Creating a build definition and generating the IIP

This topic describes how to create a build definition file and generate the integrated installation package (IIP) with the IBM WebSphere Application Server Installation Factory.

Before you begin

You must first install the Installation Factory before you use it to create an installation package. See Getting Started with the Installation Factory for more information.
You can create installation packages for operating systems other than the one on which Installation Factory is running:
  • [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] The Installation Factory on these operating systems can create installation packages for all supported platforms.
  • [Windows] The Installation Factory on Windows operating systems can create installation packages for Windows and i5/OS.

About this task

To create an IIP, first create a build definition file which the Installation Factory later uses to generate the IIP. The build definition file describes exactly which packages and configurations are included in the IIP. You can do both steps on the local machine, or you can choose to create the build definition locally, then pass the XML file to another machine to generate the IIP, perhaps even on a different machine or operating system. The remote machine must first contain the Installation Factory and all products you want to include in the IIP in order to generate an IIP from a build definition file.

In some cases, you might not be able to use the Build definition wizard on the target operating system platform. You have three options in such a case:

Use the following procedure to create the build definition file and generate the IIP.

Procedure

  1. Download the product code from the download page for the IBM Installation Factory for WebSphere Application Server and unpack the code.

    See the download page for a complete list of tested operating systems.

  2. Consider which installation packages you want to include in the IIP. The Installation Factory does not contain any product installation images. You must provide the software to be installed by the Installation Factory.
  3. Start the Installation Factory console with the graphical user interface (GUI) script.
    • [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] Use the IF_root/bin/ifgui.sh script.
    • [Windows] Use the IF_root\bin\ifgui.bat script.
  4. Create a new IIP build definition or open an existing one.

    Click Create New Integrated Installation Package to create a new IIP build definition.

    Click Open Build Definition if you want to edit an existing build definition XML file.

  5. Choose whether to run the wizard in connected or disconnected mode.
    • Connected mode

      Select the check box for connected mode processing so that you can generate the IIP in addition to creating the build definition file on the local machine. The build definition wizard will attempt to validate all directories, files, and installation packages in connected mode and must be able to access these resources locally.

    • Disconnected mode

      Select the check box for disconnected mode processing to save the build definition only and generate the IIP later. Use the wizard in disconnected mode on a supported machine to create a build definition file for a supported operating system on another machine. Then copy the build definition XML file to the target operating system and use the ifcli command to start the processing engine and generate the IIP. The Build Definition wizard cannot verify the installation image, the maintenance packages, or any other files or scripts that you enter in disconnected mode. You can also generate an IIP for a target platform with a similar platform, in other words generate an IIP on a Windows platform for another Windows platform, or a UNIX-style platform for another UNIX-style platform.

      The paths for all products, directories, and files you specify in the wizard must be relative to the machine on which the IIP will be created. For example, assume that you run the console on a Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 system that cannot access a target AIX system. The Build Definition wizard cannot browse file locations on the target system. However, you can type the directory path of the AIX location for the Network Deployment installation image and other elements of the IIP.

  6. Provide all required parameters to identify the package information, the output location for the build definition file, the output location for the IIP, products, installation images, additional files and directories, and authorship information. See the help panel documents for information on each step of the IIP creation process:
    Panel Description
    IIP mode selection Specify whether to work in connected or disconnected mode, and specify the target operating system for the IIP.
    IIP package identification Specify a universally unique identifier for the IIP.
    IIP build information Specify the name and location of the build definition file and the IIP.
    IIP integrated installation wizard settings Use this panel to choose whether the IIP installation wizard is displayed to the IIP user during installation, and whether this setting can be overridden.
    IIP construct the integrated installation package Add and modify installation packages for the IIP. This panel also contains the following panels:
    IIP additional files Add files and directories to the IIP.
    IIP authorship Specify an organization and description for the IIP.
    IIP preview Use this summary panel to review all of your selections for the IIP.
    File paths and file names must comply with the following guidelines:
    • [Windows] Contain 35 or fewer characters on Windows® platforms
    • Start and end with English-only alphabetic characters (A-Z, a-z) or numbers (0-9) only
    • Contain English-only alphabetic characters (A-Z, a-z), numbers (0-9), periods (.) or underscores (_) only
    • Not contain special characters (such as à é í ö û æ ñ ☐)
    • Not contain spaces or these characters: ~ ` ! @ # $ % ^ & ( ) { } [ ] | \ / : ; , ? ' " < = > + *
  7. On the Integrated Installation Package Preview panel, select whether to save the build definition file only or to save the build definition file and generate the IIP locally. Click Finish to exit the Build definition wizard.

    If you selected to build the definition file only, copy the build definition XML file to the target machine. Run the ifcli command against the build definition file to generate your IIP. See ifcli command for more information.

    The amount of time required to generate the IIP depends on the number and type of products that you include in the package.

  8. The Installation Factory logs a completion message in the IF_root/logs/log.txt file when the processing engine is finished.

Results

You can now install the IIP which you have created. See Installing an IIP for more information or Installing an IIP silently if you want to install silently.

What to do next

See the following examples to create and install an IIP containing the application server and a feature pack:

These examples are extracted from the IIP sample guide available on the Installation Factory web site at IBM Installation Factory for WebSphere Application Server V6.1 for Windows.




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Last updatedLast updated: Aug 30, 2013 4:53:43 PM CDT
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