Fix pack installation on an instance fails with ADMA4003E error

When you attempt to install a fix pack on a WebSphere Commerce instance, you encounter an ADMA4003E error.

In the installation log files at WC_installdir/instances/instance_name/logs, you see an error similar to the following message:
ADMA4003E: EARExpander: The enterprise archive (EAR) file that is specified is not valid: 
    /tmp/wcupdate/WC_<instancename>/temp.ear  [antcall] Exiting /opt/WebSphere/CommerceServer70/config/deployment/xml/exportEar.xml. BUILD FAILED
    /opt/WebSphere/CommerceServer70/config/deployment/xml/exportEar.xml:48: The following error
    occurred while executing this line:
    /opt/WebSphere/CommerceServer70/config/deployment/xml/exportEar.xml:288: Java returned: 1
    at org.apache.tools.ant.ProjectHelper.addLocationToBuildException(ProjectHelper.java:539)
    at org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.Ant.execute(Ant.java:384) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.taskdefs.CallTarget.execute(CallTarget.java:107) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.UnknownElement.execute(UnknownElement.java:275) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Task.perform(Task.java:364) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Target.execute(Target.java:341) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Target.performTasks(Target.java:369) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeSortedTargets(Project.java:1216) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTarget(Project.java:1185) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.helper.DefaultExecutor.executeTargets(DefaultExecutor.java:40) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Project.executeTargets(Project.java:1068) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Main.runBuild(Main.java:668) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Main.startAnt(Main.java:187) at
    org.apache.tools.ant.Main.start(Main.java:150) at
    com.ibm.commerce.config.ant.server.AntLauncher.main(AntLauncher.java:280) at
    sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke0(Native Method) at
    sun.reflect.NativeMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(NativeMethodAccessorImpl.java:48) at
    sun.reflect.DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.invoke(DelegatingMethodAccessorImpl.java:37) at
    java.lang.reflect.Method.invoke(Method.java:600) at
    com.ibm.ws.bootstrap.WSLauncher.main(WSLauncher.java:260) Caused by:
    /opt/WebSphere/CommerceServer70/config/deployment/xml/exportEar.xml:288

Problem

The problem occurs during the Enterprise Archive (EAR) file export process. The Update Installer attempts to export the WebSphere Commerce EAR to update the EAR and then redeploy. The export process fails because the user does not have full rights and permissions.

The WebSphere Commerce Fix Pack is unable to install because a root user started the instance instead of the WebSphere Commerce user.

Solution

To proceed with the fix pack installation, you must stop and restart the server with a WebSphere Commerce user. For example:
  1. Go to the WC_profiledir/bin directory.
  2. Stop the server. For example, 
    ./stopServer.sh server1
  3. Switch to the WebSphere Commerce user,
    su - non_root_user
  4. Start the server. For example,
    ./startServer.sh server1