IIP overview

The IBM Installation Factory for WebSphere Application Server is an Eclipse-based tool which creates installation packages for installing WebSphere Application Server in a reliable and repeatable way, tailored to your specific needs.

An IIP is an installation package which can install an entire WebSphere software stack, such as an application server, a feature pack, and user files. An IIP can even contain several CIPs.

Integrated installation packages

Customers who need to install multiple installation packages in an automated and highly repeatable manner can create an IIP which aggregates those packages into a single installable package. As an example, you can have multiple servers on which you need to deploy WebSphere Application Server and some number of feature packs. Instead of having to install each of these products as an independent step on each server, you can create an IIP that will install all of them in a defined sequence.

The Installation Factory user specifies which installation packages to include in the IIP, the order in which they should be installed, and various other details about the desired behavior of the IIP and each of its contained installation packages.

Each product you include in the IIP can be customized separately for greater flexibility. For example, you could run the WebSphere Application Server product install interactively and then run one or more feature pack installs silently to obtain a seamless install of the entire set of packages. There is also flexibility as to which contained installation packages actually get installed on any given invocation of the IIP; in other words you can choose not to install certain packages in the IIP.

One example of an IIP installation scenario is the following:

  1. Install a CIP containing a WebSphere Application Server product
  2. Install a feature pack (or, a CIP created with a feature pack and feature pack fixes)
  3. Install additional user files and directories
  4. Install another instance of the application server CIP in another directory on the machine

Contributions

An IIP consists of contributions, which are WebSphere products, feature packs, or sets of files. A given contribution can be invoked multiple times if desired. Each of these is referred to as an invocation. For example, you might add an invocation of the contribution for installing WebSphere Application Server multiple times in different directories on the same machine.

Some examples of contributions are the following:

Note: Regardless of contribution type, you are responsible for obtaining the software to create installation packages with the Installation Factory (for example, you must first have the WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment product image before including it in an Installation Factory package). The Installation Factory itself is not bundled with any of these packages and it is unable to automatically retrieve them.

Defined Installation Packages

IBM has provided several pre-configured contribution types which allow the Installation Factory to provide enhanced support for adding them to the IIP and controlling their behavior at IIP runtime, which reduces user effort, the possibility of mistakes, and so on.

Information about DIPs is not actually built into the Installation Factory, but rather “plugged-in” using XML metadata and the Eclipse plug-in mechanism. The Installation Factory already has extensive metadata for install packages in order to support CIP creation, and this metadata is enhanced to support IIP creation. Without the use of DIPs, you would have to invoke the installation of each package with custom scripts in order for the IIP to be successful. The following contributions are supported at the time of this writing:
  • IBM WebSphere Application Server 6.1
  • IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment 6.1
  • IBM WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 Feature Pack for Web Services
  • IBM WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 Feature Pack for EJB 3.0
  • IBM WebSphere Application Server 6.1 Trial Version
  • IBM WebSphere Application Server - Express 6.1
  • IBM WebSphere Application Server - Express 6.1 Trial Version
Avoid trouble Avoid trouble: [Updated in June 2011] The IBM Installation Factory for WebSphere Application Server does not support the IBM WebSphere Application Server Version 6.1 Feature Pack for Web 2.0. This feature pack must be installed as a separate installation outside of the IIP. [Updated in June 2011]
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Installation Integration Bus

Installation packages and related tools can be easily included in the IIP by the user, and Installation Factory will automatically integrate this install package with others that might already exist in the IIP, saving time and effort. This integration between the contained installation packages is accomplished by passing information from one package to the next. The underlying infrastructure which enables this integration is referred to as the Installation Integration Bus (IIB, or just “Bus”). The design allows installation packages and other install-related commands to be plugged in, wired together, and executed via the Bus in a uniform manner, allowing otherwise separate installation packages to work together.

Macros

You can use macro substitution to take advantage of the Installation Integration Bus. For example, when installing WebSphere Application Server and one or more feature packs using an IIP, the -installLocation option used for the application server can be automatically reused as the default installation location for each of the feature packs with a macro (for example, $RESV ) so you do not have to specify that location more than once. In many cases you will have to do nothing more than add the feature pack package into the IIP, and Installation Factory will do the rest in terms of integrating it with the other packages. The Bus enables this end-to-end flow of all included packages. See IIP macro replacement for more information on macros and their use.




Related concepts
Installation Factory overview
IIP macro replacement
Related tasks
Getting started with the Installation Factory
Installing an IIP
Developing and installing integrated installation packages
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