Starting the installation program with a response file

You can run a silent installation of InfoSphere® Information Server by using a response file rather than by using the installation wizard. Follow the progress of the installation by monitoring the installation log file.

Procedure

  1. Optional: Modify the EXCEPTION_POLICY environment variable. This variable determines how errors are processed that might occur when running in silent mode.
    Operating System Command
    AIX®

    In the sh or bash shell:

    export EXCEPTION_POLICY=n

    In the csh or tcsh shell:

    setenv EXCEPTION_POLICY=n
    Linux®

    In the sh or bash shell:

    export EXCEPTION_POLICY=n

    In the csh or tcsh shell:

    setenv EXCEPTION_POLICY=n
    Windows
    set EXCEPTION_POLICY=n
    n can be any of the following values:
    1
    Prompt user to try again on error (default behavior)
    2
    Continue on error
    Important: Continuing with an installation after an error occurs could result in a nonoperational installation, or might cause existing installed software to stop functioning. Use this option only if directed by IBM® Support.
    3
    Exit on error
  2. On Microsoft Windows computers, verify that the user is a member of the local Administrators group.
    You must be a local administrator or a local user who is directly assigned to the local Administrators group to run the installation program.
    1. Open a command prompt and enter compmgmt.msc.
    2. In the navigation pane, click Local Users and Groups > Groups.
    3. In the right pane, right-click Administrators and click Properties.
    4. In the Administrators Properties window, locate the user name in the Members list.
      If the user name is in the list, the user is part of the Administrators group.

      If the user name is not in the list, the user is not part of the group. You must use a different user account to run the installation program, or ask a system administrator to add the current account into the local Administrators group.

  3. Log in to the target computer.
    Operating system Description
    AIX Log in as the root user.
    Linux Log in as the root user.
    Windows Log in as a local administrator or as a local or domain user who is directly assigned to the local Administrators group.
  4. Open a command prompt or shell window.
    Operating system Command
    AIX Open a shell window on the target computer, or use a graphical desktop sharing system. Keep the shell window open during the entire installation process. If you use telnet or ssh, make sure that the session does not shut down or timeout for the duration of the installation.
    Linux Open a shell window on the target computer, or use a graphical desktop sharing system. Keep the shell window open during the entire installation process. If you use telnet or ssh, make sure that the session does not shut down or timeout for the duration of the installation.
    Windows Start an administrator session by using one of the following methods:
    • Run the following command:
      runas /user:Administrator cmd.exe
    • Open an elevated command window.
      1. Click Start > Search.
      2. In the Search Results box, enter cmd and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter.
      3. Click Continue to accept the prompt asking for your permission to continue.
  5. In the newly created session, run the following command to clear any Java™ options that might be set.
    Operating system Command
    AIX

    In the sh or bash shell:

    export IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS=

    In the csh or tcsh shell:

    unsetenv IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS
    Linux

    In the sh or bash shell:

    export IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS=

    In the csh or tcsh shell:

    unsetenv IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS
    Windows
    set IBM_JAVA_OPTIONS=
  6. AIX Linux: Configure the following settings for the session to help ensure that the installation is successful:
    • Set the file creation mask to 022:
      umask 022
    • Ensure that you have no less than 10240 file descriptor resources allocated.
    • Check that the current setting for the NOFILES kernel parameter is set to a value that is at least equal to the value that you specify for ulimit.
  7. Extract the installation package.
    For example:
    Operating system Command
    AIX gunzip -c is-suite.*.tar.gz | tar xvf -
    Linux tar zxvf is-suite.*.tar.gz
    Windows The installation image contains some deep directory paths and long file names. Therefore, to avoid running into the Windows 255 character path name limit during later installation steps, extract the contents into a short initial directory path, such as C:\temp. Also, instead of using the Windows File Explorer extraction utility, use a utility such as PKZip, WinZip, or 7-zip. For example:
    7z.exe x is-suite.*.zip -oC:\temp
    The basic package is named is-suite.* for the full product or is-client.* for the client only.
  8. The is-suite images require the use of a Bundle Entitlement package; the is-client images do not. If you are installing an is-suite image, extract the contents of the entitlement package into the is-suite directory that is decompressed in the previous step.
    Ensure that you have downloaded the correct entitlement package for your operating system platform, licensed products, and suite installation package. A suite entitlement package will only work for a suite installation package.
    For example:
    unzip -d is-suite Bundle.suite.*.zip

    On AIX, if you don't already have the GNU zip utility, it is available as gzip-program_version.aix_version.ppc.rpm in the IBM AIX Toolbox.

    The packages for the microservices tier (required for Enterprise Search, IBM Watson Knowledge Catalog, the new Information Governance Catalog, and the InfoSphere Information Analyzer console) come as Docker images. They must be downloaded to the microservices tier master node and do not have to be extracted. To install Watson Knowledge Catalog Professional, you must also download the Watson Knowledge Catalog Professional Bundle Spec File and extract it to the is-suite directory that is decompressed in the previous step. The directory structure should look like this:
    • Linux, UNIX: …/is-suite/ProductBundles/WKCPro/…
    • Windows: …\is-suite\ProductBundles\WKCPro\…
  9. Change to the is-suite or is-client directory.
  10. Run the setup command with the -reportOnly parameter to perform the prerequisite check.
    For example,
    setup -reportOnly
    The installation program runs through a prerequisites check phase. If all prerequisite checks pass, installation continues until the installation process finishes. If one or more prerequisite checks fail, the installation displays errors and stops. The prerequisites check report contains messages like the following line:
    FAIL - The Db2 installation directory C:\IBM\SQLLIB must be empty.
    If a prerequisites check fails, correct the problem and restart the installation.
  11. Run the following command to start the installation program:
    Operating system Command
    AIX
    ./setup -rsp response_file -verbose
    Linux
    ./setup -rsp response_file -verbose
    Windows
    setup.exe -rsp response_file -verbose

    Where response_file is the path and name of your response file.

    The -verbose option is optional. The option causes the installation program to display log messages to the console and also write them to the log file. If the -verbose option is not specified, log messages are written to the log file only.

    When you start the installation program, the program begins to display messages in the window if the -verbose option is specified.

    Be mindful of the following conditions while the installation program is running:
    • Monitor the installation as described in Monitoring the InfoSphere Information Server installation.
    • Leave the terminal window open until the installation is complete.
    • The system might occasionally request you to grant permissions to execute a process, such as Java.exe or db2setup.exe. When this prompt is displayed, click Yes. The system might also display a firewall warning if the firewall is not shutdown or disabled. Click through the warning to allow the installation program to continue.
  12. Microsoft Windows: When the installation process completes, restart the computer.