Using the deployment wizard

The deployment wizard provides a simple graphical user interface for deploying a solution (.ser file) to target computers that you specify.

Navigate the steps of the deployment wizard by completing them in order and clicking Back and Next to switch to the previous or next step.

If no solution is open in the deployment wizard, or the next button is not enabled, you can open a solution to begin the deployment process.

To open a solution, perform the following steps:
  1. Open the deployment wizard. Select Start > Programs > IBM Software Assembly Toolkit > Deployment Wizard on computers running Windows operating systems, and Main Menu > Programs > IBM Software Assembly Toolkit > Deployment Wizard on computers running Linux operating systems.
  2. Click File > Open.
  3. Click the solution with the .ser file extension that you want to deploy and click Open. The deployment wizard Welcome dialog is displayed.
  4. Click Next.
Note:
  • If you are deploying from a solution launcher image, the default solution automatically opens in the deployment wizard.
  • The deployment wizard communicates with the target computers using the deployment agent, which it installs on the target computer as needed. After deploying a set of software to the target computer, the deployment agent is removed.
  • If an application supports an operating system and the deployment platform for that operating system is not installed in the targets folder, or if the JRE is not the correct version for this level of IBM Software Assembly Toolkit, you will not be able to deploy the application on this platform until the deployment target platform is installed.
  • If the deployment platform for an operating system is not installed in the targets folder, the operating system will not be displayed as a selectable target. In addition, any configuration panels for that operating system will not be displayed.

Selecting tasks to deploy

The deployment wizard provides a list of all of the target groups and the tasks that you can deploy. A task is a set of actions that are performed together. Select any combination of tasks listed in the wizard for deployment.

Note:
  • If none of the applications in a task can be deployed because the deployment target platforms are not installed, the task will not be displayed. If all tasks in a task group are not displayed, the task group will not be displayed.
To select tasks for deployment, perform the following steps:
  1. Select at least one task from the list that is displayed in the deployment wizard, by selecting the corresponding check box.
  2. Click Next.
  3. Tasks might contain one or more sets of subtasks. Select at least one subtask for each task.
  4. Click Next.

Specify target computers

In the deployment wizard, you can specify one or more target computers for each target group that you select for deployment.

Before you deploy middleware to a target computer, ensure that installing middleware on that computer does not violate the terms of your license for the middleware.

To specify a target computer, you must specify the following three things:
  • The fully-qualified domain name or the IP address of that computer. Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) addresses are supported.
  • A user ID and password for that computer if it is not localhost.
  • The operating system of the target computer.

A fully qualified domain name includes all higher level domain names up to the top-level domain name. Use the following guidelines to ensure the correct format of a domain name:

  • localhost represents the local computer.
  • An alphanumeric text string up to 24 characters in length, containing any of the letters A-Z, digits between 0-9, and the minus sign (-) and period (.) characters
  • The first character must be an alphabetical.
  • You can use upper and lowercase letters.
  • The last character cannot be a minus sign (-) or a period (.).
  • Only use periods to delimit components of a domain name.
  • Do not use blank or space characters.

Use the following guidelines to ensure the correct format for an IPv4 address:

  • A 32-bit numeric address written containing four numbers.
  • Each of these four numbers can range from 0 to 255.
  • Each of the four numbers is separated by periods (.).

For example, 9.42.76.239 is a properly formatted IPv4 address.

Use the following guidelines to ensure the correct format for an IPv6 address:

  • A 128-bit address written as up to eight groups of up to four hexadecimal digits each. A hexadecimal value can include the following characters:
    • A-F
    • a-f
    • 0-9
  • Groups are separated by colons (:).
  • Continuous strings of 0 bits can be indicated with a double colon (::). This syntax can appear only once in an IPv6 address.
The following examples represent properly formatted IPv6 addresses:
  • FEDC:BA98:7654:3210:FEDC:BA98:7654:3210
  • 1080:0:0:0:8:800:200C:417A
  • 1080::8:800:200C:417A
Note: IPv6 notation might not be supported in your environment. Check with your system administrator to ensure that your environment supports IPv6 notation.
To specify a target computer, follow these steps:
Note: If you are using one of the predefined solutions, you can only specify a single host computer. The parts of these instructions related to specifying multiple computers are not needed.
  1. In the Specify Target dialog, follow these steps:
    1. In the Target Computer field, specify either localhost, or the fully-qualified domain name or the IP address of the target computer.
      Note: When you enter the IP address or host name, the format is checked to ensure the entry is valid. In addition to verifying the correct format, a check is made for duplicate entries.
    2. In the User ID field, specify the user name to use when connecting to this target computer. This is only valid if the target computer is not localhost.
    3. In the Password field, specify the password to use when connecting to this target computer. This is only valid if the target computer is not localhost.
    4. In the Operating system drop-down, select the operating system of the target computer. This is only valid if the target computer is not localhost.
    5. If you want to save the User ID, Password, and operating system information that you specified for this target computer, click the Save this login information check box. If you have a need to repeatedly deploy software to a given target, saving the login information prevents you from reentering the information between sessions. Based on the target name, the ID, password and OS are saved locally. The password is stored encrypted in the local key store.
  2. Click Test Login to verify that the deployment wizard can connect to the specified target computer. The Target Computer Data window is displayed and shows the status for this target computer. If the deployment wizard cannot connect to a target computer, verify that the fully-qualified domain name or IP address is correct. If this information is correct, contact the computer owner to determine if the target computer is running and connected to a network. If a firewall exists between the staging server and the target computer, ensure that the firewall permits communication on the specified port. If no firewall is running, you should use the default port 0. Using port 0 causes the deployment wizard to allocate an open port. You should only use ports other then 0 if a firewall is in use. Ensure that communication is open from both sides of the firewall.
  3. Click Next.

Configuring deployment parameters

The deployment parameters dialog contains the deployment parameters for an application associated with a selected task. Use deployment parameters to configure an installation during deployment. Examples of deployment parameters include user IDs, passwords, and target directories.

In many cases, the deployment parameters can have default values. You can use or modify the default values. The values are shared with all target computers associated with a task.

Complete all the fields on the deployment parameters dialog denoted with an asterisk. Provide deployment parameters for every task in the solution selected for deployment, and click Next.

Modify parameters listed on the Typical tab only. The parameters on the Advanced tab are for advanced users only. Do not modify advanced parameters unless you understand the potential results of changing the parameter.

When the deployment wizard encounters an error with variable validation, and additional information is available for the validation of that variable, a link is displayed. To learn more about the validation rules for a specific variable, and the input that is required, you can click the link below the variable.


Deploying tasks to target computers

The summary dialog of the deployment wizard displays a summary of the tasks that have been selected to deploy and the target computers selected for deployment. An estimate of the time to install each task is provided, along with the summary of the task. This dialog also shows the status of the last attempted deployment for each task.

There are two methods for deploying tasks. Click Deploy Task to deploy each task individually. Click Deploy All to deploy all of the tasks that are displayed on the summary dialog sequentially.

If the files required for deployment span more than one disk or cannot be located, a dialog prompts you for the correct location of each disk or deployment package JAR file that cannot be found. A dialog prompts you for each item needed to complete the deployment.


Viewing deployment status

The status dialog of the deployment wizard provides detailed information on the deployment progress. It contains deployment status and messages that explain the reason for any errors that occurred during deployment. To view a list of all the messages that are displayed during deployment, click Detailed Messages. Detailed messages provides the name of the solution, time, and the target computer for the deployment of each solution.

To view a log of the tasks that were performed during deployment, click Master Log. The Master log provides a list of every action that occurred as part of deployment. You might need to refer to this information when debugging unsuccessful deployments.


Target computer settings and logging

Use the target computer settings panel to specify information regarding the computers that are targets of deployments and diagnostic tracing.

Communication port

The communication port that listens for connections from the deployer to the agent. The only time you'd want to change this is if you're using a firewall that blocks communication on the default port. If you are not using a firewall, use the default port. If you specify 0, the deployment wizard automatically determines an available port to use.

RMI registry port

The RMI port that the RMI registry listens for connections on from the deployer to the agent. The only time you'd want to change this is if you're using a firewall that blocks communication on the default port. If you are not using a firewall, use the default port. If you specify 0, the deployment wizard automatically determines an available port to use.

Setup files location

Setup files must be copied to a temporary location on the target computer. The default is to use the system-specific temporary location. If you want to use another location, or if there is insufficient space available in the system-specific temporary location, you can specify a location where setup files are copied. Select the option that you want to use. You can click Check Disk Space to determine the available amount of space that is available.

Remove setup files

Some of the files that are used during deployment are temporary files. If you want to prevent Software Assembly Toolkit from deleting temporary files after a deployment, follow these steps:
  1. Select the Edit > Preferences menu option on the deployment wizard.
  2. On the Deployment Preferences dialog, click Target Computer Settings.
  3. On the Target Computer Settings dialog, select the target computer from the drop-down list.
  4. Select the Do not remove setup files when deployment is complete checkbox.

If the Do not remove setup files when deployment is complete checkbox is selected, Software Assembly Toolkit does not delete the media and user files after deploying an application. Instead, these files remain in the unpacked directory. These files can be useful for ensuring that Software Assembly Toolkit transferred the user and media JAR files to the target computer correctly. For remote and local deployments, the unpacked directory in located in the <ER installation directory>/iru directory. If there is already a directory with this name on the target computer, a numerical suffix is added to create a unique name for the unpacked directory (for example, <ER installation directory>/iru1). To determine what values were specified for those configuration parameters that have fileAssociations XML entries associated with them, examine the contents of response files. The names are controlled by the application wrappers. Similarly, to determine what values were specified for those configuration parameters that have propertiesAssociations XML entries associated with them, you can examine the contents of the property file, ibmnsi.properties.

To find the response files and the property files, look in the following directories:
  • For remote deployments, these files are located in the <IIA installation directory>/IIA/deployment/logs
  • For local deployments, these files are located in the <ER installation directory>/Runtime22/SolutionEnabler/deployment/logs

Check Network Connectivity

The deployment wizard checks that the specified target computers are accessible before deploying a solution. You can choose to bypass these checks by selecting the box provided.
Note: Selecting this means that the connectivity check is bypassed for all hosts specified as targets during this deployment wizard session, including those added during the session.

Diagnostic trace

You can use specific logging options in the deployment wizard to generate log files that provide information that is useful to have when resolving problems that you might encounter during deployment. You can enable logging to provide diagnostic information that is related to the support framework, the deployment wizard, or both. Support framework diagnostic information (to display user-defined messages that are created during solution development), and deployment wizard diagnostic information that might be helpful to debug a deployment is logged in separate files. You can specify the name that you want to use for each log file, and the maximum amount of space that each log file can physically occupy.

Use diagnostic logging only when it is necessary for troubleshooting a deployment.

To use deployment logging, perform the following steps:
  1. From the deployment wizard select Edit > Preferences.
  2. Click Target Computer Settings.
  3. In the Diagnostic Trace dialog, select the check box that corresponds to the type of diagnostic information you want logged. You can select support framework information, deployment wizard information, or both.
  4. Provide a name for the file to which diagnostic information is recorded.
  5. Provide a value for the maximum amount of space that each log file can physically occupy.
  6. From the Diagnostic Trace dialog, click OK.
  7. From the Deployment Preference dialog, click OK.

Do not remove setup files when deployment is complete must be selected for log files to remain after deployment is complete on the target computer. If you do not select Do not remove setup files when deployment is complete the log files are not saved after the deployment completes. The Do not remove setup files setting applies to the specified target computer. The log files are useful when debugging deployments.

The log files that the deployment wizard generates are saved in the following locations:
  • Installation_Directory/SolutionEnabler/logs/
  • Installation_Directory/SolutionEnabler/deployment/logs/ (for local deployments)
  • temp drive/~CSRIx/IIA/logs/ (for remote deployments; where x is a whole number dependant upon the number of CSRI folders in the temporary location)

You can also use deployment diagnostic logging when you start the deployment wizard from the command line.

To use deployment diagnostic logging when you start the deployment wizard from the command line, you can apply the following arguments:
  • -enableSolutionDeployerTrace - Enables the deployment wizard diagnostic logging.
  • -solutionDeployerTraceFile - Sets the name of the deployment wizard log file.
  • -maxSolutionDeployerTraceFileSize - Sets the maximum size of the deployment wizard log file.
  • -enableSupportFrameworkTrace - Enables the support framework diagnostic logging.
  • -supportFrameworkTraceFile - Sets the name of the support framework log file.
  • -maxSupportFrameworkTraceFileSize - Sets the maximum size of the support framework log file.

The following command provides an example of a command line invocation of a solution that uses all of the available arguments to perform diagnostic values:

DJTJRE\bin\java -jar DJT_ibmnsit.jar -enableSolutionDeployerTrace -solutionDeployerTraceFile myTrace.log -maxSolutionDeployerTraceFileSize 10 -enableSupportFrameworkTrace -supportFrameworkTraceFile mySupportTrace.log -maxSupportFrameworkTraceFileSize 2

Note: If you enable the support framework trace and perform a remote installation, the support framework trace information is not logged.


Deployment wizard preferences

Use the deployment wizard preferences to specify default settings that the deployment wizard uses.

Path

A deployment package contains resources that the task being deployed requires. The deployment package path is the location where all the deployment package files are stored. By default, the deployment package path is: <installation_directory>\Runtimexxx\SolutionEnabler\com\ibm\jsdt\webserver\tree.

Communication ports

Select the data and communication port numbers that you want the deployment wizard to use. If you specify a 0 for either the data or communication port, the deployment wizard automatically determines an unused port to use. Specify the maximum number of connections that can be used by both the communication and the data ports.

Target computer settings

Click Target computer settings to specify information about the computers that are targets of a deployment. You can also specify diagnostic trace information.

Target computer data panel

This window displays information for each target computer associated with a task, and indicates whether the deployment wizard can connect to the target computer.

A green check mark to the left of the Target column indicates the deployment wizard can connect to the deployment agent on the target computer. A black question mark to the left of the Target column indicates that the deployment wizard is collecting data or was unable to determine the operating system of the target computer because the target computer is running a down-level version of the deployment agent. A red circle with an X to the left of the Target column indicates the deployment wizard cannot connect to the deployment agent on the target computer. Possible reasons for failure to connect include:
  • The computer does not exist on the network.
  • The computer is not running the deployment agent.

See the Details column for more information on the target computer's status.


Specify location

The Specify Location panel is displayed when you attempt to deploy a task and the deployment wizard either cannot locate the deployment package, or cannot locate the files needed to create the deployment package.

When the deployment wizard cannot locate the deployment package in the deployment package path, it attempts to locate the source software image files from the root installation directory. If the deployment wizard can locate the files, it automatically creates the deployment package using these files. If the deployment wizard cannot locate the files, the Specify Location panel is displayed for you to create the deployment package or locate a pre-built deployment package.

To create a deployment package during deployment, enter the location of the indicated disk. If multiple disks are listed, locate one of them to create the deployment package. Either enter the directory at the prompt, or click Browse to locate the directory.


Required JAR file cannot be found

The deployment failed because a required JAR file cannot be found. To insure that all JAR files exist, you can reinstall the features that you want to deploy. If the problem persists, contact your solution provider.


Select disk

If you need to build a deployment package during deployment, you are prompted to locate the disk containing the required source files. If multiple disks are listed, you can locate one of them to create the deployment package. If the location you specify matches more than one of the listed disks, you might be prompted to identify the disk you located.


Command line deployment options

You can specify deployment options that can be useful for debugging a solution or deploying a solution from a solution launcher image.

Using deployment wizard options from the command line

You can provide specific deployment options when you start the deployment wizard from the command line.

To use deployment options when you start the deployment wizard from the command line, you can apply the following arguments:
  • -leaveFiles - Leaves the files on the local computer.
  • -remoteLeaveFiles - Leaves the files on the remote computer.
  • -deploymentPackagePath - The location on the local computer where the deployment package is created.
  • -skipStartupCheckpoint - This option will bypass the execution of the solution's startup checkpoint.
  • -skipWelcomePanel - Skips welcome panel.
  • -enableSolutionDeployerTrace - Enables the deployment wizard trace.
  • -enableSupportFrameworkTrace - Enables the support framework trace.
  • -solutionDeployerTraceFile - Sets the deployment wizard trace file.
  • -supportFrameworkTraceFile - Sets the support framework log file.
  • -maxSolutionDeployerTraceFile - Sets the maximum size of the deployment trace log file.
  • -maxSupportFrameworkTraceFile - Sets the maximum size of the support framework log file.
  • -enableSystemSpecificSetupLocation - When set to true, setup files are copied to the system-specific temporary location.
  • -setupFilesLocation - Contains the user-specified location where setup files are copied. If this option is used, -enableSystemSpecificSetupLocation must be set to false.

The following command provides an example of a deployment wizard command line invocation of a solution that uses all of the available arguments:

DJTJRE\bin\java -jar DJT_ibmnsit.jar -leaveFiles -remoteLeaveFiles -deploymentPackagePath -skipStartupCheckpoint -skipWelcomePanel -enableSolutionDeployerTrace -enableSupportFrameworkTrace -solutionDeployerTraceFile deployer.log -supportFrameworkTraceFile framework.log -maxSolutionDeployerTraceFile 10 -maxSupportFrameworkTraceFile 10 -enableSystemSpecificSetupLocation false -setupFilesLocation c:\mytemp

To use these options when deploying a solution from a solution launcher image, open the IRU_install.iss file in a text editor and type the options you want to use between the quotation marks in the -W solutionLauncher.options="" line. For example, -W solutionLauncher.options="-skipWelcomePanel". The IRU_install.iss file is in the disk 1 folder located in the directory to which you exported the solution launcher image.