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Apply a fix pack to a Liberty profile archive installation

The Liberty profile offers a self-extracting archive-based installation as an alternative to using IBM Installation Manager. If we installed the Liberty profile using the self-extracting archive, and want to upgrade to the latest fix pack version, we can apply a new fix pack archive to a new location, and migrate any required user files and server configuration data.

If we used IBM Installation Manager to install the Liberty profile, use Installation Manager to apply a fix pack.

Important: We must apply a new fix pack archive to a new location.

  1. Install the new runtime environment.

    1. Copy or download the new fix pack archive onto the target system.

    2. Launch the archive using a Java command. Use a Java command because the archive is an executable JAR file.:

      • java -jar <downloaded_archive_location>/<downloaded_archive_file_name>

      For more information about using a Java command to launch an archive, see the instructions in Install the Liberty profile by extracting an archive file.

    3. Review the license terms, and accept them to continue with the installation.

    4. Select the installation location. Use a different location to where the previous version is installed.

  2. Migrate any user data and server configurations. The Liberty profile defines two locations for storing user-generated content and server configurations:

    • WLP_USER_DIR; The location of server configuration files, including shared resources.

    • WLP_OUTPUT_DIR; The location of resources generated by the server. For example, log files and temporary disk storage.

    If the WLP_USER_DIR environment variable has been set on the system, then the new runtime environment will continue to use the same location. This results in no backup of server configuration data. To ensure that the server configuration is backed up, copy the directory referenced by WLP_USER_DIR to a new location on the file system. To protect the original environment, change the value of WLP_USER_DIR to point to the new location. During uninstallation, reset the value of WLP_USER_DIR to the location of the original server configuration.

    If WLP_USER_DIR has not been set, the server configuration and shared resources are stored in the usr directory at the root of the server's runtime environment (for example, <liberty_server_runtime_root>/usr). During uninstallation of the runtime environment, we can reset the WLP_USER_DIR environment variable.

    If the WLP_OUTPUT_DIR environment variable is set on the system, the new server also uses this location. This can result in old log files being overwritten. To ensure that old log files are protected, either update or unset the WLP_OUTPUT_DIR environment variable. During uninstallation, reset this value to its original value.

    If the WLP_OUTPUT_DIR value is not set, the default location is in the server root directory (for example <liberty_server_runtime_root>/usr/servers/<serverName>). If the new runtime environment is installed to a new location, no updates are required during installation or uninstallation because logs continue to appear under the usr/servers/<serverName>/logs directory of each respective installation.

    If server.xml, or any included XML configuration file, references another resource outside the server configuration directory, these resources must also be copied across, or the references will need to be updated. This also applies to any resources that the application references directly, such as references to hardcoded paths on file systems. During uninstallation of the fix pack, these values can be manually reset to their original values.

  3. Start the new server. Run <liberty_VX+>/bin/server start <server_name>.


Subtopics


Parent topic: Install Liberty using downloaded files and archives

Tasks:
Install the Liberty profile developer tools

Install the Liberty profile by extracting an archive file

Apply an interim fix to a Liberty profile archive installation

Configure the Liberty profile server to start as a job in the QWAS85 subsystem on IBM i

Uninstall the Liberty profile application-serving environment from IBM i operating systems

Remove a fix pack from a Liberty profile archive installation

Remove an interim fix from a Liberty profile archive install