The Installation Manager command line tool (imcl) has two different commands that can be used to install a product.

• install
• input

When using the install command, all of the parameters must be used on the command line. When using the input command, most of the parameters are put in an XML file and then the XML file is used on the command line. This article describes the installation procedure using the install command. Refer to this article to use the input command.

Prerequisites

If you have not installed IBM Installation Manager, install IBM Installation Manager. 

-prompt vs. -secureStorageFile and -masterPasswordFile

When installing or updating an IBM product, you will need to provide your IBM username and password. One way to provide your username and password is by using the -prompt, which will prompt you to provide your username and password. Another option is to storage your username in a secure storage file and to storage your password in a master password file, and to then using the -secureStorageFile and -masterPasswordFile options on the command line.

IBM repository vs. local repository

One of the command line options is -repositories. There are two types of repositories. One is known as an "IBM service repostiory" and the other is known as a "local repository". An IBM service repository is an HTTP URL that contains the installation files for a product, such as http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v90. A local repository is where you download the installation files from Fix Central or using the Packaging Utility.

If you are going to be performing the install using an IBM service repository, list the available packages in the service repository. This example is based off of a Linux system. 

/opt/IBM/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools/imcl 
listAvailablePackages
-repositories http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v90
-prompt or -secureStorageFile /path/to/secure_storage.txt and -masterPasswordFile /path/to/master_password.txt

The prior command will produce output like this. BASE is WebSphere Application Server. ND is Network Deployment Manager, or just dmgr for short.

com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v90_9.0.6.20171205_1311
com.ibm.websphere.ILAN.v90_9.0.6.20171205_1311
com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90_9.0.6.20171205_1311
com.ibm.websphere.NDDMZ.v90_9.0.6.20171205_1311

Perform the install

If installing from an IBM service repository, ensure the -repositories option is followed by the URL to the IBM service repository, like this.

-repositories http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v90 

If installing from a local repository, ensure the -repositories option is followed by the location of the installation files on your server, like this:

-repositories /tmp/was,/tmp/java

Here is an example of a full install command to perform the install from an IBM service repository. If installating version 8 of WebSphere, there is no need to also install Java SDK separately, as Java JDK is included in version 8. If installing version 9, you will need to install both the application server and Java JDK.

/opt/IBM/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools/imcl
install 
com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v90_9.0.6.20171205_1311
com.ibm.java.jdk.v8_8.0.5007.20171218_1035
-repositories http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v90  
-installationDirectory /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
-sharedResourcesDirectory /opt/IBM/IMShared
-acceptLicense
-showProgress or -showVerboseProgress
-prompt or -secureStorageFile /path/to/secure_storage.txt and -masterPasswordFile /path/to/master_password.txt

Post installation

The ${WAS_INSTALL_ROOT}/logs/install/log.txt file can be reviewed to ensure the installation was successful.

The Installation Verification Tool can be used to ensure the installation was successful.

The listInstalledPackages command can be used to list installed packages.

The versionInfo.sh utility can be used to verify that the application server was successfully installed.

~]# /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/bin/versionInfo.sh
. . .
Installed Product
---------------------------------------------------
Name              IBM WebSphere Application Server
Version           9.0.0.5
ID                Base
. . .

After the application server is installed, you will create a profile.