Prepare Solaris systems for installation

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

 

Before you begin

The installation uses a InstallShield for Multiplatforms (ISMP) wizard. We can use the graphical interface of the wizard. We 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.

 

Overview

Use the following procedure to prepare the operating system for the installation of WAS products.

 

Procedure

1. Log on as root.

   We cannot install the product correctly as a non-root user.

   If you create a copy of the product CD-ROM, do so as root. Copies made from non-root users do not preserve the correct file attributes and do not work.

   In addition, verify that the umask setting is 022. 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 Web browser so that use 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.

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.

   For example, if the Mozilla package is in the bin /mozilla directory, use the following command

   EXPORT BROWSER=/opt/bin/mozilla
   

4. Stop all WebSphere Application Server-related Java processes 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.

   Attention:

   The Network Deployment product requires the following disk space:

   730 MB for the /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer 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.

   1030 MB total requirement

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

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

   110 MB for the /opt/IBMIHS directory

   The IBM HTTP Server product requires this space.

   25 MB for the /opt/ibm/gsk7 directory

   The Tivoli Global Security Kit requires this space.

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

   200 MB for the /opt/IBM/WebSphere/plugins directory

   35 MB for the /opt/ibm/gsk7 directory

   The following space is required for the IBM WAS Clients:

   150 MB for the /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppClient 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 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 disk 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 EAR files

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

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

   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
   
   

   We 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.

   Queue managers are generally independent of each other. Therefore system kernel parameters, for example shmmni, semmni, semmns, and semmnu need to allow for the number of queue managers in the system.

8. 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 IBM WAS supported hardware, software, and APIs Web site if you have not already done so.

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

   Solaris 9 SPARC workstations require the following patches to fix certain :

   • 112874-16 SunOS 5.9: patch libc

   • 113319-12 SunOS 5.9: libnsl nispasswdd patch

   • 115545-01 SunOS 5.9: nss_files patch

   • 115542-01 SunOS 5.9: nss_user patch

   • 115544-01 SunOS 5.9: nss_compat patch

   Solaris 8 SPARC workstations require the following patches to fix certain :

   • 115827-01 SunOS 5.8: /sbin/sulogin and /sbin/netstrategy patch

   • 115583-01 SunOS 5.8: /usr/lib/nss_user.so.1 patch

   • 108820-02 SunOS 5.8: nss_compat.so.1 patch

   • 113648-02 SunOS 5.8: /usr/sbin/mount patch

   • 108993-27 SunOS 5.8: LDAP2 client, libc, libthread and libnsl libraries patch

   • 108528-24 SunOS 5.8: kernel update patch

   Refer to the IBM WAS supported hardware, software, and APIs Web site for a complete list of required patches and to determine whether your operating system is supported when you receive a message from the prereqChecker program. The Web site lists all supported operating systems and the operating system fixes and patches that install to have a compliant operating system.

9. 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 install_root/java directory.

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

   Perform the following step to verify that the Java 2 SDK is working correctly.

10. Verify that the Java 2 SDK on your copy of the product CD is functioning correctly.

    If you created your own product CD from an ISO image or by copying the actual CD, perform the following steps to verify that the Java 2 SDK on the product CD-ROM is working correctly.

    1. Change directories to the /mnt/JDK/repository/prereq.jdk/java/bin directory on the product CD-ROM. For example

       cd /mnt/JDK/repository/prereq.jdk/java/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.

 

Result

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

 

What to do next

After preparing the operating system for installation, install the WAS product.

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

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