Troubleshoot installation

Logging and tracing

• View Installation Manager logs...
  File > View Log

  Select an individual log file in the table, and then click the Open log file icon.

• Logs are located in the logs directory of Installation Manager's application data location. For example:

  • (Windows) Administrative installation:
    C:\ProgramData\IBM\Installation Manager\logs\name.xml

  • (Windows) Non-administrative installation:
    C:\Documents and Settings\user_name\Application Data\IBM\Installation Manager

  • (UNIX) Administrative installation:
    /var/IBM/InstallationManager

  • (UNIX) Non-administrative installation:
    user_home/var/ibm/InstallationManager

• The main log files are time-stamped XML files in the logs directory, and they can be viewed using any standard web browser.

• To turn on tracing, create file log.properties with the following content:
  com.ibm.ws=DEBUG
  com.ibm.cic.agent.core.Engine=DEBUG
  global=DEBUG

  Restart Installation Manager as necessary, and Installation Manager outputs traces.

Troubleshoot

• (HPUX) When we attempt to launch Installation Manager from a DVD that was mounted using the CD-ROM file system (CDFS) on an HP-UX operating system, it might fail to launch and point to a log file containing an exceptions similar to one of the following:
  java.util.zip.ZipException: Exception in opening zip file:

  org.osgi.framework.BundleException: Exception in
  org.eclipse.update.internal.configurator.ConfigurationActivator.start()
  or bundle org.eclipse.update.configurator.

  This issue might be caused by Installation Manager reaching the upper limit of number of descriptors that can be opened on a CDFS-mounted device. This upper limit is determined by the value for the tunable kernel parameter ncdnode, which specifies the maximum number of CDFS nodes that can be in memory at any given time. To resolve the problem, change the ncdnode system kernel setting to 250. If the problem persists, increase the setting.

• (HPUX) By default, some HP-UX systems are configured to not use DNS to resolve host names. This could result in Installation Manager not being able to connect to an external repository.

  We can ping the repository, but nslookup does not return anything.

  Work with the system administrator to configure the machine to use DNS, or use the IP address of the repository.

• (iSeries) When we try to install Installation Manager locally from the WAS product media on an IBM i operating system, the following error message might be displayed:
  The Installc executable launcher was unable to locate its companion shared library.

  This error occurs because all directory and files names contained by the product media are displayed in upper case. To resolve this issue, enable the handling of mixed case on the IBM i operating system using the following command:

  CHGOPTA EXTMEDFMT(*YES)

• (Windows) If a non-administrator installs WAS into the Program Files or Program Files (x86) directory with User Account Control (UAC) enabled, WAS will not function correctly.

  UAC is an access-control mechanism that allows non-administrative users to install a software product into the Program Files or Program Files (x86) directory; but it then prohibits any write access to that directory after the installation has completed. WAS requires write access in the app_server_root directory in order to function correctly.

  To resolve this issue, perform one of the following actions:

  • Install WAS into a directory other than Program Files or Program Files (x86), such as C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer.

  • Disable UAC.

• In some cases, we might need to bypass existing checking mechanisms in Installation Manager.

  • On some network file systems, disk space might not be reported correctly at times; and we might need to bypass disk-space checking and proceed with the installation.

    To disable disk-space checking edit...

    IM_install_root/eclipse/configuration/config.ini

    ...and set...

    cic.override.disk.space=sizeunit

    ...where size is a positive integer and unit is blank for bytes, k for kilo, m for megabytes, or g for gigabytes. For example:

    cic.override.disk.space=120 (120 bytes)
    cic.override.disk.space=130k (130 kilobytes)
    cic.override.disk.space=140m (140 megabytes)
    cic.override.disk.space=150g (150 gigabytes)
    cic.override.disk.space=true

    Restart Installation Manager.

    Installation Manager will report a disk-space size of Long.MAX_VALUE. Instead of displaying a very large amount of available disk space, N/A is displayed.

  • To bypass operating-system prerequisite checking, add...
    disableOSPrereqChecking=true

    ...to...

    IM_install_root/eclipse/configuration/config.ini

    ...and restart Installation Manager.

  To use any of these bypass methods, contact IBM Support for assistance in developing a solution that does not involve bypassing the Installation Manager checking mechanisms.

  Read the release notes to learn more about the latest version of Installation Manager.

  • (Windows) Click...
    Start > Programs > Installation Manager > Release Notes

  • (UNIX) Go to the documentation subdirectory in the directory where Installation Manager is installed, and open the readme.html file.

• If a fatal error occurs when we try to install the product, take the following steps:

  • Make a backup copy of the current product installation directory in case IBM support needs to review it later.

  • Use Installation Manager to uninstall everything that we have installed under the product installation location (package group). We might run into errors, but they can be safely ignored.

  • Delete everything that remains in the product installation directory.

  • Use Installation Manager to reinstall the product to the same location or to a new one.