ShowTable of Contents
Introduction
Lotus Connections Update Installer V2.5 is a powerful tool with which you can update Connections interim fixes and fix packs. It can run in either interactive mode or silent mode. When updating Lotus Connections 2.x, users can run into various failures, so it's important to understand how to locate the root cause of issues and how to troubleshoot them.
Architectural overview
Connections Update Installer is based on the IBM WebSphere® Portal Update Installer and executes the following main tasks (see figure 1):
• Collects user input from the User Input panel or command parameter
• Validates user input and the information of an interim fix or fix pack, and detects data on the Lotus Connections product installed on the machine
• Copies files into specified locations
• Runs ConfigEngine tasks to update Lotus Connections
• Performs logging
Figure 1. Schematic of Update Installer architecture
New in the latest version Update Installer
Connections Update Installer 2.5 contains fixes for many defects in previous releases, one of which was a serious bug when using the wizard in GUI mode that results in an update failure. Version 2.5 also introduces some new features, as listed below:
1.
Added version information to state it’s for 2.5 releases. There are two places in which version information is stored. One place is on the GUI panel, which we describe in next chapter. The other place is in the
version folder of the Connections Update Installer directory, in which there is new file named
lc.product that contains the version information; for example:
<!DOCTYPE product SYSTEM "product.dtd">
<product name="Update Installer for Lotus Connections">
<id>lcui</id>
<version>2.5.0.0</version>
<build-info date="091/25/2009" level="00000001"/>
</product>
2.
Changed the UI panel to collect username and password for the WAS profile. In previous releases, there are two input fields to collect the username and password for every feature, since different features can be installed on different profiles. In the 2.5 release, however, Lotus Connections only supports install features in one profile, so we just need two input fields here. We show this panel in the next section.
3.
Added new command line parameter to extract interim fixes number installed on Lotus Connections for a specific feature. In the command window, you can input the information below:
AIX or Linux: chmod +x updateLC.sh
./updateLC.sh -installDir <lotus_connections_root> -fix –feature <feature_name>
Windows: updateLC.bat -installDir <lotus_connections_root> -fix –feature <feature_name>
where:
<feature_name> is the name of feature, and the value is activities, blogs, communities, dogear, profiles, homepage, files, or wikis
and
<lotus_connections_root > specifies the full path of Lotus Connections, for example, C:/IBM/LotusConnections
4.
Provided backward compatibility. Previous versions of the Update Installer cannot install interim fixes or fix packs for Connections 2.5 correctly. However, Connections Update Installer 2.5 can now install interim fixes and fix packs for Connections 2.0, 2.0.1, 2.0.1.1, and 2.5.
Preparing to use Update Installer
Before we run the Connections Update Installer wizard, we must do some prerequisites steps. Although it’s not required, we recommend that you perform all the steps below, especially when installing a Connections fix pack, for example, LC201_Fixpack .jar or LC2011_Fixpack .jar. Even if the update process fails, we can restore to the original version.
- Back up all customization files that you have used with Lotus Connections 2.5 (required when installing a fix pack, but it’s optional when installing an interim fix).
- Start Deploy manager and all node agents (required when updating Connections in a cluster environment).
- Stop WebSphere Application Server instances for Lotus Connections (not required since Connections Update Installer will run tasks to stop Application Server during the update process. However, we recommend doing this step, in case data is lost when users are using Connections service during a Connections service update, and also it can save updating time).
- To initialize the WebSphere environment for the Connections Update Installer, open a command window, change to the bin directory of the WebSphere Application Server instance associated with Lotus Connections, and enter the following command for your platform:
For AIX®:
chmod +x setupCmdLine.sh
.(space)./setupCmdLine.sh
NOTE: When running this command in an AIX shell, be sure to use the syntax .(space)./setupCmdLine.sh. If you do not precede the command with the period and space, the Java
TM environment won't be set properly for the active shell.
For Linux®:
chmod +x setupCmdLine.sh
source setupCmdLine.sh
For Windows®:
Note that this step is required, and that you can configure the
WAS_HOME variable in a command window to get the same result, for example:
AIX or Linux: export WAS_HOME=<was_home>
Windows: set WAS_HOME=<was_home>
Using Connections Update Installer
After you've done the prerequisite steps, you are ready to launch the Connections Update Installer 2.5 wizard to update Lotus Connections.
Updating in interactive mode
1. To run the wizard in interactive mode, run the following script file from the Connections Update Installer wizard directory:
AIX or Linux: chmod +x updateLCWizard.sh
./updateLCWizard.sh
Windows: updateLCWizard.bat
2. The default language is English, but Connections Update Installer supports multiple languages from which you can choose in the drop-down list. Click OK.
3. The License window for the Update Installer wizard displays (see figure 2). (Notice the title of this window is “Update Installation Wizard for Lotus Connections 2.5.0.0,” stating the version of the Update Installer.) Click Next.
Figure 2. License window
4. Connections Update Installer can automatically detect the location of all Connections installs on the host machine, so if there is more than one location, you must select the one you want to update. In certain cases, if the Update Installer can’t detect the location for a Connections install, you must choose the location manually (see figure 3). Click Next.
Figure 3. Choose an install location
5. In the next window, you can select to install/uninstall fixes or fix packs (see figure 4). Click Next.
Figure 4. Choose to install/uninstall fixes or fix packs
6. Specify the directory in which fixes are located (see figure 5); click Next.
Figure 5. Specify fix location
7. The Update wizard scans the fixes in the specified location and lists those not installed on your Connections product. Select the check boxes of the fixes that you wish to install (see figure 6).
Figure 6. Select the fixes to be installed
8. You can click the Details button to see detailed information for the selected fixes / fix packs (see figures 7 and 8).
Figure 7. Details for a fix
Figure 8. Details for a fix pack
9. After making your selections, click Next, and in the next window enter the WebSphere Application Server administrator ID and password (see figure 9); click Next.
Figure 9. Administrator user ID and password
10. The Summary window displays as shown in figure 10; click Next to start updating. The installation process may take 20 minutes or more to complete, depending on the capability of your machine.
Figure 10. Summary window
11. The next window shows the results, confirming whether the updating was successful (see figure 11); click Finish to exit the wizard.
Figure 11. Results window
Updating in silent mode
From the directory where the Connections Update Installer wizard is located, open a command prompt, and type “updateLC.sh” or “updateLC.bat” to query command parameters and formats (see figure 12).
Figure 12. updateLC command
Then, according to above usage, you can specify the respective parameters to install an interim fix or fix pack in silent mode, as shown below.
Installing interim fixes
Linux/AIX:
chmod +x updateLC.sh
./updateLC.sh -fix -installDir <lotus_connections_root> -fixDir <fix_file_location> -install -fixes <APAR_number_of_fix> -wasUserId <AdminUserID> -wasPassword <AdminPassword>
For example:
./updateLC.sh –fix -installDir /opt/IBM/WebSphere/LotusConnections -fix -fixDir /opt/IBM/WebSphere/LotusConnections/update/fixes -install -fixes LO34540 LO34604 LO34631 LO34638 LO34665 LO34676 -wasUserId wasadmin -wasPassword passw0rd
Windows:
updateLC.bat -fix -installDir <lotus_connections_root> -fixDir <fix_file_location> -install -fixes <APAR_number_of_fix> -wasUserId <AdminUserID> -wasPassword <AdminPassword>
Installing fix packs
Linux/AIX:
./updateLC.sh -installDir <lotus_connections_root> -fixpack –install -fixpackDir <fixpack_file_location> -fixpackID <fixpack_id> -wasUserId <AdminUserId> -wasPassword <AdminPwd>
For example:
./updateLC.sh -fixpack -install -installDir /opt/IBM/WebSphere/LotusConnections -fixpackDir /mnt/232/lc201/fixpack -fixpackID LC2011_fixpack -wasUserId wasadmin -wasPassword passw0rd
Windows:
updateLC.bat -installDir <lotus_connections_root> -fixpack –install -fixpackDir <fixpack_file_location> -fixpackID <fixpack_id> -wasUserId <AdminUserId> -wasPassword <AdminPwd>
where:
<lotus_connections_root> is the full path of Lotus Connections.
<fix_file_location> is the full path of the folder containing the fix file.
<APAR_number_of_fix> is the list of the APAR number.
<AdminUserID> is the administrator user of WebSphere Application Server or Deploy manager.
<AdminPassword> is the password of
<AdminUserID>
<fixpack_id> is the ID of the fix pack.
Troubleshooting
Whenever you have a problem with running the Update Installer wizard, you need to perform some basic diagnostics and verify your system’s configuration. This section provides important information about how to troubleshoot a problem.
- First, review the updating log files under /version/log. Ensure there is no error, no exception in log file and ensure the main task action-cui-update- has executed successfully. The log files are named ___install.log
- If you have installed a fixpack with Update Installer, ensure xxx.product files under /version directory have been updated with proper product information. Be sure to check every feature’s .product file (activities.product, blogs.product, etc.) For example:
<!DOCTYPE product SYSTEM "product.dtd">
<product name="Lotus Connections News">
<id>news</id>
<version>
2.5.0.0</version>
<build-info
date="
07/19/2009"
level="
20090719_0029"/>
</product>
- If you've installed an interim fix with Update Installer, check the .efix file under the /version directory, to verify that it exists after installation (LO88881.efix, LO88882.efix, etc.):
Known issues
The following are some of the known issues for Connections Update Installer 2.5:
- Issue 1. Update Installer 2.5 does not instantly validate the WAS user name and password after you type them in the GUI panel. So if you input a wrong WAS user name and password, the update installer won't be blocked and will prompt you to input user name/password again. Meanwhile, it continues to run the install task but finally fails to install an interim fix or fix pack because the user name and password are incorrect.
Workaround: Currently there's no workaround; you must input the correct user name/password. (In the next release, it's planned that the update installer panel will add a new password field to validate that the passwords are consistent in two password input fields. Also a new Validate button is planned to be added, to provide an optional approach to validate the user name and password.
- Issue 2. Sometimes Update Installer shows the Installation Successful message in the summary panel, but it actually does not update an interim fix successfully. Update Installer detects the return code for the main ConfigEngine tasks only, not for all ConfigEngine tasks. So in some situations, ConfigEngine tasks might fail, but Update Installer panel still shows the Installation Successful message.
Workaround: Check the log to make sure the iFix installation is successful.
- Issue 3. If the Activities feature is not installed in a user's environment, when they attempt to update iFixes for News and Search, it will fail to update.
Workaround: Download iFixes LO46274 and LO45341 from IBM Support Fix Central and install them first.
- Issue 4. When users install iFix for mobile, Update Installer fails.
Workaround: Download iFix LO43637 from IBM Support Fix Central and install it first.
Conclusion
You should now have a good idea of how to use Connections Update Installer to install iFixes or Fixpacks for Connections 2.x, via both the GUI (interactive) mode and console (silent) mode, and how to troubleshoot Installer wizard-related issues.
Resources
Lotus Connections 2.5 Information Center:
http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/infocenter/ltscnnct/v2r0/index.jsp
developerWorks Lotus Connections 2.5 product page:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/products/connections/?S_TACT=105AGX13&S_CMP=LP
IBM Lotus Connections Reviewer's Guide:
http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/lotus/documentation/connections/dw-l-reviewersguide/
About the authors
Zheng Jun Song is a Software Engineer working with the Level 3 Support team for Lotus Connections. You can reach him at
songzj@cn.ibm.com.
Jun Jing Zhang is a Software Engineer working on the Installation team for Lotus Connections. You can reach him at
jjzhang@cn.ibm.com.
Li Yun Gong is a Software Developer working on the Lotus Connections Functional Verification Test (FVT) team. You can reach her at
gliyun@cn.ibm.com.