to stage it for installation. My recommendation is to create a directory for each component, and unzip the download files into the appropriate directories. This will keep everything organized and ready to install.

Next you need to do a little planning, but relax, it’s not that hard. You’re going to want to plan where everything will be installed, and we’re going to refer to those directories with special names:

  • ORACLE_HOME – this is the base directory where we’ll install everything, including the database. My recommendation is to place this in C:\ORACLE on your sandbox server. Or D:\ORACLE. Or E:\ORACLE (you get the idea?)
  • MIDDLEWARE_HOME – this is the base directory where we’ll install WebLogic. This should typically reside insidethe ORACLE_HOME – my recommendation is C:\ORACLE\MIDDLEWARE.
  • ODEE_HOME – this is the base directory where we’ll install Documaker. The system default for this is C:\ORACLE\ODEE_1 and we’ll assume that’s what you’ll use.
  • JAVA_HOME – this is the location for the JDK. Normally this goes in C:\Program Files\Java or C:\Program Files (x86)\Java for 64-bit and 32-bit versions, respectively. Accept the system defaults for these items or know where you have them installed.

Now that we’ve established these defaults, let’s review our installation process. We’re going to do a very straight forward, all defaults installation in this order: database, application server, SOA components, and then ODEE. One final thing before we kick off the process – I recommend you follow these steps in order, however, if you’re installing a multi-tier system you could do some of the components simultaneously, however, make sure you review all the steps before you embark in this fashion – you don’t want to be half-way through the SOA Suite installation and find out that you need the database and application server components to continue! Also, make sure you execute all steps as an administrative user.

Database

The first step if you haven’t already done it, is to unzip the downloaded installation files into a single directory location. If you simply unzip both files into the current directory, you should have a single directory called database. Once extracted, navigate to the database directory and run setup.exe. Note: depending on your system’s settings, you may need to approve the User Account Control dialog to continue.

Once the installer has initialized, you’ll be faced with the option to sign up for critical update alerts. Normally this would be a good idea, however, for a sandbox system it’s not a requirement. Uncheck the email options and click Next.