This topic describes how to prepare an AIX system for the installation
of IBM WebSphere Application Server products.
Before you begin
The installation uses an InstallShield MultiPlatform (ISMP)
wizard. You can use the graphical interface of the wizard. You can also use
the wizard in silent mode.
Silent mode is a command
line invocation with a parameter that identifies an options response file.
Edit the options response file before installing.
If
you encounter a problem such as needing more temporary space or missing prerequisite
packages on your operating system, cancel the installation, make the required
changes, and restart the installation.
Note: WebSphere Application
Server prevents users from installing to a non-empty directory. If WebSphere
Application Server is installed to a directory with a lost+found sub-directory,
you will be prompted to use an empty directory. If you still want to install
to this directory, then you can delete the lost+found directory. However,
the next time fsck is executed, the lost+found directory will
be created. This should not have any effect on an existing install, however
during uninstall this directory will not be removed.
Restriction: There are known issues with using Cygwin/X to run Eclipse-based
applications on remote AIX machines. This affects your use of the Profile
Management tool and the Installation Factory. With Cygwin/X on remote AIX,
for example, a splash screen for the Profile Management tool appears but the
Profile Management tool never actually comes up. For details of existing Bugzilla
reports on these issues, see the information at
https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36806.
If a different X server (such as Hummingbird Exceed
®) is used,
these problems do not occur.
About this task
Preparing
the operating system involves such changes as allocating disk space and installing
patches to the operating system. IBM tests WebSphere Application Server products
on each operating system platform. Such tests verify whether an operating
system change is required for WebSphere Application Server products to run
correctly. Without the required changes, WebSphere Application Server products
do not run correctly.
- Log on to the operating system.
You can log on as root or as a non-root installer.
Select a umask that allows the owner
to read/write to the files, and allows others to access them according to
the prevailing system policy. For root, a umask of 022 is recommended. For
non-root users a umask of 002 or 022 can be used, depending on whether the
users share the group. To verify the umask setting, issue the following command:
umask
To
set the umask setting to 022, issue the following command:
umask 022
- Stop all WebSphere Application Server-related Java
processes on the machine where you are installing the product.
- Stop any Web server process such as the IBM HTTP Server.
- Use the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) to display packages
that are installed to determine whether you must update packages that are
described in the following steps.
- Download the most current version of the INFOZIP product
to avoid problems with zipped files. Although zipped files are
primarily used in the service stream, prepare your AIX operating system by
downloading a current version of the INFOZIP package from the http://www.info-zip.org Web
site.
- Install the prerequisite xlC.rte 6.0 run-time
code on AIX 5.2 maintenance level 07.
You must install the xlC.rte 6.0
run-time code before you install the Global Security Kit (GSKit). The GSKit
is installed as part of the installation of the IBM HTTP Server or as part
of the installation of Web server plug-ins for WebSphere Application Server.
Download
the xlC.rte run-time code as a fix from the AIX Support site.
If you have AIX 5.2, you can
install the xlC.rte 6.0 run-time code from the AIX 5.2
CD.
- Provide adequate disk space.
With the JFS file system
on AIX, you can allocate expansion space for directories. If the Installation
wizard does not have enough space, ISMP issues a system call for more space
that increases the space allocation dynamically. The message you might see
when this occurs for the
/usr directory is similar to
the following example:
NOTE: The following file systems will be expanded during the installation:
/usr
Attention:
The total amount of disk space required is approximately
1 GB. The prerequisite checker of the installation program calculates the
amount of disk space required.
Manually verify that the required space for creating a
profile is available on AIX. A known problem in the underlying InstallShield
MultiPlatform (ISMP) code prevents proper space checking on AIX systems at
the time that the product disc was created.
The
IBM HTTP Server product requires the following space:
The following space is required for the WebSphere Application
Server Clients:
- 150 MB for the /usr/IBM/WebSphere/AppClient directory
The amount of space required to install the application
clients is actually less than 150 MB. The amount of space depends on the clients
that you install as features.
The following space is required for the Update Installer:
- 200 MB for the /usr/IBM/WebSphere/UpdateInstaller directory
-
The installation wizard for each component
displays required space on the confirmation panel before you install the product
files and selected features. The installation wizard also warns you if you
do not have enough space to install the product.
If you
plan to migrate applications and the configuration from a previous version,
verify that the application objects have enough disk space. As a rough guideline,
plan for space equal to 110 percent of the size of the application objects:
- For Version 4.0.x: The size of enterprise archive (EAR) files
- For Version 5.0.x: The size of EAR files
- Unmount file systems with broken links to avoid java.lang.NullPointerException
errors.
Unmount file systems with broken links before installing.
Installation
can fail with the following error when broken links exist to file systems:
An error occurred during wizard bean change notification:
java.lang.NullPointerException
at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileUtils.
getFileSystemData(AixFileUtils.java:388)
at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileUtils.
getPartitionDataWithExecs(AixFileUtils.java:172)
at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileUtils.
getPartitionData(AixFileUtils.java:104)
at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileServiceImpl.
getPartitionNames(AixFileServiceImpl.java:397)
...
Use the
df -k command to check for broken
links to file systems. Look for file systems that list blank values in the
1024-blocks
size column. Columns with a value of "-" (dash) are not a problem.
The following example shows a problem with the
/dev/lv00 file
system:
> df -k
Filesystem 1024-blocks Free %Used Iused %Iused Mounted on
/dev/hd4 1048576 447924 58% 2497 1% /
/dev/hd3 4259840 2835816 34% 484 1% /tmp
/proc - - - - - /proc
/dev/lv01 2097152 229276 90% 3982 1% /storage
/dev/lv00
/dev/hd2 2097152 458632 79% 42910 9% /usr
iw031864:/cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix32_sbcs
The
/proc file system is not a problem.
The
iw031864:/cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix32_sbcs file system
is a definite problem. The
/dev/lv00 file system is also
a likely problem. Use one of the following commands to solve this problem:
> umount /cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix32_sbcs
> umount /cdrom
Start the installation again. If the
problem continues, unmount any file systems that have blank values, such as
the /dev/lv00 file system in the example. If you cannot
solve the problem by unmounting file systems with broken links, reboot the
machine and start the installation again.
- Verify that prerequisites and corequisites are at the required
release levels.
Although the Installation wizard checks for
prerequisite operating system patches with the prereqChecker application,
review the prerequisites on the Supported hardware and software Web site if you have
not already done so.
Refer to the documentation for non-IBM prerequisite
and corequisite products to learn how to migrate to their supported versions.
- Verify the system cp command when
using emacs or other freeware.
If you have emacs or other freeware
installed on your operating system, verify that the system
cp command
is used.
- Type which cp at the command prompt before running
the installation program for the WebSphere Application Server product.
- Remove the freeware directory from your PATH if the
resulting directory output includes freeware. For example,
assume that the output is similar to the following message: .../freeware/bin/cp.
If so, remove the directory from the PATH.
- Install the WebSphere Application Server product.
- Add the freeware directory back to the PATH.
If you install with a cp command that is part
of a freeware package, the installation might appear to complete successfully,
but the Java 2 SDK that the product installs might have missing files in the app_server_root/java directory.
Missing
files can destroy required symbolic links. If you remove the freeware cp command
from the PATH, you can install the Application Server product successfully.
- Verify that the Java 2 SDK on the installation image
disc is functioning correctly, if you created your own disc.
For
example, you might have downloaded an installation image from Passport Advantage,
or you might have copied an installation image onto a backup disc. In either
case, perform the following steps to verify that the disc contains a valid
Java 2 software development kit (SDK).
- Change directories to the /JDK/jre.pak/repository/package.java.jre/java/jre/bin directory
on the product CD-ROM or DVD. For example:
cd /JDK/jre.pak/repository/package.java.jre/java/jre/bin
- Verify the Java 2 SDK version. Type the following
command:
./java -version
The
command completes successfully with no errors when the Java 2 SDK is intact.
- Optional: Install the Mozilla browser if it is not
already installed. The Mozilla browser supports the launchpad console.
- Use smit to see if the Mozilla 1.4 or 1.7.8 or later package
is already installed.
- Download two prerequisites from the AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications
(glib & gtk+). Download the packages from the following locations:
- Install the packages after downloading them: Use
the following command:
rpm -Uvh glib-1.2.10-2.aix4.3.ppc.rpm gtkplus-1.2.10-4.aix5.1.ppc.rpm
- Download the latest supported version of Mozilla (1.7.8 or later)
for AIX. Download Mozilla for AIX from the following location:
http://www.ibm.com/servers/aix/browsers/
Download
the installp image and install it from smit.
The Mozilla images distributed
on the http://www.mozilla.org Web
site are not provided by IBM. IBM has not tested and does not support the
download from the non-IBM Web site. Download the Mozilla images from the IBM
Web site to verify that the version that you download is tested and supported.
Using Mozilla 1.7.5 or earlier can result in ISMP failing
to initialize during installation. The launchpad link might seem to fail,
for example. See V6.0.2: The WebSphere Application Server launchpad fails
with Mozilla 1.7.5 (and earlier) on 64-bit AIX 5.2 or 5.3 for more
information.
- Optional: Export the location of the supported browser.
Export the location of the supported browser using a command that
identifies the actual location of the browser.
For example, if the Mozilla
package is in the
bin /mozilla directory, use the following
command:
EXPORT BROWSER=/usr/bin/mozilla
- Silent installation only: Make an allowance
for a known ISMP problem that causes a call to the Xwindows service during
a silent installation.
The DISPLAY environment variable on your
AIX machine might point to an X server that is not logged in. Two common scenarios
can cause this to occur:
- Your AIX machine has an X server running, but the X server is stuck at
the graphical login screen because you have not yet logged in.
- Your AIX machine is configured to display X Windows applications on a
remote X server that is not logged in.
A silent installation can hang in either case as ISMP calls Xwindows
services.
Two solutions exist:
- Login to the local X server through the graphical user interface before
beginning the silent installation.
- Export the DISPLAY environment variable to point to null or blank.
EXPORT DISPLAY=null