Removing file permissions on group OTHER causes installation failures for fix pack and cumulative fix
 Technote (FAQ)
 
Question
If WebSphere® Application Server Base or Network Deployment editions are installed, and you remove the file permissions on the group OTHER, then run a fix pack or cumulative fix installation, the installation will fail.

The command used to change the permissions:
cd /app
chmod -R o-rwx WebSphere
 
Cause
The Java™ Virtual Machine has its own security manager, which is different from that of the operating system. The permissions security check is performed by the JVM, not by the Update Installer. The Update Installer runs inside the Java Virtual Machine and, as a result, inherits its security policies, which in this specific case are different from those of the operating system.
Command used to install, in this case a cumulative fix:

truss -f -o /tmp/truss.out ./updateSilent.sh -fixpack -installDir \ /app/WebSphere/DeploymentManager -install -fixpackdir \ /app/install/Update-5.0.2.3/lieferung/was_nd/fixpacks -fixpackID \ was502_nd_cf9_solaris -skipMQ -skipIHS

The backslash characters ( \ ) at line ends indicate line continuations.

The truss command is used to trace the system/library calls (not user calls) and signals made/received by a new or existing process. It sends the output to stderr. For Solaris:

in truss:
443: write(1, "\n", 1) = 1
443: resolvepath("/app/WebSphere/DeploymentManager/bin/wsadmin.sh",
"/app/WebSphere/DeploymentManager/bin/wsadmin.sh", 1024) = 47
443: stat("/app/WebSphere/DeploymentManager/bin/wsadmin.sh", 0xE7A80140) = 0
443: write(1, " E r r o r   (   2   ) :".., 108)     = 108
 
Answer
The ISMP installer is working by design. The only solution is to change the permissions back to the way they were. If you are unsure as to what they were, then use the chmod command as follows: chmod -R 755

WebSphere should then allow the installer to function properly. You can remove the permissions on the group OTHER once the installation is successful.

 
 
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): Solaris
Software version: 6.1
Software edition:
Reference #: 1224081
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: Aug 31, 2007