Installing WebSphere Application Server 6.0
December 7, 2005 Hey, Brian
Earlier this year, I installed WebSphere Application Express Server Version 5.1 on our iSeries 270; the software came with my OS/400 V5R3 upgrade. I used your book, The iSeries Express Web Implementor’s Guide, which I purchased at the IT Jungle Bookstore, to help understand what the WebSphere Express server really was all about. Then, after I thought I understood what I needed to do, I used the normal IBM command RSTLICPGM to install WebSphere Application Express Server Version 5.1, or as you refer to it as WAS 5.1 Express. After running the RSTLICPGM, to make sure it was installed, I did a GO LICPGM and took option 10. There were two entries for 5722-E51 in the list and I knew I was in business.
I then used your book to install the 5722-BZ1 (IBM Business Solutions including Survey Creator and the Telephone Directory) so I would be able to see how WebSphere applications would work on our system. I did not get much further and actually never got to run WebSphere.
Around that time, business had gotten really good for us and we did a pretty quick upgrade from our Model 270. We are now running proudly on our new i5 system, but it took us some time to get here. Because there were several cabinets involved, IBM could not preload the software, and so we had to start from scratch. Now I am at the point where I have to reinstall WebSphere.
In addition to the WebSphere Application Server 5.1 disks, I found a new WebSphere Application Server 6.0 disk in my IBM shipment. Rather than mess with the older WAS Express, I began to use your book again to install WAS 6.0, just as I had done with the 5.1 version. However, the RSTLICPGM told me that it could not find the files on the CD? No instructions came with the machine to give me a clue as to what is wrong. Why is this happening? What am I doing wrong? How can I get to the point of installation with WAS 6.0 on my new i5 that I already was with WAS 5.1 on the Model 270? Thank you for your help.
–Marlene
Welcome to the world of WebSphere, Marlene. You may know that WebSphere’s origins go back almost 10 years when it was a Windows and Unix product. Over the years, with the iSeries being well equipped to run Unix-type applications, WebSphere versions have been retrofitted to the AS/400 and iSeries. Occasionally, when a new WebSphere version comes out, for example, well after an OS/400 or i5/OS release, in order to provide the product expeditiously with minimal delays, IBM is forced to show its Unix roots.
In fact, it has been only in the last several releases of the WebSphere Application Server (WAS) Express that IBM has enabled the RSTLICPGM command to install the software. Unlike a normal release upgrade, in which all of the software components that you had on your machine are re-installed, WebSphere works a lot differently. The basic reason that you are having problems now is simply that the RSTLICPGM has not been built to install WAS 6.0.
Without going back to the Dark Ages, it would help to first understand that each version of WebSphere is viewed as a new product by IBM’s Software Group, the maker of WebSphere. It is not like OS/400, for example, which goes by product ID 5722-SS1 regardless of which version of the software you are using. For example, WAS Express V5.0 carries product ID 5722-IWE, whereas WAS Express V5.1 is 5722-E51. Carrying this notion further, you would probably conclude that WebSphere 6.0 would also be a different product number, and you would be correct. The iSeries installed product ID for WAS Express 6.0 is 5733-W60. However, just to make matters a little more interesting, you may recall that with your new i5 shrink-wrapped software, WAS 6.0 was not shipped to you with that product number on the outside of the package.
In February 2005, IBM decided to create a new product number for WAS ordering purposes. The company called it the Web Enablement Package for iSeries and gave it the product number 5722-WE2. So, for V5R3 customers who had not received the WAS 6.0 shrink-wrapped package (since it came after the OS release), this provided a means to order the new software.
Of course, the 5722-WE2 package includes WAS 6.0 and it is available to i5/OS V5R3 clients at no additional charge. Again, this does not apply to you since you have the package, but other iSeries IBM customers simply order the new package–IBM Web Enablement for i5/OS (5722-WE2)–if they do so after February 18, 2005. Because IBM does not want to dictate which WAS version you choose to deploy, the package also includes WAS Express V5.1, which remains current.
For those AS/400 and iSeries customers who have not yet moved to V5R3, however, even though WAS 5.1 and WAS 6.0 run fine on OS/400 V5R2, the WAS Express software is not free when installed on V5R2. WAS Express 6.0 is a chargeable product on OS/400 V5R2, unless a customer has an active Passport Advantage maintenance contract for WAS Express 5 . . . then they can upgrade at no charge. From your note, I can see that you already have the correct software, so this was not an issue for you.
By the way, if your system shipped as one piece and did not require the type of expansion units you ordered, along with the OS and all of your normal IBM iSeries software, IBM would have pre-loaded WAS 5.0. Considering that WAS 6.0 is current since February and WAS 5.1 has been out for over a year, that gives you an idea on how long it takes to really “integrate” WebSphere into the iSeries installation process.
What is WebSphere?
Since you have not used WebSphere Application Server for any productive purpose yet, let me remind you what it is all about. In a nutshell, WAS provides a servlet server that is installed as a “bolt-on” to a Web (HTTP) server. The HTTP server provides static Web pages and when it is equipped with a servlet server such as WebSphere, it can provide dynamic Web pages that are modified on the fly by data that is on your iSeries. Servlets are the Java programs that communicate directly with the servlet server and send it the formatted data to enable Web transactions and data access. The Java programs in turn can do it all or they can call high level language (HLL) programs such as those written in RPG and COBOL to fetch and/or update the necessary data.
With a servlet server such as WebSphere, the code called by the server is always based on Java. The bottom line is that if you want the IBM mainstream method for serving dynamic data to a Web browser, you need a servlet server such as WebSphere in any of its versions and packages. WebSphere is currently at version 6.0 and there are a few numbers following it such as 6.0.2.1 which better depict its version and micro release and PTF levels.
WebSphere is in many ways a Web operating system that operates under control of the system’s operating system. Just like i5/OS, it is very large, complex, and sophisticated. Though you may be able to do simple things with just a bit of WebSphere knowledge, to become proficient in it, you have to invest quite a bit of time. To give you an idea of the complexity of WebSphere and the things you can know overall to make it work effectively in your shop, there are a number of manuals that IBM provides for you to learn and use the product. In fact, there are seven separate PDF manuals for version 6.0 that address the many aspects of hosting a WebSphere server from installation to administration to troubleshooting.
The following list contains the purpose of each of these PDF format manuals and the number of pages in each. Considering that the manuals are two weeks behind the Web version, for me they are much easier to work with than playing the hypertext game on the Web. They are all downloadable to your PC. Additionally, they are being updated all the time so these page counts are how they look right now at the beginning of the fourth quarter, 2005. The WebSphere manuals include the following:
- Installation, 66 pages
- Administration, 2690 pages
- Performance, 300 pages
- Security, 1196 pages
- Troubleshooting, 336 pages
- Migration, 170 pages
- Program Development, 1366 pages
That’s about 6,000 pages. Though you don’t need all of those pages to set up and get some simple things running with WAS Express, if those pages were not necessary for some purpose, my guess is that IBM would not have written them.
Accessing IBM’s Web Documentation and Downloading PDFs
So that you have access to the full iSeries library in both HTML and PDF form, keep this link handy:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/wsdoc400/index.jsp
Use the left frame of the site that pops up at that link to navigate through the HTML panels to help you get your mission accomplished. As noted above, I prefer the PDF manuals. To download these follow these instructions:
In the right frame, you will see these two lines:
Welcome to the product documentation
WebSphere Application Server for OS/400
Directly above these two lines are a number of quick options that you can take. The third option is PDF.
Click on PDF.
Then a page will appear listing all seven PDF manuals for WAS 6.0. Click on the manual that you are interesting in downloading. The first on the list is the Installation manual. Click on it to download it. Pick a directory on your PC for your WAS 6.0 manuals and save it there. It’s probably a good idea to save all your WAS 6.0 PDF manuals in the same directory. Once they are saved, just click on them to open them and the Adobe Reader will fire up to provide you full access to the manual’s contents.
What is WAS Express, really?
There are three editions of WebSphere Application Server 6.0. One is called the Base edition, one is called the Network Deployment edition, and the last is called the Express edition. I do not have the exact prices for these, but even for iSeries V5R3 customers, the Base edition for V5R1 has a cost of about $5,000. The Network Deployment edition costs about $10,000 and the Express edition, of course, costs nothing as long as you have V5R3 installed.
All three WAS 6.0 editions now share the same licensed product identifier when loaded on your iSeries, 5733-W60. Prior to WAS 6.0, the Base, the Network Deployment, and the Express edition each had its own product ID. You can tell which product edition you have installed by the particular product option(s) displayed when you look at your licensed programs with a Display Software Resources (DSPSFWRSC) command or when you use the Go LICPGM and option 10. Software Option 1 on the product indicates it is the Express Edition that is installed; option 2, Base Edition; and option 3, Network Deployment Edition.
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In WAS 5.0 and WAS 5.1, the Express edition was an inferior cousin to the Base edition and the Network Deployment edition. Express edition had some pieces missing and it did not scale as well with transaction loads. In WAS 6.0, the Base edition and the Express edition are now identical other than one installs as option 1 and the other as option 2 of 5733-W60. WAS 6.0 Network Deployment edition still has a number of options that are for enterprise-class implementations. So, the Express edition is now as viable as the chargeable Base edition except that IBM charges iSeries customers nothing to deploy it. Thus, it is a good idea to install WAS 6.0 rather than WAS 5.X.
If you had already installed WAS 5.0 or WAS 5.1, you will be pleased to know that WAS 6.0 Express can be deployed right along with them on the same machine. (New i5s with preloaded software come with WAS 5.0 pre-installed.) The product code is installed in the IFS and the Base and Express editions use the same exact IFS directory structure for product and user data for each WAS instance. Therefore, the Base and Express editions of WAS 6.0 cannot be installed together on the same system.
If you had gotten further in your implementation, you would know that before you use WAS Express on your system, you must create what had been known as instances. For example, you could create an internal instance and an external instance–as many as you need. With WAS 6.0, the term WAS instance itself has disappeared and is replaced by the term WAS profile. So, if you are already tuned into terms like instance and server, you can transfer what you know to the new term WAS profile.
When you start a WAS instance, it launches in an iSeries subsystem that reflects the version of WAS you are running. For example, WAS 5.0 Express launches in QASE5 subsystem; WAS Express 5.1 in the QASE51 subsystem. For WAS 6.0, there is a new subsystem and a new subsystem name format. The WAS 6.0 subsystem name is now QWAS6. Another conspicuous change is that the subsystem no longer contains an autostart job entry for a default application server (instance). So, if you want a default server running at startup, you would want to put the code into an autostart entry.
The actual WAS 6.0 installation media has been reduced to just one CD for each product, such as those for Unix or iSeries servers. IBM has set up a silent installation file on the CD to pre-establish installation parameters so that the installation can run unattended. But, of course, you have to set it up right ahead of time. By now, you already know that the RSTLICPGM no longer works and soon I will give you detailed instructions as to how to change the response file and install the new WAS 6.0. But, first, since we’ve got the time, let me remind you of the installation prerequisites for hardware and software and PTFs.
Installation Prerequisites
There are a host of installation prerequisites that must be satisfied in order to have a successful WAS installation. For example, you must pay attention to a number of hardware and software items that you may never cared about before.
Hardware
Rather than list the minimum speed processor feature codes required for installing and running WAS, let me just caution you that WebSphere likes to burn lots of CPU cycles. Although 60 CPWs may be more than enough to keep 100 order takers happy on interactively, you will need at least 300 CPW to provide a reasonable Web response to clients engaging in light WebSphere transactions. Do not shortchange yourself. The new 60/2400 CPW i5 520 Express machine is designed with WebSphere in mind.
Having said that, there is not an i5 in the fall 2005 product line that has less than 500 CPWs of raw performance, so the i5 makes a nice little WAS box. More good news is that WebSphere burns its cycles out of the big number CPW for those Express and Value Editions and older systems that do not have the Enterprise Edition. For example, a 30/500 Express version burns WebSphere cycles from the 500 CPW side.
Software
To install WAS 6.0 on OS/400 V5R2 or i5/OS V5R3, the iSeries server must be in an unrestricted state, and your user profile must have *ALLOBJ and *SECADM special authorities.
Key software prerequisites follow:
- IBM Developer Kit for Java(TM) (5722-JV1), Version 1.4 (option 6)
- OS/400 Qshell (5722-SS1 option 30, required to run installation scripts)
- OS/400 Host Servers (5722-SS1 option 12, required for installation)
- Cryptographic Access Provider 128-bit for iSeries (5722-AC3, required by the application server runtime)
- All necessary fixes
IBM shows all fixes and group PTFs at http://www.ibm.com/eserver/iseries/software/websphere/wsappserver.
Click PTFs in the left frame. Then in the center frame, next to WebSphere 6.0, click on your OS/400 or i5/OS version and release (V5R3 or V5R2). You can follow the links for V5R2.
For WAS 6.0 at V5R3, you need the following:
- SF99301, WAS 6.0 PTFs
This includes the following other group PTFs, which are necessary for WAS 6.0 to function:
- DB2/400
- Java/400
- IBM HTTP Server
- IBM Business Solutions
Therefore, you do not have to order the above PTF groups individually.
Of course, it is always good to install a cumulative PTF package, the high-impact, pervasive PTFs (HIPER), and the electronic service agent group for Electronic Customer Support (even if you do not use IBM’s Electronic Service Agent). The numbers for these are as follows:
- SF99530, V5R3 cumulative PTF package
- SF99529, V5R3 HIPER Group PTF
- SF99298, Electronic Service Agent
PTFs do no good unless you have the right software installed first. Some software is considered optional but in reality, most of what I specify below should be installed. For example, an HTTP server is not required for installation, but it is highly recommended for production environments that use servlets and Java Server Pages files. In other words, WAS Express won’t work without it.
The “optional” software products you need are as follows:
- IBM HTTP Server (powered by Apache) (5722-DG1)
- OS/400 Digital Certificate Manager (5722-SS1 option 34, not required for installation, but required if you plan to use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) protocol)
- DB2 Query Manager and SQL Development Kit for iSeries (5722-ST1, can be helpful in developing client applications)
Assuming that you have met the prerequisite software and PTF installation prerequisites, you can then begin the installation process itself. This takes longer than previous WAS releases because additional configuration steps are performed once the product is installed on the iSeries server. Plan on it taking at least an hour. After you complete the installation process and before you start up the WAS environment, you should set the software license information for the WAS 6.0 product. It is important to read the Installation and Initial Configuration documentation before beginning installation. A link
to all of this documentation is given above. If you have downloaded the PDFs, the Installation Guide is enough to get you up and ready to run.
Install WebSphere Application Server Express 6.0
To install WAS Express 6.0 on your iSeries server, complete these steps in this sequence:
1. Install WebSphere Application Server 6.0 on your iSeries or AS/400 server. You can install the product on your iSeries server locally from the optical drive of your iSeries server, or you can install it remotely from a supported workstation platform such as Windows. In our example, we use a local CD install.
2. Install the WebSphere Application Server group PTF after WAS 6.0 installation. Apply the most recent WebSphere Application Server 6.0 for OS/400 group PTF before you start WebSphere Application Server for the first time. This group PTF includes the most recent WebSphere Application Server PTFs and other products’ recent PTFs that are required for WebSphere Application Server.
3. Apply all other PTFs such as cumulative package and HIPER PTFs. Once you get all your products installed, make sure that before you use the system or the WAS 6.0, that you order and apply a fresh cumulative PTF pack and all of the many group PTFs that are available for the products listed as prerequisites as well as other products you have installed. Some of these PTFs, such as the cumulative PTF package, should be put on before WAS installation. However, I have had successful installations in which I installed all the products at the current PTF level and then applied all PTFs at once.
The WAS 6.0 Installation Process
There are several installation paths that you can take if you use the IBM Web documentation or the Installation Guide. Naturally, installing the product from the CD-ROM drive of your iSeries server requires that you have direct physical access to the server. The local installation requires less time to complete than a remote installation using a GUI workstation. One of the first things that you must do is to modify something called the “response file” to tell the installation process what you want it to do. The local installation reads installation options from this response file.
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Perform the below steps to install WebSphere Application Server from Qshell using the WAS 6.0 SETUP command. If you have an aversion to Qshell, then you can choose to use the Run Java (RUNJVA) command to invoke the installation wizard. A third option if you do not have local access is to perform the installation from a remote workstation. I am not demonstrating the use of these two alternative methods because I believe that one method that works is just enough to show how it is done. The documentation for these other methods is in the IBM Installation Guide discussed above.
The steps for installation using Qshell are as follows:
1. Sign on to your iSeries system with a user profile that has *ALLOBJ and *SECADM special authorities.
2. Verify that the host server jobs have been started on your iSeries server. The host server jobs allow the installation code to run on iSeries. Do this by entering this command on a CL command line:
STRHOSTSVR SERVER(*ALL)
3. Place the WebSphere Application Server V6.0 iSeries CD-ROM in the CD-ROM drive of your iSeries server. Make sure you pick the iSeries CD ROM from the package and not Windows or another version.
4. Use the IFS Copy (CPY) command to create a copy of the RESPONSEFILE file from the CD-ROM directory as shown in the below example:
CPY OBJ(‘/QOPT/WEBSPHERE/WAS/RESPONSEFILE’) TODIR(‘/MYDIR’)
Do not forget the quotes. This will copy the file named RESPONSEFILE from the CD to a designated IFS directory. Later in this process, you will modify this file to perform a “silent” installation.
5. Edit the file as follows:
Change the value of the line in the file from silentInstallLicenseAcceptance.value “false” to a value of “true.” A value of “true” indicates that you have read and accept the terms of the license agreement. This change is required to run the installation. In other words, it won’t work if you do not do this correctly.
To edit the file, perform a WRKLNK from an iSeries command line and navigate to the /MYDIR directory. As you can see, it is in the root file system. You should see the RESPONSEFILE as soon as you are in the directory. Place a 2 next to it to edit it. This starts a handy little IFS edit program that enables you to change the file in green-screen mode. Make the changes as necessary as noted above. Or, you can change any installation options to suit your requirements.
The figure below shows the open Edit program and enough screen rolls to have the silent install option question showing at the bottom. Change the value to “true” as shown below and hit F2 to save the file and F3 to exit the editor. That’s all there is to changing the file.
Edit File: /MYDIR/RESPONSEFILE
Record : 40 of 141 by 8 Column : 1 79 by 74
Control :
CMD ....+....1....+....2....+....3....+....4....+....5....+....6....+....7....+
# If no install occurs, this will be logged to a temporary log file on your
# iSeries server in the /tmp/installShield directory.
#
# By changing the silentInstallLicenseAcceptance.value in this response fil
# to "true", you agree that you have reviewed and agree to the terms of the
# IBM International Program License Agreement accompanying this program, wh
# is located at CD_ROOT/WAS/DOCS/lafiles. If you do not agree to these ter
# do not change the value or otherwise download, install, copy, access, or
# the program and promptly return the program and proof of entitlement to t
# party from whom you acquired it to obtain a refund of the amount you paid
#
#
-W silentInstallLicenseAcceptance.value="true"
F2=Save F3=Save/Exit F12=Exit F15=Services F16=Repeat find
F17=Repeat change F19=Left F20=Right
You are now staged to run the SETUP command from Qshell or you can now use the RUNJVA command from the CL command line. In the command shown below, path/responsefile represents the fully-qualified path of the responsefile.
6. Run the SETUP command from Qshell. Enter STRQSH on a CL command line to start Qshell. Run the SETUP script below to start the installation program. Before running the SETUP script, change the default directory to the CD directory in which the SETUP script is contained as follows:
cd /QOPT/WEBSPHERE/WAS
7. Issue the SETUP command with the following parameter form:
-options path/responsefile
For your installation, the following should do the trick:
SETUP -options /MYDIR/RESPONSEFILE
This takes the modified response file from the IFS and uses it in the script that you called from the installation CD.
Please Note: This process takes quite a long time. The Qshell command area will permit you to type in commands while it is installing WebSphere 6.0. Do not do this! Do not issue any other commands, unless prompted, until the installation is fully completed. Doing so may cause the installation to stop prematurely and that means that it has bombed.
After an hour or so, the system will return some information about the success of the installation. When this happens, it is time for you to install the PTFs as noted above.
What’s Next?
When you are all finished with installing the many PTFs required to get your WAS up and running safely, you need to think about creating some WAS profiles (formerly instances) in order to create an environment in which your servers can function. To do this, you will need to start the HTTP Admin server as follows:
STRTCPSVR SERVER(*HTTP) HTTPSVR(*ADMIN)
Once this is started, from a nice-sized PC with a browser, you can enter the following URL:
http://youripaddress:2001
Press Enter. This will result in your getting a Web sign-on screen to your iSeries. From here, sign on and you will be working with a GUI Administration tool for HTTP and WebSphere. IBM likes to call this the ADMIN GUI. You could continue with the instructions in my book in order to establish the WAS profiles that you may need to run WebFacing, iSeries Access for the Web, HATS/LE, your own home grown Java applications, or IBM’s Business Solutions. You can also learn how to create profiles / instances by following the examples in the IBM Administration PDF documentation.
I sure hope this helps and best wishes in installing WAS Express 6.0.
Brian Kelly retired as a 30-year IBM midrange systems engineer in 1999, having cut his eye teeth in 1969 on the System/3. While with IBM, he was also a Certified Instructor and a Mid-Atlantic Area Designated Specialist. When IBM began to move its sales and support to Business Partners, he formed Kelly Consulting in 1992 as an IT education and consulting firm. You can reach him at this email address.
