Install Oracle Weblogic Server 14c on CentOS / RHEL 8

Oracle WebLogic 14c is a Java EE application server. In this article, you will learn how to install it on CentOS / RHEL 8.

 

Table of Contents:

• What is Oracle WebLogic Server?
• Environment Specification
• Update Linux Software Packages
• Install Oracle JDK on CentOS / RHEL 8
• Pre-Installation Tasks
• Installing Oracle Weblogic Server 14c
• Post-Installation Configurations
• Conclusion

 

What is Oracle WebLogic Server? :

WebLogic Server is a Java EE application server currently developed by Oracle Corporation, who acquired WebLogic Server when it purchased BEA Systems in 2008. (Courtesy: Wikipedia)

WebLogic Server forms part of Fusion Middleware portfolio and supports Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL Enterprise and other JDBC-compliant databases.

Oracle WebLogic Server Process Edition also includes Business Process Management and Data Mapping functionality. WebLogic supports security policies managed by security administrators.

Weblogic is a proprietary software, thus you need to purchase a license to use it.

 

Recommended Book: Oracle WebLogic Server 12c Administration Handbook by Sam Alapati

Recommended Training: Oracle Weblogic 12c for Administrators: A Complete Guide at Udemy

 

Environment Specification:

We are using a minimal Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 virtual machine with following specifications.

• CPU - 3.4 Ghz (2 cores)
• Memory - 4 GB
• Storage - 40 GB
• Operating System - Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.4
• Hostname – weblogic-01.centlinux.com
• IP Address - 192.168.116.238 /24

We are using a Lenovo - 2022 - IdeaPad 3i - Essential Laptop Computer - Intel Core i5 12th Gen - 15.6" FHD Display - 8GB Memory - 512GB Storage. You can also use the following link to purchase the same at very reasonable price from Amazon.com.

 

Update Linux Software Packages:

Use a SSH client to connect with weblogic-01.centlinux.com machine as root user.

Update cache for all installed yum repositories.

# dnf makecache

Update Linux software packages by executing following command at bash prompt.

# dnf update -y

It may be possible that, the package manager may update the Linux Kernel. If it happens then, you should reboot your CentOS / RHEL 8 operating system with new Linux Kernel.

# reboot

After reboot, verify the Linux Kernel and Operating System versions.

# uname -r
4.18.0-305.el8.x86_64

# cat /etc/redhat-release
Red Hat Enterprise Linux release 8.4 (Ootpa)

 

Install Oracle JDK on CentOS / RHEL 8:

Oracle WebLogic Server 14c is certified with Java Development Kit (JDK) 8 and 11. Therefore, you can install any of them on your Java EE application server.

Open Oracle JDK 11 Download Page in a web browser. You are also required to login to their website with a Single Sign-On credential.

Download your preferred version of JDK installation package and transfer it to your CentOS / Red Hat Linux server.

Now, install the downloaded packages as follows.

# dnf localinstall -y jdk-11.0.11_linux-x64_bin.rpm

Obtain the installation location of your Java software by executing following command.

# rpm -ql jdk-11.0.11_linux-x64_bin.rpm

Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable in /etc/profile and the current Linux shell.

# echo "export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk-11.0.11" >> /etc/profile

# export JAVA_HOME=/usr/java/jdk-11.0.11

Verify the active Java version on your operating system.

# java -version
java version "11.0.11" 2021-04-20 LTS
Java(TM) SE Runtime Environment 18.9 (build 11.0.11+9-LTS-194)
Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM 18.9 (build 11.0.11+9-LTS-194, mixed mode)

 

Pre-Installation Tasks:

Create the necessary operating system users and groups to own WebLogic software.

# groupadd -g 1001 oinstall
# useradd -u 1001 -g oinstall oracle
# passwd oracle
Changing password for user oracle.
New password:
Retype new password:
passwd: all authentication tokens updated successfully.

Create a directory to install WebLogic software and set necessary permissions thereon.

# mkdir -p /u01/app/oracle/product/14.1.1
# chown -R oracle:oinstall /u01/app
# chmod -R 775 /u01

 

Installing Oracle Weblogic Server 14c:

Go to Weblogic Download Page by using a web browser.

Download the Generic Installer for Oracle Weblogic 14c from above website and transfer it to your Linux server.

The downloaded package is in ZIP format, therefore, you may need the unzip utility to extract it.

Install unzip by using dnf command.

# dnf install -y unzip

Switch to oracle user.

# su - oracle

Edit .bash_profile of oracle user in vim text editor.

$ vi .bash_profile

Add following environment variables in this file.

export ORACLE_BASE=/u01/app/oracle
export ORACLE_HOME=$ORACLE_BASE/product/14.1.1
export MW_HOME=$ORACLE_HOME
export WLS_HOME=$MW_HOME/wlserver
export DOMAIN_BASE=$ORACLE_HOME/user_projects/domains
export DOMAIN_HOME=$DOMAIN_BASE/base_domain

Execute the .bash_profile script to set environment variables for current Linux shell.

$ . ~/.bash_profile

Execute unzip command to extract Weblogic Generic Installer.

$ unzip fmw_14.1.1.0.0_wls_lite_Disk1_1of1.zip
Archive:  fmw_14.1.1.0.0_wls_lite_Disk1_1of1.zip
  inflating: fmw_14.1.1.0.0_wls_lite_generic.jar

Execute the Generic Installer JAR file by using following java command.

$ java -jar fmw_14.1.1.0.0_wls_lite_generic.jar
Launcher log file is /tmp/OraInstall2021-05-18_07-16-01AM/launcher2021-05-18_07-16-01AM.log.
Extracting the installer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Done
Checking if CPU speed is above 300 MHz.   Actual 2394.575 MHz    Passed
Checking monitor: must be configured to display at least 256 colors.  Passed
Checking swap space: must be greater than 512 MB.   Actual 2175 MB    Passed
Checking temp space: must be greater than 300 MB.   Actual 30559 MB    Passed

Some system prerequisite checks failed.
You must fulfill these requirements before continuing.

Continue? (yes [y] / no [n]) [n]
y
You have confirmed that the product can be installed on this platform.
Continuing with the installation.


Preparing to launch the Oracle Universal Installer from /tmp/OraInstall2021-05-18_07-16-01AM

If you are installing on a Linux server with no graphical support, then you have to configure X11 forwarding by using PuTTY and XMing to get the graphical output at client console.

Set the OraInventory directory and click on ‘Next’ button.

You are on the welcome page. Click on ‘Next’.

Select ‘Skip Auto Updates’ and click ‘Next’.

Set the Oracle Home directory here and move to ‘Next’ screen.

Select the components that you want to install on your application server. You can either install Weblogic Server, Coherence or both.

Click on ‘Next’.

Click on ‘Install’ button.

Click on ‘Next’.

Uncheck ‘Automatically Launch the Quickstart Configuration Wizard’ and click on ‘Finish’.

 

Post-Installation Configurations:

If you are planning to deploy a Fusion Middleware product over your WebLogic application server, then you must skip the configuration step. Because the configurations will be performed by the respective FMW product.

Otherwise, you can configure WebLogic Server by executing following script.

$ /u01/app/oracle/product/14.1.1/oracle_common/common/bin/config.sh

Create a Domain for your Weblogic application server.

Select a template to create the domain. Click ‘Next’.

Set a strong password for Weblogic Server administrative user.

Select the Domain Mode and JDK for your Application Server.

Click on ‘Next’.

Click on ‘Create’.

Click on ‘Next’.

Click on ‘Finish’.

WebLogic Server has been configured successfully.

To grant access of your application server to network clients, allow the default service port of WebLogic server in Linux firewall.

# firewall-cmd --permanent --add-port=7001/tcp
success
# firewall-cmd --reload
success

Whenever you start the Weblogic service, it will always ask you for a username / password.

To automate it, you can define the credentials in boot.properties file.

$ mkdir -p $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/AdminServer/security/
$ echo "username=weblogic" > $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/AdminServer/security/boot.properties
$ echo "password=weblogic123" >> $DOMAIN_HOME/servers/AdminServer/security/boot.properties

Start the Oracle Weblogic Server 14c by executing following script.

$ $DOMAIN_HOME/startWebLogic.sh &

Browse URL https://weblogic-01.centlinux.com:7001/console in a web browser e.g. Google Chrome.

Login as Administrative user.

You have reached at the Weblogic Administrative Console.

 

Conclusion:

In this installation guide, you have successfully learned how to install Oracle Weblogic Server 14c on CentOS / RHEL 8.