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Prepare Solaris systems for installation

 

This topic describes how to prepare Solaris systems for the installation of IBM WAS, V6 products.

The installation uses an InstallShield MultiPlatform (ISMP) wizard. You can use the graphical interface of the wizard. You can also use the wizard in silent mode.

Silent mode is a command line invocation with a parameter that identifies an options response file. Edit the options response file before installing.

If you encounter a problem such as needing more temporary space or missing prerequisite packages on your operating system, cancel the installation, make the required changes, and restart the installation.

There are known issues with using Cygwin/X to run Eclipse-based applications on remote Solaris machines. This affects your use of the Profile Management tool and the Installation Factory. With Cygwin/X on remote Solaris, for example, the Profile Management tool's welcome panel appears but no keyboard or mouse input is accepted. For details of existing Bugzilla reports on these issues, see the information at https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=97808. If a different X server (such as Hummingbird Exceed®) is used, these problems do not occur.

 

Overview

Preparing the operating system involves such changes as allocating disk space and installing patches to the operating system. IBM tests WAS products on each operating system platform. Such tests verify whether an operating system change is required for WAS products to run correctly. Without the required changes, WAS products do not run correctly.

 

Procedure

  1. Log on to the operating system.

    You can log on as root or as a non-root installer. Select a umask that allows the owner to read/write to the files, and allows others to access them according to the prevailing system policy. For root, a umask of 022 is recommended. For non-root users a umask of 002 or 022 can be used, depending on whether the users share the group. To verify the umask setting,... 

    umask
    To set the umask setting to 022,... 

    umask 022

  2. Select the Entire Group option on the Select Solaris Software Group panel.

     

  3. Optional: Download and install the Mozilla Web browser so used to the launchpad application on the product disc.

    If you do not have the Mozilla Web browser, download and install the browser from http://www.mozilla.org.

     

  4. Optional: Export the location of the supported browser.

    Export the location of the supported browser using a command that identifies the actual location of the browser. For example, if the Mozilla package is in the /opt/bin/mozilla directory, use the following command: 

    export BROWSER=/opt/bin/mozilla

     

  5. Optional: Configure Hummingbird Exceed to disable Automatic Font Substitution.

    Font changes occur when using the Hummingbird Exceed package and invoke the Profile Management tool. When you use the Hummingbird Exceed package to connect to a machine running the Solaris operating system, and then invoke the Profile Management tool, some font sizes and styles display differently than when doing the same operation from the native Solaris display.

    The font sizes and style changes are based on the font selections in the bundled Java Runtime Environment (JRE).

    To prevent the various font changes, configure Hummingbird Exceed to disable Automatic Font Substitution:

    1. From the Hummingbird Exceed user interface, click Xconfig > Font > Font Database > Disable ( Automatic Font Substitution).

    2. Click OK.

    3. Restart the Hummingbird Exceed package.

  6. Stop all WAS-related Java processes on the machine where you are installing the product.

  7. Stop any Web server process such as the IBM HTTP Server.

  8. Provide adequate disk space.

    The ND product requires the following disc space:

    730 MB for the app_server_root directory before creating profiles

    The installation root directory includes the core product files. This size does not include space for profiles or applications. Profiles require 40 MB of temp space in addition to the sizes shown. Profiles have the following space requirements:

    30 MB for the Deployment manager profile

    This size does not include space for Sample applications that you might install. The size also does not include space for applications that you might deploy.

    200 MB for an Application Server profile with the Sample applications

    This size does not include space for applications that you might develop and install.

    10 MB for an unfederated custom profile

    This size does not include space for applications that you might develop and install. The requirement does include space for the node agent. However, federate a custom profile to create an operational managed node.

    After federating a custom profile, the resulting managed node contains a functional node agent only. Use the deployment manager to create server processes on the managed node.

    100 MB for the /tmp directory

    The temporary directory is the working directory for the installation program.

    If the /tmp directory does not have enough free space, the installation program stops the installation and displays a message such as Prerequisite checking has failed. Not enough space.

    1030 MB total requirement

    This amount is the total space requirement when installing the product from the disc and when not installing service. Installing profiles requires more space.

    The following space is required for the IBM HTTP Server product:

    300 MB for the web_server_root directory on both SPARC and Solaris x64 processor-based systems

    The IBM HTTP Server product requires this space.

    15 MB for the gskit_root directory on SPARC 32-bit platforms; 30 MB for the gskit_root directory on SPARC 64-bit and x64 platforms

    The IBM Global Security Kit (GSKit) requires this space.

    The following space is the maximum amount that is required for the Web server plug-ins for WAS:

    280 MB for the /opt/IBM/WAS/plugins directory on both SPARC and Solaris x64 processor-based systems

    The Web server plug-ins require this space.

    15 MB for the gskit_root directory on SPARC 32-bit platforms; 30 MB for the gskit_root directory on SPARC 64-bit and x64 platforms

    The IBM Global Security Kit (GSKit) requires this space.

    On SPARC 32-bit platforms, the following space is required for the IBM WAS Clients:

    150 MB for the app_client_root directory

    The amount of space required to install the application clients is actually less than 150 MB. The amount of space depends on the clients that you install as features.

    The following space is required for the Update Installer:

    200 MB for the /opt/IBM/WAS/UpdateInstaller directory

    The installation wizard for each component displays required space on the confirmation panel before you install the product files and selected features. The installation wizard also warns you if you do not have enough space to install the product. If you plan to migrate applications and the configuration from a previous version, verify that the application objects have enough disc space. As a rough guideline, plan for space equal to 110 percent of the size of the application objects:

       

    • For V4.0.x: The size of enterprise archive (EAR) files

       

    • For V5.0.x: The size of EAR files

  9. Set kernel values to support Application Server. Several Solaris kernel values are typically too small.

    The instructions in this step apply to the Solaris SPARC (32-bit and 64-bit) operating system only. For Solaris x64 processor-based systems, see How to Get Started with IBM WAS on Solaris 10 and Zones. The article was written for Solaris 10 on SPARC but the principles apply equally to x64. Before installing, review the machine configuration: 

    sysdef -i
    The kernel values are set in the /etc/system file, as shown in the following example. 

    set shmsys:shminfo_shmmax = 4294967295 set shmsys:shminfo_shmseg = 1024 set shmsys:shminfo_shmmni = 1024 set semsys:seminfo_semaem = 16384 set semsys:seminfo_semmni = 1024 set semsys:seminfo_semmap = 1026 set semsys:seminfo_semmns = 16384 set semsys:seminfo_semmsl = 100 set semsys:seminfo_semopm = 100 set semsys:seminfo_semmnu = 2048 set semsys:seminfo_semume = 256 set msgsys:msginfo_msgmap = 1026 set msgsys:msginfo_msgmax = 65535 set rlim_fd_cur=1024

    You can change kernel values by editing the /etc/system file then rebooting the operating system. For more information about setting up the Solaris system, see the Solaris System Administration documentation. For example, the Solaris Tunable Parameters Reference Manual.

  10. Verify that prerequisites and corequisites are at the required release levels.

    Although the installation wizard checks for prerequisite operating system patches with the prereqChecker application, review the prerequisites on the Supported hardware and software Web site if you have not done so already.

    Refer to the documentation for non-IBM prerequisite and corequisite products to learn how to migrate to their supported versions.

  11. Verify the system cp command when using emacs or other freeware. If you have emacs or other freeware installed on your operating system, verify that the system cp command is used.

    1. Type which cp at the command prompt before running the installation program for the WAS product.

    2. Remove the freeware directory from your PATH if the resulting directory output includes freeware. For example, assume that the output is similar to the following message: .../freeware/bin/cp. If so, remove the directory from the PATH.

    3. Install the WAS product.

    4. Add the freeware directory back to the PATH.

    If you install with a cp command that is part of a freeware package, the installation might appear to complete successfully, but the Java 2 SDK that the product installs might have missing files in the app_server_root/java directory.

    Missing files can destroy required symbolic links. If you remove the freeware cp command from the PATH, you can install the Application Server product successfully.

  12. Verify that the Java 2 SDK on the installation image disc is functioning correctly, if you created your own disc.

    For example, you might have downloaded an installation image from Passport Advantage, or you might have copied an installation image onto a backup disc. In either case, perform the following steps to verify that the disc contains a valid Java 2 software development kit (SDK).

    1. Change directories to the /JDK/jre.pak/repository/package.java.jre/java/jre/bin directory on the product CD-ROM or DVD. For example: 

      cd /JDK/jre.pak/repository/package.java.jre/java/jre/bin

    2. Verify the Java 2 SDK version. Type the following command: 

      ./java -version

      The command completes successfully with no errors when the Java 2 SDK is intact.

 

Results

This procedure results in preparing the operating system for installing the product.

 

What to do next

After preparing the operating system for installation, you can install the WebSphere Application Server product.

See Preparing to install ND on a Solaris system for the next step in the overall procedure, which is selecting the type of installation to perform.

 

Related tasks


Preparing to install ND on a Solaris system