Installation overview

You can install WebSphere® eXtreme Scale in a stand-alone or WebSphere Application Server environment.

To install WebSphere eXtreme Scale, you must first install the IBM Installation Manager and obtain product files. After installing the Installation Manager and setting up access to the appropriate product repositories, you can then choose your installation and environment types. You must install a server and one or more clients. You can also install WebSphere eXtreme Scale as an in-memory data grid for use with both .NET and Java applications with extreme transaction processing (XTP) capabilities.

WebSphere eXtreme Scale environment types

WebSphere Application Server environment:
By installing WebSphere eXtreme Scale on the nodes in your WebSphere Application Server environment, you can automatically start catalog servers and container servers in the same cell as your deployment manager and other application servers.
Stand-alone environment:
In a stand-alone installation, you install WebSphere eXtreme Scale in an environment that does not have WebSphere Application Server. With a stand-alone environment, you manually configure and start the catalog server and container server processes.

WebSphere eXtreme Scale installation types

If you have servers that are running client applications that access the data grid, you can use a client-only installation. Or you can choose a full (client and server) installation on nodes that run catalog servers or container servers.

Full (Client and Server) installation:
- When you are installing on WebSphere Application Server, you can choose to install the client only or both the client and server.
- When you are installing in a stand-alone environment, you can choose to install the client-only or both the client and server.
Client installation:
You can use the client-only installation on nodes that are running the client applications.
Client installation:
The WebSphere eXtreme Scale Client for .NET is installed with a setup wizard that does not require the Installation Manager. The .NET client can access a data grid that is hosted in a stand-alone environment or by WebSphere Application Server.

IBM Installation Manager

Installation Manager is a single installation program that can use remote or local software flat-file repositories to install, modify, or update new WebSphere eXtreme Scale products. It determines and shows available packages—including products, fix packs, interim fixes, and so on—checks prerequisites and interdependencies, and installs the selected packages. You also use Installation Manager to easily uninstall the packages that it installed.

Overview of IBM® Installation Manager: IBM Installation Manager is a general-purpose software installation and update tool that runs on a range of computer systems. Installation Manager can be invoked through a graphical user interface (GUI) or a command-line interface. You can also create response files in XML and use them to direct the performance of Installation Manager tasks in silent mode.

For more information on using Installation Manager, read the IBM Installation Manager Version 1.5 documentation.

Packages and package groups: Each software product that can be installed with Installation Manager is referred to as a package. An installed package has a product level and an installation location. A package group consists of all of the products that are installed at a single location.

Installation Manager modes: IBM Installation Manager can be installed in one of the following three modes:

In admin mode, the Installation Manager is installed from an administrator or a root ID and can be invoked by any administrator or root user.
In nonAdmin mode (also called user mode), the Installation Manager can be invoked only by the user that installed it.
In group mode, the Installation Manager can be invoked by any user ID that is connected to the default group of the user that installed it.
This does not mean that two people can use the single instance of IBM Installation Manager at the same time.

How many Installation Managers do you need: You only need to run Installation Manager on those systems on which you install or update product code. You normally need only one Installation Manager on a system because one Installation Manager can keep track of any number of product installations.

Installing Installation Manager: When the installation kit is available on your system, you can install Installation Manager. Installation Manager consists of a set of binaries that are copied from the installation kit and a set of runtime data that describe the products that have been installed by this particular Installation Manager. Before installing Installation Manager, you must decide in which mode the Installation Manager will run as well as where the binaries and runtime data—called agent data or appdata—will reside. Then, you issue an Installation Manager installation command from the appropriate user ID to install Installation Manager.

Accessing product repositories: All software materials that will be installed with IBM Installation Manager are stored in flat-file repositories. Each repository contains program objects and metadata for one or more packages—that is, software products at a particular level. Repositories can also contain product maintenance, such as fix packs and interim fixes. Whenever you install a new product, you can choose from any of the available product levels in any accessible repository.

Installing the product: After you have installed Installation Manager and have access to all necessary product repositories, you can use the Installation Manager GUI, command-line commands, or response files to perform the actual product installations. When you install a product, you provide the package name, optionally the product level to be installed, the product location, and any other optional properties. For example, some products have optional features that you can select at installation time or a list of optional supported language packs from which you can select.

Working with installed products: You can use Installation Manager commands to list installed products and product levels. You can also obtain this information for installed copies of WebSphere eXtreme Scale products by issuing the versionInfo command from the product file system. You can use Installation Manager commands or response files to install a new product level, roll back to a previous level, or modify the product by adding or removing optional features or language packs.

Using the IBM Packaging Utility: With the Packaging Utility, you can create and manage packages for installation repositories. You can copy multiple packages into one repository or copy multiple disks for one product into a repository. You can copy packages from Passport Advantage® into a repository for example. For more information on the Packaging Utility, go to the IBM Installation Manager Version 1.5 documentation.

Restrictions:

If a non-administrator installs WebSphere eXtreme Scale Version 8.6 on a Windows Vista, Windows 7, or Windows Server 2008 operating system into the Program Files or Program Files (x86) directory with User Account Control (UAC) enabled, WebSphere eXtreme Scale will not function correctly.
UAC is an access-control mechanism that allows non-administrative users to install a software product into the Program Files or Program Files (x86) directory; but it then prohibits any write access to that directory after the installation has completed. WebSphere eXtreme Scale requires write access in the app_server_root directory in order to function correctly.
To resolve this issue, perform one of the following actions:
- Install WebSphere eXtreme Scale into a directory other than Program Files or Program Files (x86).
  For example:
```
C:\IBM\WebSphere\AppServer
```
- Disable UAC.
When you install a product using Installation Manager with local repositories, the installation takes a significantly longer amount of time if you use a compressed repository file directly without extracting it.
Before you install a product using local repositories, extract the compressed repository file to a location on your local system before using Installation Manager to access it.
Installation Manager console mode, which is included in Installation Manager Version 1.4.3 and later, does not work with WebSphere eXtreme Scale Version 8.6 offerings on systems other than z/OS®.

Important: Do not transfer the content of a repository in non-binary mode and do not convert any content on extraction.

Tip: Although almost all of the instructions in this section of the information center will work with earlier versions of IBM Installation Manager, the information here is optimized for users who have installed or upgraded to Installation Manager Version 1.5 or later.

Available product offerings in Installation Manager

After you have installed Installation Manager and have access to all necessary product repositories, the Installation Manager lists the product offerings that are available to you. When you point to our product repository, you should see the following product offerings:

WebSphere eXtreme Scale in a stand-alone environment
WebSphere eXtreme Scale Client in a stand-alone environment
WebSphere eXtreme Scale for WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0
WebSphere eXtreme Scale for WebSphere Application Server Version 8.0
WebSphere eXtreme Scale Client for WebSphere Application Server Version 7.0
WebSphere eXtreme Scale Client for WebSphere Application Server Version 8.0

Important: If you want to install WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere eXtreme Scale at the same time, then you need to point to both product repositories. These are installed as two separate products, but can be installed at the same time in Installation Manager.