Product fix packs contain bundled service to bring WebSphere® Application Server up to a new product level. Interim fixes provide corrective
service for specific known problems. You can use the IBM®
Installation Manager command-line function to update the product with the fixes that are available
for your service level of WebSphere Application Server
Version 8.5.
Before you begin
Contact the IBM Software Support Center for information
about upgrades for WebSphere Application Server for IBM i. The most current information is available from the IBM Software Support Center and Fix Central.
IBM Installation Manager is used to apply product
maintenance to WebSphere Application Server for IBM i.
Note: Starting in version 8.5.5.11, you must install
either Java SE 6 or Java SE 8 as the version of Java SE contained in the
/java
and
/java64 directories in WebSphere Application Server and used by default
during server and node configuration. Java 8 is the recommended Java SDK because it provides the
latest features and security updates. You can continue to use Java SE 6, but no service can be
provided after the end of support in April 2018, which could expose your environment to security
risks. For instructions on how to update your existing WebSphere Application Server profiles to use
Java SE 8, perform the steps outlined in the
IBMi documentation .
Starting in
version 8.5.5.14, Java SE 8 is the default Java. When updating to 8.5.5.14, any existing profile
that uses Java SDK 6 is replaced by Java SDK 8. You can continue to use Java SDK Java Technology
Edition Version 7.0 and Version 7.1, but no service can be provided after the end of support in July
2022, which could expose your environment to security risks.
Tip: As an alterative to the procedure that is described in this article, Installation
Manager allows you to use the updateAll command in a response file or on the
command line to search for and update all installed packages. Use this command only if you have full
control over which fixes are contained in the targeted repositories. If you create and point to a
set of custom repositories that include only the specific fixes that you want to install, you should
be able to use this command confidently. If you enable searching service repositories or install
fixes directly from other live web-based repositories, then you might not want to select this option
so that you can select only the fixes that you want to install using the -installFixes option with
the install command on the command line or the installFixes attribute in a
response file.
About this task
Use this procedure whenever you want to apply a new fix pack to your system.
Restriction: You cannot use the iRemoteInstall
command to install a fix pack.
Restrictions:
- You cannot use the
iRemoteInstall
command to install a fix pack.
- You cannot use Installation Manager to upgrade an installation and add or remove the full WebSphere Application Server profile feature or the Liberty
profile feature.
Note: In WebSphere Application Server Version
8.5.5.0, the Liberty profile was promoted from a feature to an independently installable offering.
You cannot make an inplace update of the Version 8.5.0.x Liberty profile feature.
The wlp folder includes the Liberty runtime and any user data or server
configurations that you have saved in the wlp/usr folder. If you have a
combined full-profile and Liberty-profile Version 8.5.0.x installation, the
update program will back up the wlp folder for the existing Version
8.5.0.x Liberty profile feature into the
wlp.bak_<timestamp> folder and uninstall the feature
during an update to Version 8.5.5.0 or higher. You can continue using Liberty from the backed-up
location or copy it elsewhere. To update the Liberty profile to Version 8.5.5.0 or higher, you then
must install WebSphere Application Server Liberty Network Deployment with
the com.ibm.websphere.liberty.ND.v85
offering ID. After installing the WebSphere Application Server Liberty product, you can move any user data
and server configurations from the wlp.bak_<timestamp>
folder to the new Liberty installation.
Procedure
-
For a list of fixes that are available for WebSphere Application Server Version 8.x and specific information about each fix, perform the
following actions.
- Go to Fix
Central.
- Select WebSphere as the product group.
- Select WebSphere Application Server as the
product.
- Select 8.x as the installed version.
- Select your operating system as the platform, and click Continue.
- Select Browse for fixes, and click Continue.
- Click More Information under each fix to view information about the fix.
- Recommendation: Make a list of the names of the fixes that you would like to
install.
-
Update WebSphere Application Server Version 8.x
with the fix pack using one of the following procedures.
- Access the live service repository that contains the fix pack, and use web-based updating.
Use
Installation Manager on your local system to update WebSphere Application Server Version 8.x with the interim fixes from the live web-based
service repositories.
To install a fix from a service repository, perform the following actions:
- If you do not already have an Installation Manager credentials file containing your IBM software
user ID and password, create one that will allow you to access the repository.
Note: These are the
credentials that you use to access protected IBM software websites.
For information on
creating a keyring file for Installation Manager, read the IBM
Installation Manager documentation.Tip: When creating a keyring file, append
/repository.config at the end of the repository URL location if the
imutilsc command is unable to find the URL that is specified.
Supported configurations:
Starting in Installation Manager Version 1.6.2, the -keyring and
-password options that were used to access credentials in a key ring file are
deprecated. For Installation Manager Version 1.6.2 and later, use the
-secureStorageFile and -masterPasswordFile options to
store credentials in a credential storage file.
In Version 1.7, the format of the secure storage file is revised, and is no longer compatible
with versions of Installation Manager before version 1.7. Update Installation Manager to version 1.7
or higher and then re-create and replace any secure storage files that you created with earlier
versions.
There is no migration path from key ring files to storage files because of the differences in the
file structures. You must create a storage file to replace a key ring file. For more information
about using the -secureStorageFile and -masterPasswordFile
options to store credentials in a credential storage file, see the IBM Installation Manager documentation.
- Sign on to the IBM i system with a user profile that has
*ALLOBJ and *SECADM special authorities.
- Stop all servers and applications on the WebSphere Application Server installation that is being
updated.
- On a CL command line, run the STRQSH command to start the Qshell command shell.
- Make sure that the umask is set to 022.
To verify the umask setting, issue the following
command:
umask
To set the umask setting to 022, issue the following command:
umask 022
- Change to the
Installation_Manager_binaries/eclipse/tools directory, where
Installation_Manager_binaries is the installation root
directory for the Installation Manager.
On IBM i systems,
the root directory for the Installation Manager is
/QIBM/ProdData/InstallationManager.
- Install the fix
pack.
./imcl install offering_ID_offering_version,optional_feature_ID
-repositories source_repository
-installationDirectory product_installation_location
-keyring keyring_file -password password
-acceptLicense
- Optional: List all installed packages to verify the
installation:
./imcl listInstalledPackages -long
- Download a file that contains the fix pack from Fix Central, and use local updating.
You can
download a compressed file that contains the fix pack from Fix Central. Each compressed fix file
contains an Installation Manager repository for the fix pack and usually has a .zip extension. After
downloading the fix file, you can use Installation Manager to update WebSphere Application Server Version 8.x with the fix pack.
- To download the fix pack, perform the following actions:
- Go to Fix
Central.
- Select WebSphere as the product group.
- Select WebSphere Application Server as the
product.
- Select 8.x as the installed version.
- Select your operating system as the platform, and click Continue.
- Select Browse for fixes, and click Continue.
- Select the fix pack that you want to download, and click Continue.
- Select your download options, and click Continue.
- Click I agree to agree to the terms and conditions.
- Click Download now to download the fix pack.
- Transfer the compressed fix file in binary format to the IBM i systems on which it will be installed.
- Extract the compressed repository file to a directory on your system.
- To install a fix pack from a downloaded file, perform the following actions:
- Sign on to the IBM i system with a user profile that has
*ALLOBJ and *SECADM special authorities.
- Stop all servers and applications on the WebSphere Application Server installation that is being
updated.
- On a CL command line, run the STRQSH command to start the Qshell command shell.
- Make sure that the umask is set to 022.
To verify the umask setting, issue the following
command:
umask
To set the umask setting to 022, issue the following command:
umask 022
- Change to the
Installation_Manager_binaries/eclipse/tools directory, where
Installation_Manager_binaries is the installation root
directory for the Installation Manager.
On IBM i systems,
the root directory for the Installation Manager is
/QIBM/ProdData/InstallationManager.
- Install the fix
pack.
./imcl install offering_ID_offering_version,optional_feature_ID
-repositories location_of_expanded_files
-installationDirectory product_installation_location
-acceptLicense
- Optional: List all installed packages to verify the
installation:
./imcl listInstalledPackages -long