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. 

• Install Installation Manager on Linux using the installc or userinstc command
• Install Installation Manager on Linux using the imcl install command
• Install Installation Manager on Linux using the imcl input command

-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 a zip file from Fix Central or using the Packaging Utility and then extract the contents of the zip to a directory on the server that you want to install the product on.

If you are going to be performing the install using an IBM service repository, use the listAvailablePackages command to list the available packages in the service repository. Following are commonly used service repositories.

• WebSphere Application Server version 9.0 - http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v90
• WebSphere Network Deployment Manager version 9.0 - http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.ND.v90
• IHS web server version 9.0 - http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.IHS.v90
• Web server plugin version 9.0 - http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.PLG.v90

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. 

/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

Java SDK

Some IBM products, such as WebSphere, require Java. When installating a product that requires Java, Java will need to be included in the install, like this.

/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
. . .

In this example, by default, WebSphere will use version 8 of Java. Additional versions of Java can be installed. Then, various WebSphere components can be configured to use a specific version of Java.

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.