Preparing AIX systems for installation

Before you can install IBM® Business Automation Workflow, you must prepare your AIX® operating system.

About this task

Because certain steps are specific to a version of the operating system, all steps might not apply to your environment. If no qualifier is provided for a particular step, complete the step for all versions of the operating system.

Refer to the following technote for additional preparation information for configuring Installation manager to run on 64-bit AIX systems: Installation Manager graphical environment issues.

Procedure

Complete the following steps on your AIX system before installing Business Automation Workflow:

  1. Because WebSphere® Application Server is a prerequisite of Business Automation Workflow, complete the required preparation steps in the Preparing AIX systems for installation topic in the WebSphere Application Server documentation.
    Note: Make sure the X Window System (X11) is installed.
  2. Increase the maximum number of open files and the maximum file size. The default settings are usually not enough. You can check the current maximum number of open files by using ulimit -n and the current maximum file size by using ulimit -f. The following example shows the maximum number of open files being increased to 8800 and the maximum file size to 6291453, which is large enough for most systems. The ulimit requirement is dynamically calculated at installation time and might need to be larger based on the options you select.

    Before installing, run the following commands:

    • ulimit -n 8800
    • ulimit -f 6291453

    Alternatively, you can use the following steps to edit the resource limits file:

    1. Open /etc/security/limits.
    2. Edit or add the default section and include these lines:
      • nofiles = 8800
      • fsize = 6291453
    3. Save and close the file.
    4. Log off from the operating system and log in again.
  3. Set the umask value to 077 using the following command:
    • umask 077
    The value 077 is the most restrictive value that Business Automation Workflow will tolerate. You can optionally choose to set a less restrictive umask value for the following access levels:
    • 037 for read-only access for a group of human administrators and tools
    • 027 for read and write access for a group of human administrators and tools
    • 007 for read, write, and execute access for a group of human administrators and tools
  4. If you plan to install interactively, ensure that you have a supported version of Mozilla Firefox installed.
  5. Before starting the data movement service, increase the number of processes configured in the AIX operating system to avoid a connection reset error. You can increase the number of processing using a command, or using the AIX interface.
    • Run the command:
      chdev  -l sys0 -a maxuproc='256'
    • In the AIX interface, enter smitty, then select System Environments > Change / Show Characteristics of Operating System > Number of processes allowed per user(Num.).
  6. Complete the steps in Tuning AIX systems.
  7. Ensure all servers involved are set to the same time. Use the same network time protocol for all servers on all cluster nodes, including application, support, and database clusters. A time mismatch will cause erratic behavior, including duplicate system tasks.