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Prepare Linux systems for installation

Ensure that the default shell for our Linux operating system is /bin/bash. To ensure that your default shell is bash and not dash:

If the result of the command is dash, consult the 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..

Installation Manager is based on the Eclipse Rich Client Platform architecture. This architecture requires specific graphical libraries and versions to work properly. Read Installation Manager graphical environment issues on Solaris, Linux, AIX for information about specific system requirements.

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. While this article 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 required for our distribution. If our distribution is not listed in this article, but is supported by WAS, check for any post-release technical notes available for our operating system at the IBM product support site. If a technical note is not available for our 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 we 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 our 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:


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. Download and install the Mozilla Firefox web browser if we are using the graphical Launchpad to install the product.

  3. Stop all Java processes related to WAS on the machine where we are installing the product.

  4. Stop any web server process such as the IBM HTTP Server.

  5. 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 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 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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:

      cd ~
      vi .bashrc
      ulimit -n 8192

    Set ulimit -c as unlimited to ensure that the core file is not truncated if a failure occurs. bprac

  8. 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 we 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.

  9. Complete any distribution-specific set up. See subtopics.

    If we are using a supported distribution that does not have detailed setup instructions in the WAS documentation, examine the WAS support site for any technical notes that are published for our distribution. If technical notes have been published, apply the fixes.

  10. 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 directory:

      /etc/xdg/menus/applications-merged

    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.


What to do next

After verifying prerequisites, verifying the product disk, and setting the installation goals, we can start installing WAS by choosing one of the following installation procedures:


Subtopics