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Introduction to Application Server Administration

This chapter provides an introduction to Oracle9i Application Server administration and an overview of the responsibilities of an application server administrator.

It contains the following topics:

• Welcome

• Priorities of an Application Server Administrator

• What is in this Book?

• Related Administration Documentation

Welcome

Welcome to Oracle9i Application Server!

Oracle9i Application Server (Oracle9iAS) is a powerful and feature-rich platform that supports all types of Web applications and Internet standards. Whether your application server hosts a collaborative Web site, a corporate portal, or an expansive e-business, your role as an application server administrator is the same: to provide a secure, available, and convenient platform for application deployers and application users.

This book provides an introduction to application server administration and the Oracle9iAS solutions and features that will enable you to provide a reliable and efficient application server that meets the demands of your user community.

Priorities of an Application Server Administrator

The following tasks present a prioritized approach to managing Oracle9i Application Server:

• Task 1: Determine Which Oracle9iAS Solutions You Require

• Task 2: Design Your Application Server

• Task 3: Install Your Application Server

• Task 4: Learn to Use the Administration Tools

• Task 5: Perform Postinstallation Tasks

• Task 6: Configure Your Application Server

• Task 7: Deploy Applications

• Task 8: Monitor Your Application Server

• Task 9: Back Up Your Application Server

• Task 10: Reconfigure Your Application Server Design

Task 1: Determine Which Oracle9iAS Solutions You Require

Oracle9iAS offers a variety of solutions you can use to build your application server. These solutions include J2EE and other industry-standard application support, portals, wireless support, caching, business intelligence features, security features, and management tools. Your first task as an administrator is to determine which Oracle9iAS solutions your user community requires.

See Also: Oracle9i Application Server Concepts Guide for more information about Oracle9iAS solutions

Task 2: Design Your Application Server

Designing an application server involves determining which Oracle9iAS features to install and configure, which hosts to use, and which databases (if any) are required to support your application server.

See Also: Chapter 2, "Concepts for Administrators" for an introduction to application server design

Task 3: Install Your Application Server

You can install your application server using Oracle Universal Installer, an easy-to-use tool that automatically installs and configures your application server.

See Also: Oracle9i Application Server Installation Guide and the Oracle documentation specific to your operating system

Task 4: Learn to Use the Administration Tools

Oracle9iAS provides a Web-based tool, a Java-based console, and command-line utilities for performing management tasks, including starting and stopping the application server, configuring the application server, deploying applications, and monitoring the application server. These tools provide a centralized interface for managing application servers, as well as the databases in your enterprise.

See Also: Chapter 3, "Introduction to Administration Tools"

Task 5: Perform Postinstallation Tasks

You must perform some setup tasks after every application server installation. These tasks include checking port allocation and configuring certain application server features to use custom-tuned databases.

See Also: Chapter 4, "Postinstallation Tasks"

Task 6: Configure Your Application Server

Oracle9iAS is a very flexible platform that offers many options to customize its services. You can change passwords, add functionality, and configure a variety of parameters including security settings, resource limits, logging features, and user privileges.

See Also: Chapter 6, "Configuring HTTP Server, OC4J, and Web Cache"

Task 7: Deploy Applications

You can easily deploy and redeploy J2EE applications on Oracle9iAS using a Web-based wizard that guides you through configuring, deploying, and securing your application, as well as publishing its Web Services.

See Also: Chapter 8, "Deploying Applications"

Task 8: Monitor Your Application Server

It is important to monitor your application server to identify configuration problems and performance bottlenecks. Oracle9iAS offers centralized, graphical monitoring tools that characterize the performance of every aspect of your application server.

See Also: Chapter 9, "Monitoring HTTP Server, OC4J, and Web Cache"

Task 9: Back Up Your Application Server

You should back up configuration files, log files, applications, and data on a regular basis. You can back up and restore Oracle9iAS using standard file system and database backup tools and strategies.

See Also: Appendix H, "Backup and Restore"

Task 10: Reconfigure Your Application Server Design

Oracle9iAS is a scalable and flexible product that allows you to expand and reconfigure your original application server design to meet changing user requirements and increasing load.

See Also: Chapter 10, "Reconfiguring the Application Server"

What is in this Book?

This book contains:

• Information about managing an application server as a single entity. It describes how to design and install an application server, start and stop an application server, and manage users, security, availability, and clustering.

• An introduction to managing the individual components that make up an application server. It provides getting started information for managing components using a centralized tool, and illustrates how to use the tool by describing common configuration, deployment, and monitoring tasks for several key components. It also provides information about dependencies between components.

Related Administration Documentation

In addition to this book, Oracle offers many other books with information about managing Oracle9iAS. These books are listed in Table 1-1. All books are available in the Oracle9iAS Documentation Library, except where noted.

Table 1-1 Related Administration Documentation  

For information about:	See Also:
Getting Started
Oracle9iAS architecture, solutions, and features	Oracle9i Application Server Concepts Guide
Oracle9iAS performance monitoring and tuning	Oracle9i Application Server Performance Guide
Oracle9iAS security	Oracle9i Application Server Security Guide
Configuring Oracle9iAS for global application deployment	Oracle9i Application Server Globalization Support Guide
Managing Components
mod_plsql	mod_plsql User's Guide
Oracle HTTP Server	Oracle HTTP Server Administration Guide
Oracle Internet Directory	Oracle Internet Directory Administrator's Guide
Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence	Oracle9iAS Clickstream Intelligence Administrator's Guide
Oracle9iAS Containers for J2EE	Oracle9iAS Containers for J2EE User's Guide
Oracle9iAS Discoverer	Oracle9iAS Discoverer Configuration Guide
Oracle9iAS Forms Services	Oracle9iAS Forms Services Deployment Guide
Oracle9iAS Personalization	Oracle9iAS Personalization Administrator's Guide
Oracle9iAS Portal	Oracle9iAS Portal Configuration Guide
Oracle9iAS Reports Services	Oracle9iAS Reports Services Publishing Reports to the Web
Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On	Oracle9iAS Single Sign-On Administrator's Guide
Oracle9iAS Syndication Server	Oracle9iAS Syndication Server User's and Administrator's Guide (available in the Oracle9i Developer Suite documentation library)
Oracle9iAS Unified Messaging	Oracle9iAS Unified Messaging Administrator's Guide
Oracle9iAS Web Cache	Oracle9iAS Web Cache Administration and Deployment Guide
Oracle9iAS Wireless	Oracle9iAS Wireless Getting Started and System Guide
Management Tools
Oracle Enterprise Manager architecture and features	Oracle Enterprise Manager Concepts Guide
Configuring Oracle Enterprise Manager	Oracle Enterprise Manager Configuration Guide
Managing Oracle Enterprise Manager	Oracle Enterprise Manager Administrator's Guide
Managing Databases
Managing the Oracle9i databases in your enterprise	Oracle9i Administrator's Guide (available in the Oracle9i Database documentation library)