Recording a response file with Installation Manager

You can create a response file by recording your actions in Installation Manager. When you record a response file, the selections that you make in Installation Manager are stored in an XML file. When you run Installation Manager in silent mode, Installation Manager uses the data in the XML response file to install packages.

Before you begin

To record a response file, you must install Installation Manager. For information about the silent installation commands, see Installation Manager command-line arguments.

About this task

You cannot record a response file to install Installation Manager. To install both Installation Manager and an HCL product, you must modify a response file to add the commands to install Installation Manager.

Procedure

To record a response file:
  1. On a command line, change to the eclipse subdirectory. See Installing as an administrator or nonadministrator for default installation directory locations.
  2. Run the command to record a response file for the HCL product installation. This command uses the -skipInstall agentDataLocation argument. This argument records the installation commands without installing the HCL product. Substitute your own file name and location for the response file.
    Verify that the file paths that you enter exist. Installation Manager does not create directories for the response file.
    Note: Using the -log option is not supported when recording a response file.
    • Windows™: IBMIM.exe -record responseFile -skipInstall agentDataLocation
    • Linux: ./IBMIM -record responseFile-skipInstall agentDataLocation
    Examples:
    • Windows™: IBMIM.exe -record c:\response_files\install_product.xml -skipInstall c:\skipInstall\HCL_product
    • Linux: ./IBMIM -record /response_files/install_product.xml -skipInstall skipInstall/HCL_product
    The -skipInstall argument requires that the agentDataLocationis a directory that you can write to. Use the same agentDataLocation in the next recording session to record updates or modifications to the HCL product. These changes are recorded in the agentDataLocation directory.
    Remember: Do not specify an existing agentDataLocation directory for the location for a new installation process. For information about the agent data location, see Agent data location.
    Note: To record a response file and install the HCL product at the same time, remove the argument -skipInstall agentDataLocation.
  3. Follow the on-screen instructions in the appropriate wizard. If you copied the repository to a new location, you can set the location of the repository in the repository table. To access the repository table, click File > Preferences > Repositories.
    The text (Recording...) is displayed in the Installation Manager title when you are recording a response file.
  4. Click Finish, then close Installation Manager to finish the recording of the response file.
  5. If you are running Installation Manager as a nonadministrator and plan to use the response file to install on another user's computer, you must change the file paths in your response file from absolute paths to relative paths.

Results

An XML response file is created and saved in the location that you specified in the command.