Installation Manager uses repositories to locate the installation files for Rational products. A repository is a location that stores data for installing, modifying, rolling back, updating, or uninstalling Rational products. Repositories are specified in the Installation Manager preferences.
The extracted installation files for a Rational product contain the repository for that product. The Rational product installation files also include Installation Manager. You do not need to download Installation Manager separately.
When you use launchpad to install the Rational product, the repository location is defined by the Rational product installation files. Launchpad opens Installation Manager to the Install Packages window. As a result, you cannot access the repository preferences in Installation Manager. The Install Packages window lists Rational products that you can install. On the Install Packages window, the repository location is provided in the Details section. Click each product to view the repository location. For more information about launchpad, see Installing from the launchpad program.
In situations where Installation Manager is already installed, you must specify the repository location for the Rational product. You specify a repository location by selecting either diskTag.inf or repository.config. In some cases, the Rational product installation files contains both a diskTag.inf and a repository.config. Use the diskTag.inf when selecting a repository location. For more information about specifying a repository, see Setting repository preferences.
If a silent install is used to install the Rational product, the response file defines the repository location. For information about silent installs, see Installing silently
By default, Installation Manager uses service repositories for each Rational software product. Service repositories are located on IBM.com. See Setting repository preferences for information about enabling or disabling service repositories in Installation Manager.