Preparing ports on i5/OS

It is important to manage your ports when installing IBM^® WebSphere^® Portal Express. The installation requires two port blocks of 25 ports or more, one block for IBM WebSphere Application Server and one for WebSphere Portal Express.

1. Choose one of the following methods to configure your ports during installation:
   • The installation program detects active ports during install time. Run all programs during the installation to ensure that WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal Express will not use these ports.
   • Add the -W adminPortBlock.active=false -W portalPortBlock.active=false parameters to the installation command to display the Ports Configuration panel in the GUI or console mode installation program.
2. Choose one of the following methods to specify your ports before running the installation:

   Option	Description
   Add the following parameters to specify the port range to scan for	WebSphere Application Server: -W adminPortBlockInput.startingPortToScan=port number -W adminPortBlockInput.endingPortToScan=port number WebSphere Portal Express: -W portalPortBlockInput.startingPortToScan=port number -W portalPortBlockInput.endingPortToScan=port number Note: By default the installation program starts scanning for active ports at 10000 and ends at 65000 for both WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal Express.
   Add the following parameters to specify the port block size	WebSphere Application Server: -W adminPortBlockInput.portBlockSize=block size WebSphere Portal Express: -W portalPortBlockInput.portBlockSize=block size Note: The block size cannot be less than 25 ports for both WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal Express.
   Modify the port files	WebSphere Application Server: WASDefaultPortsFile.props, located on the Setup disc with the WebSphere Application Server port range. Then add the -W adminPortBlockInput.portsFilePath=full path to ports file parameter to the installation command or in the response file. WebSphere Portal Express: WPDefaultPortsFile.props, located on the Setup disc with the WebSphere Portal Express port range. Then add the -W portalPortBlockInput.portsFilePath=full path to ports file parameter to the installation command or in the response file. Note: The valid port range for both WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal Express is 1 to 65535.

   Note: If the GUI or console mode installation program fails to detect ports for either WebSphere Application Server or WebSphere Portal Express, a warning message displays and the installer offers another chance to enter the values. If the silent installation fails to detect ports for either WebSphere Application Server or WebSphere Portal Express, the installer will exit.