Overview : How to "clone" a Portal Repository [ID 276620.

1] Modified 10-AUG-2009 In this Document Abstract Document History Overview : How to "clone" a Portal Repository SCOPE & APPLICATION METHOD / PATH PREREQUISITES INTRODUCTION I - Portal Clonning Matrix II - Brief Summary on the path to follow References Type WHITE PAPER Status PUBLISHED

Applies to:
Portal - Version: 9.0.2 to 10.1.4 Information in this document applies to any platform.

Abstract
This document is an overview on how to "clone" your Portal from 9.0.2 and above. It explains the paths you can follow in order to have a Portal in a consistent state. *** Disclaimer *** In the context of this note, the word 'clone' refers to the complete Portal setup from a source machine to a target machine. It's not supported to fully clone a Portal/Wireless or BI Infrastructure or Middle Tier, i.e. it is not supported to clone a Portal environment in a Sys Admin context.

Document History
Version 1.0 : 21-JUN-2004 - first draft Version 1.1 : 27-MAR-2006 - included Portal 10.1.2 & 10.1.4 versions Version 1.2 : 03-MAY-2007 - updated with new 10.1.4 documentation Version 1.3 : 04-MAR-2008 - note with new layout

Overview : How to "clone" a Portal Repository

SCOPE & APPLICATION
This document is intented for Portal administrators (and may require DBA skills).

METHOD / PATH
The method we will follow in the document is the following one: 1. Portal Clonning Matrix 2. Brief Summary on the path to follow

PREREQUISITES
Good Portal skills. Good DBA skills.

INTRODUCTION

Cloning of a Portal deployment is useful in different scenarios. The simplest requirement is often a full backup of the system taken to protect against system failure. Commonly it is also used to support the development life-cycle where components move from a development to test environment and finally to production. It is also a useful technique for setting up a test version of a production system to verify that major system upgrades will run without problems. The various approaches in this note all have different strengths and weaknesses. Therefore several options should be reviewed before choosing the appropriate approach for your requirement.

I - Portal Cloning Matrix

Below is a matrix that summarises the options that are available to clone Portal. The links provided will allow you to drill into more specific instructions for the option.
Method 1. Using the Portal Export / Import feature from the Portal product Documentation for 9.0.2 Note 263995.1 - Master Note for OracleAS Portal Export / Import Issues Documentation for 9.0.4 Oracle Application Server Portal Configuration Guide 10g (9.0.4) - Chapter 10 : Exporting and Importing Content Note 263995.1 - Master Note for OracleAS Portal Export / Import Issues Documentation for 10.1.2 & 10.1.4 Oracle Application Server Portal Configuration Guide 10g Release 2 (10.1.4) - Chapter 10 : Exporting and Importing Content Oracle Application Server Portal Configuration Guide 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) - Chapter 10 : Exporting and Importing Content Note 263995.1 - Master Note for OracleAS Portal Export / Import Issues 2. Using the full copy of the database at OS level 3. Using the RDBMS export / import of the Note 217187.1 - How to restore a cold backup of a Note 276688.1 - How to copy (export/import) Portal IAS 9.0.2 on another machine Portal database schemas of IAS 9.0.4 to another database Note 228516.1 - How to copy (export/import) the Oracle Application Server Portal Configuration *** Not supported. ***

Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide

database in case the OS are different

Portal database schemas of IAS 9.0.2 to another database

Guide 10g (9.0.4) - Chapter 10.8.8 : Migration Your Portal Across Databases Note 276688.1 - How to copy (export/import) Portal database schemas of IAS 9.0.4 to another database

10g Release 2 (10.1.2) - Chapter 11 : Staging a Test Environment from a Production Environment

4. Using the Metadata Repository ReAssociation capability

*** Not possible. ***

Oracle Application Server 10g Administrator's Guide - Chapter 8 : Changing Infrastructure Services

Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) - Chapter 9 : Changing Infrastructure Services

II - Brief Summary on the path to follow

1. Using the Portal Export / Import feature from the Portal product OracleAS Portal provides a set of export/import utilities that enable movement of content between portal installations. OracleAS Portal supports the ability to copy or update page groups and portal content between source and target portal instances. The documentation specifically covers the scenario for migrating the entire Portal repository metadata from one repository to another. Advantages : 1. The granularity of Portal Export / Import allows the scope of the export to be specified. The scope can range from a single page up to the entire repository. Disadvantages : 1. Not all metadata objects are migrated with this operation - please refer to the documentation for the limitations surrounding customisations, security, etc. (ie, Metalink Note 333867.1 - Portal Export and Import Utility Supportability Scenarios should cover all the scenarios)

2. Using a full copy of the database files at OS level This is really a database cold backup of all the files. Restoration of the database results in a clone of the Portal. Advantages : 1. Relatively quick restoration process Disadvantages : 1. The process is not automated and requires multiple manual steps. 2. Requires the same operating system on the source and target systems.

3. Using the database export / import utilities This is basically a database export / import of the Portal schema. Advantages : 1. Can be used when the source and target systems have different operating systems. 2. Quick restore between different Operating Systems (but you might need to be careful with certain references as urls stored within the Portal tables to the source machine).

Disadvantages : 1. Process is not automated and requires multiple manual steps. 2. If the source Portal was contained with the Metadata Repository of the Infrastructure database the resulting target system is no longer contained within a Metadata Repository (custom database), unless it is followed the Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) - Chapter 11 : Staging a Test Environment from a Production Environment.

4. Using the Metadata Repository Re-Association capability In a distributed configuration where the identity management components of the infrastructure are separated from the product metadata repository by being in separate databases metadata repositories, re-association can be used to clone a Portal system. Advantages : 1. Is relatively quick as it uses a cold database backup. 2. Clones the entire metadata database and not just the Portal schema.

Disadvantages : 1. Is only available when the identity management components are in a different database from the product metadata 2. There are separate steps involved in cloning the identity management components.

** Notes ** When a Portal is configured with local portlet providers, all the cloning methods above result in the cloned system pointing to the identical set of the local portlet providers (source instance). A separate step may be required to have the local portlet providers reconfigure within the cloned system to point to the new location (target system). These additional steps avoid the chance that testing of a cloned system calls production providers that update production data.

References
NOTE:217187.1 - How to restore a cold backup of a Portal IAS 9.0.2 on another machine NOTE:228516.1 - How to copy (export/import) Portal database schemas of IAS 9.0.2 to another database NOTE:263995.1 - Master Note for OracleAS Portal Export / Import Issues NOTE:267246.1 - Oracle Support Index for Portal Master Notes NOTE:276688.1 - How to copy (export/import) the Portal database schemas of IAS 9.0.4 to another database

Oracle Application Server Portal Configuration Guide 10g (9.0.4): http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10464_01/portal.904/b10356/toc.htm Oracle Application Server Portal Configuration Guide 10g Release 2 (10.1.2): http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B14099_18/portal.1012/b14037/toc.htm Oracle Application Server Portal Configuration Guide 10g Release 2 (10.1.4): http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B14099_18/portal.1014/b19305/toc.htm Oracle Application Server 10g Administrator's Guide: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B10464_03/core.904/b10376/toc.htm Oracle Application Server Administrator's Guide 10g Release 2 (10.1.2): http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B14099_18/core.1012/b13995/toc.htm

Related Products

Middleware > Enterprise 2.0 and Portals > Portal > Portal Middleware > Enterprise 2.0 and Portals > Portal > Portal

Keywords PORTAL CONFIGURATION

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