OBIEE 11g installation – Part1

OBIEE 11g installation – Part1
The install comes in 4 files:
bi_windows_x86_111130_32_disk1_1of2.zip (1,2 GB)
bi_windows_x86_111130_32_disk1_2of2.zip (1,4 GB)
bi_windows_x86_111130_32_disk2_1of2.zip (1,4 GB)
bi_windows_x86_111130_32_disk2_2of2.zip (145 MB)
Uncompressing the files into separate folders we have the following structure:

There is a readme file found in ‘\bi_windows_x86_111130_32_disk1_1of2\bishiphome\Disk1\doc’ which contains a link to OBIEE documentation:
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E14571_01/bi.htm
The online documentation library includes, among other things, a quick install guide, an install guide, and an upgrade guide.  I won’t go into too much detail about the documentation library at this point, but will point out that the documents can be downloaded in PDF format.  This documentation is currently NOT available via the documentation tab on the download site.  Also, neither 11g nor the related documentation have as of the time of this blog been posted to e-delivery.
NOTE: if you read the next two parts of this post, you’ll find that I ran into problems configuring and starting the cluster controller.  Let me warn you up front that you will require either a static IP, or a loopback adapter with a static IP set to be the first interface in the adapter order.  Without this, you will have trouble running opmn to launch the cluster controller.
Continuing with the installation… launching setup from the \bi_windows_x86_111130_32_disk1_1of2\bishiphome\Disk1 folder brings up the Oracle Fusion Middleware 11g installer which apparently is a 12-step process:

For those who have not read the installation guide, the first screen of the installer should serve as a warning that there are a number of prerequisites which have to be met prior to continuing, more so than the previous release.  Specifically, a database with a repository is required to proceed with the installation.
Incidentally, the Fusion Middleware prerequisites link in the documentation is redirected to Middleware downloads section.  I will need follow up and find where the actual prerequisites are listed.
Not to get too far ahead (I have clicked a few steps ahead of the first screen) but the second of the installation screens is a selection page for the install type.  The options are
1)      Simple
2)      Enterprise
3)      Binaries Only
The Simple installation is described by the ‘Quick Installation Guide’
The Enterprise installation is described by the full Installation guide.
I’m not as yet certain about the binaries only installation.  I assume that using the third option the software is installed but not configured.  I can tell you from doing a bit of reading that OBIEE 11g is much more tightly integrated with WebLogic, and that the Enterprise Install actually creates a WebLogic domain for the OBIEE instance and registers all components.   At one point in the documentation, Oracle states that ALL OBIEE components must be registered to WebLogic at the same time (can’t do a partial install and add components later) and that a WebLogic domain to which OBIEE components have been added should not contain any other Fusion Middleware components.  Therefore I’m not sure whether the last ‘binaries only’ install option would be applicable to WebLogic deployments, but I digress.
Back to the install:
According to documentation, the following pre-steps are required.
■ Installing and Configuring a Database
■ Obtaining the Repository Creation Utility (RCU)
■ Starting the Repository Creation Utility (RCU)
■ Creating Schemas for Oracle Business Intelligence
■ Obtaining Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer
The last step is a bit redundant since the way I found where the installation documentation is actually stored is via the readme file that comes with the installer…
This might be a good time to say that none of the requirements or certifications links in the install guides go to where they should , so there is no way to check what the prerequisites are without doing further research.
Anyway… step 1, we need a database.  Skipping ahead a bit, what we actually need is to create a repository using a utility called the RCU (Repository Creation Utility).  I hope at this point that the link Oracle provides for this component works better than the other links supplied in the documentation.  The RCU supposedly only comes in Windows and Linux versions.
No such luck.  The http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/middleware/htdocs/111110_fmw.html link is redirected to the middleware downloads page.  I went ahead and accepted the license agreement and followed the See All link under the Fusion Middleware 11g Deployment section.  This brought me to another page where I also accepted the license agreement.  Scrolling down the Required Additional Software section I finally found the RCU (Repository Creation Utility (11.1.1.3.3)).  The actual URL of this page was: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/downloads/fmw-11-download-092893.html
I downloaded the 323MB x86 installer for Windows, and uncompressed it but will hold off on doing anything else with the RCU until I get my database up and running.
Now… I am creating this environment on my laptop as opposed to one of our servers because I would like to eventually take this demo on the road.  Specifically, Oracle is launching OBIEE 11g in Toronto next week at an event that we will be speaking at (as well as hosting a booth) so I would like to have something a little more portable.  The dilemma here is do I use one of my existing database images – I keep two on my laptop, a VMware Oracle 10g and a Vmware Oracle 11g, or do I do a fresh db install on the same virtual machine I am doing this OBIEE 11g install on.  My understanding is that OBIEE 11g installs to its own Oracle Home, and I’m not all that thrilled at the prospect of having multiple Oracle Homes on my demo VM, so I’m leaning towards using one of my other images.  However, since the prerequisites and certifications links went nowhere, I have no idea how resource intensive OBIEE 11g will be.
In the end, I have decided to use my Windows XP Oracle 11g image.  I’m going to reduce it to single CPU with 1GB RAM, which will leave it grossly underpowered, but I have a feeling the OBIEE 11g will need the remaining resources and then some.
My laptop is crawling just starting up both virtual machines, so I’m beginning to think this wasn’t such a great idea.
10 minutes later, and I’m using my Oracle 10g database image instead.  It’s been my main local lab for some time and has grown to over 70GB (I keep a 500GB local drive) and I was hoping to reclaim some of that space for an additional BIAPPS local demo, but that will have to wait.
Extracting the RCU (ofm_rcu_win32_11.1.1.3.3_disk1_1of1) took a little longer with the two virtual machines running.  While that was happening, I went ahead and created another schema in by 10g database called OBIEE_RPD in memory of the classic rpd that many of us have worked with for the better part of the last decade.  Not knowing what to really expect from the RCU, I have created the OBIEE_RPD user/schema in a larger tablespace with at least 15GB free.