Use of quotation marks in WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME values in setupCmdLine.bat causes issues for updateInstaller (Microsoft Windows only)
 Technote (troubleshooting)
 
Problem(Abstract)
The updateInstaller utility responsible for applying interim fixes and fix packs to WebSphere® Application Server products is dependant on the WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME values in setupCmdLine.bat. These values must not contain quotation marks. This applies only to Microsoft® Windows® platforms.
 
Cause
The setupCmdLine.bat file is included in the \bin directory of a WebSphere Application Server product installation. It is responsible for setting up environment variables in the current command environment. The WebSphere Application Server runtime processes associated WebSphere Application Server tools, and the updateInstaller utility are dependant on the values set in setupCmdLine.bat.

The WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME values set in the file, setupCmdLine.bat, are essential to the updateInstaller utility. It is imperative that they are formatted correctly and contain the correct values.

The use of quotation marks ( " " ) in the WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME values in setupCmdLine.bat is not valid on Windows platforms. The use of quotation marks in those values can cause issues that manifest themselves in a number of ways.

Windows system administrators are probably familiar with some situations where path names containing spaces must be surrounded with quotation marks. This is not such a situation and the quotation marks are not necessary, even if the path name contains spaces.

The use of quotation marks in the WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME values cause the updateInstaller to improperly handle path names containing spaces. Often, the updateInstaller fails to update certain files, reporting that the directory fragment name is not valid. For example, if WAS_HOME is set to C:\Program Files\WebSphere\AppServer, the updateInstaller might report that C:\Program" is not valid while updating some files.

This information does not apply to setupCmdLine.sh on UNIX®-based platforms.
The preceding information applies only to setupCmdLine.bat on Windows-based platforms, not setupCmdLine.sh on UNIX-based platforms. By default, the WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME values in setupCmdLine.sh on UNIX-based platforms do use quotation marks. This is different than what is stated above for Windows-based platforms. The use of quotation marks in WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME in setupCmdLine.sh is valid for UNIX-based platforms.
 
Resolving the problem
Do not use quotation marks ( " " ) around the values defined for WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME in the setupCmdLine.bat file. This rule is true even when the path name for WAS_HOME or JAVA_HOME contains spaces.

For example, the following settings are correct:

WAS_HOME=C:\Program Files\WebSphere\AppServer
JAVA_HOME=C:\Program Files\WebSphere\AppServer\java


Notice that there are no quotation marks around the WAS_HOME and JAVA_HOME values.
 
 
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: 5.1
Software edition:
Reference #: 1177285
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: Aug 18, 2004