WAS v8.0 > Install the application serving environment > Distributed operating systems > Prepare the operating system for product installation


Prepare Linux systems for installation

This topic describes how to prepare a Linux system for installing WAS.

The installation uses Installation Manager. We can use the graphical interface or use a response file in silent mode.

On the SUSE Linux Enterprise Server v10 operating system, the xorg-x11-libs package exists by default. This package contains the following libraries, which are required to properly operate WebSphere Application Server:

For more information on this package, see the Novell website. Ensure that the default shell for your Linux operating system is /bin/bash. Use the following command to ensure that your default shell is bash and not dash: 

$ readlink /bin/sh
If the result of the command is dash, consult your operating system documentation for the steps to properly switch to bash as the default shell. Failure to use the bash shell can result in errors and hang situations during the profile creation process.

Prepare 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.

While this topic lists many steps that are common to all Linux distributions, specific Linux distributions might require additional steps. Complete all common steps, as well as any additional steps that are required for your distribution. If your distribution is not listed in this topic, but is supported by WAS, check for any post-release technical notes that are available for your operating system at the product support site at http://www.ibm.com/software/webservers/appserv/was/support/. If a technical note is not available for your distribution, additional steps might not be required.

When additional steps are required, it is typically because a default installation of the distribution does not provide required libraries or operating system features. If you install WAS on a customized Linux installation that has installed packages that differ significantly from the packages provided by a default installation of the distribution, ensure that your customized installation has the packages required for WAS to run. WAS does not maintain lists of the packages required for each Linux distribution or for updates to each distribution.

For WAS to run adequately, your Linux installation must have the following items:


Procedure

  1. Log on to the operating system.

    You can log on as root or as a nonroot 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 nonroot users a umask of 002 or 022 can be used, depending on whether the users share the group.

    To verify the umask setting, issue the following command: 

    umask

    To set the umask setting to 022, issue the following command: 

    umask 022
  2. Download and install the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

    If you do not have the Firefox browser, download and install the browser from http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/.

    It might be necessary to run >firefox &url from directories other than the one where Firefox is installed, so ensure that Firefox is in the path. We can add a symbolic link to the Firefox directory by entering: 

    >ln -s /locationToFirefox/firefox firefox

  3. 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.

    If the Mozilla Firefox package is in the /opt/bin/firefox directory, for example, use the following command: 

    export BROWSER=/opt/bin/firefox
  4. Stop all Java processes related to WAS on the machine where you are installing the product.
  5. Stop any web server process such as the IBM HTTP Server.
  6. Provide adequate disk space.

    The amount of disk space required varies with the number of features or products installed. If you are installing the product using Installation Manager, the installation summary panel indicates the approximate amount of disk space required based on the features and products that we have selected. Installing all features and products requires approximately 2 GB of disk space. This estimate includes the following products, components, and features:

    If you plan to migrate applications and the configuration from a previous version, verify that the application objects have enough disk space. As a rough guideline, plan for space equal to 110 percent of the size of the applications.

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

    Although Installation Manager checks for prerequisite operating system patches, review the prerequisites on the Supported hardware and software website if we 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.

  8. Increase the ulimit setting in the bash command shell profile to prevent addNode and importWasprofile problems.

    The addNode command script can fail when adding a node, or the importWasprofile command can fail when importing a configuration archive.

    Set a higher ulimit setting for the kernel in the bash shell profile script, which is loaded at login time for the session.

    Set the ulimit on your Linux command shells by adding the command to your shell profile script. The shell profile script is usually found under your home directory:

    1. cd ~
    2. vi .bashrc
    3. ulimit -n 8192

  9. Restore the original copy of the etc/issue file if the file is modified.

    Installation Manager uses the file to verify the version of the operating system. If you cannot restore the original version, ignore the Operating System Level Check message about the operating system being unsupported. The installation can continue successfully despite the warning.

  10. Verify the system cp command when using emacs or other freeware.

    If we have emacs or other freeware installed on your operating system, verify that the system cp command is used.

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

    WAS_HOME/java

    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.

  11. Complete any distribution-specific set up.

    Complete the steps for your distribution:

    If you are using a supported distribution other than those listed above, examine the WAS support site for any technical notes that are published for your distribution. If technical notes have been published, apply the fixes.

  12. Grant a non-root installer ID the correct file permissions to create menu entries in Gnome and KDE.

    Before the installation, the root user can grant write permission to the non-root installer for the /etc/xdg/menus/applications-merged directory. Then, Installation Manager creates the menu entries during the non-root installation.

    Otherwise, run scripts to create and remove the menu entries while WAS Network Deployment is installed.


Results

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


What to do next

After verifying prerequisites, verifying the product disk, and setting your installation goals, you can start installing. Use one of the following links to open the installation procedure that you require.


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Prepare the operating system for product installation

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