Before you can install IBM® WebSphere® Application Server products on
an AIX® system, you must take steps to prepare the
operating system.
Before you begin
Note: WebSphere Application Server prevents users
from installing to a non-empty directory. If WebSphere Application
Server is installed to a directory with a lost+found subdirectory,
you will be prompted to use an empty directory. If you still want
to install to this directory, then you can delete the lost+found directory.
However, the next time fsck is executed, the lost+found directory
will be created. This should not have any effect on an existing installation;
during uninstallation, however, this directory will not be removed.
Restriction: There are known issues with using Cygwin/X to run Eclipse-based
applications on remote AIX machines. This affects your use of the Profile Management Tool. With Cygwin/X on remote
AIX, for example, a
splash screen for the Profile Management Tool appears but the Profile Management Tool never actually
comes up. For details of existing Bugzilla reports on these issues, see the information at
https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=36806. If a different X server is used, these
problems might not occur.
About this task
Preparing the operating
system involves such changes as allocating disk space and installing
patches to the operating system. IBM tests WebSphere Application Server
products on each operating system platform. Such tests verify whether
an operating system change is required for WebSphere Application Server products to
run correctly. Without the required changes, WebSphere Application Server products do
not run correctly.
Procedure
- Log on to the operating system.
You
can log on as root or as a nonroot installer.
Select a umask
that allows the owner to read/write to the files, and allows others
to access them according to the prevailing system policy. For root,
a umask of 022 is recommended. For nonroot users a umask of 002 or
022 can be used, depending on whether 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
- Stop all Java™ processes
related to WebSphere Application
Server on the machine where you are installing the product.
- Stop any web server process such as the IBM HTTP Server.
- The product requires IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8.
- Use the System Management Interface Tool (SMIT) to display
packages that are installed to determine whether you must update packages
that are described in the following steps.
- Download the most current version of the Info-ZIP
product to avoid problems with zipped files.
Although
zipped files are primarily used in the service stream, prepare your AIX operating
system by downloading a current version of the Info-ZIP package from
the http://www.info-zip.org website.
- Provide adequate disk space.
The amount of
disk space required varies with the number of features or products
installed. If you are installing the product using Installation Manager,
the installation summary panel indicates the approximate amount of
disk space required based on the features and products that you have
selected.
Installing all features and products requires approximately
2 GB of disk space. This estimate includes the following products,
components, and features:- Main application server product installation
- Profiles
- Sample applications
- IBM HTTP Server
- Web Server Plug-ins
- Application Client for WebSphere Application Server
With the JFS file system on AIX, you
can allocate expansion space for directories. If Installation Manager
does not have enough space, it issues a system call for more space
that increases the space allocation dynamically.
If you plan to migrate applications and the configuration
from a previous version, verify that the application objects have
enough disk space. As a rough guideline, plan for space equal to 110
percent of the size of the applications.
- Unmount file systems with broken links to avoid java.lang.NullPointerException
errors.
Unmount file systems with broken links before
installing.
Installation can fail when broken links exist to
file systems.
Use the
df -k command to check for broken links to file systems. Look for file
systems that list blank values in the
1024-blocks size column. Columns with a
value of "-" (dash) are not a problem. The following example shows a problem with the
/dev/lv00 file system:
> df -k
Filesystem 1024-blocks Free %Used Iused %Iused Mounted on
/dev/hd4 1048576 447924 58% 2497 1% /
/dev/hd3 4259840 2835816 34% 484 1% /tmp
/proc - - - - - /proc
/dev/lv01 2097152 229276 90% 3982 1% /storage
/dev/lv00
/dev/hd2 2097152 458632 79% 42910 9% /usr
iw031864:/cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix64_sbcs
The
/proc file system is not a problem. The
iw031864:/cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix64_sbcs file system is a definite problem. The
/dev/lv00 file system is also a likely problem. Use one of the following
commands to solve this problem:
> umount /cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix64_sbcs
> umount /cdrom
Start the installation again.
If the problem continues, unmount any file systems that have blank
values, such as the /dev/lv00 file system in
the example. If you cannot solve the problem by unmounting file systems
with broken links, reboot the machine and start the installation again.
- Verify that prerequisites and corequisites are at the required
release levels.
Although Installation Manager checks for prerequisite operating system patches, review the
prerequisites on the Supported hardware and software website if you have not already done so.
For non-IBM prerequisite and corequisite products, see
their documentation to learn how to migrate to their supported versions.
Important: To run GUI tools, such as IBM Installation Manager and WebSphere Customization Toolbox, you must install GTK+ 2.24 or later and its dependencies from the
AIX Toolbox for Linux. GTK+ 3 and Motif are not supported, and packages from
other sources will cause errors.
If you do not have the GTK installed, you receive an error
similar to the following
message:
Eclipse:
An error has occurred. See the log file
/workspace/.metadata/.log.
- From the AIX Toolbox for Linux website, install the
yum bundle on your AIX system. When you install the tool, carefully follow the steps in the readme file.
Note: If the
gettext RPM package is already installed on the AIX system, exclude the gettext RPM package when you install the yum bundle to avoid
conflicts.
- Install the latest gettext RPM package and its dependencies by running the
following command.
yum install gettext
- Verify that the libiconv RPM package is installed by running the following
command.
rpm -qa | grep libiconv
- Install the latest gtk2 RPM package and its dependencies by running the
following command.
yum install gtk2
- Verify the system cp command
when using emacs or other freeware.
If you have emacs
or other freeware installed on your operating system, verify that
the system
cp command is used.
- Type the following command prompt before running the installation
program for the WebSphere Application
Server product.
which cp
- Remove the freeware directory from your PATH
if the resulting directory output includes freeware.
For example, assume that the output is similar to the following message: .../freeware/bin/cp.
If so, remove the directory from the PATH.
- Install the WebSphere Application
Server product.
- Add the freeware directory back to the PATH.
If you install with a cp command that
is part of a freeware package, the installation might appear to complete
successfully, but the Java 2
SDK that the product installs might have missing files in the app_server_root/java directory.
Missing
files can destroy required symbolic links. If you remove the freeware cp command
from the PATH, you can install the application server product successfully.
- Verify that the Java SDK on the installation image disk is functioning
correctly if you created your own disk.
For example,
you might have downloaded an installation image from Passport Advantage®, or you might
have copied an installation image onto a backup disk. In either case,
perform the following steps to verify that the disk contains a valid Java software development kit (SDK).
- Change directories to the /JDK/jre.pak/repository/package.java.jre/java/jre/bin directory
on the product disk. For example:
cd /JDK/jre.pak/repository/package.java.jre/java/jre/bin
- Verify the Java version. Type the following command:
./java -version
The
command completes successfully with no errors when the SDK is intact.
- Optional: Install the Mozilla Firefox browser
if it is not already installed.
You can download Mozilla Firefox for AIX from Passport Advantage. Install the installp image from the SMIT.
- Optional: Export the location of the supported
browser.
Export the location of the supported browser
using a command that identifies the actual location of the browser.
If
the Mozilla Firefox package is in the
bin/firefox directory,
for example, use the following command to export BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox:
EXPORT BROWSER=/usr/bin/firefox
- Optional: Prepare a Workload Partition (WPAR).
If you are going to install the product on a WPAR on AIX Version 6.1, you must make sure that the WPAR has private and writable versions of the /usr and /opt file
systems. If you do not have this type of WPAR, create a new WPAR using
the following steps:
- Choose a name for the WPAR that maps to an IP address
for your network, or add an entry for the new WPAR in the /etc/hosts file.
Make sure you know the subnet IP address as well.
- Use the following command to create the WPAR:
mkwpar -n <wpar_name> -h <host_name> -N netmask=<A.B.C.D> address=<A.B.C.D> -r -l
Note: The -l parameter
creates private and writable versions of the /usr and /opt file
systems.
What to do next
For optimal performance, tune the Java environment for your operating system. For more information, see the Java tuning information for your specific AIX operating system version.
After verifying
prerequisites, verifying the product disk, and setting your installation
goals, you can start installing. Use one of the following installation
procedures: