WebSphere WebSphere Enterprise Service Bus, Version 6.0.1 Operating Systems: AIX, HP-UX, Linux, Solaris, Windows

Preparing AIX systems for installation

You must ensure your AIX system is prepared to install IBM WebSphere ESB.

Before you begin

The installation uses an InstallShield for Multiplatforms (ISMP) wizard. You can also install the product silently. Silent mode is invoked at a command line with a parameter that identifies an options response file, which you edit before installing.

Why and when to perform this task

Use the following procedure to prepare the operating system for installation of WebSphere ESB.

Steps for this task

  1. Log on as root.

    You cannot install the product correctly as a non-root user. If you create copies of the product CDs, do so as root. Copies made by non-root users do not preserve the correct file attributes and do not work.

  2. Verify that the umask setting is 0022.
    To verify the umask setting, issue the following command:
    umask
    To set the umask setting to 0022, issue the following command:
    umask 0022
  3. Stop all Java processes on the machine on which you are installing the product that are related to WebSphere Application Server, including WebSphere ESB and WebSphere Process Server.
  4. Stop any Web server process such as the IBM HTTP Server.
  5. 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.
  6. Download the most current version of the Info-ZIP product to avoid problems with zipped files. Download a current version of the Info-ZIP package from the http://www.info-zip.org Web site.
  7. Provide adequate disk space.

    For the space required to install WebSphere ESB and related products, see Required disk space on AIX platforms.

    With the JFS file system on AIX, you can allocate expansion space for directories. If the Installation Wizard does not have enough space, ISMP issues a system call for more space that increases the space allocation dynamically. The message you might see when this occurs for the /usr directory is similar to the following example:
    NOTE: The following file systems will be expanded during the installation:
      /usr

    Manually verify that the required space for creating a profile is available on AIX. A known problem in the underlying ISMP code prevents proper space checking on AIX systems.

  8. Unmount file systems with broken links to avoid java.lang.NullPointerException errors.
    Installation can fail with the following error when broken links to file systems exist:
    An error occurred during wizard bean change notification:
    java.lang.NullPointerException 
      at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileUtils.
         getFileSystemData(AixFileUtils.java:388)
      at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileUtils.
         getPartitionDataWithExecs(AixFileUtils.java:172)
      at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileUtils.
         getPartitionData(AixFileUtils.java:104)
      at com.ibm.wizard.platform.aix.AixFileServiceImpl.
         getPartitionNames(AixFileServiceImpl.java:397)
    ...

    Use the following procedure to identify and unmount problematic file systems:

    1. 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 column. Entries with a value of "-" (dash) are not a problem. The following example shows that problems exist with the iw031864:/cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix32_sbcs file system and possibly with the /dev/lv00 file system. The /proc file system is not a problem.
      >  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_aix32_sbcs
    2. First, unmount any file systems that show definite problems, such as the iw031864:/cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix32_sbcs file system in the example. To do this, use one of the following commands:
      >  umount /cdrom/db2_v72_eee_aix32_sbcs
      >  umount /cdrom 
    3. Start the installation again.
    4. If the problem continues, unmount any file systems that have blank values, such as the /dev/lv00 file system in the example.
    5. If you cannot solve the problem by unmounting file systems with broken links, reboot the machine and start the installation again.
  9. Verify that prerequisites and corequisites are at the required release levels.

    Although the Installation Wizard checks for prerequisite operating system patches, review the prerequisites in the List of supported hardware and software for WebSphere ESB if you have not already done so. To access this information, see WebSphere ESB detailed system requirements at http://www.ibm.com/software/integration/wsesb/sysreqs/.

    Refer to the documentation for non-IBM prerequisite and corequisite products to learn how to migrate to their supported versions.

  10. Verify that the system cp command is used, rather than the cp command provided by emacs or other freeware.

    If you install the product using a cp command that is part of a freeware package, rather than with the system cp command, the installation might appear to complete successfully, but the Java 2 SDK that the product installs might have missing files in the install_root/java directory (where install_root represents the installation directory of WebSphere ESB).

    Missing files can destroy required symbolic links. You must remove the freeware cp command from the PATH to be able to install the WebSphere ESB product successfully.

    If you have emacs or other freeware installed on your operating system, perform the following steps to identify which cp command is being used by the system, and to deactivate the freeware cp command if it is being used:

    1. Type which cp at the command prompt before running the installation program for the WebSphere ESB product.
    2. If the resulting directory output includes freeware, remove the freeware directory from your PATH. For example, if the output is similar to .../freeware/bin/cp, remove the directory from the PATH.
    3. After you install WebSphere ESB, add the freeware directory back to the PATH.
  11. Verify that the Java 2 SDK on your copies of the product CDs is functioning correctly.

    If you created your own product CDs from ISO images or by copying the actual CDs, perform the following steps to verify that the Java 2 SDK is working correctly.

    1. On your created product CD for WebSphere ESB CD 1, navigate to the /mnt/JDK/repository/prereq.jdk/java/bin directory. To do this, issue the following command:
      cd /mnt/JDK/repository/prereq.jdk/java/bin
    2. Verify the Java 2 SDK version. To do this, issue the following command:
      ./java -version
      The command completes successfully with no errors when the Java 2 SDK is intact.
    3. Repeat this procedure on your created product CD for WebSphere ESB CD 2.
  12. Optional: Install the Mozilla browser if it is not already installed. The Mozilla browser supports the Launchpad console. Use SMIT to identify whether the Mozilla 1.4 or 1.7 or later package is already installed. If it is not already installed, complete the following procedure:
    1. Download two prerequisites from the AIX Toolbox for Linux Applications: glib-1.2.10-2.aix4.3.ppc.rpm and gtkplus-1.2.10-4.aix5.1.ppc.rpm. Download the packages from the following locations:
    2. Install the packages after downloading them. Use the following command:
      rpm -Uvh glib-1.2.10-2.aix4.3.ppc.rpm gtkplus-1.2.10-4.aix5.1.ppc.rpm
    3. Download the latest supported version of Mozilla (1.7 or later) for AIX. Download Mozilla for AIX from the following location:

      IBM Trials and betas Web site

      Download the installp image and install it from SMIT.

      Important: IBM has not tested and does not support the Mozilla images distributed on the http://www.mozilla.org Web site. Download the Mozilla images from the IBM Trials and betas Web site to ensure that the version that you download is tested and supported.
  13. 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.

    For example, if the Mozilla package is in the bin/mozilla directory, use the following command:
    EXPORT BROWSER=/usr/bin/mozilla
  14. Optional: For silent installation only: Allow for a known ISMP problem that causes a call to the X Window service during a silent installation.
    The DISPLAY environment variable on your AIX machine might point to an X Server that is not logged in. Two common scenarios can cause this to occur:
    • Your AIX machine has an X Server running, but the X Server is stuck at the graphical login screen because you have not yet logged in.
    • Your AIX machine is configured to display X Window applications on a remote X Server that is not logged in.

    A silent installation can hang in either case as ISMP calls X Window services.

    Two solutions exist:
    • Log in to the local X Server through the graphical user interface before beginning the silent installation.
    • Export the DISPLAY environment variable to point to null or blank, as shown in the following example:
      EXPORT DISPLAY=null

Result

This procedure prepares the operating system for installation of WebSphere ESB.

What to do next

After preparing the operating system, you can install WebSphere ESB. See Installing WebSphere ESB for descriptions of the various installation alternatives available.

Related tasks
Installing WebSphere ESB for the first time

Task topic

Terms of Use | Rate this page

Timestamp iconLast updated: 13 Dec 2005
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/dmndhelp/v6rxmx/index.jsp?topic=/com.ibm.websphere.wesb.doc\doc\tins_aixsetup.html

(C) Copyright IBM Corporation 2005. All Rights Reserved.
This information center is powered by Eclipse technology. (http://www.eclipse.org)