Installing Websphere Application Server

Installing any version of WebSphere Application Server will typically involve the following activities more or less in the order listed

1. Install the WebSphere Application Server binaries on each physical computer on which you plan to create one or more profiles. You should also create an update installer for each set of WAS binaries at this time. As part of our complex installation example, we include a sample shell script and sample response files to perform this task.
2. Check the IBM web site, Fix Pack Central, for the latest fix packs. Install the fix packs. If possible, you should install the fix packs before you create profiles.
3. Use the manageprofiles shell script to create a deployment manager profile. Exactly how you write the command to do this changes in WAS version 7.0. The IBM InfoCenter provides instructions for the version 6.1 and earlier command and the version 7.0 and later command at the links provided. We provide examples of how to use the manageprofiles command to create a deployment manager in version 6.1 and earlier and in version 7.0 and later.
4. Create any cell level artifacts such as clusters, message buses, core groups and node groups. You can create all of these in a cell that has no servers, no node agents, and no nodes other than the deployment manager node and the deployment manager itself.
5. Use the manageprofiles shell script to create as many managed nodes as you need. (Earlier versions of WAS called this a custom node) This node will not have any application servers or node agents at this time.
6. If you did not choose to federate your nodes at the moment you created them, use the addNode shell script to federate the new node. This creates a node agent and tells the node agent where to find the deployment manager for this cell
7. Create any security identities that you will need for databases, message buses, applications, or other things.
8. Add one or more application servers and web servers to the new node(s).
9. Install any applications that the cell might need.

Much of this activity can be scripted. Later versions of WebSphere Application Server have more options for cell topology. (See related articles)

We provide examples. In the example we give for a minimalist install, we use only features that were available in WAS v6.1 and earlier. In the more complex example, we use some features that were added to WAS in version 7.0. In all cases, we offer sample scripts and some comentary about those scripts.