[AIX HP-UX Linux Solaris Windows]

Creating build definitions and a CIP on processing engine machines

This topic describes how to create a build definition and CIP when the processing engine and the Build definition wizard are on the same machine.

Before you begin

You can also create installation packages for operating systems other than the one on which Installation Factory is running:
  • [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] IBM® WebSphere® Installation Factory on these operating systems can create installation packages for all supported platforms.
  • [Windows] IBM WebSphere Installation Factory on Windows operating systems can create installation packages for Windows and IBM i.
  • [IBM i] IBM i users must install the Installation Factory on a distributed platform. The Installation Factory does not run on an IBM i platform.

If you are creating a build definition for the processing engine that runs on another machine, see Creating build definitions for another machine.

About this task

To create a customized installation package (CIP), first create a build definition file, which IBM WebSphere Installation Factory uses to generate the CIP. The build definition file describes exactly what the Installation Factory includes in the CIP so that you can achieve the installation customizations that you require. Use the following procedure to create the build definition document and the customized installation package on one machine.

Procedure

  1. Follow the steps in Getting started with the Installation Factory document to download and set up the product.
  2. You also need any installation images which you intend to include in the installation package. Mount or access the product installation image for your operating system.
  3. Download maintenance packages.

    Locate download packages for WebSphere Application Server products on the following Web site: Recommended updates for WebSphere Application Server and Network Deployment. The information also applies to the Express product.

  4. Start the IBM WebSphere Installation Factory console with the ifgui command:
  5. Create a new build definition or edit an existing build definition.

    Click the button for a New customization installation package to start two wizards in sequence. The two wizards are the Product Selection wizard and the Build Definition wizard.

    Click the button to Open a build definition file. Opening an existing build definition starts the Build Definition wizard only. If you must change the product, start a new customization installation package.

  6. Select the check box for connected mode processing so that you can create a customized installation package later in addition to creating the build definition file.

    Browse to select the installation image directory and the maintenance package files.

  7. Provide all required parameters to identify the product, installation image, maintenance packages, the configuration archive file, enterprise archive files, other files and directories, scripts, the output location for the build definition file, and the output location for the customized installation package (CIP). See the help panel documents for information on each step of the CIP creation process:
    Table 1. Build definition wizard panels
    Panel Description
    CIP product, package and edition selection Specify the desired product, package, and edition.
    CIP mode selection Specify whether to work in connected or disconnected mode, and specify the target operating system for the CIP.
    CIP package identification Specify a universally unique identifier for the CIP.
    CIP build information Specify the name and location of the build definition file and the CIP.
    CIP product installation image Specify the location of the directory that contains the installation image for the product to be included in the CIP.
    CIP feature selection Specify features that you want to include in the CIP.
    CIP maintenance packages Specify maintenance packages (*.pak files) that you want to include in the CIP.
    CIP installation and uninstallation scripts Specify configuration scripts that can run after successfully installing the CIP or before uninstalling the CIP.
    CIP profile customization Include profile customizations that include scripts to run at profile creation or deletion, deploying one or more enterprise archive (EAR) files, adding business level applications, and restoring one configuration archive file.
    CIP additional files Specify additional files and directories to add to the CIP.
    CIP authorship Specify an organization and description for the CIP.
    CIP preview Provides a summary panel for you to review your selections.
    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: ~ ` ! @ # $ % ^ & ( ) { } [ ] | \ / : ; , ? ' " < = > + *
    Important: During the creation of a CIP, the maintenance packages are not validated for product appropriateness. When creating a CIP and bundling maintenance packages, therefore, make sure that the maintenance packages are for the correct product. If you are creating a WebSphere Application Server CIP and want to bundle maintenance packages, for example, make sure that the maintenance packages are for WebSphere Application Server rather than for any other product. If you are creating a CIP that contains a feature pack and want to bundle maintenance packages, make sure that the maintenance packages are for that feature pack rather than for any other product. Make sure that you are already at or above the application server version required by any feature pack maintenance packages or the CIP will not install correctly and you will be prompted to apply further maintenance.
  8. On the CIP preview pane, select the Save build definition file and generate the customized installation package option. You can estimate the CIP image disk space, which is not available if you were working in disconnected mode.
    New feature New feature: You can split, or span, a customized installation package image into multiple smaller images if the installation image contained in the CIP is also spannable. For example, if you are creating a CIP that contains WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0, you can split the resulting CIP into several images because the application server product image itself is spannable.newfeat

    If you want to span the image across multiple discs, then specify the maximum size for each part you want to create. Different installation images might have different minimum sizes for spanned images. If you select a size which is too small you are alerted with an error message that indicates the minimum spanned size of that image. Any additional files, scripts, or configuration archives which you have included are all subject to spanning.

    Review the customized installation package information and click Finish to build the CIP. If the installation image is spanned, then you are prompted to specify the location of the next disc or image.

    Best practice Best practice: You can avoid image prompts if you keep all of the image directories in the same parent directory and name them by disc number, or DISC<disc_number>. For example, if you are creating a CIP which contains a spanned installation image, name the second disc DISC2. For each additional disc increase the disc number. Each directory must contain a valid installation image or you are prompted to specify the correct image during CIP creation.bprac
  9. Click Finish to generate the CIP.

    The amount of time required to generate the CIP depends on the number of maintenance packages and the number of features 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.

  10. Installers can now install the customized installation package using the InstallShield for Multiplatforms (ISMP) Installation wizard that is included in the CIP. Panels in the CIP Installation wizard vary according to the product that you are installing.

    To use the installation wizard for WebSphere Application Server product CIPs, run the install command in the cip_root/WAS directory.

  11. Create a CIP-based custom standalone application server profile.
    Use one of the following methods to create the profile:
    • After the CIP installation, run the Profile management tool.
    • After the CIP installation, run the manageprofiles command once to do a create and augment.
    • After the CIP installation, run the manageprofiles command twice sequentially to do a create and then an augment.

      Alternatively, you can run the command once to augment an existing profile.

      For more information, see the topic manageprofiles command.

    • In a scratch installation, do the following within the CIP installation wizard:

      In a scratch installation of WebSphere Application Server Base or Express edition, a custom standalone profile will be created during the installation.

      In a scratch installation of WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment edition, you can select which profile to create during the installation.

      For WebSphere Application Server Base and Express, on the Install Sample Applications panel, select the Install profile customizations checkbox.

      For WebSphere Application Server Base, if you select the checkbox and you have application server customizations, they will be used. If you do not have customizations, you get a regular application server.

      For WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment, the Web Services feature pack, and the Service Oriented Architecture feature pack, perform the following steps:

      1. On the Install Sample Applications panel, select the Install profile customizations checkbox.
      2. On the WebSphere Application Server environments panel, select a profile that has profile customization defined.

        If the profile that you select has profile customization defined, then the installation wizard will effectively run the manageprofiles command once to do a create and augment. If there is no profile customization defined, you get a regular profile.

    If the profile that you create has a configuration archive in it, then it will be imported.

What to do next

In some cases, you might be unable to use the console on the target operating system platform. You have two options in such a case:
  • Use the console 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 start the processing engine and create the customized installation package.

    See Creating build definitions for another machine for a description of such a procedure.

  • Create the build definition XML document using a validating XML editor.
    Copy one of the sample build definition documents for the product to get started:
    • The application server sample file is located in the IF_root/samples/was directory.

    After making your changes, validate the build definition document with its XML schema (the Commom.xsd, BaseBuildDefinition.xsd, and BuildDefinition.xsd files located in IF_root/eclipse/plugins/com.ibm.ws.install.factory.base_7.0.0.0/xsd) using a validating XML parser or editor. Then use the command line interface to start the processing engine and create the customized installation package.




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Last updatedLast updated: Jun 11, 2013 11:59:30 AM CDT
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