Installing as a non-root user

Grant permissions to a non-root user to install IBM® Connections.

Before you begin

Ensure that you complete all the prerequisite tasks that are relevant for your environment. For more information, see the Before installing topic.

About this task

This task applies to the AIX® and Linux™ operating systems only.

By default, only root users have the necessary permissions to install an IBM Connections deployment. On the AIX and Linux operating systems, you can permit non-root users to install the product by changing their permissions to access certain data directories. On the Windows™ operating system, the user must be a member of the administrator group.

Note: The non-root user must be the same user who installed IBM WebSphere® Application Server.

To grant the necessary permissions to a non-root user, complete the following steps:

Procedure

  1. Unless it already exists, create the non-root user account that you want to use to install IBM Connections.
  2. If it does not already exist, create a home directory for the user.
  3. Edit the install.ini file:
    1. Open the install.ini file for editing from the following location:
      • AIX: IBM_Connections_set-up directory/IM/aix/install.ini
      • Linux: IBM_Connections_set-up directory/IM/linux/install.ini
      • Linux on System z®: IBM_Connections_set-up directory/IM/zlinux/install.ini
    2. In the second line of the file, change admin to nonadmin.
    3. Save and close the file.
  4. Open a command prompt and grant the appropriate permissions to the user by entering the commands shown in the following table:
    • AIX or Linux:
      Note: Use either the chmod or chown commands, depending on your security environment. Use the chown commands to grant permissions to a user and group but ensure that the group includes the user account that installed WebSphere Application Server.
      Table 1. Non-root user permissions
      Directory Permissions chmod command chown command
      app_server_root RWX chgrp -R non-root_user_group app_server_root chmod -R g+wrx app_server_root

      where non-root_user_group is a user group that contains the non-root user account.

      		 chown -R non-root_ID:group app_server_root

      where non-root_ID is the non-root user account and group is the user group that contains this account.

      IBM_ Connections set-up directory

      		 RWX chgrp -R non-root_user_group IBM_Connections_set-up_directory chmod -R g+wrx IBM_Connections_set-up_directory chown -R non-root_ID:group IBM_connections_set-up_directory
      connections_root RWX chgrp -R non-root_user_group connections_root chmod -R g+wrx connections_root chown -R non-root_ID:group connections_root
      IM_root RWX chgrp -R non-root_user_group IM_root chmod -R g+wrx IM_root chown -R non-root_ID:group IM_root
      shared_resources_root RWX chgrp -R non-root_user_group shared_resources_root chmod -R g+wrx shared_resources_root chown -R non-root_ID:group shared_resources_root

      var/ibm/InstallationManager

      		 RWX chmod -R ugo+rwx /var/ibm/InstallationManager
      Note: Grant permissions to this folder only if the root user installed IBM Installation Manager.
      		 chown -R non-root_ID:group /var/ibm/InstallationManager
  5. Install IBM Connections using either the wizard, the console, or a silent installation method.

Example

Grant permissions to a non-root user who wants to install an IBM Connections deployment on Linux.

Assumptions:
  • The app_server_root directory is /opt/IBM/Websphere/Appserver.
  • The IBM_Connections_set-up_directory directory is /opt/ConnectionsSetup.
  • The connections_root, IM_root, and shared_resources_root directories are subdirectories of the /opt/ConnectionsInstallation directory.
  • The non-root user account is a member of the ConnectionsInstallers group.

Procedure:

  1. Create a non-root user account called ConnectionsInstaller.
  2. Create a home directory for the new user account.
  3. Add the new user account to the ConnectionsInstallers group.
  4. Open a command prompt and enter the following commands:
    1. chgrp -R ConnectionsInstallers /opt/IBM/Websphere/Appserver chmod -R g+wrx /opt/IBM/Websphere/Appserver chown -R ConnectionInstaller:ConnectionsInstallers /opt/IBM/Websphere/Appserver
    2. chgrp -R ConnectionsInstallers /opt/ConnectionsSetup chmod -R g+wrx /opt/ConnectionsSetup chown -R ConnectionInstaller:ConnectionsInstallers /opt/IBM/Websphere/Appserver
    3. chgrp -R ConnectionsInstallers /opt/ConnectionsInstallation chmod -R g+wrx /opt/ConnectionsInstallation chown -R ConnectionInstaller:ConnectionsInstallers /opt/IBM/Websphere/Appserver