Install application clients: WAS ND

Installing application clients

Overview
Running J2EE and thin application clients that communicate with WebSphere Application Server requires that elements of the Application Server are installed on the machine on which the client runs. However, if the system does not have the Application Server installed, you can install Application Server clients, which provide a stand-alone client run-time environment for your client applications. See the Supported Prerequisites page on the IBM external Web site for more information on supported product platforms.
This article describes how to install the WebSphere Application Server clients using the installation image on the product CD-ROM labelled, Application Clients. The steps that follow provide enough detail to guide you through preparing for, choosing, and installing the variety of options and features provided. To prepare for installation and to make yourself familiar with installation options, complete the steps in this article and read the related topics, before you start to use the installation tools. Specifically, read these topics before installing the product:

Tips for installing the embedded messaging feature

Installing silently

Best practices for installing

As a general rule, if you launch an installation and there is a problem such as not having enough temporary space or not having the right packages on your Linux or UNIX-based systems, then cancel the installation, make the required changes, and restart the installation to pick up changes you made.

Although it is not supported or recommended, you can install this product as a non-root user on a UNIX operating system, or from a user ID that is not part of the Administrator group on a Windows platform. However, there are certain components, such as the Embedded Messaging Client feature, that require you to install as root or as part of the Administrator group.

As previously mentioned, this installation method is not supported or recommended, but you can install the application client product on a machine with WebSphere Application Server installed. However, there are certain components, such as the Embedded Messaging Client feature, which might not install if the feature has already been installed during the WebSphere Application Server installation. On Windows platforms, WebSphere Application Server clients assume that the Embedded Messaging Client is installed in its default location; whereas, the WebSphere Application Server installation can install the messaging client in a different location.

Prepare a Linux or UNIX operating platform for the Embedded Messaging Client feature.
If you are installing the embedded messaging feature, create two operating system groups as described in Installing WebSphere embedded messaging as the JMS provider.

The Solaris Operating Environment and HP-UX also require you to increase kernel settings as described in Installing WebSphere embedded messaging as the JMS provider.

For other platform-specific information about using the embedded messaging feature, see Tips for installing the embedded messaging feature.

Start the installation.

Issue launchpad.sh (or launchpad.bat) to initiate the launchpad tool and begin the installation process.

Click Install the product from the launchpad tool to launch the InstallShield for MultiPlatforms installation wizard. This action launches the installation wizard.
The Readme documentation to which the launchpad links is the readme.html file in the CD root directory. The readme directory off the root of the CD has more detailed Readme files. The Installation Guide is in the /docs directory of the CD root directory.

When you install application clients, the current working directory must be the directory where the installer binary program is located. This placement is important because the resolution of the class files location is done in the current working directory. For example:

cd /install_root ./install
or when installing from the product CD-ROM:

cd <CD mount point> ./install
Failing to use the correct working directory can cause ISMP errors that abort the installation.

The installation wizard does not upgrade or remove previous WebSphere Application Server clients installation automatically. However, uninstall any previous installation manually or the installation wizard aborts the installation.

As indicated in the previous example, you can start the installation wizard from the product CD-ROM, using the command line. The installation program is in the operating system platform directory on the product CD-ROM.
On other Linux platforms and UNIX-based platforms, run the ./install command.

On Windows platforms, run the Install.exe command.

You can also perform a silent installation using the -options responsefile parameter, which causes the installation wizard to read your responses from the options response file, instead of from the interactive graphical user interface. Customize the response file before installing silently. After customizing the file, issue the command to silently install. Silent installation is particularly useful if you install the product often.
The rest of this procedure assumes that you are using the installation wizard. There are corresponding entries in the response file for every prompt that is described as part of the wizard. Review the description of the response file for more information. Comments in the file describe how to customize its options.

Click Next to continue when the Welcome panel is displayed. The license displayed during the GUI installation can contain characters that display incorrectly in Japanese. For example, the section labeled Part 1 does not show the number 1. These missing characters do not significantly affect the content of the license agreement.

Click the radio button beside the I accept the terms in the license agreement message if you agree to the license agreement, and click Next to continue.

Choose a type of installation, and click Next.
If you use the GUI, you can choose a Typical installation type, which installs J2EE and Java Thin Application Client, Samples and Embedded Messaging Client features, or a Custom installation type.

The Custom installation type lets you select which features to install. However you can not install the J2EE and thin application clients and pluggable application clients together, since pluggable clients are supported on Windows systems only.

(Windows Only) If you select the ActiveX to EJB Bridge feature, then the following is displayed in a dialog box: Do you want to add Java runtime to the system path and make it the default JRE? If you answer Yes, then the Java run time is added to the beginning of the system path. If you answer No, then the ActiveX to EJB Bridge does not function from the Active Server Pages (ASP), unless you add the Java run time to the path. To add the Java run time later, see the topic ActiveX application clients or reinstall Application clients.

(Windows Only) If you select the Applet Client feature, then the following message might be displayed: An existing JDK or JRE has been detected on your computer. You chose to install the Applet Client, which will overwrite the registry entries for this JDK or JRE. Do you want to continue and install the Applet Client? If you select Yes, the installation overrides the registry on your machine. If you select No, the applet client feature is not installed, and you are directed back feature dialog box.

(Windows Only) If you select the Pluggable Client feature, upgrade to the Java Development Kit V1.4.2 by switching the Java Runtime Environment and Software Development Kit installation location after you install the pluggable application client. To upgrade, complete the following steps:

Update the environment setup script, <install_root>/bin/setupClient.bat.

Set the JAVA_JRE to the new JRE installation location.

Set the JAVA_JDK to the new Java Development Kit installation location.

Run the windows batch script, <install_root>/install/InstallWASOrb.bat to install the Object Request Broker (ORB) provided by IBM into the JRE provided by Sun Microsystems and specified in the%JAVA_RRE% environment virable. The script also sets a new security providers list in the java.security file in JRE installation.
See "Best practices for installing application clients," for more information.

Install the samples development environment.If you choose to install any of the Samples features, a message box is displayed requesting conformation to install the Samples development environment.

Click Yes to install the Samples development environment that includes the IBM Developer Kit and the Apache Ant Tool.

Click No to skip installing the Samples development environment.

Specify a destination directory. Click Next to continue.

Ensure that there is adequate space available in the target directory.

Specify a target directory for the WebSphere Application Server clients product. If you install the Embedded Messaging Client feature, then you cannot change its default installation directory.

Enter the required target directory to proceed to the next panel. Deleting the default target location and leaving an installation directory field empty prevents you from continuing the installation process.

Enter the host name of the WebSphere Application Server machine. Click Next to continue.If you are connecting to a product V4 server or you are not using the default port, specify the server port number. The default port number for product V4 server is 900, and the default port number for product V5 is 2809.

Review the summary information, and click Next to install the product code or you might also click Back to change your specifications. When the installation is complete, the wizard displays the install_root\logs\mq_install.log installation log, if you selected the Embedded Messaging Client feature, and there are errors with its installation.

Review the mq_install.log installation log, if it appears. Click Next to continue.

Click Finish to exit the wizard, after the WebSphere Application Server client installs.

Results
You successfully installed WebSphere Application Server clients and the features you selected.

What to do next
If the installation is not successful, fix the error as indicated in the installation error message. For example, if you do not have enough disk space, add more space, and reinstall application clients.