Installation


The goal of this discussion is to provide checklists and suggestions for installing the necessary systems to build and run WebSphere enterprise applications. These systems include the following:

The suggested order for installation is that shown above.

General Suggestions

1. Create Folders for Installed systems

You may need to reinstall the Windows operating system or, conversely, one or more of the WebSphere components. Consequently, I suggest that you install all WebSphere related systems on a disk other than the C drive, such as the D drive. To make management easier, I suggest you put all of them in a folder, such as D:\MyServers.

2. Download and Unzip Install Files

Download copies of the installation files for DB2, WAS, and WSAD. You can get them from IBM's DeveloperWorks for tryout, from IBM's Scholars Program if you are an approved user for that site, or from the UNC Comp 119 (190-025)course materials if you are enrolled in that course. The last can be found in UNC CompSci AFS space at: /afs/cs.unc.edu/project/courses/materials/jbs/tools/downloads/; you should use the latest versions of DB2, WAS, and WSAD that are provided there.

3. Create DB2 Login

When you install DB2, you will need to provide a DB2 administrator login and password that has administrative privileges on your system. Since the login and password may have to be shared by several developers working on a project and since this information is stored in clear text in a file on the system, I suggest that you create a special login for this purpose. Since the default provided by the install wizard is db2admin, I suggest you use this, but you will need to create a new local user on your computer prior to installation.

4. Install Java

You will need a Java runtime environment, at least 1.3.1, for some of the components. Be sure this or a later version is installed. I suggest installing both the Standard and J2EE SDKs.

Install DB2

  1. Read install instruction in the location where DB2 files are unzipped and in the doc\en_US directory below that level.
  2. Double click the setup.exe file to begin the process.
  3. The process is straight-forward beyond that, with the exception of designating the administrative logon (e.g., db2admin) and associated password, discussed above.
  4. Following installation you will be shown a First Steps tool where you can verify the installation by exploring several sample databases as well as learn more about DB2.
  5. DB2 should have installed as a service, which you can verify by following Start > Settings > Control Panels > Administrative Tools > Services. There you should see that ./db2admin is designed as the Logon As field. There you may designate that DB2 is to startup automatically whenever the system is started or manually, if you prefer to start it only when needed.

Install WebSphere

  1. Read relevant sections in the Install Guide and skim the whole thing. It is an extensive PDF document that provides a general introduction to WebSphere as well as detailed instructions for installing and configuring the product.
  2. Doubleclick the install.exe file, located in the nt directory below the unzipped location, to begin the installation process.
  3. When prompted, install three components of WAS: WAS proper, the HTTP component, and the MQServer component. I suggest putting them in subdirectories below the main directory you have set up for WebSphere. It is customary to put WAS, itself, in a subdirectory called AppServer.
  4. Take the default and customary options through the process, with the exception of installation directory locations.
  5. Try stopping and starting the HTTP server. I have had failures with this using the default configuration for the "plugin" that ships with WAS to support communication between the HTTP server and WAS proper. The symptom is that when HTTP tries to start, it fails almost immediately. If you find this, the problem may be with the plugin-cfg.xml file included in the [WebSphere root]\config\cells directory. Make a backup copy of the file and then remove the following lines from the file:
    <Transport Hostname="localhost" Port="9443" Protocol="https">
    <Property name="keyring" value="D:\MyServers\WebSphere\AppServer/etc/plugin-key.kdb"/>
    <Property name="stashfile" value="D:\MyServers\WebSphere\AppServer/etc/plugin-key.sth"/>
    </Transport>

    What is happening here is that this segment is defining the connection for supporting SSL links, requiring encryption keys. It appears that WAS is shipping with invalid or out of date certificates. If you remove these lines from the config file, you will not be able to support HTTPS connection (until you obtain and install the required certificates), but HTTP should boot and run properly for conventional HTTP connections.

Install WebSphere Studio

  1. Read relevant sections in the Readme and Install files.
  2. Doubleclick the setup.exe file to begin the installation process.
  3. Take the default and customary options through the process, with the exception of installation directory locations.
  4. You will most likely not run WSAD as a service, but, rather, as an application that you start and stop manually.

back