Prepare HP-UX systems for installation

Before installing IBM WebSphere Application Server products on an HP-UX system, prepare the operating system.

The installation uses Installation Manager. We can use the graphical interface, the command line, or a response file.

Preparing the OS 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.

Tasks

1. Log on to the operating system.

   We 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. Optional: Download and install the Mozilla Firefox web browser.

   If we do not have the Mozilla web browser, download and install the browser from Web Browsers for HP-UX.

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.

   export BROWSER=/opt/bin/firefox

4. Stop all Java processes related to WAS on the machine where we 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 we 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 we have selected.

   Installing all features and products requires approximately 2 GB of disk space. This estimate includes the following products, components, and features:
   • Main application server product installation
   • Profiles
   • Sample applications
   • IBM HTTP Server
   • Web Server Plug-ins
   • Application Client for WAS

   If we 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. Set kernel values to support Application Server.

   Several HP-UX kernel values are typically too small for the product.

   To set kernel parameters...

   1. Log into the host machine as root.

   2. Determine the physical memory, which we must know to avoid setting certain kernel parameters above the physical capacity:

      1. Start the HP-UX System Administration Manager (SAM) utility with the /usr/sbin/sam command.

      2. Select Performance Monitors > System Properties > Memory.
      3. Note the value for Physical Memory and click OK.
      4. Exit from the SAM utility.

   3. Set the maxfiles and maxfiles_lim parameters to at least 4096. The following table recommends 8000 and 8196, respectively. We must first edit the /usr/conf/master.d/core-hpux file, so the SAM utility can set values greater than 2048:

      1. Open the /usr/conf/master.d/core-hpux file in a text editor.

      2. Change the line *range maxfiles<=2048 to *range maxfiles<=60000

      3. Change the line *range maxfiles_lim<=2048 to *range maxfiles_lim<=60000

      4. Save and close the file. Old values might be stored in the /var/sam/boot.config file. Force the SAM utility to create a new boot.config file:
         1. Move the existing version of the /var/sam/boot.config file to another location, such as the /tmp directory.

         2. Start the SAM utility.

         3. Select Kernel Configuration > Configurable Parameters. When the Kernel Configuration window opens, a new boot.config file exists.

            Alternatively, rebuild the boot.config file with the following command:

             # /usr/sam/lbin/getkinfo -b
            

   4. Set new kernel parameter values:

      1. Start the SAM utility.

      2. Click Kernel Configuration > Configurable Parameters.

      3. For each of the parameters in the following table, perform this procedure:
         1. Highlight the parameter to change.

         2. Click Actions > Modify Configurable Parameter.

         3. Type the new value in the Formula/Value field.

         4. Click OK.

      Parameter	Value
      swchunk	8192
      shmmni	8192 (Change this one before shmseg)
      shmseg	512
      maxdsiz	3221225472
      maxdsiz_64bit	64424509440
      maxfiles_lim	10000 (Change this one before maxfiles)
      maxfiles	8192
      semume	512
      semmsl	3072
      nkthread	10000
      max_thread_proc	4096
      nproc	8192 (Change this one before maxuprc)
      maxuprc	4096
      ninode	8110
      msgtql	13107 (Change this one before msgmap)
      msgmnb	65535 (0x10000) (Change this one before msgmax)
      msgmnb	131070 (when running multiple profiles on the same system)
      msgmbs	8
      msgmni	4634
      semmns	11586
      semmni	8192
      semmnu	8180
      shmmax	185513715302
      STRMSGSZ	65535
      dbc_max_pct	10
      nstrpty	60

      When WAS and IBM DB2 are on the same machine, some kernel values are higher than those shown in the preceding table.

      See the Recommended HP-UX kernel configuration parameters for DB2 V8 web page for more information.

   5. Click Actions > Process New Kernel.

   6. Click Yes on the information window to confirm your decision to restart the machine.

      Follow the on-screen instructions to restart the machine and to enable the new settings.

   7. If we plan to redirect displays to non-HP machines, do the following before installing:
      1. Issue the following command to obtain information on all the public locales that are accessible to the application:

         # locale -a
         

      2. Choose a value for our system from the output displayed and set the LANG environment variable to this value. Here is an example command that sets the value of LANG to en_US.iso88591

         # export LANG=en_US.iso88591
         

8. 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.

   • If we encounter the following error in the system out or installation log during the installation, we are missing a required linker patch:

     /usr/lib/dld.sl: Can't find path for shared library: libjli.sl
     

     Operating system version	Patch
     HP 11.31:	PHSS_37202

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

   If we have emacs or other freeware installed on the operating system, verify 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 we 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 we remove the freeware cp command from the PATH, we can install the application server product successfully.

10. Verify that the Java SDK on the installation image disk is functioning correctly if we created our own disk.

    For example, we might have downloaded an installation image from Passport Advantage, or we might have copied an installation image onto a backup disk. In either case, perform the following steps to verify that the disk contains a valid Java SDK.

    1. Change directories to the /JDK/jre.pak/repository/package.java.jre/java/jre/bin directory on the product disk. For example:

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

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

       ./java -version
       

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

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 the installation goals, we can start installing. Using one of the following links to open the installation procedure that you require.

• Perform an installation using the graphical user interface.

  See Install the product offerings on distributed operating systems using the GUI.

• Perform a silent installation.

  See Install the product offerings using response files.

• Install additional features on an existing product.

  See Install features on distributed operating systems.

Prepare the operating system for product installation