Installation wizard fails to install WebSphere Application Server V5 releases on AIX
 Technote (troubleshooting)
 
Problem(Abstract)
The installation wizard software might fail when installing releases of WebSphere® Application Server V5 on AIX®. The log file does not show a specific reason for the failure.
 
Cause
The WebSphere Application Server V5 installation wizard software may fail when installing the product on AIX. The log file might not produce much information that points directly to the cause. Instead, it is the lack of other failure messages which help point to this particular problem.

The WebSphere Application Server V5 installation wizard requires the X11 default and "X Consortium" font file sets. If those file sets are missing, the installation wizard might exhibit behavior similar to what is described below.

This technote describes a specific issue concerning the product installation wizard on AIX. Due to the lack of evidence in the installation logs, this issue can easily resemble many other common installation issues. Read each of the factors listed below. If all of those factors are true, then the solution described in this technote should help you. If any one of the factors is false, then the installation issue is probably caused by another problem.
  • Factor 1: This installation takes place on AIX using the wizard
    The scenario described in this technote takes place only on AIX, and only takes place in the graphical user interface (wizard) installation.

    This technote does not apply to silent installations using a response file. (In fact, performing a silent installation is recommended as a solution to this issue.)

  • Factor 2: Log messages indicate failure to write ASCII files
    These messages indicate that the installer did not write critical files to the file system, and therefore the installation has failed. A typical installation failure shows messages similar to the example shown below, with bold highlighting to show the key messages:

    STACK_TRACE: 7
    WizardException: (error code = 200;
    message="WAS_HOME/java/jre/lib/orb.properties (No such file or directory)"; exception = [ServiceException: (error code = 200; message = "WAS_HOME/java/jre/lib/ orb.properties (No such file
    or directory)"; severity = 0; exception = [java.io.FileNotFoun dException: WAS_HOME/java/jre/lib/orb.properties (No such file

    or directory)])] at com.installshield.wizardx.ascii.ModifyFile.writeFile(ModifyFile.java:280) at com.installshield.wizardx.actions.AsciiFileUpdateWizardAction.execute(AsciiFileUpdateWizardActio n.java:171)
    [... truncated for brevity ...]

    Setup.product.install, com.installshield.wizardx.ascii.ModifyFile, err,
    Could not write ASCII file WAS_HOME/bin/setupCmdLine.sh.

    Note: The preceding messages can occur for several reasons. Make sure to confirm that the other factors described in this technote are also true.

  • Factor 3: "Replace" messages do NOT appear
    In the scenario described in this technote, the following message should NOT appear in the installation log:

    Did not replace installed object

    If log messages DO appear with the preceding text, then this technote does not apply to the problem.

  • Factor 4: "Install" messages do NOT appear
    Similar to the previous factor, the following message should NOT appear in the installation log:

    installing Files (ServerStdComponentFilesBean)
    installing Macro File Replacement (variableConfigWasHome)

    If log messages similar to the those examples DO appear with that text, then this technote does NOT apply.

  • Factor 5: "getProductInfo" exception messages do NOT appear
    These messages indicate that the installer was unable to gather critical information about the environment before the installation started. The installer is unable to correctly determine which file sets. need to be installed, and therefore the installation fails. This failure shows a message similar to the following:

    STACK_TRACE: 12
    java.lang.NullPointerException at com.ibm.ws.install.panels.PreviousVersionPanel.getProductInfo(PreviousVersionPanel.java:502)

    If the preceding log message does appear, then this technote does NOT apply.

  • Factor 6: An installation trace shows a pSetFont NullPointerException
    Turning on installation tracing may yield one additional clue. While this is not a required step, it does help to prove whether or not this technote accurately describes the issue.

    To turn on additional tracing, invoke the installer using the following command:

    install  -W SetDebugInstall.active="true" >> log.txt

    Note: The preceding command is applicable only to WebSphere Application Server V5.0 and might not produce additional tracing on V5.1.

    The installer will throw an additional exception which shows up when additional tracing is turned on. The exception is similar to the following example:

    An error occurred during wizard bean change notification:
    java.lang.InternalError: java/langNullPointerException
    at sun.awt.motif.MComponentPeer.pSetFont(Native Method)

    The failing call to the pSetFont method indicates that the wizard has encountered a problem while writing to an X window related to fonts.
 
Resolving the problem
In addition to the standard X11 file sets. please install the required X11 font packages on AIX. The additional required packages are:
  • X11.fnt.coreX
  • X11.fnt.defaultFonts

The presence of these packages can be verified using the lslpp command, as shown in the following example:

lslpp -la | grep X11.fnt

X11.fnt.coreX         5.X.0.0  COMM  AIXwindows X Consortium Fonts
X11.fnt.defaultFonts  5.X.0.0  COMM  AIXwindows Default Fonts

Notes:
  • The preceding information was abbreviated to fit within the formatting of this technote.
  • The full set of X11 packages will vary due to system requirements. Speak with your local system administrator to verify that the full standard set of X11 packages are installed, in addition to the preceding two packages.
 
 
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): AIX
Software version: 5.1
Software edition:
Reference #: 1188157
IBM Group: Software Group
Modified date: Aug 19, 2005