Verifying a successful fix pack installation for V5 releases
 Technote (troubleshooting)
 
Problem(Abstract)
This technote describes the methods used to determine if a fix pack has been installed successfully.
 
Cause
General methods for determining if a fix pack is applied successfully.
 
Resolving the problem

Examine the logs

To ensure that a fix pack is installed correctly, examine the fix pack selective-install log. The update logs are written to the following location:

install_root/logs/update

Older versions of the updateInstaller wrote logs to a different location:

install_root/properties/version/log

Fix pack log files are named using this convention:

timeStamp_fixID_componentName_operation.log

  • timeStamp is the date and time at which the operation started. The time stamp is recorded in universal time (UTC).

  • fixID is the fix pack ID, which follows the format was5x_FPnumber_OS. For example, was50_fp2_aix.

  • componentName is the particular application server component affected by the operation. For example, prereq.gskit.

  • operation is the operation, install or uninstall.

The installer writes a summary file representing an entire operation. The file names do not contain a componentName, and the operation is represented as either selective-install or uninstall.

Locate the file containing selective-install as the operation. Make sure that the timeStamp appropriately matches the start time of the fix pack installation, because several selective-install logs might be present in the log directory. The timeStamp time zone is always UTC.

Scan the selective-install file for any indication of operation failures. A failure is typically indicated by this text:

PTF Component Result  : failed

A success is indicated by:

PTF Component Result  : succeeded

If all PTF Component Result messages indicate success, it is reasonably assured that the fix pack installation is successful.

If a failure is indicated, the section containing the failure in the selective-install log file indicates which update log file contains a full description of the failure.


Check the version number

One of the last operations performed during a fix pack install or uninstall is to update the product version number. The version number is updated only when no errors are detected during the fix pack installation. If a version number is incremented or decremented as expected, it is reasonable to conclude that the fix pack installation has completed successfully.

Check the version number by using the versionInfo command located under the installation root in the bin directory. It is named versionInfo.sh on Unix® or versionInfo.bat on Windows® platforms. To check the version number, issue the command and read the output. The command names the editions of the product installed, as well as the version numbers of each edition.

  • Complete and partial installation indicator in the update wizard

    The updateInstaller wizard shows an indicator that defines the state of a fix pack installation as complete or partial. This indicator does not reflect if the fix pack installation was a success or failure. Its purpose is to indicate if the core fix pack AND all optional components (such as the embedded messaging component or HTTP server) are installed.

    Important: This indicator might indicate a partial fix pack installation in situations where the fix pack has been successfully installed. If a partial installation is indicated, check the fix pack logs to determine if the installation was successful.

Optional fix pack components

Verifying the integrity of optional fix pack components is slightly more complex than doing the same thing for normal components. If an error occurs while updating an optional fix pack component, you must take the proper recovery actions. To verify the integrity of an optional fix pack component, consider your choices in recovering from errors.

You can skip optional fix pack updates, such as the IBM HTTP Server V1.26 or Embedded Messaging updates in Fix Packs 1 and 2, during the fix pack installation process. There is a panel in the update wizard that gives you the option to install or bypass these components if they are available for updates. See the "Complete and partial installation indicator in the update wizard" section above for information about how this can affect the complete or partial indicator in the update wizard.

If the updateInstaller fails while installing an optional component, that component is left in an inconsistent state. To correct this, either uninstall the partially-installed fix pack, or continue the fix pack installation, including the optional component.

It is possible, although not recommended, to omit a failing optional component from a continued fix pack installation. If you choose to do this, the fix pack reports a successful installation, even though the optional component is still in an inconsistent state. The other fix pack checks outlined in this technote also show that the fix pack installation is successful.

To be certain that an optional component is recovered from a bad installation, locate all the log files related to that particular component. Ensure that the bad update component was either uninstalled after the latest failure or replaced by a later successful installation.
 
 
Cross Reference information
Segment Product Component Platform Version Edition
Application Servers Runtimes for Java Technology Java SDK
 
 


Document Information


Product categories: Software > Application Servers > Distributed Application & Web Servers > WebSphere Application Server > Install
Operating system(s): Windows
Software version: 5.0.2.5
Software edition:
Reference #: 1114054
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: May 13, 2004