Use the launchpad to start Liberty installations

Use the launchpad to start Liberty installations

The launchpad console is the starting point for installing IBM WebSphere Application Server Liberty Core.

The launchpad is a web application. Before using the launchpad, have a supported web browser. The launchpad supports the following browsers:

Mozilla Firefox Version 3.5 or later

Internet Explorer v6.0 Service Pack 2 or later

Install a supported web browser if one is not installed.

Install a browser such as Mozilla Firefox. Download Firefox from the following location: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/.

Install a browser for the Windows operating system.

Download Internet Explorer from the following location: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/default.mspx

Download Mozilla Firefox from the following location: http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/.

We must install the Bash shell package to use the launchpad application. Although the Bash shell must be installed, the Bash shell does not need to be used to run the launchpad.sh command. If we attempt to run the launchpad application from a DVD on the HP-UX, Linux, or Solaris operating systems without the Bash shell installed, the launchpad fails with an error message indicating that the Bash interpreter is not found. If we attempt to run the launchpad from any image on AIX , the launchpad fails with an error message indicating that the current browser is not supported. The Bash package for the AIX operating system is included in the IBM AIX Toolbox.

Examples of what the launchpad can do:

The launchpad does support installing Installation Manager in admin or non-admin (user) mode.

The launchpad does support updating Installation Manager from an earlier version in admin or non-admin (user) mode.

Examples of what the launchpad cannot do:

The launchpad does not support installing in group mode.

The launchpad does not support installing or updating with a custom application data location.

Restriction: We cannot run the launchpad remotely to install a product. Only local use of the launchpad is supported.

The launchpad identifies components on the product disk or image that we can install (launch).
The launchpad is a single point of reference for installing the application server environment. If you click a link that points to a product repository on another disk or image, we are prompted to insert that disk or browse to that image.

Start the launchpad.
The launchpad program is available in the root directory of the product disk. We can start the launchpad manually using a fully qualified command instead of changing directories to the disk and running the command locally from the root directory:

Mount the disk drive if necessary.

Open a shell window and issue a fully qualified launchpad command to start the launchpad.

Tip: If we need to navigate using the keyboard, use Mozilla Firefox as the web browser and start the launchpad with the following command:
launchpad_a11y.exe

Note: Some Windows operating systems such as Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7 have implemented a more restrictive security policy that denies access to trusted files by non-trusted files or applications. When the launchpad application is run as a non-trusted program, we will receive JavaScript "Access is denied" errors that subsequently cause the application to hang. Because downloaded images are automatically blocked, unblock the files so the launchpad can successfully access the files. Before you extract the image, right-click the image file and select Properties to open the Properties panel and locate the security section and click the Unblock button. We can now extract the image and run the launchpad application. The launchpad opens in the language of the locale setting of the machine.
Use the launchpad to perform the following Liberty Core related tasks.

View the Welcome page, and access links to the IBM WebSphere Application Server Information Center and the IBM Education Assistant.

Launch IBM Installation Manager installation, and access the IBM Installation Manager Information Center.

Launch IBM Packaging Utility installation, and access the Packaging Utility information in the IBM Installation Manager Information Center.

Launch Installation Manager to WAS Liberty Core, and access the installation instructions in the information center.

Launch Installation Manager to install IBM HTTP Server, and access the installation instructions in the information center.

Launch Installation Manager to install Web Server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server, and access the installation instructions in the information center.

Access the latest version of IBM Support Assistant.

Launch Installation Manager to install IBM WebSphere SDK Java Technology Edition v7.0 for Liberty, and access the installation instructions in the information center.

Launch Installation Manager to install the IBM WebSphere Application Server Web 2.0 and Mobile Toolkit, and access the installation instructions in the information center.

Results
This procedure results in using the launchpad to start the installation and to access information through a browser.
Troubleshooting
If we can start the launchpad but clicking a link does not resolve to a page in the launchpad, we might have the wrong media in the disk drive. Check the validity of the media.
Use the following procedure to correct any error that is preventing the launchpad from displaying. Then, try to start the launchpad again:

If the product disk is no longer accessible, insert the disk.

Mount the drive as necessary on platforms such as AIX or Linux.

Enable the JavaScript function in the browser.
Mozilla Firefox: Click Tools > Options > Content:

Select Enable Java.

Select Enable JavaScript.

Click Advanced and allow scripts to ... (Select all boxes.)

Internet Explorer: Click Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level for Internet > Scripting > Active scripting > Enable.

Restart the launchpad by issuing the launchpad command.

If the launchpad links still do not work after following this procedure, launch Installation Manager and point it at the appropriate repositories to install the offerings.

What to do next

Go to Install Liberty on distributed operating systems to continue installing the application serving environment.

Parent topic: Install Liberty on distributed operating systems
Tasks:
Install Installation Manager and prepare to install Liberty
Install Liberty on distributed operating systems using the GUI
Install Liberty on distributed operating systems using the command line
Install Liberty on distributed operating systems using response files
Add and remove features from Liberty on distributed operating systems
Uninstall Liberty from distributed operating systems using the GUI
Uninstall Liberty from distributed operating systems using the command line
Uninstall Liberty from distributed operating systems using response files
Upgrading Liberty on distributed operating systems using the GUI
Create custom installation repositories with IBM Packaging Utility

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