Perform Installs Steps for Oracle ECM to work with Oracle WebCenter 11g: on Windows Server 2008 x64 & MS SQL 2008

In my previous post on my quest to get Oracle WebCenter Suite up and running, I covered the second step of the "simple" installation topology, WebCenter install tasks, and will now focus on the third step (of eight): Installing other Fusion Middleware Products.

The support documentation instructs that "in addition to WebCenter Spaces, Portlet Producers, Oracle Discussions, and optionally Oracle Universal Content Manager, you can integrate several other WebCenter Web 2.0 Services into your applications. Some WebCenter Web 2.0 Services, such as Documents, rely on back-end components, such as Oracle Content Server. Similarly, Worklist relies on Oracle BPEL Process Manager which is available as part of Oracle SOA Suite. To integrate such services into your applications, you must install the required back-end components."

So while the simple topology chart says that ECM and SOA Suite are required for WebCenter Spaces, that isn't exactly the case, unless you want to use Documents and Worklist.  I have an interest in ECM so I'll go ahead and install that, but I'm going to skip the other 2 products at this time.

1. Install ECM (Oracle Content Server) - required for Documents?
1. Create the database
   
   • One database is needed for WebCenter and another for UCM.  We've already created the WebCenter db, so create another one called "ucm".
   • Unlike the WebCenter db, UCM uses the standard collation.
     
2. Install the schema
   
   • Download the Repository Creation Utility (RCU) for Windows which is under the "Prerequisites & Recommended Install Process" section, and unzip it to a folder that DOES NOT HAVE SPACES.  If there are spaces in the path the install will #fail
   • Navigate to the rcuHome/bin folder and run rcu.bat (you can do this through Explorer) which will start the GUI installer
     
   • Welcome - click the "Next" button
   • Create Repository - choose "Create"
   • Database Connection Details
   • Set the Database type to "Microsoft SQL Server"
   • Enter "localhost" as the server name, or the actual name/IP if you prefer
   • The default SQL port is 1433
   • Enter the name of the database you created a few steps back
   • Enter your SA username/password
     
   • Some general db prerequisite checks are done at this point
     
     
   • Select the ECM Components
     Set a new prefix - which will be appended to the schema owners name.
     
   •  Some component specific prerequisite checks are done at this point
     
   • Schema Password
     Here you are asked to create a password for the various schema accounts that will be created.  Password can contain only letters, numbers and the following special characters: $, # , _  and should not start with a number or a special character.
     One password to rule them all is fine for dev!
     Information Rights Management requires a semi-sophisticated password - something basic like "password" won't cut it and you'll get an error when the schema is being applied. Something like "pass$word1" would work.
     
   • Summary
     
   • Completion Summary
     
3. Run the ECM installer
   
   • The installer requires the full path to the location of a Java Runtime Environment (JRE) on your system.
   • When you installed Oracle WebLogic Server, a JRE was installed on your system in the jdk160_24 directory inside Oracle/Middleware home.
   • To get the installer to load I had toopen a command prompt, navigate to the Disk1 folder of the unzipped install folder and type the following command:
     setup.exe -jreLoc C:/Oracle/Middleware/jdk160_24/jreRunning the installer and entering that path when prompted killed the installer.
   • On another machine where I had installed a 64bit JRE I was able to use the path when prompted.
     
   • At the welcome screen click Next to begin the installation process.
     
   • Check for any software updates to install before you install Oracle Enterprise Content
     
   • Prerequisite checks
     
   • Installation location
     
   • Installation Summary
     
   • At about the 70% mark you will be prompted to insert disk 2 or provide a path to the second batch of content.
     An appropriate path will point to your disk2\stage folder like this:
     C:\Users\GGarcia\Desktop\Install\ofm_ecm_generic_11.1.1.5.0_disk1_2of2\Disk2\stage
     
   • Complete install