Before you begin
Running J2EE and thin application clients that communicate with WebSphere Application Server requires that elements of the Application Server are installed on the machine on which the client runs. However, if the system does not have the Application Server installed, you can install Application Server clients, which provide a stand-alone client run-time environment for your client applications. See the WebSphere Application Server detailed system requirements page on the IBM external Web site for more information on supported product platforms.This article describes how to install the WebSphere Application Server clients using the installation image on the product CD-ROM labelled, Application Clients. The steps that follow provide enough detail to guide you through preparing for, choosing, and installing the variety of options and features provided. To prepare for installation and to make yourself familiar with installation options, complete the steps in this article and read the related topics, before you start to use the installation tools. Specifically, read these topics before installing the product:
As a general rule, if you launch an installation and there is a problem such as not having enough temporary space or not having the right packages on your Linux or UNIX-based systems, then cancel the installation, make the required changes, and restart the installation to pick up changes you made.
Although it is not supported or recommended, you can install this product as a non-root user on a UNIX operating system, or from a user ID that is not part of the Administrator group on a Windows platform. However, there are certain components, such as the Embedded Messaging Client feature, that require you to install as root or as part of the Administrator group.
As previously mentioned, this installation method is not supported or recommended, but you can install the application client product on a machine with WebSphere Application Server installed. However, there are certain components, such as the Embedded Messaging Client feature, which might not install if the feature has already been installed during the WebSphere Application Server installation. On Windows platforms, WebSphere Application Server clients assume that the Embedded Messaging Client is installed in its default location; whereas, the WebSphere Application Server installation can install the messaging client in a different location.
Steps for this task
If you are installing the embedded messaging feature, you must create two operating system groups as described in Installing WebSphere embedded messaging as the JMS provider.
The Solaris Operating Environment and HP-UX also require you to increase kernel settings as described in Installing WebSphere embedded messaging as the JMS provider.
For other platform-specific information about using the embedded messaging feature, see Tips for installing the embedded messaging feature.
The Readme documentation to which the launchpad links is the readme.html file in the CD root directory. The readme directory off the root of the CD has more detailed Readme files. The Installation Guide is in the /docs directory of the CD root directory.
When you install application clients, the current working directory must be the directory where the installer binary program is located. This placement is important because the resolution of the class files location is done in the current working directory. For example:
cd /install_root ./installor when installing from the product CD-ROM:
cd <CD mount point> ./installFailing to use the correct working directory can cause ISMP errors that abort the installation.
The installation wizard does not upgrade or remove previous WebSphere Application Server clients installation automatically. However, you must uninstall any previous installation manually or the installation wizard aborts the installation.
On other Linux platforms and UNIX-based platforms, run the ./install command.
On Windows platforms, run the Install.exe command.
Note: Application Client for WebSphere Application Server Version 5.1 does not install correctly on Windows 2003 platforms because the IBM Java 2 Software Development Kit is missing from the installation. To complete the installation, following these steps:
xcopy /E /Q /Y /I "<appClient>\_uninst\_jvm\*" "<appClient>\java"where <appClient> is the installation location of the Application Client.
The rest of this procedure assumes that you are using the installation wizard. There are corresponding entries in the response file for every prompt that is described as part of the wizard. Review the description of the response file for more information. Comments in the file describe how to customize its options.
If you use the GUI, you can choose a Typical installation type, which installs J2EE and Java Thin Application Client, Samples and Embedded Messaging Client features, or a Custom installation type.
The Custom installation type lets you select which features to install. However you can not install the J2EE and thin application clients and pluggable application clients together, since pluggable clients are supported on Windows systems only.
(Windows Only) If you select the ActiveX to EJB Bridge feature, then the following is displayed in a dialog box: Do you want to add Java runtime to the system path and make it the default JRE? If you answer Yes, then the Java run time is added to the beginning of the system path. If you answer No, then the ActiveX to EJB Bridge does not function from the Active Server Pages (ASP), unless you add the Java run time to the path. To add the Java run time later, see the topic ActiveX application clients or reinstall Application clients.
(Windows Only) If you select the Applet Client feature, then the following message might be displayed: An existing JDK or JRE has been detected on your computer. You chose to install the Applet Client, which will overwrite the registry entries for this JDK or JRE. Do you want to continue and install the Applet Client? If you select Yes, the installation overrides the registry on your machine. If you select No, the applet client feature is not installed, and you are directed back feature dialog box.
Results
You successfully installed WebSphere Application Server clients and the features you selected.What to do next
If the installation is not successful, fix the error as indicated in the installation error message. For example, if you do not have enough disk space, add more space, and reinstall application clients.