WebSphere Portal

Start of changeThe IBM® Web Administration for i interface provides an easy to use wizard to configure WebSphere® Portal V6.1.5 and WebSphere Portal Express V6.1.5 on your IBM i server.End of change

It is recommended that you use the Create WebSphere Portal wizard in the Web Administration for i interface when configuring your WebSphere Portal server. This reduces the time required to configure and start the Portal server and reduces the complexity of the many different features of the Portal server. Information documenting the installation and configuration of the Portal server on an IBM i server is located in the WebSphere Portal Product DocumentationLink outside information center Web site.

WebSphere Portal is a J2EE application that runs on WebSphere Application Server. WebSphere Portal creates an environment that provides connectivity, administration, and presentation services that allow portal users a means for doing business efficiently and with high satisfaction. The wizard will help you create and configure the elements of a portal server. The following elements are configured through the wizard:
  • WebSphere Application Server: The WebSphere Application Server is the engine that drives the WebSphere Portal. This is the Web server that provides J2EE services for the portal environment. For more information on WebSphere Application server, see WebSphere Application Server for IBM i Link outside information center.
  • HTTP Server: The HTTP server routes the incoming URL requests to the proper locations. All dynamic requests are routed by the HTTP server to the application server, which then displays the required portlets.
  • WebSphere Portal: WebSphere Portal provides a composite application or business mashup framework and the advanced tooling needed to build flexible, Service Oriented Architecture (SOA)-based solutions, as well as the unmatched scalability required by any size organization.
  • LDAP: The LDAP server controls who has access to the portal server. In the portal environment, it stores, updates, and retrieves user-specific data related to authentication such as users and passwords. For more information on LDAP, see IBM Tivoli® Directory Server for i (LDAP).
  • Database: DB2® database is used by the WebSphere Portal as a repository for user customized portal Web pages and portal configuration information. For more information on DB2®, see Database.

Prerequisites and assumptions

Minimum hardware requirements

You can use the IBM Systems Workload Estimator for help with sizing all system configurations. It might be possible to use systems that do not meet the recommended minimums in environments that support a limited number of users and where longer server initialization times can be tolerated, but performance may suffer.

  • Processor: Recent IBM i servers with at least 3800 CPW. Production environments should consider servers with a higher CPW rating.
  • Physical memory: 5 GB at a minimum. Production environments and environments featuring multiple profiles require more memory.
  • Disk space: The following values are required if you use the installation program to install WebSphere Application Server, extensions and fixes, and WebSphere Portal Express. These values assume a minimum of 6 disk arms and do not account for any other products or components that could be installed on the WebSphere Portal Express machine. Refer to the documentation for the other products for additional hardware requirement information. You can perform a custom installation of the components. The following list shows the space requirements by component:
    Component Install directory Temp directory
    Start of changeWebSphere Portal Express and WebSphere Application Server V6.1.0.27 and each WebSphere Application Server profile configured for use with WebSphere Portal Express V6.1.5End of change Start of change5 GBEnd of change Start of change1 GBEnd of change
Minimum software requirements
  • IBM HTTP Server for i (5770-DG1)
  • IBM Developer Kit for Java™ (5761-JV1)
  • Start of changeIBM Developer Kit for Java (5761-JV1 Option 7)End of change
  • IBM TCP/IP Connectivity Utilities for i (5770-TC1)
  • Host Server (5770-SS1 Option 12)
  • Qshell (5770-SS1 Option 30)
  • Portable App Solutions Environment (5770-SS1 Option 33)
  • Additional Fonts (5770-SS1 Option 43) - required for Document Manager on IBM i
  • Start of changeIBM WebSphere Application Server V6.1 (5733-W61)End of change
  • Start of changeIBM WebSphere Application Server V6.1 (5733-W61 Option 1)End of change
  • Start of changeWebSphere Portal 6.1.5 End of change

Start the WebSphere Portal wizard

The WebSphere Portal wizard can be started from the Web Administration for i interface:
  1. Access the Web Administration for i from your browser. For information about how to access the Web Administration for i interface, see Starting Web Administration for i.
  2. From the IBM Web Administration for i interface, select Common Tasks and Wizards -> Create WebSphere Portal .

The WebSphere Portal wizard walks you through the creation of a new WebSphere Portal server.

Parent topic: Web tasks