IBM Installation Manager - Files for Rollback

Purely as a matter of interest, I wanted to see where IBM Installation Manager (IIM) keeps the binary files that one might choose to use to rollback an installation.

The amount of space being used can be inferred by driving IIM in command-line mode: -

/opt/ibm/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools/imcl -C

=====> IBM Installation Manager

Select:
     1. Install - Install software packages
     2. Update - Find and install updates and fixes to installed software packages
     3. Modify - Change installed software packages
     4. Roll Back - Revert to an earlier version of installed software packages
     5. Uninstall - Remove installed software packages

Other Options:
     L. View Logs
     S. View Installation History
     V. View Installed Packages
        ------------------------
     P. Preferences
        ------------------------
     A. About IBM Installation Manager
        ------------------------
     X. Exit Installation Manager

-----> p

=====> IBM Installation Manager> Preferences

Select:
     1. Repositories
     2. Appearance
     3. Files for Rollback
     4. SSL/TLS
     5. HTTP/FTP Proxy
     6. Passport Advantage
     7. Secure Storage
     8. Updates

     R. Return to Main Menu
-----> [1] 3

Searching for saved files.
.

=====> IBM Installation Manager> Preferences> Files for Rollback

To roll back to a previous version of a package, Installation Manager must access files for that version. Select this option to save locally the files for rollback. If you do not want to save the files locally, Installation Manager must access them from the media or repositories that were used to install the package.

     1. [X] Save files for rollback

Select "Delete Saved Files" to remove any files that were saved for rollback during previous installations. If you delete the files and want to roll back to a previous version, Installation Manager must access the files from the media or repositories that were used to install the package.

Size of saved files: 3.13 GB.

     D. Delete Saved Files

     R. Restore Defaults
     A. Apply Changes and Return to Preferences Menu
     P. Temporarily Keep Changes and Return to Preferences Menu

Having seen that 3.13 GB was being retained, I then dug through the file-system to see precisely WHERE.

I followed a hunch that they were in the Installation Manager Shared (IMShared) directory.

I used this command: -

du -h /opt/ibm/IMShared/

which returned: -

552K /opt/ibm/IMShared/atoc/nq
560K /opt/ibm/IMShared/atoc
699M /opt/ibm/IMShared/native
264K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5
8.0K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/Operational Decision Manager V8.7
16K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/Web Server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5
12K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/IBM HTTP Server V8.5
304K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve
8.0K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/trackex/atoc
16K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/trackex
324K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra
2.5G /opt/ibm/IMShared/files
3.2G /opt/ibm/IMShared/

and: -

du -h /opt/ibm/IMShared/files/

2.5G /opt/ibm/IMShared/files/

and then cleared down the rollback files: -

/opt/ibm/InstallationManager/eclipse/tools/imcl -C

...

-----> D

Cleaning up saved files.

=====> IBM Installation Manager> Preferences> Files for Rollback

To roll back to a previous version of a package, Installation Manager must access files for that version. Select this option to save locally the files for rollback. If you do not want to save the files locally, Installation Manager must access them from the media or repositories that were used to install the package.

     1. [X] Save files for rollback

Select "Delete Saved Files" to remove any files that were saved for rollback during previous installations. If you delete the files and want to roll back to a previous version, Installation Manager must access the files from the media or repositories that were used to install the package.

Size of saved files: 0.0 KB.


     R. Restore Defaults
     A. Apply Changes and Return to Preferences Menu
     P. Temporarily Keep Changes and Return to Preferences Menu

...

Now, when I check: -

du -h /opt/ibm/IMShared/

28K /opt/ibm/IMShared/atoc/nq
36K /opt/ibm/IMShared/atoc
40K /opt/ibm/IMShared/native
264K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5
8.0K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/Operational Decision Manager V8.7
16K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/Web Server Plug-ins for IBM WebSphere Application Server V8.5
12K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve/IBM HTTP Server V8.5
304K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/preserve
8.0K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/trackex/atoc
16K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra/trackex
324K /opt/ibm/IMShared/extra
344K /opt/ibm/IMShared/files
752K /opt/ibm/IMShared/

I can see that we've "saved" roughly 3.1 GB :-)