Apply an interim fix to a Liberty profile archive installation

If Liberty profile was installed using IBM Installation Manager, use Installation Manager to apply an interim fix.

If Liberty Profile was installed using the self-extracting archive-based installation, to install an interim fix, we can apply an executable JAR file.

<Liberty profile level>-WS-WASProd_WLPArchive-<fix type><fix id>.jar

...where...

• <Liberty profile level> is a 4-digit fix pack level identifier, which indicates the minimum level to which the fix applies. For example, 8.5.5.0.

• <fix type> is the type of fix. For example, IF is used for an interim fix, and TF for a diagnostic fix

• <fix id> is the APAR reference number. If a diagnostic fix is provided before an APAR is opened, the <fix id> is based on the PMR reference number.

Each interim fix is installed by executing the relevant JAR file, which extracts the content into the Liberty profile base folder (/wlp).

When the interim fix is applied, no backup data is created. To back out an interim fix, we must manually remove or restore files from the /wlp folder. Each interim fix is provided with a readme.txt file, which contains backup and restore instructions specific to the fix content, in a section titled "Directions to apply fix" If the readme.txt file does not specify any requirement to back up files, we can extract the fix and then restart the server at any time with the --clean parameter as a launch option.

1. If the fix contains files that will overwrite existing files, stop all servers running on the system.

2. If the readme.txt file indicates that a backup is required, create a backup of the lib/features/component.mf files. File locations are relative to the Liberty profile installation root.

3. Open a console and direct it to the location of the interim fix JAR file.

4. To view available options, run...
   java -jar interim_fix_jar_file -help

   ...where interim_fix_jar_file is the name of the executable JAR file containing the interim fix. The following launch options are available for the JAR file:

   --installLocation [LibertyRootDir]

   The absolute or relative location of the Liberty profile installation directory.

   By default the JAR file looks for a wlp directory in its current location. If the Liberty profile installation location is not the wlp folder, or is not in the same directory as the JAR file, then we can use this option to change where the JAR file will patch. [LibertyRootDir] can either be relative to the location of the JAR file, or an absolute file path.

   --suppressInfo

   The only messages output from the JAR file will be error messages or confirmation that patching is complete.

5. Run the JAR file, using the --installLocation option to specify the installation location. For example...
   java -jar interim_fix_jar_file --installLocation. Optionally include --suppressInfo

6. Start all Liberty profile servers with the --clean parameter as a launch option. For example...
   server start --clean

   We use the --clean option only once; all subsequent server starts do not require it.

Subtopics

• Remove an interim fix from a Liberty profile archive install
  If we installed the Liberty profile using the self-extracting archive, then to remove an interim fix we must manually remove files, and restore files, from the /wlp folder.

Parent topic: Install Liberty using downloaded files and archives

Tasks:

1. Install the Liberty profile developer tools
2. Install the Liberty profile by extracting an archive file
3. Apply a fix pack to a Liberty profile archive installation
4. Configure the Liberty profile server to start as a job in the QWAS85 subsystem on IBM i
5. Uninstall the Liberty profile application-serving environment from IBM i operating systems