Installing the product offerings by using response files

You can install any product offering by using Installation Manager response files.

Before you begin

Prepare each of the systems onto which you want to install the product as described in Preparing the operating system for product installation.

Install IBM® Installation Manager and verify that you can access the product repositories. See Installing Installation Manager and Configuring the product repositories in Installation Manager.

IBM Installation Manager Version 1.8.5 or later is required to install the product.

[IBM i] Before you install a product offering, ensure that your user profile has *ALLOBJ and *SECADM special authorities.

About this task

All product offerings can be installed by using Installation Manager response files, including the following offerings:

All WebSphere Application Server editions
Application Client for WebSphere Application Server
DMZ Secure Proxy Server for WebSphere Application Server
IBM HTTP Server
Web Server Plug-ins
WebSphere Customization Toolbox

For a full list of product offerings, see WebSphere Application Server product offerings for supported operating systems.

For transitioning users: IBM SDK, Java™ Technology Edition, Version 8 is the Java SDK version for WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0. IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition is no longer embedded with any WebSphere Application Server offerings. The Java SDK is available as a separate offering that must be installed when you install the product.

You can also generate a response file for a full production server by using the generateResponseFile option on an Installation Manager imcl command. The generateResponseFile option cannot be used when you are updating from one version of the product to another or when you are installing a fix pack. For more information about the generateResponseFile option, see IBM Installation Manager documentation.

Procedure

Create a response file to install the product.
A response file is an XML file that contains the data that is required to install the product, such as the offerings to install, the installation directory, and the installation package architecture.
If you install the product from an authenticated remote repository, you must also create the following files:
- A master password text file, which is used to secure your authentication credentials.
- A credential storage file to store authentication credentials
For more information, see Storing credentials in the IBM Installation Manager documentation.
You can use the Installation Manager GUI to record the product installation response file. When you record a response file, the selections that you make in Installation Manager are stored in the response file. For more information, see Recording response files to install the product.

Important: Because IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition is a separate offering that must be installed when you install the product, your response file must contain two <offering> elements: one for the product installation, and one for the Java SDK.

For a sample response file that installs WebSphere Application Server Version 9.0 and IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8, see the examples.

Use the response files to install the product.

Start the command line.

On a CL command line, run the STRQSH command to start the Qshell command shell.
Change to the eclipse/tools subdirectory in the directory where you installed Installation Manager.

Run the imcl input command and specify the location of the response file.

For example:

Administrator or non-administrator:

imcl.exe -acceptLicense 
  input C:\temp\install_response_file.xml 
  -secureStorageFile C:\IM\credential.store  -masterPasswordFile C:\IM\master_password.txt
  -log C:\temp\install_log.xml

Administrator:

./imcl -acceptLicense 
  input /var/temp/install_response_file.xml 
  -secureStorageFile /var/IM/credential.store -masterPasswordFile /var/IM/master_password.txt
  -log /var/temp/install_log.xml

Non-administrator:

./imcl -acceptLicense 
  input user_home/var/temp/install_response_file.xml 
  -secureStorageFile user_home/var/IM/credential.store -masterPasswordFile user_home/var/IM/master_password.txt
  -log user_home/var/temp/install_log.xml

./imcl -acceptLicense 
  input $HOME/WASFiles/temp/install_response_file.xml 
  -secureStorageFile $HOME/WASFiles/temp/credential.store -masterPasswordFile $HOME/WASFiles/temp/master_password.txt
  -log $HOME/WASFiles/temp/install_log.xml

Notes:

The relevant terms and conditions, notices, and other information are provided in the license-agreement files in the lafiles or product_name/lafiles subdirectory of the installation image or repository for this product.
The program might write important post-installation instructions to standard output.

For more information, see the IBM Installation Manager documentation for more information.

Response file examples and modification

The following sample response file installs WebSphere Application Server and the IBM SDK, Java Technology Edition, Version 8 on Windows.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<agent-input clean="true" temporary="true">
<server>
<repository location="http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90" />
</server>
<install modify='false'>
<offering id='com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90' 
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0' 
  features='core.feature,ejbdeploy,thinclient,embeddablecontainer' installFixes='none'/>
<offering id='com.ibm.java.jdk.v8'
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0'
  features='com.ibm.sdk.8'/>
</install>
<profile id='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0' 
  installLocation='C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer'>
<data key='eclipseLocation' value='C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer'/>
<data key='user.import.profile' value='false'/>
<data key='cic.selector.nl' value='en'/>
</profile>
</agent-input>

You can add optional features:

To add the optional features, add each feature in the offering as an entry in a comma-separated list.

The offering IDs, optional features for each offering, and default features are shown in the following table:

Table 1. Offering IDs and optional features
Offering ID	Optional feature ID	Default features
WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment `com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90`	`core.feature`: WebSphere Application Server This feature must be specified to specify the following optional subfeatures: `samples`: Sample applications `thinclient`: Standalone thin clients and resource adapters `embeddablecontainer`: Embeddable EJB container `ejbdeploy`: EJBDeploy tool for pre-EJB 3.0 modules Note: You cannot use Installation Manager to modify, update, or roll back functions to later add or remove `core.feature`. Only the subfeatures can be added or removed.	`core.feature` `thinclient` `embeddablecontainer` `ejbdeploy`
Application Client for WebSphere Application Server `com.ibm.websphere.APPCLIENT.v90`	`samples`: Samples `standalonethinclient.resourceadapter.runtime`: Standalone Thin Clients Runtime `standalonethinclient.resourceadapter.samples`: Standalone Thin Clients Samples `embeddablecontainer`: Embeddable EJB Container	`embeddablecontainer`
DMZ Secure Proxy Server for IBM WebSphere Application Server `com.ibm.websphere.NDDMZ.v90`	`core.feature`: DMZ Secure Proxy Server for IBM WebSphere Application Server This feature must be specified to specify the following optional subfeature: `thinclient`: Standalone thin clients and resource adapters	No default features
Web Server Plug-ins `com.ibm.websphere.PLG.v90`	No optional features	N/A
WebSphere Customization Toolbox `com.ibm.websphere.WCT.v90`	`zpmt`: Profile Management Tool (z/OS only) `zmmt`: z/OS Migration Management Tool `pct`: Web Server Plug-ins Configuration Tool	All optional features are installed by default

For example, to install all of the optional features for the WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment offering, replace the features in the product offering definition

<offering id='com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90' 
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0'
  features='core.feature' installFixes='none'/>

with

<offering id='com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90' 
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0'
  features='core.feature,samples,ejbdeploy,thinclient,embeddablecontainer' installFixes='none'/>

You can disable remote searches:
To disable remote searches for updates in the response file, set the following preferences to false:
- offering.service.repositories.areUsed: Used for searching remote repositories for updates to installed offerings
- com.ibm.cic.common.core.preferences.searchForUpdates: Used for searching for updates to Installation Manager
For example:
```
<preference value='false' name='offering.service.repositories.areUsed'/>
<preference value='false' name='com.ibm.cic.common.core.preferences.searchForUpdates'/>
```
For more details on silent preference keys, see the IBM Installation Manager documentation.

You can install multiple copies of a product:

To install multiple copies of a product offering, specify a different installation location and a new package group for each installation. For example, to install a second copy of the WebSphere Application Server product into the C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer_2 directory and create the IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0_2 package group:

Replace the profile name and installation location

<profile id='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0' 
  installLocation='C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer'>

with

<profile id='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0_2'
  installLocation='C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer_2'>

Replace the Eclipse location value

<data key='eclipseLocation' value='C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer'/>

with

<data key='eclipseLocation' value='C:\Program Files\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer_2'/>

Replace the product offering profile name

<offering id='com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90' 
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0'
  features='core.feature,ejbdeploy,thinclient,embeddablecontainer' installFixes='none'/>

with

<offering id='com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90' 
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0_2'
  features='core.feature,ejbdeploy,thinclient,embeddablecontainer' installFixes='none'/>

Replace the Java SDK offering profile name

<offering id='com.ibm.java.jdk.v8'
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0'
  features='com.ibm.sdk.8'/>

with

<offering id='com.ibm.java.jdk.v8'
  profile='IBM WebSphere Application Server V9.0_2'
  features='com.ibm.sdk.8'/>

You can choose whether to save packages for rolling back:
Installation Manager can save earlier versions of a package to roll back to if you experience issues later. When Installation Manager rolls back a package to a previous version, the current versions of the files are uninstalled and the earlier versions are reinstalled.
If you choose not to save the files for rollback, you can prevent the files from being saved by changing the following preference in your response file:
```
<preference name='com.ibm.cic.common.core.preferences.preserveDownloadedArtifacts' value='true'/>
```
to this:
```
<preference name='com.ibm.cic.common.core.preferences.preserveDownloadedArtifacts' value='false'/>
```
Tip: Even if you choose not to preserve files locally for rollback with this option, you can still roll back to any previously installed level by accessing the appropriate product repository.

For more information on setting your Installation Manager preferences, see the IBM Installation Manager documentation.