SOA Cluster Installation

Update:

1. Instead of using multicasting for BPEL Jgroups; use TCP, see my article.
2. Follow Metalinke note 414427.1; add the java option "-Djava.net.preferIPv4Stack=true" in all start/stop option in opmn.xml.
3. Set -XX:AppendRatio=3 in the Java startup parameters

This article is a summary of the document you can download that describs in detail how to install and configure an Oracle SOA Suite installation in a clustered environment.

The cluster installation is based on the following components.

• Load balancer
• Server node #1
• Server node #2
• Database

I assume that the database is high available, using Oracle RAC for example. This is shown in the next diagram.


The goal is to install the Oracle SOA Suite software in a cluster on a such way that it is easy to configure, maintain and efficient in usage. We will install the following components based on release 10.1.3.4 with the latest patch set:

• Oracle Application Server
• Oracle BPEL Process Manager
• Oracle Enterprise Service Bus
• Oracle Web Services Manager

If you read the documents on installing SOA Suite in a cluster, it could lead you into many Oracle Home installations, many oc4j instances. This is valid, but not always usable.

We will install this software into 2 OC4J containers; oc4j_soa and oc4j_esbdt. This install in line with the stand-alone / non clustered environment. The main difference is the fact that we need an additional oc4j, the ESB Design time instance. While in a non-clustered environment, all components are put into one oc4j instance (oc4j_soa). The reason for this difference is the Oracle ESB implementation for a cluster.

The cluster installation will create the following components on each node.

• One Oracle Home with the complete software tree.
• Oracle BPEL 10.1.3.x
• Oracle ESB 10.1.3.x
• Oracle Services Manager 10.1.3.x
• Oracle SOA Suite Patch 10.1.3.4 (MLR#5)
• One J2EE container for Oracle ESB design time
• One J2EE container for Oracle ESB runtime, BPEL, Web Services Manager
• One Apache http webserver.
  

The approach of the installation is as follows.

1. Install Oracle Application Server, Node #1
2. Install Oracle Application Server, Node #2
3. Cluster Applicative Server
4. Installation Oracle BPEL, # node 1
5. Installation Oracle BPEL, # node 2
6. Cluster BPEL Server
7. Installation Oracle ESB, # node 1
8. Installation Oracle ESB, # node 2
9. Cluster ESB
10. Install Oracle Web Services Manager
11. Cluster Web Services Manager
12. Apply SOA Patches 10.1.3.4

This article and the document could not be created without the following documents.

• Oracle Application Server Installation Guide
• Oracle Enterprise Deployment Guide (10.1.3.3.0)
• Oracle SOA Suite High Availability FAQ
• Oracle Web Services Manager, Installation Guide
• Oracle ESB Multi Tiered Deployment

• Metalink Note: 470267.1: How To Verify ESB Cluster Configuration
• Metalink Note: 455714.1: Recommendations for ESB 10.1.3 Cluster Configuration
• Metalink Note: 728144.1 Installing AIA for Communications on a SOA Cluster

The document can be download here.

Have fun.

Marc