Using the launchpad to start installations

The launchpad console is the starting point for installing IBM® WebSphere® Application Server Network Deployment.

Before you begin

The launchpad is a web application. Before using the launchpad, you must have a supported web browser. Install a supported web browser if one is not installed.
- Install a browser such as Mozilla Firefox.
- Install a browser for the Windows operating system.
You must install the Bash shell package to use the launchpad application. Although the Bash shell must be installed, the Bash shell does not need to be used to run the launchpad.sh command. If you attempt to run the launchpad application from a DVD on the HP-UX, Linux®, or Solaris operating systems without the Bash shell installed, the launchpad fails with an error message indicating that the Bash interpreter is not found. If you attempt to run the launchpad from any image on AIX®, the launchpad fails with an error message indicating that the current browser is not supported. The Bash package for the AIX operating system is included in the IBM AIX Toolbox.

Examples of what the launchpad can do:

The launchpad does support installing Installation Manager in admin or non-admin (user) mode.
The launchpad does support updating Installation Manager from an earlier version in admin or non-admin (user) mode.

Examples of what the launchpad cannot do:

The launchpad does not support installing in group mode.
The launchpad does not support installing or updating with a custom application data location.

Restriction: You cannot run the launchpad remotely to install a product. Only local use of the launchpad is supported.

About this task

The launchpad identifies components on the product disk or image that you can install (launch).

WebSphere Application Server is an integrated platform that contains an application server, a set of web development tools, a web server, and additional supporting software and documentation. The launchpad is a single point of reference for installing the entire application server environment. If you click a link that points to a product repository on another disk or image, you are prompted to insert that disk or browse to that image. For example, IBM HTTP Server, Web Server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server, Application Client for IBM WebSphere Application Server, and the WebSphere Customization Toolbox are on the supplements disk. If you click a link to launch those products, you must insert the supplements disk in the disk drive or point the installer to the product repositories to install the product from the launchpad.

Procedure

Start the launchpad.
The launchpad program is available in the root directory of the product disk. You can start the launchpad manually using a fully qualified command instead of changing directories to the disk and running the command locally from the root directory:
- Mount the disk drive if necessary. This procedure varies per platform. See Mounting disk drives on operating systems such as AIX, HP-UX, and Linux.
- Open a shell window and issue a fully qualified command to start the launchpad:
  - ./launchpad.sh
  - launchpad.bat
  Tip: If you need to navigate using the keyboard, use Mozilla Firefox as your web browser and start the launchpad with the following command:
  launchpad_a11y.exe
Note: Some Windows operating systems such as Windows 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, and Windows 7 have implemented a more restrictive security policy that denies access to trusted files by non-trusted files or applications. When the launchpad application is run as a non-trusted program, you will receive JavaScript Access is denied errors that subsequently cause the application to hang. Because downloaded images are automatically blocked, unblock the files so that the launchpad can successfully access the files. Before you extract the image, right-click the image file and select Properties to open the Properties panel and locate the security section and click the Unblock button. You can now extract the image and run the launchpad application.
The launchpad opens in the language of the locale setting of the machine.
Use the launchpad to perform the following tasks.
- View the Welcome page, and access links to the IBM WebSphere Application Server documentation.
- Launch IBM Installation Manager installation, and access the IBM Installation Manager documentation.
- Launch IBM Packaging Utility installation, and access the Packaging Utility section of the IBM Installation Manager documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment, and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install DMZ Secure Proxy Server for IBM WebSphere Application Server, and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM HTTP Server, and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install Web Server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server, and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install the WebSphere Customization Toolbox, and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install the Application Client for IBM WebSphere Application Server, and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM WebSphere Edge Components: Load Balancer for IPv4 and IPv6 and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM WebSphere Edge Components: Caching Proxy and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Access the latest version of IBM Support Assistant.
- Access the latest version of the IBM Tivoli® Composite Application Manager for WebSphere Application Server.
- Access the latest version of the IBM Tivoli Federated Identity Manager.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM WebSphere SDK Java™ Technology Edition Version 7.0, and access the installation instructions in the information center.
- Launch Installation Manager to install the Web 2.0 and Mobile Toolkit, and access the installation instructions in the documentation.
- Launch Installation Manager to install IBM WebSphere Adapters.

Results

This procedure results in using the launchpad to start the installation and to access information through a browser.

Troubleshooting

If you can start the launchpad but clicking a link does not resolve to a page in the launchpad, you might have the wrong media in the disk drive. Check the validity of the media.

Use the following procedure to correct any error that is preventing the launchpad from displaying. Then, try to start the launchpad again:

If the product disk is no longer accessible, insert the disk.
Mount the drive as necessary on platforms such as AIX or Linux.
Enable the JavaScript function in your browser.
Mozilla Firefox: Click Tools > Options > Content:
- Select Enable Java.
- Select Enable JavaScript.
- Click Advanced and allow scripts to ... (Select all boxes.)
Internet Explorer: Click Tools > Internet Options > Security > Custom Level for Internet > Scripting > Active scripting > Enable.
Restart the launchpad by issuing the following command:
- ./launchpad.sh
- launchpad.bat

If the launchpad links still do not work after following this procedure, launch Installation Manager and point it at the appropriate repositories to install the offerings.

What to do next

Go to Installing and uninstalling the product on distributed operating systems to continue installing your application serving environment.