The WebSphere® Application
Server Hypervisor Edition supports the Open Virtualization Format
(OVF) 1.0 specification from the Distributed Management Task Force
(DMTF). It uses this specification as a silent configuration method
for the IBM® WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor
Edition.
Before you begin
Before proceeding with the following steps, see the OVF
1.0 specifications.
About this task
Silent activation provides an alternative method for configuring
your IBM WebSphere Application Server Hypervisor
Edition virtual images. Use the following steps to use silent activation
to configure a single virtual machine on your ESX hypervisor.
Procedure
- Transfer the ESX virtual system disks to your ESX hypervisor.
Transfer the IBM WebSphere Application Server
Hypervisor Edition virtual system disks to the target hypervisor.
If you are using the OVF virtual system disks, then skip this step
and follow the instructions for transferring the OVF virtual system
disks. There are multiple ways to transfer the IBM WebSphere Application
Server Hypervisor Edition virtual images to your ESX hypervisor.
- Extract the contents of the compressed packages to the
ESX hypervisor. Run the tar command
against each package.
Best practice: Tar version 1.20 or
higher is required to uncompress the files. If you need to uncompress
the files on a Windows
® operating
system, then use the Cygwin tool with tar.
bprac
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.<os>.os.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.binary.<os>.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.profiles.<os>.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.metadata.<os>.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.ihs.<os>.tgz
- Upload the files to the ESX hypervisor. Transfer
the extracted files to the VMware ESX hypervisor using the VMware
Infrastructure Client. Click Configuration > Storage and double
click a datastore. The Datastore Browser appears, which allows you
to create directories and upload files to the system. Place the files
inside one of the valid volumes under /vmfs/volumes/XXX.
After the packages are extracted, the following files are available
for transfer:
<VMDK_OS>.vmdk
<VMDK_OS>-flat.vmdk
WebSphere_Binaries.vmdk
WebSphere_Binaries-flat.vmdk
WebSphere_Profiles.vmdk
WebSphere_Profiles-flat.vmdk
WebSphere_IHS.vmdk
WebSphere_IHS-flat.vmdk
WebSphere_V7.vmx
WebSphere_V7_activation.vmx
(<VMDK_OS> = SLES11-32 or RHEL54-32)
- Register the virtual image. You can register
the virtual machine using the VMware Infrastructure Client by right
clicking the WebSphere_V7_activation.vmx file
and selecting Add to inventory.
- Transfer the OVF packaged virtual system disks to ESX hypervisor.
Transfer the IBM WebSphere Application Server
Hypervisor Edition virtual system disks to the target hypervisor.
If you are using the ESX virtual system disks, then you can skip this
step. There are multiple ways to transfer the IBM WebSphere Application
Server Hypervisor Edition virtual images to your ESX hypervisor.
- Extract the contents of the compressed packages to the
ESX hypervisor. Run the tar command
against each package:
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.<os>.os.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.binary.<os>.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.profiles.<os>.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.metadata.<os>.tgz
tar -zxvf was.<version>.nd.linux.vmware.esx.ihs.<os>.tgz
After
the files are extracted, you have the following files:WebSphere_V7-0.vmdk
WebSphere_V7-1.vmdk
WebSphere_V7-2.vmdk
WebSphere_V7-3.vmdk
WebSphere_V7.ovf
- Import the Virtual Appliance using the VMware Infrastructure
Client. Click File > Virtual Appliance > Import... to
access the Import Virtual Appliance wizard. These files can either
be imported from your local hard disk drive or from a Web server.
- Prepare the silent activation file. The OVF
specification recommends an ISO image to contain a ovf-env.xml file
that specifies multiple configuration parameters for the virtual machine.
See ovf-env.xml file for details
on the ovf-env.xml file.
- Create the ISO image. The ISO image can be created
using any standard ISO creation software. Below is an example of the
ISO image being created using the mkisofs utility.
mkdir /tmp/ovfenv
cp ovf-env.xml /tmp/ovfenv
mkisofs –J –r –o activation.iso /tmp/ovfenv
- Transfer the activation.iso file to
the data store where IBM WebSphere Application Server
Hypervisor Edition virtual image disks are located. Transfer
the activation.iso file to the data store the
same way as the virtual image disks were transferred.
- Confirm that the activation.iso file
is attached to the virtual image. Using the VMware Infrastructure
Client, Click Edit Settings and verify that activation.iso is
the primary iCD image for the virtual machine.
- Start the virtual machine by right clicking the virtual
machine name and selecting Power On.
Results
After successfully completing these steps, you have silently
configured a single virtual machine that is running and available
for use.
What to do next
Click the Websphere Administrative Console icon to open
the administrative console. Log in with the virtuser user
ID and password you configured with the ovf-env.xml file.
Apply
maintenance to the application server using the Update Installer for WebSphere Software or through
updated virtual images from IBM.
For more information on application server maintenance, see Installing
maintenance packages, interim fixes, fix packs, and refresh packs.
Apply operating system maintenance to the virtual image through downloadable
packages or through updated virtual images from IBM.