Geekflare is supported by our audience. We may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this site.
Share on:

Fix pack Upgrade Guide in IBM WebSphere 8.5

was fixpack upgrade
Invicti Web Application Security Scanner – the only solution that delivers automatic verification of vulnerabilities with Proof-Based Scanning™.

One of the essential tasks for WebSphere administrator is to ensure technology stack in a production environment is up-to-date.

There are many including security, feature enhancements & bug fixes are released by IBM as a fix pack, and in this guide, I will explain how to upgrade the fix pack in IBM WebSphere Application Server 8.5.5 version.

My current version is 8.5.5.0, and I will upgrade Fix Pack 6 using IBM Installation Manager so, in the end, my WAS will be upgraded to 8.5.5.6.

Download WebSphere Application Server Fix Pack 6

  • Go to following URL

http://www-01.ibm.com/support/docview.wss?uid=swg24040035

  • Select the zip file for your desired platform. I am using Linux so that I will proceed with the download for “Distributed” platform.

ibm-fixpack-download-package

  • Fix Pack 6 is available in two parts, so you got to download both of them as shown below and click on Continue

ibm-fixpack-parts

  • Log in with your IBM ID to download the fix pack

ibm-fixpack-signin

  • Click on each file (part 1 & part 2) to download

ibm-im-download-details

  • Transfer the downloaded file to your server
  • You should have following two files on WAS server where you wish to upgrade the fix pack
-rw-rw-r--. 1 chandan chandan 901272378 Aug 30 02:18 8.5.5-WS-WAS-FP0000006-part1.zip
-rw-rw-r--. 1 chandan chandan 1762272953 Aug 30 02:53 8.5.5-WS-WAS-FP0000006-part2.zip
  • Extract the file using unzip command
# unzip 8.5.5-WS-WAS-FP0000006-part1.zip
# unzip 8.5.5-WS-WAS-FP0000006-part2.zip
  • It will take a minute or two, and you will have following extracted files/folders.
[root@localhost fixpack]# ls -ltr
total 2604656
drwxr-xr-x. 3 root   root          30 Jun 12 16:44 atoc
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       376411 Jun 12 16:44 update_com.ibm.websphere.ND.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       375954 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.NDTRIAL.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       358020 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.BASE.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       357755 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.BASETRIAL.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       357957 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.DEVELOPERS.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root        357763 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.DEVELOPERSILAN.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       358185 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.EXPRESS.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       357817 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.EXPRESSTRIAL.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       128376 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.NDDMZ.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root   root       159744 Jun 12 16:45 files
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       128313 Jun 12 16:45 update_com.ibm.websphere.NDDMZTRIAL.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536_from_8.5.0.20120501_1108.xml
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root         1284 Jun 12 16:45 repository.config
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root   root         4096 Jun 12 16:45 plugins
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root   root         4096 Jun 12 16:45 Offerings
drwxr-xr-x. 2 root   root         53248 Jun 12 16:45 native
-rw-r--r--. 1 root   root       149645 Jun 12 16:45 repository.xml

Now, it’s time to use IBM Installation Manager to apply the fix pack.

Few pointers…

  1. Stop the WAS if it’s still running
  2. Take a backup of entire WAS

Apply WAS Fix Pack using IBM IM

  • Open IBM Installation Manager
  • Click on File >> Preferences

ibm-im-preference

  • Click on Add Repository
  • Click on Browse and select repository.config which you got above after extracting fix pack
  • Click on OK

ibm-im-selectrepository

  • You should have something like below, click on OK to continue

ibm-im-selected-repository

  • Click on Next on select package group window

ibm-im-update-package

  • It will give you confirmation that Version 8.5.5.6 is recognized in a repository.config file. Click on Next

ibm-im-fix-pack

  • Accept the terms and click on Next

ibm-ibm-terms

  • Here you can customize the features if you wish. Click on Next

ibm-im-features

  • Review the summary information and click on Update to apply the fix pack

ibm-im-summary

  • It will take few minutes and at the end, you will have success message as shown below.

ibm-im-fix-pack-installed

Well done! This indicates you have applied Fix Pack 6 on 8.5.5 version and now WAS version should be 8.5.5.6. Let’s verify them.

  • Go to $PROFILE_HOME/bin folder
  • Execute versionInfo.sh to see the installed WAS
[root@localhost bin]# ./versionInfo.sh
WVER0010I: Copyright (c) IBM Corporation 2002, 2012; All rights reserved.
WVER0012I: VersionInfo reporter version 1.15.1.48, dated 2/8/12
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IBM WebSphere Product Installation Status Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report at date and time August 31, 2015 4:52:31 AM PDT
Installation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Directory       /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
Version Directory       /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/version
DTD Directory           /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/version/dtd
Log Directory           /var/ibm/InstallationManager/logs
Product List
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NDTRIAL                 installed
Installed Product
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name                 IBM WebSphere Application Server Network Deployment
Version               8.5.5.6
ID                   NDTRIAL
Build Level           cf061521.02
Build Date           5/29/15
Package               com.ibm.websphere.NDTRIAL.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536
Architecture         x86-64 (64 bit)
Installed Features   IBM 64-bit WebSphere SDK for Java
                     WebSphere Application Server Full Profile
                     Sample applications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End Installation Status Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[root@localhost bin]#

You may also use historyInfo.sh to see previous and current installed version.

[root@localhost bin]# ./historyInfo.sh
WVER0210I: Copyright (c) IBM Corporation 2002, 2012; All rights reserved.
WVER0212I: HistoryInfo Reporter Version 1.7.1.28, Dated 10/18/11
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IBM WebSphere Product History Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Report at date and time August 31, 2015 4:52:57 AM PDT
Installation
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Product Directory   /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer
Version Directory   /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/version
DTD Directory       /opt/IBM/WebSphere/AppServer/properties/version/dtd
Log Directory       /var/ibm/InstallationManager/logs
Installation Event
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Install Manager Offering ID       com.ibm.websphere.NDTRIAL.v85
Action                             install
Version                           8.5.5.0
Package                           com.ibm.websphere.NDTRIAL.v85_8.5.5000.20130514_1044
Log File Name                    20150812_0525.xml
Timestamp                         2015-08-12 06:18:25-0700
Result                             success
Installed Features                 Sample applications
                                   IBM 64-bit WebSphere SDK for Java
Installation Event
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Install Manager Offering ID       com.ibm.websphere.NDTRIAL.v85
Action                             update
Version                           8.5.5.6
Package                           com.ibm.websphere.NDTRIAL.v85_8.5.5006.20150529_0536
Log File Name                     20150831_0419.xml
Timestamp                         2015-08-31 04:25:16-0700
Result                             success
Installed Features                 IBM 64-bit WebSphere SDK for Java
                                   Sample applications
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
End History Report
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------[root@localhost bin]#

So that was all for today, and I hope you have an idea how to apply Fix Pack on IBM WebSphere Application Server environment.

Upgrade your skills by learning cloud computing.

Thanks to our Sponsors
More great readings on WebSphere
Power Your Business
Some of the tools and services to help your business grow.
  • Invicti uses the Proof-Based Scanning™ to automatically verify the identified vulnerabilities and generate actionable results within just hours.
    Try Invicti
  • Web scraping, residential proxy, proxy manager, web unlocker, search engine crawler, and all you need to collect web data.
    Try Brightdata
  • Semrush is an all-in-one digital marketing solution with more than 50 tools in SEO, social media, and content marketing.
    Try Semrush
  • Intruder is an online vulnerability scanner that finds cyber security weaknesses in your infrastructure, to avoid costly data breaches.
    Try Intruder