Cleaning your Windows system after uninstalling the product

Uninstall a WebSphere® Application Server product from a Windows system by running Installation Manager and then performing manual steps to remove log files and registry entries that can prevent you from reinstalling the product into the original directory. If you are not planning to reinstall, you do not have to clean your system.

Before you begin

The uninstallation program removes all profiles by default, including all of the configuration data and applications in each profile. Before you start the uninstallation procedure, back up the config folder, the installableApps folder, and the installedApps folder of each profile if necessary.The uninstallation program leaves all profiles, including all of the configuration data, applications, and other user data in each profile. Delete the data manually at a later time if you decide that it is unnecessary.

Determine the installation root directory for the product so that you remove the correct product and produce a clean system.

About this task

Reinstalling the product into a new directory when files remain from a previous installation can create a coexistence scenario. However, you can delete all files and registry entries to completely remove a WebSphere Application Server product. A clean system lets you reinstall the product into the original directory without coexistence.

Table 1. Default directories.

Default directories are shown in the following planning table:

Identifier	Default Directory
app_server_root	C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer
profile_root	C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer\profiles
plugins_root	C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\Plugins

Installation Manager and the Profile Management Tool provide an override for your own locations for root directories.

Perform the following procedure to produce a clean system.

1. Log on with the same user ID that was used to install the product.
2. Use Installation Manager to uninstall the Web Server Plug-ins.

   If a web server is configured to run with the application server, uninstall the plug-ins to remove the configuration from the web server.

3. Stop any browsers and any Java™ processes related to WebSphere Application Server products.
4. Remove the application server service from the operating system.

   Stop the IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0 - nodename service using the Windows Services panel, or run the WASService -stop command located in the app_server_root/bin directory. Then run the WASService -remove command to remove the service from the operating system.

5. Use Installation Manager to uninstall the product.
   • Uninstalling the product offerings from distributed operating systems by using the GUI
   • Uninstalling the product offerings by using response files
6. Delete the installation root directory for the product that you are uninstalling.
7. Locate all of the profile directories and delete the directories if they were located outside of the app_server_root directory and were not deleted in the previous step.

Results

This procedure results in having a clean system. You can reinstall into the same directories now. A clean system has no trace of a previously deleted installation.

What to do next

Go to Installing the product offerings to begin planning a new installation.