Installing a CIP silently

Installing a customized installation package (CIP) using silent installation refers to using a file to supply installation options without user interaction. To configure the installation, change the options in the response file before you issue the installation command. Silent installation mode does not accept interactive installation options. To specify non-default options during a silent installation, you must use the response file. To install silently, you must accept the license agreement in the agreement option.

Before you begin

You can install a customized installation package (CIP) that includes a WebSphere Application Server product and one or more maintenance packages and other customizations. The Installation Factory must create a CIP before you can install the CIP. See IBM Installation Factory for WebSphere Application Server for more information about creating a customized installation package (CIP).

Knowing what component to install and in what order to install the component are important considerations. At some time before starting this installation, see Planning to install WebSphere Application Server. The scenarios describe typical topologies for the product.

About this task

Use this procedure to perform a silent installation of the product.

A silent installation uses the installation wizard to install the product in silent mode, without the graphical user interface. Instead of displaying a wizard interface, the silent installation causes the installation program to read all of your responses from a file that you provide.

Procedure

  1. Log on to the operating system.

    Log on as root on an operating system such as AIX® or Linux®, or as a member of the administrator group on a Windows® system.

    [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] In addition, select a umask that would allow the owner to read/write to the files, and allow others to access them according to the prevailing system policy. For root, a umask of 022 is recommended. For non-root users a umask of 002 or 022 could be used, depending on whether or not the users share the group. To verify the umask setting, issue the following command:
    umask
    To set the umask setting to 022, issue the following command:
    umask 022
    [Windows] When installing on a Windows system, a Windows service is automatically created to autostart the application server if your installer user account has the following advanced user rights:
    • Act as part of the operating system
    • Log on as a service
    For example, on some Windows systems, click Administrative Tools > Local Security Policy > User Rights Assignments to set the advanced options. See your Windows documentation for more information.

    [Windows] The installation wizard grants your Windows user ID the advanced user rights, if the user ID belongs to the administrator group. The silent installation does not grant these rights. If you create a new user ID on a Windows platform to perform a silent installation, you must restart the system to activate the proper authorizations for the user ID before you can perform a successful silent installation.

    [Windows] If you plan to run the application server as a Windows service, do not install from a user ID that contains spaces. A user ID with spaces cannot be validated. Such a user ID is not allowed to continue the installation. To work around this problem, install with a user ID that does not contain spaces.

  2. Copy the response file as myoptionsfile.txt to your disk drive and customize it. You should copy the file into the same directory as the existing response file for ease of use.

    See Customizing the response file for a WebSphere Application Server CIP.

    The name of the original file is responsefile.base.txt.

  3. Change to the directory of the CIP that contains the install command and run the command using your custom response file.

    For example, if you saved myoptionsfile.txt into the same directory as the original response file, change into the WAS directory and issue a command such as the following:

    • [AIX] [HP-UX] [Linux] [Solaris] ./install -options myoptionsfile.txt -silent
    • [Windows] install.exe -options myoptionsfile.txt -silent

Results

The installation wizard and the Profile Creation wizard record installation events in the following log files:

Table 1. Installation and profile creation logs for WebSphere Application Server products
Log Content Indicators
app_server_root/logs/log.txt Logs all installation events
INSTCONFFAIL
Total installation failure.
INSTCONFSUCCESS
Successful installation.
INSTCONFPARTIALSUCCESS
Installation errors occurred but the installation is still usable. Additional information identifies the errors.
app_server_root/wasprofileprofile_name.log
  • Traces all events that occur during the creation of the named profile
  • Created when using the Profile Creation wizard or the wasprofile command
INSTCONFFAIL
Total profile creation failure.
INSTCONFSUCCESS
Successful profile creation.
INSTCONFPARTIALSUCCESS
Profile creation errors occurred but the profile is still functional. Additional information identifies the errors.
app_server_root/logs/wasprofile/wasprofile_delete_ profile_name.log
  • Traces all events that occur during the deletion of the named profile
  • Created when using the Profile Creation wizard or the wasprofile command
INSTCONFFAIL
Total profile deletion failure.
INSTCONFSUCCESS
Successful profile deletion.
INSTCONFPARTIALSUCCESS
Profile deletion errors occurred but the profile is still deleted. Additional information identifies the errors.
profile_root/logs/pctLog.txt Logs all profile creation events that occur when using the Profile Creation wizard
INSTCONFFAIL
Total profile creation failure.
INSTCONFSUCCESS
Successful profile creation.
INSTCONFPARTIALSUCCESS
Profile creation errors occurred but the profile is still functional. Additional information identifies the errors.
app_server_root\logs\instconfig.log (Not available on systems such as AIX or Linux) Logs the activities of ANT configuration scripts that run at the end of the installation procedure.
Configuration action failed:
Unsuccessful ANT script configuration.
Configuration action succeeded:
Successful ANT script configuration.

Verify or troubleshoot the installation if the app_server_root/logs/log.txt file or the profile_root/logs/pctLog.txt file does not contain a record of a problem, but problems exist. If the profile_root directory exists, the pctLog.txt file is in the logs directory. If the error happens early in the installation, look for the logs in the system temporary area. The installation program copies the logs from the system temporary area to the logs directory at the end of the installation.

If the profile_root directory does not exist, the pctLog.txt file is in the USER_HOME directory and is named .$~pctLog.txt. Issue the env command to display the USER_HOME directory on operating systems such as AIX or Linux. See the environment variable settings on Windows system to display the value of the variable.

Certain events can prevent the installer from starting the installation wizard. Such an event is not enough disk space to launch the installation wizard, for example. If your installation fails and there is no information in the installation logs, use the -log parameter to record entries for events that cause the installer program to fail to start the installation wizard. The syntax of the install command for logging such events is:
install  -options fully_qualified_options_response_file_name               
         -silent
         -log # !fully_qualified_log_file_name  @ALL 
  • [AIX]
    install -options "/usr/IBM/WebSphere/silentFiles/myresponsefile.txt" 
            -silent -log # !/usr/IBM/WebSphere/myOptionFiles/log.txt  @ALL
    
  • [Linux] [HP-UX] [Solaris]
    install -options "/opt/IBM/WebSphere/silentFiles/myresponsefile.txt" 
            -silent -log # !/opt/IBM/WebSphere/myOptionFiles/log.txt  @ALL
    
  • [Windows]
    install.exe -options "C:\IBM\WebSphere\silentFiles\myresponsefile.txt" 
                -silent -log # !C:\IBM\WebSphere\silentFiles\log.txt  @ALL

Ensure that you have at least 250 MB free in your temporary directory before attempting to install WebSphere Application Server.

What to do next

Go to Installing a CIP to continue the installation and configuration of your system.




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Last updated: Aug 29, 2010 5:25:00 PM CDT
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