Installation Manager command-line arguments

Use the following table to learn more about IBM Installation Manager command-line arguments.

Installation Manager commands

Command-line arguments consist of commands and options. You can use commands without specifying an option. Most commands do not use a dash. There are several commands that start with a dash for compatibility with earlier versions of Installation Manager. You must specify a command when using an option. Options start with a dash.
Note: Asterisks (*) must not be used in the Installation Manager command line. When an asterisk is entered, Installation Manager cannot recognize the command-line argument and produces an error.

Table 1 lists Commands and Table 2 lists Options.

Table 1: Installation Manager Commands

Commands Description 
encryptString stringToEncrypt
 Encrypts the entered string.

In the command-line interface, open the eclipse directory and enter the encryptString command and a string with the -nosplash option to return an encrypted string. The String Encryption Utility window opens and the String to be encrypted field contains the string to encrypt. The Encrypted version of the string field contains the encrypted value to copy into the response file. In the String Encryption Utility, you can change the String to be encrypted field, and then click OK to generate a new encrypted string.

Use encryptString with -passwordKey to increase encryption security.

When you record a response file, encrypted strings for passwords are created and stored in the response file. An example of an encrypted string from a response file for Rational® ClearCase® on Windows:

<profile id=IBM Rational SDLC' installLocation='C:\Program Files\IBM\RationalSDLC'>
<data key='user.CC_ServerProcessPassword,com.ibm.rational.clearcase.nt_i386' 
value='encrypted password'/>
</profile>

After recording the response file, use encryptString to generate and paste different encrypted strings into the response file. For example, you record a response file. You have five computers to install an IBM product on by using the response file. Each of the five computers requires a different password value for a data key in the response file. Before running the installation on one of the computers, generate the encrypted string for the password to be used on the computer. Copy the encrypted string into the response file. Start the silent installation with the updated response file.

 
exportInstallData outputFileName
 Exports installation data to the specified file in archive format (.zip) where outputFileName is the name of the generated file that contains the exported data.

In the command-line interface, open the eclipse directory and enter the exportInstallData command and file name with the -noSplash and -silent options to export installation data. 

help, -help, -h, ?, -? 
	help command
	help all
 Shows a short description of Installation Manager command-line arguments.

When the help command is used with another command, a short description of the command shows. When used with the all option, descriptions for all commands are displayed.

For compatibility with an earlier version, this command can be used with a dash: -help.

 
input responseFile
Specifies an XML response file as the input to Installation Manager or the Installation Manager installer. The response file contains commands that Installation Manager or the Installation Manager installer run.
Do not use input with the following commands:
  • installAll, -installAll
  • updateAll, -updateAll
You can use a file path or a URL for the responsefile value. These examples show file paths and URL strings:
  • File path:
    • Windows: input C:\response_files\myresponsefile.xml
    • Linux and UNIX: input /response_files/myresponsefile.xml
  • URL: input http://server/response_files/myresponsefile.xml
Credentials must be stored in a keyring file and not in silent installation scripts.
Remember: You can record a response file, edit a sample response file, or manually create a response file.

For compatibility with earlier versions, this command can be used with a dash: -input.

 
installAll
Important: installAll is deprecated starting in Installation Manager version 1.4.4. It is recommended that you do not use this command because of a number of potential issues related to installing multiple products at the same time. For example:
  • The installation fails if the packages have the same default installation directories but the packages cannot be installed into the same package group.
  • The installation might be problematic for packages requiring additional information for installation. The user must provide required data by using the -properties option that can cause data collisions among packages.
  • You cannot control where extension packages are installed.
  • Installation of many packages at the same time might require a significant amount of disk space and might take a long time to complete.
 Install all packages in a specified repository.

This command installs all packages from all accessible repositories into their default installation directories. It can install only selected packages by default package features.

Do not use installAll with the following commands:
  • input, -input
  • updateAll, -updateAll
 
updateAll
 Update all installed packages from service repositories and repositories defined in the Installation Manager preferences.
Use the updateAll command with:
  • -installFixes: Install fixes.
  • -properties: Define the package group profile properties.
  • -repositories: Override the list of repositories in Installation Manager and specify where the packages are located.
Do not use updateAll with the following commands:
  • input, -input
  • installAll, -installAll
 
version
 Shows the version and internal version of Installation Manager.

For compatibility with an earlier versions, this command can be used with a dash: -version.

Table 2: Installation Manager Options

Options Description 
-acceptLicense
 Include the -acceptLicense option in your command when the package you are installing requires that you accept the licensing agreement. 
-accessRights, -aR mode

where mode=[admin, nonAdmin, group]

 Defines whether Installation Manager operates in administrator, non-administrator, or group mode. For administrator mode, use -accessRights with the admin parameter: -accessRights admin. For non-administrator mode, use the -accessRights argument with the nonAdmin parameter: -accessRights nonAdmin. For group mode, use -accessRights with the group parameter: -accessRights group

Only one administrator instance of Installation Manager can be installed. For non-administrator, install only one instance of Installation Manager for each user.

If -accessRights is not used, the default value is set based on current user permissions.
Note:
  • For Microsoft Windows XP Professional users who are members of the Administrator group, the default value is always -accessRights admin. For these users to run in non-administrator mode, pass the -accessRights nonAdmin argument explicitly.

Installation Manager reports an error when the user does not have appropriate system permissions.

Attention: Do not change this argument when installing, modifying, updating, rolling back, or removing the same instance of Installation Manager. For example, User1 installs Installation Manager in the C:\user1\InstallationManager directory with administrator access rights. When running a command to modify Installation Manager in the C:\user1\InstallationManager directory, User1 must not use the -accessRights nonAdmin argument.

For information about installing as an administrator, non-administrator, or group, see Installing as an administrator or nonadministrator.

 
-dataLocation, -dL dataLocation
 Specifies the directory location for the Installation Manager data directory. This location stores information about installed packages. Set this location when installing Installation Manager. The directory location set by -datalocation must not be a subdirectory of the Installation Manager installation directory.
Attention:
  • Do not change this argument after Installation Manager is installed. Changing this argument can damage the installation data. This damage can prevent you from modifying, updating, rolling back, or uninstalling installed packages.
  • If you specify a directory location for -dataLocation that is not the default value, the specified location must be used each time you use Installation Manager or the Installation Manager installer. For the Installation Manager installer, each time you start the installer, you must specify the same directory location using the -dataLocation option. The installed instance of Installation Manager uses the specified location automatically.
Examples when the same directory location must be used for the -datalocation option:
  • Installation Manager is not installed and you use the Installation Manager installer. Each time you start the installer, you must specify the same directory location for -dataLocation. If the same location is not used, multiple dataLocation locations are created and corruption can occur.
  • Installation Manager is installed using the specified directory location. If you use the Installation Manager installer, you must specify the same directory location using the -dataLocation option.

For information about the types of files and information stored in the agent data location, see Agent data location.

 
-keyring file [-password password]
 When specified, causes Eclipse to create keyring file if a keyring file does not exist. The -password password argument is optional. If the password is not specified, Eclipse uses a default password. You can provide stronger encryption by specifying a password to open the keyring file.

The contents of the keyring file are encrypted. You must have write permissions for the keyring file.

Installation Manager uses the Eclipse infrastructure to save credentials to a keyring file. For additional information about keyring files, see the Eclipse workbench users guide.
Attention: --launcher.ini .ini file is deprecated starting in Installation Manager version 1.4.3. You can use the following commands without specifying an .ini file: install,installc, userinst, userinstc, groupinst, groupinstc, uninstallc, and uninstall.
--launcher.ini .ini file
Examples:
  • --launcher.ini silent-install.ini
  • --launcher.ini silent-uninstall.ini
  • --launcher.ini user-silent-install.ini
  • --launcher.ini user-silent-uninstall.ini
 Specifies the location of the product .ini file to use. When this argument is not specified, Installation Manager checks for a file in the same directory as the launcher with the same name and the .ini extension. For example, if installc is the launcher, Installation Manager checks for installc.ini.

The silent-install.ini file contains the initialization parameters for installing silently. The silent-install.ini file is in the same directory as the installc file and must be present.

The user-silent-install.ini file is used for a non-administrator installation. The user-silent-uninstall.ini file is used for a non-administrator uninstall procedure.

Important: The version of silent-install.ini and user-silent-install.ini files provided in the installation files for Installation Manager use the input command-line argument. To use installAll or updateAll with these .ini files, you must remove two lines: the -input line and the line that points to the response file. An example of the two lines to remove: 
-input
@osgi.install.area\install.xml
If the -input and response file lines are not removed, the installAll and updateAll command-line arguments do not work.

The .ini files in the Installation Manager installation directory do not use the -input command-line argument.

An example of a silent-install.ini file from the installation files for Installation Manager:

-toolId
isilentInstall
-accessRights
admin
-vm
jre_5.0.4.sr11_20091106a\jre\bin\java.exe
-nosplash
--launcher.suppressErrors
-silent
-input
@osgi.install.area\install.xml
-vmargs
-Xquickstart
-Xgcpolicy:gencon

An example of a silent-install.ini file from the Installation Manager directory:

-accessRights
admin
-vm
C:\Program Files\IBM\Installation Manager\eclipse\jre_5.0.3.sr8a_20080811b\jre\bin\java.exe
-nosplash
--launcher.suppressErrors
-silent
-vmargs
-Xquickstart
-Xgcpolicy:gencon

If you run a command that uses the -input argument and the .ini file that you use also contains the -input argument, the response file that the -input argument in the command specifies is used. The response file that the -input argument in the .ini file specifies is ignored. An example of a command that uses the -input argument: ./install --launcher.ini silent-install.ini -input input_file_path_and_name

 
--launcher.suppressErrors
 Suppresses the Java™ virtual machine (JVM) error dialog. 
-log, -l log_file
 Specifies a log file that records the result of the silent installation. The log file is an XML file.

When your silent installation completes, the log file contains the root element of result/result. When errors occur during the installation, the silent installation log file contains error elements and messages.

Do not use -log when recording a response file.

Attention: -mode wizard is deprecated starting in Installation Manager version 1.4.4. 
-mode wizard
 Runs the Install wizard with the specified response file. You must use input when using -mode wizard.

For version 1.4.4, use IBMIM input response_file -acceptlicense to start the Install wizard.

 
-nl value
 When you include the nl option and a language code with a command, the behavior of the command line adjusts according to the settings for the specified language.
The following list contains the currently supported language codes that can be listed as locale values:
  • Arabic (ar)
  • Czech (cs)
  • Danish (da)
  • English (en)
  • French (fr)
  • German (de)
  • Greek (el)
  • Hungarian (hu)
  • Italian (it)
  • Japanese (ja)
  • Korean (ko)
  • Lithuanian (li)
  • Polish (pl)
  • Portuguese (pt_BR)
  • Russian (ru)
  • Simplified Chinese (zh_CN)
  • Slovenian (sl)
  • Spanish (es)
  • Traditional Chinese (Taiwan) (zh_TW)
  • Turkish (tr)
Note: Some languages support only partial translations. When a language is partially translated, the content that is not translated defaults to English.
 
-nosplash
 Suppresses the splash screen. 
-passwordKey, -pK passwordKey
 Uses passwordKey to encrypt or decrypt passwords. 
-record responseFile
 Generates a response file from actions in the Installation Manager UI, command line, or console mode, and specifies the location of the response file. 
-showProgress, -sP
 Shows a progress bar on the console. 
-showVerboseProgress, -sVP
 Shows progress text on the console. For example, the text Reboot the machine to complete the install. is shown when restarting the computer is required.
Attention: Starting with version 1.4.4, -silent is deprecated.
-silent, -s
  • -silent -installAll -nosplash --launcher.suppressErrors
  • -silent -updateAll -nosplash --launcher.suppressErrors
 Specifies that the Installation Manager installer or Installation Manager run in silent mode.
With the IBMIM, install, userinst and groupinst commands:
  • Use -silent -installAll -nosplash --launcher.suppressErrors to silently install all available packages.
  • Use -silent -updateAll -nosplash --launcher.suppressErrors to silently update all installed packages.

Do not use the input command with the installAll and updateAll commands. With installAll, the default features for a package are installed. To specify the features that are installed, you must use input responseFile. The response file contains the information about the features to install.
Note: When you record a response file, you can select the features to install.
Important: installAll is deprecated starting in Installation Manager version 1.4.4. It is recommended that you do not use this command because of a number of potential issues related to installing multiple products at the same time. For more information, see the installAll.
 
-skipInstall, -sI dataLocation
 Records a response file without installing the IBM product. The dataLocation value specifies the directory location for the installation folders and files. Although the IBM product is not installed, the files and folders that are required for installation are created and stored in the specified directory. The directory must be writable.

Verify that the file paths in the argument exist. Installation Manager does not create directories for response files.

Attention: Do not specify an existing dataLocation directory for the new dataLocation location value. See Agent data location for default locations of the dataLocation directory.
Important: When you record a response file by using the -skipInstall argument, you must keep the directory, folders, and files that are created. By keeping the dataLocation directory, you can modify the installation later. When you record a new response file to modify the installation, you specify the same directory for dataLocation.

Use a different dataLocation value for each version of an IBM product that you install.

You must first record an installation of an IBM product by using -skipInstall before you record an update.

 
-vm
 Specifies the Java launcher. In silent mode, always use java.exe on Windows, and java on Linux and UNIX.
Parent topic: Installing silently