Chapter 7 Installing Software in Silent Mode

Chapter 7
Installing Software in Silent Mode

Silent installation is useful for installing Java Enterprise System on multiple hosts that share similar configurations. Silent installation requires that you run the installer once to capture the values that you provide in a state file. The state file that contains your responses is a list of parameters, each representing a single prompt or field.

You can then run the installer on many hosts, using the same state file as input. This process propagates one configuration across multiple hosts in your enterprise.

This chapter includes the following sections:

Preinstallation Steps

Guidelines

Generating a State File

Editing the State File

Running the Installer in Silent Mode

Next Steps

Preinstallation Steps

Before creating a state file, you must perform the same preinstallation steps that you perform for an interactive installation. Refer to the following chapters, if you have not done so already:

Chapter 2, "Preparing for Installation" contains information on system requirements and other important planning information.

Chapter 3, "Gathering Installation and Configuration Information" contains information on each question that the installer asks. The chapter associates each question with the state file parameter that you set by answering the question.

Guidelines

If you are an experienced user of Java Enterprise System components, you might be accustomed to building state files manually. This method can cause problems at installation time, configuration time, or server start-up time.

Follow these guidelines for successful silent installation:

Allow the installer to generate the state file for you, as described in "Generating a State File".

Do not create an original state file. A state file generated by the installer takes advantage of the installer’s real-time dependency checking and error reporting.

Save a copy of the state file before making any edits.

Do not modify parameters, except to edit their values.

Do not remove a parameter, even if it does not have a value.

Do not add a parameter.

Do not change the order in which parameters appear.

Use these guidelines when editing the values:

Note the original type and format and maintain them as you enter the new value. For example:

If the old value is a host name, enter a host name and not a fully qualified domain name.

If the old value starts with a leading slash, make sure that the new value starts with a leading slash.

Replace any value that you delete. If the parameter is required, installation or configuration could fail.

Retain the case of the original value.

Generating a State File

To generate a state file, you must first run the installer using either the graphical interface or the text-based interface. Review carefully either of the following chapters before running the installer—careful preparation is essential to a successful installation.

Chapter 5, "Installing Software Using the Graphical Interface"

Chapter 6, "Installing Software Using the Text-Based Interface"

To Generate a State File

If you are planning to use the graphical interface of the installer, provide access to your display.

If you are logging in to a remote machine, or using the su command to become superuser on a local machine, use the xhost command on the local machine to allow access to your local display. For example, use the following command to grant access to all users:

xhost +

If you are logging in to a remote machine, make sure your DISPLAY environment variable is properly set to the local display. If the DISPLAY variable is not set properly, the installer runs in text-based mode. For example, if your machine name is myhost:

(C Shell) % setenv DISPLAY myhost:0.0
(Korn Shell) $ DISPLAY=myhost:0.0

If you are not logged in as root, become superuser.

Navigate to the directory where the installer program is located.

cd installer-directory

Start the installer, providing a pathname for the state file. The format for the installer command is as follows:

./installer [-no] [-nodisplay] -saveState [statefile]

where:


-no	Prevents the installer from installing software on this host.
-nodisplay	Starts the installer in text-based mode. If you do not specify this option, the installer starts in graphical mode.
-saveState	Instructs the installer to generate a state file at the location specified by statefile. If the specified file does not exist, the command creates it. If you omit the statefile value, the installer writes to the default file, statefile.out. You can specify the same state file in subsequent installation sessions. After the first session, .n is appended to the filename, where n is an integer that is incremented for each session, beginning with zero (0).
statefile	Specifies an absolute or relative path to the generated state file.

Proceed through the pages of the installer, following the instructions specified in "Installing Software Using the Graphical Interface".

As you respond to the installer, it records your answers in the state file. When you complete the installation, the state file is available in the location that you specified.

Editing the State File

Before you perform a silent installation, edit the state file to ensure that local parameters such as host name, domain name, IP address, and other such settings are appropriate for the installation machine.

You might also need to change the state file key, if you plan to install on an operating system that is different from the one on which you created the state file.

Editing Local Parameters

The following table lists parameters that you might need to edit, depending on the components you are installing. The parameters you must edit also depend on your machine setup. For example, the machine on which you generated the state file might be in the same domain as the machine on which you are installing, or not.

Table 7-1 State File Parameters to Edit
Component	Parameter Name
Common Server Settings	CMN_HOST_NAME CMN_DOMAIN_NAME CMN_IPADDRESS
Administration Server	ADMINSERV_DOMAIN ADMINSERV_CONFIG_DIR_HOST
Directory Server	DS_SERVER_IDENTIFIER CONFIG_DIR_HOST (if USE_EXISTING_CONFIG_DIR is set to 1) USER_DIR_HOST (if USE_EXISTING_USER_DIR is set to 1)
Identity Server	IS_WS_HOST_NAME IS_WS_INSTANCE_DIR (if Web Server is the web container) CONSOLE_HOST SERVER_HOST IS_DS_HOST IS_DS_HOSTNAME COOKIE_DOMAIN_LIST
Portal Server	SRA_SERVER_DOMIAN SRA_GATEWAY_DOMAIN SRA_GW_DOMAIN SRA_GW_IPADDRESS SRA_NLP_DOMAIN SRA_NLP_IPADDRESS SRA_RWP_DOMAIN SRA_RWP_IPADDRESS
Portal Server, Secure Remote Access	SRA_GW_HOSTNAME SRA_GW_SUBDOMAIN SRA_NLP_HOSTNAME SRA_NLP_SUBDOMAIN SRA_RWP_HOSTNAME SRA_RWP_SUBDOMAIN SRA_SERVER_HOST
Web Server	WS_ADMIN_HOST

For a description of each parameter, refer to Chapter 3, "Gathering Installation and Configuration Information."

Creating a Platform-Appropriate ID

You cannot generate a state file on a machine whose operating system is different from the machine on which you execute the state file. There is a different type of state file ID for the following three platforms:

Solaris 8 on SPARC

Solaris 9 on SPARC

Solaris on X86

There are two procedures for editing a state file so that you can run it on a platform other than the one on which it was created.

Generating a State File ID Using the Installer

This procedure generates a state file ID by running the installer on the platform on which you want to perform silent installation.

To Generate a State File ID Using the Installer

If you are not logged in as root, become superuser.

Navigate to the directory where the installer is located:

cd installer-dir

Run the installer with the -id option.

./installer -id

The command generates an encrypted identifier.

Copy the identifier and paste the value into the state file, as the value for the STATE_BEGIN and STATE_DONE parameters.

The following is an example of the state file identifier within a state file:


[STATE_BEGIN Sun Java(tm) Enterprise System f31c7e86a64605bc5b9b629931a30b275a0eb447]
.
.
.
[STATE_DONE Sun Java(tm) Enterprise System f31c7e86a64605bc5b9b629931a30b275a0eb447]

Generating a State File ID Using Platform-Specific Distribution Files

This procedure generates a state file ID by using the Java Enterprise System distribution files for a specific platform. The Java Enterprise System distribution DVD contains all of the platform-specific distributions. This procedure also works if you downloaded a single platform-specific distribution.

To Generate a State File ID Using Platform-Specific Distribution Files

Navigate to the platform-specific .install directory:

cd platform/.install

where the value of platform can be Solaris_sparc or Solaris_x86.

Enter one of the following commands to generate the ID for a specific platform:

Solaris 8: java -classpath . -D"wizard.idInfo" EntsysInstall8

Solaris 9: java -classpath . -D"wizard.idInfo" EntsysInstall9

Solaris x86: java -classpath . -D"wizard.idInfo" EntsysInstall9

The command generates an encrypted identifier.

Copy the identifier and paste the value into the state file, as the value for the STATE_BEGIN and STATE_DONE parameters.

The following is an example of the state file identifier within a state file:

[STATE_BEGIN Sun Java(tm) Enterprise System f31c7e86a64605bc5b9b629931a30b275a0eb447]

[STATE_DONE Sun Java(tm) Enterprise System f31c7e86a64605bc5b9b629931a30b275a0eb447]

Running the Installer in Silent Mode

Run the installer on a machine that has the same operating system as the machine on which you generated the state file.

To Run the Installer in Silent Mode

Open a terminal window on the host where you want to install the Java Enterprise System components.

If you are not logged in as root, become superuser.

Navigate to the directory where the installer program is located.

cd installer-directory

Start the installer with the following options:

./installer -nodisplay -noconsole -state statefile

where


-nodisplay	Suppresses the graphical display.
-noconsole	Starts the installer in silent mode, suppressing the user interface.
-state	Uses the specified state file as input to a silent installation.
statefile	Specifies an absolute or relative pathname to a state file.

Execution can be lengthy, depending on the number and type of components that you are installing. While the installer is executing, you can monitor its progress by noting changes to the installation log.

To Monitor the Progress of a Silent Installation

In a terminal window, use the cd command to change to the log file directory.

cd /var/sadm/install/logs

Locate the log files for the current installation.

There are two log files. The shared components are installed earlier in the installation and the remaining components follow. The two log files have names based on the following format:

Java_Shared_Component_Install.datetimestamp Java_Enterprise_System_install.Bdatetimestamp

The timestamp variable represents the time the log was created. It has the format MMddhhmm, where:


MM	Specifies the month
dd	Specifies the date
hh	Specifies the hour
mm	Specifies the minute

Use the tail command to watch messages as they are written to the logs. Use this format:

tail -f log-file-name

Next Steps

At the end of this chapter you should have completed the installer portion of your Java Enterprise System installation. Proceed to "Postinstallation Configuration and Startup" for final instructions on configuring the component products for your environment.



Note	Although you might have done extensive configuration during your installation, most component products require some additional configuration. Read the postinstallation configuration requirements carefully before proceeding to any other tasks.

If you want to make an installation image available to other administrators in your enterprise, refer to "Setup Instructions for Network Installation".

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