Installation overview

Most IBM® InfoSphere® Master Data Management components can be installed on a server or workstation, a combination of the two, or across multiple servers to support clustered environments.

Important: Before you begin the process of installing InfoSphere MDM, review the known problems. Some of the known installation problems require you to complete specific preinstallation configuration tasks. Failure to complete these configuration tasks can result in a failed installation.
Tip: Use the Download IBM InfoSphere Master Data Management page to help determine the parts that you need for your licensed edition and version.

You must set up both a client system and one or more server systems. The application server, database server, and HTTP server can all be on the same server, or they can each be on their own server. The HTTP server is recommended, but is optional.

The time that is required to install InfoSphere MDM depends on a number of factors and, as such, time estimates cannot be provided. Some factors that influence the amount of time to prepare and install can include:
  • The number of components that are being installed.
  • The number of servers or workstations in your environment.
  • Your network load capacity if you are installing in a clustered environment.
  • Whether IBM WebSphere® Application Server is already installed.
  • Whether your database software is already installed.

The first step in the installation process is to determine the best deployment type for your requirements: one of the stand-alone with DB2 installation types (server or workstation) or the custom installation type. Most production implementations require a custom deployment.

Optionally, you can use the LaunchPad to start either a stand-alone with DB2 or custom installation. LaunchPad enables you to choose the installation type, and then it configures IBM Installation Manager to use the installation files appropriate to your selection. For custom installations, you have the opportunity to change the selected offerings to install after Installation Manager starts.

Tip: LaunchPad is a browser-based application that is used as the starting point for a stand alone server or workstation installation. LaunchPad requires the Mozilla Firefox browser. If Firefox is unavailable, you might be unable to use LaunchPad. If you cannot use LaunchPad:
  1. Log in as the root user.
  2. Install IBM Installation Manager in admin mode.
  3. Manually configure the InfoSphere MDM installation repositories.
After IBM Installation Manager is started, the basic order in which it works is described in these steps.
  1. Select the features of InfoSphere MDM that you want to install.
    Important: The MDM Database and MDM operational server are both required components. The MDM Database includes the core database tables for the edition that you are installing. The MDM Operational Server provides critical processing functionality.
  2. After you select the features and installation directory location, the installer does some basic checks on the operating system, disk space, and supporting software before continuing with the installation. If the installation directory specified is an existing directory, IBM Installation Manager verifies whether there is an existing installation and, if found, warns you about overwriting the installation.
  3. You are then prompted to enter information in a series of configuration panels. This information is used to automatically configure the MDM database and application server with specific connection information and to identify the cell, node, and servers on which the InfoSphere MDM artifacts are deployed.

    If you are using a stand alone installation, the configuration panels do not display. Default values are used to automatically configure the database, application server, and operational server settings.

  4. Static data is extracted into the MDM_INSTALL_HOME directory that you selected at the beginning of the process. Static data includes items like the Batch Processor, Management Agent, Management Console, and the madconfig utility scripts among other items.
  5. Database tables and indexes are created.
  6. Next, the native components and web services are deployed to the application server. That means that all artifacts are deployed in all specified nodes.
  7. User interfaces and web applications that are selected for installation are also deployed to the application server. The installer packages web-based application WAR files into an EAR file and deploys the EAR file to the application server. During deployment, the application server unpacks the content of the EAR files.
  8. Native configuration files .cfg are created.
  9. After deployment, the database is bootstrapped.
  10. Before the installation is complete, the installer completes a verification process by running transactions through the operational server.

In addition to the verification tests that the installation application runs, you can use the Test Client to run test transactions to ensure a successful installation.