Manually uninstalling on an AIX system

Uninstall a WebSphere Application Server product from an AIX system by running the uninstaller program and performing some manual steps to remove log files and registry entries. Such registry entries can prevent you from reinstalling the product into the original directory. If you are not planning to reinstall, you do not have to uninstall manually.

Before you begin

The uninstaller program removes all profiles, including all of the configuration data and applications in each profile. Before you start the uninstall procedure, back up the config folder, the installableApps folder, and the installedApps folder of each profile if necessary. See Using command line tools for a description of managing configuration files. Back up all applications that are not stored in another location.

Determine the installation root directory for the product so that you remove the correct product and produce a clean system.

About this task

Reinstalling the product into a new directory when files remain from a previous installation can create a coexistence scenario. However, you can delete all files and registry entries to completely remove a WebSphere® Application Server product. A clean system lets you reinstall the product into the original directory without coexistence.

Default directories are shown in the following planning table:

Identifier Directory Actual location
app_server_root /usr/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer  
profile_root /usr/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles  
plugins_root /usr/IBM/WebSphere/Plugins  
The installation wizard and the Profile Creation wizard provide an override for your own locations for root directories. Examine the following files to determine the actual locations:
  • The ~/.WASRegistry file identifies the installation root for all installed WebSphere Application Server products.
  • The app_server_root/logs/wasprofile/wasprofile_create_profile_name.log file for each created profile identifies the installation location in the stanza with the <method>invokeWSProfile</method> tag.
Uninstalling the product leaves the profile_root directory with the pctLog.txt file.

Perform the following procedure to produce a clean system.

Procedure

  1. Log on as root.
  2. Use the kill command to kill all Java™ processes that are running.
    If running Java processes are not related to WebSphere Application Server products and it is not possible to stop them, stop all WebSphere Application Server product-related processes. Use the following command to determine all processes that are running:
    ps -ef | grep java
    Stop all WebSphere Application Server-related processes with thekill command.
    kill -9 java_pid_1 java_pid_2...java_pid_n
  3. Run the uninstaller program for the Web server plug-ins for WebSphere Application Server.

    If a Web server is configured to run with the application server, uninstall the plug-ins to remove the configuration from the Web server. See Uninstalling the Web server plug-ins for WebSphere Application Server.

  4. Issue the uninstall command.

    If you have already run the uninstaller program, skip the rest of this entire procedure. If you cannot run the uninstaller program, go to the next step.

    app_server_root/_uninst/uninstall

    See the description of the uninstall command for more information.

    The Uninstaller wizard begins and displays the Welcome panel.

  5. Change directories to the /usr/IBM directory, or the equivalent top directory of your install.
  6. Type rm -rf WebSphere to delete this WebSphere Application Server-related directory, but only if the AppServer directory is the only directory within the WebSphere directory. Delete the directory if the only products contained in the directory are products that you intend to delete.
  7. Edit the .WASRegistry file.

    The file location is the home directory, ~/.WASRegistry.

    The .WASRegistry file contains a one-line entry for each WebSphere Application Server product installation.

    You can delete the file if there is just one line that identifies the product that you are removing. Otherwise, use a flat-file editor to remove the line that identifies the installation root directory of the product that you are removing. Leave the other lines intact. Do not delete the .WASRegistry file unless you are removing all of the installations listed in the file.

    The following example shows a .WASRegistry file for a Linux® system with five installations:

    /usr/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
    /usr/IBM/ND/AppServer
    /usr/ExpressV6x/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
    /usr/ND/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
    /usr/Express/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
  8. Edit the vpd.properties file.

    The file is located in the root directory or in the /usr/lib/objrepos directory.

    Do not delete or rename the vpd.properties file because the InstallShield MultiPlatform (ISMP) program uses it for other products that it installs. If the WebSphere Application Server product that you are uninstalling is the only product with entries in the vpd.properties file, you can delete this file.

    At this point, it should be possible to reinstall WebSphere Application Server. If not, run the odmclean.sh and aixclean.sh scripts as described in the next step.

  9. Run the manual complete cleanup scripts on the WebSphere Application Server Support site. Obtain the scripts from the technote document titled, Manual complete cleanup scripts for WebSphere Application Server V5.0, V5.1, V6.0, and V6.1 on AIX and IBM HTTP Server V1.3, V2.0, V6.0, and V6.1 on AIX .

    Carefully review the technote and download one or both of the attached scripts. Note that one of the scripts is intended for cleaning WebSphere Application Server product entries, and the other script is intended for cleaning IBM HTTP Server product entries. The technote contains helpful reference information regarding the WebSphere Application Server installer's use of the AIX ODM.

Results

This procedure results in having a clean system. You can reinstall into the same directories now. A clean system has no trace of a previously deleted installation.

Example

==> lslpp -l | grep WS

WSBAA60                    6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry
WSBAA60AddBytesNonHP       6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry
WSBAA60CoreRuntime         6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  Installs the core product run
WSBAA60CoreRuntimeComponent
WSBAA60Javadocs            6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  Installs the public Java API
WSBAA60JavadocsComponent   6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry
WSBAA60License             6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry
WSBAA60LicenseComponent    0.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry
WSBAA60LicensingComponent  0.0.0.0  COMMITTED  This bean will work with the
WSBAA60Samples             6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  Includes Samples with source
WSBAA60SamplesComponent    6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60                    6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60DefineglobalconstantsComponent 6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60DefinelocalvariablesComponent  6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60LicensingComponent 6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60Webserverplugins   6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60WebserverpluginsComponent      6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60AddBytes           6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60gskit              6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...
WSPAA60gskitComponent     6.0.0.0  COMMITTED  ISMP installed entry...

What to do next

Go to Task overview: Installing to begin planning a new installation.




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Last updated: Aug 29, 2010 10:43:27 PM CDT
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