Install Liberty on distributed operating systems using the GUI or the console-mode


Overview

For an interactive install we can use Installation Manager GUI-mode or console-mode.

Prerequisites: Obtain installation media and install Installation Manager for Liberty.

Liberty runs on any of the Java SE versions listed in the Java SE version column of the Supported Java Releases table on the Open Liberty website.

As part of installing Liberty, we can choose to install assets from the following repositories:

    Liberty Repository. A public IBM-hosted repository accessible through the internet.
    Liberty Asset Repository Service Open source service used to create an on-premises repository remotely accessible behind the firewall of an enterprise.
    Local directory-based repositories We create using the installUtility download action or by downloading the wlp-featureRepo-<version>.zip file, which contains all applicable features and addons.

Access to the Liberty Repository requires internet access. If the system does not have internet access or we want to install customized Liberty assets, set up an instance of the Liberty Asset Repository Service or a local directory-based repository, and then add the repository URL, directory path, or archive path in Installation Manager. See Install assets using Installation Manager.


Steps

  1. Start Installation Manager with the GUI interface.

      ./IBMIM

    If the system does not support the GUI, we can run an interactive install using console mode:

      ./imcl -c

    Group mode allows multiple users to use a single instance of IBM Installation Manager to manage software packages.

  2. Click Install.

    Note: If prompted to authenticate, use the IBM ID and password that you registered with on the program website.

    Installation Manager searches its defined repositories for available packages.

  3. Perform the following actions.

    1. Select the product offerings we want to install.

      If WebSphere Application Server Liberty offering is already installed on the system in the installation location, a message displays indicating that the product is already installed. To create another installation of the offering in another location, click Continue.

      If the Search service repositories during installation and updates option is selected on the Installation Manager Repository preference page and we are connected to the Internet, we can click Check for Other Versions and Extensions to search for updates in the default update repositories for the selected packages. In this case, we do not need to add the specific service-repository URL to the Installation Manager Repository preference page.

    2. Select the fixes to install.

      Any recommended fixes are selected by default.

      We can select the option to show only recommended fixes and hide non-recommended fixes.

    3. Click Next.

    Important: If IBM WebSphere SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 6 package is selected, the installation fails. We must clear the selection of IBM WebSphere SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 6 package and restart the installation.

    Note: Installation Manager might prompt you to update to the latest level of Installation Manager when it connects to the repository. Update to the newer version before we continue if we are prompted to do so. For information about automatic updates, see the IBM Installation Manager product documentation.

  4. Accept the terms in the license agreements, and click Next.

  5. Select a shared resources directory, which contains resources that can be shared by multiple installation packages, and click Next.

    Important: We can select the shared resources directory only the first time we install a package with Installation Manager. The shared resources directory is where installation artifacts are located used by one or more package groups. It is also used as a staging area for the product payload during installation operations. By default, this content is cached so that it can be used for rollback. Consider setting your rollback preferences to save these files as described in Obtaining installation media and install Installation Manager for Liberty. For best results, select a location with enough available space for the shared resources of future packages. We cannot change the directory location until after uninstalling all packages.

  6. Specify the installation root directory for the product binaries, which are also referred to as the core product files or system files, and click Next.

    The panel also displays the shared resources directory and disk-space information.

    Installation Manager automatically chooses the installation package architecture based on the operating system. On 64-bit systems that support the 32-bit offerings, we can optionally choose to install a 32-bit installation package. Restrictions:

    • Deleting the default target location and leaving an installation-directory field empty prevents you from continuing.
    • Do not use symbolic links as the destination directory.

      Symbolic links are not supported.

    • Do not use a semicolon in the directory name.

      WebSphere Application Server Liberty cannot install properly if the target directory includes a semicolon. semicolon is the character used to construct the class path on Windows systems.

  7. Select the features we want to install, and click Next.

    Some features might be selected by default.

  8. If we are installing the Liberty product offering, install Liberty addons and features.

    To learn more about the Liberty Repository and the assets it contains, see Liberty Repository. Select one of the following options:

    • Recommended: Install all product features that apply to this Liberty runtime environment.
    • Custom: Choose individual addons and features to install.

      To install assets from the Liberty Repository, we must have access to the internet.

      If we choose not to connect to the Liberty Repository, we can still install assets from configured directory-based repositories or an instance of the Liberty Asset Repository Service.

    If we select a custom installation, complete the following steps:

    1. Select whether we want to install assets from the Liberty Repository, and click Next.

    2. Select addons to install, and click Next.

      Addons are collections of features.

    3. Select features to install, and click Next.

      If we selected an addon, features that the addon contains are selected.

      Some features might depend on other features to function. Any required features are automatically selected.

    4. Accept the license agreement, and click Next.

    5. Review the addon and feature summary information, and click Next.

  9. Review the installation package summary information, and click Install.

    • If the installation is successful, the program displays a message indicating that installation is successful.

      Note that the program might also display important post-installation instructions as well.

    • If the installation is not successful, click View Log File to troubleshoot the problem.

  10. Click Finish.

  11. Click File > Exit to close Installation Manager.