Install Liberty by extracting a ZIP archive file

We can install Liberty and optional features by extracting a ZIP archive file. These ZIP files are designed to help you quickly get started with Liberty.

The system must meet the operating system and Java requirements for using Liberty.

See WebSphere Application Server detailed system requirements.

Note: Liberty on the IBM i platform uses the system-wide version of Java. To install Java on IBM i, follow these guidelines:

See Install Java on your IBM i server.

Install Liberty from the ZIP files enables no-charge unsupported unlimited use of Liberty in development environments and unsupported limited use in small-scale test and production environments.

See the license information and license agreement files in the wlp\lafiles directory. For access to IBM support and unlimited test and production use, we can later purchase and upgrade to a supported edition from the existing installation.We can choose from several ZIP files to fit your needs:

  • Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE) 8 technologies: Install the Liberty runtime environment plus features that support the Java EE 8 full platform, Web Profile, or application client
  • IBM Java 8: Install the Liberty runtime environment, features that support the Java EE 8 Web Profile, and IBM SDK Java Technology Edition Version 8
  • Liberty kernel only: Install only the Liberty runtime environment

For a list of the available ZIP archive files, see List of installation ZIP archive files. Watch: Video: Install Liberty from a ZIP file shows how we can install Liberty from a ZIP archive file, start the server and add applications, and upgrade to a supported installation [Install Liberty from a ZIP file]

  1. Download the ZIP file of the distribution image from Fix Central.

  2. Extract the distribution image to your preferred directory. All of the application server files are stored in subdirectories of the wlp directory.

  3. Optional: Set the JAVA_HOME property for the environment.

    Liberty requires a Java runtime environment (JRE) or Java SDK in which to run. We can specify the Java SDK or JRE location using the JAVA_HOME property in the server.env file, as described in Liberty environment variables. When you set the JAVA_HOME property in the server.env file, Liberty uses the same Java runtime location regardless of the user profile that the Liberty server runs under. To download an IBM Java SDK, see IBM Java SDKs for WebSphere Liberty. JAVA_HOME property as a system-level environment variable is not recommended. The IBM i platform is a shared environment, and changing system-level environment variables might affect other applications. On Linux or UNIX systems, we can instead set JAVA_HOME in the user .bashrc file, or append the JDK or JRE path to the PATH environment variable. On Windows systems, we can instead set JAVA_HOME as a system environment variable, or append the JDK or JRE path to the PATH system variable. For example, on Windows systems we can use the following commands to set the JAVA_HOME property, and to add the Java /bin directory to the path: 

      set JAVA_HOME=C:\Progra~1\Java\JDK8
set PATH=%JAVA_HOME%\bin;%PATH%

    Note: The Liberty runtime environment searches for the java command in this order: JAVA_HOME property, JRE_HOME property, and system PATH property.

    For more information about supported Java environments and where to get them, see Minimum supported Java levels.

  4. Optional: Upgrade our Liberty installation to an unlimited production edition. Upgrading your license gives you full access to IBM support in an unlimited test or production environment.

    See Apply a license to Liberty installations.


What to do next

After we install Liberty from a ZIP file, we can further customize the environment by installing additional assets; see Install Liberty Repository assets. platform, after you extract the distribution image, we can configure all servers to run as jobs in the batch subsystem under the QEJBSVR user profile provided with the product. For more information, see Configure the Liberty server to start as a job in the QWAS9 subsystem on IBM i .