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 install command.

Prerequisites

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

Create the XML file

Create an XML file. Typically, the name of the XML file is response.xml. However, the file name does not have to be response.xml. It can be named anything you want, as long as it's an XML file.

response.xml

Or, instead of manually creating the response.xml file, you can create the response file by issuing the following command, which will launch the Installation Manager GUI, so this must be done in a graphical environment. Follow the steps on installing WebSphere using the GUI.

/opt/IBM/InstallationManager/eclipse/IBMIM
-record
/path/to/response.xml
-skipInstall
/opt/IBM

-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.

remote repository vs. local repository

In the XML file, you will need to include the location of the repository that contains the installation files for the product. One option is to use the IBM HTTP URL that contains the installation files for a product. This is known as an "IBM service repostiory". Additionally, when repository location in your XML points to an IBM HTTP URL (e.g. IBM service repository), you will need to provide your IBM username and password to perform the install. 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 store your username in a secure storage file and to store your password in a master password file, and to then using the -secureStorageFile and -masterPasswordFile options on the command line.

<server>
  <repository location="http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.IHS.v90" />
</server>

Another option is to download the installation files from Fix Central or using the Packaging Utility, and to then specify the location of the downloaded installation files. This is known as a "local repository". An advantage to this approach is that there will be no need to provide your IBM username and password to perform the install, as the installation files reside on your server.

<server>
  <repository location="/tmp/ihs" />
</server>

Here is an example of a complete response.xml file. The listAvailablePackages command can be used to get the offering id of the packages to install.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<agent-input>
  <variables>
    <variable name='sharedLocation' value='/opt/IBM/IMShared'/>
  </variables>

  <server>
    <repository location="http://www.ibm.com/software/repositorymanager/com.ibm.websphere.IHS.v90" />
  </server>

  <profile id='IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server' installLocation='/opt/IBM/IHS'>
    <data key='user.import.profile' value='false'/>
    <data key='cic.selector.nl' value='en'/>
  </profile>

  <install modify='false'>
    <offering id='com.ibm.websphere.IHS.v90' 
      profile='IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server' 
      installFixes='none'/>
  </install>
</agent-input>

Perform the install

If repository location in your XML points to an IBM HTTP URL (e.g. IBM service repository), you will need to provide your IBM username and password to perform the install by using the -prompt or -secureStorageFile /path/to/secure_storage.txt and -masterPasswordFile /path/to/master_password.txt options on the command line.

/opt/IBM/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools/imcl
input
/opt/IBM/response.xml 
-acceptLicense 
-showProgress or -showVerboseProgress

Post installation

The ihs_installation_directory/logs/postinstall/postinstall.log file can be reviewed 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 IHS was successfully installed.

${IHS_INSTALL_ROOT}/bin/versionInfo.sh
. . .
Installed Product
------------------------------------------------------------------
Name              IBM HTTP Server for WebSphere Application Server
Version           9.0.0.0
ID                IHS
. . .

Starting the web server

The apachectl command can be used to start the web server.

Starting the admin server

If you want to use the admin server, you will first need to configure the admin.conf file and then you can use the adminctl command to start the admin server.

Proxy Pass

IBMs IHS web server does not include the modules needed to Proxy Pass requests onto a back end, such as JBoss, Tomcat or WebSphere application server. If you want to be able to Proxy Pass requests onto a back end, check out my article Load Balance Proxy Pass.