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 Clients, which
provide a stand-alone client run-time environment for your client applications.
See the
Supported Prerequisites page for more
information on supported product platforms.
This article describes how to
install the Application Client for WebSphere Application Server using the
installation image on the product CD-ROM. 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 systems, then cancel the installation, and
make the required changes. Restart the installation to initiate your changes.
Although
it is not supported or recommended, you can install this product as a non-root
user on a UNIX operating system. However, you must use a user ID that is part
of the administrator group on Windows platforms.
In Version 6, the Application
Server for WebSphere Application Server is installable on a machine with a
previous version of Application Clients. However, you cannot install a Version
6 Application Client on top of a previous version of the Application Client.
For example, if a Version 5 Application Clients install under the
C:\WebSphere\AppClient directory,
you can not choose the same install location for your V6 Application Clients
installation.
Note: For Application Client coexisting, there is a limitation
on Applet client and ActiveX client on Windows that can not be coexisted with
V5.0.x and V4.x of the clients. For example, the Applet client feature in
Version 6 cannot coexist with the Applet client feature in any previous release.
This coexistence is not available because the installation of Applet client
feature in Version 6 sets the browser default Java Virtual Machine (JVM) using
the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) from the Version 6 installation, which
is Java Runtime Environment Version 1.4.2. Similarly, the ActiveX to EJB
Bridge feature in Version 6 sets the Windows system path to use the JRE from
the Version 6 installation.
- Install Application Client for WebSphere Application
Server using the launchpad.
The launchpad program is available on the root directory of the product
CD in the program, launchpad.sh, on Linux and UNIX platforms and launchpad.bat on
Windows platforms.
Note: The free download Application Client installation
is not packaged with the launchPad program.
- Click Launch the installation wizard for Application Client
for WebSphere Application Server from the launchpad tool to launch the
InstallShield for MultiPlatforms installation wizard. This action launches
the installation wizard.
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.
Note: Readme
file names are based on product offerings.
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/AppClient
./install
or
cd <CD mount point>/AppClient
./install
Failing to use the correct working directory can cause
ISMP errors that abort the installation.
The installation wizard does
not upgrade or remove previous Application Clients installation automatically.
However, you must change the directory of any previously installed versions
of the Application Client because you cannot install Version 6 on top of previously
existing Application Client.
- As indicated in the previous example, you can start the installation
wizard from the product CD-ROM, using the command line.
On other
Linux platforms and UNIX-based platforms, run the ./install command.
On
Windows platforms, run the Install.exe command.
- You can also perform a silent
installation using the -options responsefile parameter, which
causes the installation wizard to read your responses from the options response
file, instead of from the interactive graphical user interface. Customize
the response file before installing silently. After customizing the file,
issue the command to silently install. Silent installation is particularly
useful if you install the product often.
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.
- Click Next to continue when the Welcome panel is displayed.
- Click the radio button beside the I accept the terms in the
license agreement message if you agree to the license agreement, and click Next to
continue.
- Specify a destination directory. Click Next to continue.
- Ensure that there is adequate space available in the target
directory.
- Specify a target directory for the Application Client product.
- Enter the required target directory to proceed to the next panel.
Deleting the default target location and leaving an installation directory
field empty prevents you from continuing the installation process.
- Choose a type of installation, and click Next.
If
you use the GUI, you can choose a Typical installation type, which installs
J2EE and Thin application client, Samples and IBM Developer Kit, Java 2 Technology
Edition or a Custom installation type.
The Custom installation type
lets you select which features to install. However you can not install the
J2EE and Java Thin application client feature and the Pluggable application
client feature together. When J2EE and Java thin application client and Pluggable
application client features are both selected, the following message is displayed: Client
Install Conflict The J2EE/Java thin application client and the Pluggable application
client cannot both be selected. Please select only one of these two options.
- Deselect the J2EE and Java thin application client option, and select
the Pluggable application client.
- Click Next to accept the detected Sun JRE, or click Browse to
select the location of the installed Sun JRE. The Sun Software Development
Kit installation location is optional. However, if the installation location
is not provided, the installed Samples do not compile.
If Sun JRE has not
been installed, the installation cannot be continued. Click Cancel to
exit the installation.
- Install the Sun JRE, and restart the Pluggable Custom installation. The
Sun JRE panel is displayed with the JRE path detected, and the Pluggable application
client installation continues.
(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 the Application
Client.
(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.
- Install the Software Developer Kit, if you need to use any of the
utilities that it provides, such as the javaccompiler, the jarutility or the
jarsinger utility. The Java 2 Development Kit that IBM provides
has two components, Java Runtime Environment (JRE) and a complete Software
Developer Kit (SDK). The JRE sub feature is selected by default when the J2EE
or Thin application client feature is selected. The SDK component is optional;
however, you must install the SDK component to compile the sample.
- Enter the host name of the WebSphere Application Server machine.
Click Next to continue. The default port number for product
Version 6 server is 2809.
- Review the summary information, and click Next to install
the product code or you might also click Back to change your specifications.
- Click Finish to exit the wizard, after the Application Client
installs.
- Verify the success of the installer program by examining the Completion
panel and the <install_root>/logs/WAS.Client.isntall.log file
for installation status. The installer program records the following
indicators of success in the logs:
- INSTCONFSUCCESS indicates that the installation is successful
and that no further log analysis is required.
- INSTCONFFAILED indicates an installation failure that you cannot
retry or recover from without reinstalling.
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 the Application Client.