[TechNote] WebSphere Application Server fails to install when using network file system (NFS)

WebSphere Application Server fails to install when using network file system (NFS)

Problem(Abstract)

During WebSphere Application Server fails to install with INSTCONFFAILED on a network file system(NFS).

Symptom

The following exception stack is found in the install logs.
Process,
com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.mediaspanning.InstallNIFMaintenanceMediaSpanning, err, com.ibm.ws.install.ni.framework.NIFException
at
com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.mediaspanning.InstallNIFMaintenanceMediaSpanning.executeThisInstallPackage(InstallNIFMaintenanceMediaSpanning.java:270)
at
com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.actions.InstallNIFMaintenance.performExecution(InstallNIFMaintenance.java:379)
at
com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.actions.InstallNIFMaintenance.execute(InstallNIFMaintenance.java:77)
at
com.installshield.wizard.RunnableWizardBeanContext.run(RunnableWizardBeanContext.java:21)
Caused by: java.nio.channels.OverlappingFileLockException
. . .
com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.actions.InstallNIFMaintenance.executeThisInstallPackage(InstallNIFMaintenance.java:500)
at
com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.actions.InstallNIFMaintenance.executeThisInstallPackage(InstallNIFMaintenance.java:432)
at
com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.mediaspanning.InstallNIFMaintenanceMediaSpanning.executeThisInstallPackage(InstallNIFMaintenanceMediaSpanning.java:129) ... 3 more
(Jun 8, 2011 5:25:59 AM), Process, com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.actions.SettleNIFRegistryAction, msg1, Current install/uninstall process failed.
(Jun 8, 2011 5:25:59 AM), Process, com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.actions.SetExitCodeAction, msg1, CWUPI0000I: EXITCODE=1
(Jun 8, 2011 5:25:59 AM), Process, com.ibm.ws.install.ni.ismp.actions.ISMPLogSuccessMessageAction, msg1, INSTCONFFAILED

Cause

The failure is cause when the install process is not able to access a file which already has a lock on it.
The underlying issue is from the NFS allowing a configuration file to be locked.

Environment

Network shared file system

Resolving the problem

Installing and running WebSphere Application Server or a profile on an NFS is not officially supported. If the networked filesystem that WebSphere Application Server is installed on becomes unavailable,
WebSphere Application Server will crash as seen above. There is no retry logic when installing.
Referencing a technote from sun:
http://java.sun.com/javase/6/webnotes/compatibility.html
Try adding this JVM command line parameter to your install script which may resolve the . -Dsun.nio.ch.disableSystemWideOverlappingFileLockCheck=true
Another user was able to resolve by adding "nolock" option to their /etc/fstab file.
For example:
<filername>:/vol/prod/ /apps nfs rw,bg,hard,nointr, nolock,timeo=600,rsize=32768,wsize=32768,vers=3,tcp 0 0