Miscellaneous notes on install and environment setup working on WAS 8 (Beta)

A less troublesome install process could be:

1. a design - a topology however rough is better than none - this will help to decide on the installation of different WebSphere objects
   
2. a plan - steps to take - this should include careful notes on security
   
3. security - root or non-root - think through, make a choice, and document detail
   • A primary Administrative Security ID to represent WebSphere servers in LDAP
   • A top level WebSphere administrative ID in LDAP server for which WebSphere system administrators are "leaves"
     
   • An OS Level root ID or root privilege for your security ID to install the server
   • An OS level administrative ID that you can "su" to to perform daily administration (you should the file systems for WebSphere to this ID, for example in LINUX: chown -R WASOP:WASOP /opt

4. Then, your life is easier - do the usual getting the binary, decompress, launchpad (if not using the silent install or scripted automation. You will need some kind of XWindow server running on your workstation)
5. create profiles (./pmt.sh or scripted automation)

Installing LINUX:

When installing LINUX or doing anything to the hard drive, backup your data, and make a repair CD or DVD. Anything that can go wrong will go wrong. I had to use my repair CD today twice! LINUX seems sensitive to unexpected power failures. Also, it seems that no vendors like the idea to use an external drive to boot the system.

Backup your stuff, for example, clone your drive, but be extremely carefully with ddrescue or anything that appreciates the power of recursive algorithm. Always make sure that the target is the right one. Check it twice if not three times and make sure. Do not ever skip the first command below!

sudo lshw -C disk
sudo ddrescue -v /dev/sda /dev/sdb  

If the system complains about input files, use the following
sudo ddrescue -v --force /dev/sda /dev/sdb