Manually uninstalling on a Linux system

This procedure uninstalls a WebSphere Application Server product from a Linux system. After running the uninstaller program, manual steps remove log files and registry entries that can prevent you from reinstalling the product into the original directory. If you are not planning to reinstall, do not 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 /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer  
profile_root /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/profiles  
plugins_root /opt/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. 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.

  3. 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
  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. Search for related packages. Issue the following command to show packages for the WebSphere Application Server products:
    rpm -qa | grep WS
    For example, after issuing the command, the following list of packages might display:
    WSBAA60CoreRuntimeComponent-6.0-0
    WSBAA60LicenseComponent-6.0-0
    WSBAA60JavadocsComponent-6.0-0
    WSBAA60NDOnlyComponent-6.0-0
    WSBAA60AddBytesNonHP-6.0-0
    WSBAA60LicensingComponent-6.0-0
    WSBAA60SamplesComponent-6.0-0
    WSPAA60
    WSPAA60DefineglobalconstantsComponent
    WSPAA60DefinelocalvariablesComponent
    WSPAA60LicensingComponent
    WSPAA60Webserverplugins
    WSPAA60WebserverpluginsComponent
    WSPAA60AddBytes
    WSPAA60gskit
    WSPAA60gskitComponent

    Do not remove packages for WebSphere Application Server products that you are not uninstalling. Version 6 package names have a prefix of WSB or WSP and a suffix of 60. WSC package names do not have a suffix of 60.

  6. If there are packages to delete, type rpm -e packagename to remove any packages for the product that you are uninstalling.
    Alternatively, you can search for packages to verify that everything in the list is something to delete:
    rpm -qa | grep WS
    If there is a problem with package dependencies, you can use the following command to remove the packages:
    rpm -e packagename --nodeps --justdb
    

    The nodeps option skips the dependency check. The justdb option updates only the package database, and not the file system. Using only the nodeps option can cause a failure in package removal if there is any mismatch in the dependent file system (files and directories).

  7. Type rm -rf app_server_root to remove WebSphere Application Server directories in the app_server_root directory. Do not remove installation root directories for products that you intend to keep. Remove all of the profile directories as well.
  8. Edit the vpd.properties file.

    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.

  9. 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:

    /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
    /opt/IBM/P1/AppServer
    /opt/P1/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
    /opt/P2/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
    /opt/P3/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer

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.

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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