How to Install IBM Installation Manager: An In-Depth Guide for New Users

Hey there! If you‘re like me, you may need to install IBM Installation Manager to set up other IBM software like WebSphere or DB2 on your Linux system. No worries – I‘ve been there myself!

In this post, I‘ll walk through a complete beginner‘s guide to installing IBM Installation Manager (IM) 1.8 on Linux. I‘ll provide some background on what IBM IM is, why it‘s useful, and then give you a step-by-step tutorial for getting it set up properly.

Let‘s get started!

What Exactly is IBM Installation Manager?

IBM Installation Manager (or IBM IM for short) is a software installer tool created by IBM specifically for installing and maintaining IBM middleware products.

According to IBM‘s documentation, it can install over 100 different IBM software packages including:

WebSphere Application Server
WebSphere MQ
DB2
Rational Application Developer
And many more

Once IBM IM is installed on your system, you can use it as a one-stop shop for installing and managing all of these IBM technologies.

Some of the key highlights and benefits of using IBM Installation Manager include:

Simple graphical and command line installation interfaces
Discovery of already installed IBM software
Customizable installations and configuration
Simplified installs, updates, rollbacks and uninstalls
Consistent process across different platforms and operating systems

Based on IBM‘s data, over 4 million installations and updates have been performed using IBM IM since its release!

So in summary, IBM IM provides a robust tool to standardize and simplify installs and maintenance of IBM software. It‘s a critical component when working with many IBM middleware products.

Now that you know what it is, let‘s look at actually installing it!

Preparing Your Linux System for Installation

Before we can start the installation process, we need to make sure your Linux system meets some minimum requirements:

Operating System: You‘ll need a 64-bit Linux distribution like RHEL, SLES, Ubuntu LTS, etc. I‘m using RHEL 7.6.
RAM: 512 MB is required, but I‘d recommend at least 1 GB for a smooth experience.
Disk space: You‘ll need 250 MB free for the installation itself. More space needed for any software you install after.
Software: Requirements include GLIBC 2.5+, Java Runtime 1.6+

You‘ll also need root or sudo privileges on your machine to install system-level software like this.

Okay, with those basics out of the way, let‘s move on to the good stuff!

Downloading IBM Installation Manager

The first step is to grab the IBM Installation Manager install files from IBM‘s Fix Central portal.

Here are the steps:

Open your web browser and go to http://www.ibm.com/support/fixcentral
Under Product Group, select "Rational"
Under Product, select "IBM Installation Manager"
Select your Operating System – in my case Linux x86-64
Find the latest 1.8.x package and download it

I downloaded agent.installer.linux.gtk.x86_64_1.8.2000.20190905_1213.zip – yours may differ!

Save this .zip file in a dedicated directory like /opt/IBM/InstallationManager. We‘ll install from here.

Running the IBM IM Installer

Now we‘re ready to actually install IBM Installation Manager:

Switch to your InstallationManager directory, for example:
```
cd /opt/IBM/InstallationManager
```

Unzip the installer .zip file:

unzip agent.installer.linux.gtk.x86_64_1.8.2000.20190905_1213.zip

Switch to root to install system-level software:
```
sudo su
```
Run the installer executable:
```
./install
```
The installer GUI will launch – click Next.
Accept the license agreement and click Next.
Select the installation folder – default is /opt/IBM/InstallationManager. Click Next.
Review the summary and click Install. Installation begins!
Once finished, click Done to exit. IBM Installation Manager is now installed!

The full installation took about 5 minutes for me on my test VM. Not too bad!

Verifying the Installation

We‘re in the home stretch now! To validate that IBM IM installed correctly:

Switch back to your normal user account if you were root.
Launch IBM Installation Manager again by running:
```
/opt/IBM/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools/imcl
```
The main IBM IM interface should open, showing the Packages view.
Check the About dialog – should show IBM IM 1.8 version.

If all looks good, congratulations! IBM Installation Manager is ready to use for installing other IBM software products.

Troubleshooting Common IBM IM Install Problems

Like any software install, you might run into some hiccups getting IBM IM running. Here are some fixes for common issues:

JRE error during install – Make sure Java 1.6+ runtime is installed
Can‘t launch IM after install – Don‘t run as root user, switch to normal user
Installation fails or crashes – Try extracting installer directly instead of running .zip
Invalid Linux distribution error – Double check you‘re on a supported 64-bit OS

The IBM Knowledge Center also has some great tips. Don‘t hesitate to reach out to IBM support if you get really stuck!

Closing Thoughts

Okay my friend, we‘ve reached the end of our IBM Installation Manager journey! Here are some key takeaways:

IBM IM is a powerful tool for installing and managing IBM middleware
Make sure your Linux environment meets the requirements
Download the latest 1.8 package from IBM Fix Central
Run the GUI installer and follow the prompts
Verify the install was successful by launching IBM IM
Check out IBM docs if any issues come up

I hope you found this guide helpful for getting IBM Installation Manager up and running! Let me know if you have any other questions – happy to help. Now go and install all the IBM software you need!