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:
- i5/OS users must install the Installation
Factory on a distributed platform. The Installation Factory does not run on
an i5/OS platform.
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 wizard in disconnected mode on a supported machine to create a
build definition file for the target operating system on another machine.
Then
copy the file to the target operating system and use the command line interface
to generate the IIP.
- You can create a build definition file and generate an IIP for the other
platform if you are working on a similar platform. In other words, you can
create and generate an IIP on any supported UNIX-style platform for any other
supported UNIX-style platform, and you can create and generate an IIP on any
supported Windows platform for any other supported Windows platform.
- Create the build definition XML document using a validating XML editor.
Copy
one of the IIP sample build definition documents from the IF_root/samples/iip directory
to get started.
After making your changes, validate the build definition
document with its XML schema (IIPBuildDefinintion.xsd)
using a validating XML parser or editor. Then use the command line interface
to start the processing engine and create the IIP.
Use the following procedure to create the build definition file and
generate the IIP.
Procedure
- 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.
- 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.
- Start the Installation Factory console with the graphical user
interface (GUI) script.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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:
File paths and file names must comply with
the following guidelines:
- 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: ~ ` ! @ # $ % ^ &
( ) { } [ ] | \ / : ; , ? ' " < = > + *
- 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.
- The Installation Factory logs a completion message in the IF_root/logs/log.txt file
when the processing engine is finished.