process_designer

Installing IBM Process Designer (Desktop)

thaxtonmLeave a comment

For folks that still cling to the old ways, I’ve run into a lot of different scenarios when trying to install the Desktop IBM Process Designer.  I finally put together some notes for a way that works if you don’t have admin rights to your machine and the default install scripts aren’t working either.  Maybe this will help some folks that find it.

Navigate to Process Center (whatever your PC URL is…maybe something like):
https://pc_host:port/ProcessCenter

  1. Log on with your current Process Designer credentials
  2. Click on the “Download Process Designer” link in the right-hand navigation window or the pop-up window
  3. Save “IBM Process Designer.zip” to your local machine (~800 MB)
  4. Once downloaded, Extract the contents of the zip file
  5. If you don’t already have IBM Installation Manager installed:
    1. Of the extracted files, navigate to the IM64 folder
    2. Run the “userinst.exe” command to install IBM Installation Manager.
      NOTE: Be sure to install this program in a location accessible for your ID (eg – C:\Users\myid123\IBM\IM)
      You do not need to create the directory before running the installation
      The installation path must not exceed 40 characters.  The installation path should not containspaces
  6. Once the setup finishes it will ask you to restart Installation Manager
  7. Open IBM Installation Manager again (or let it re-open itself, whichever you need) and click File > Preferences and select Add Repository…
  8. Navigate to the folder where you extracted the ZIP file and go into the IMPD85 folder and select the repository.config file
  9. Click OK on the Preferences window
  10. Back on the Installation Manager launch page select Install
  11. Installation Manager will read the repository preferences then the config file and present you with the option to install IBM Process Designer > Version 8.5.X
  12. Check the box and click Next to select an Installation Directory
    NOTE: If you already have a version of Process Designer installed, Installation Manager will warn you of an existing package.  
    Just click “Continue” to install Process Designer to a new Installation Manager package group.
  13. Click Next and set the Installation Directory
    NOTE: again, be sure the directory is in a path that is accessible to your ID (eg – C:\Users\myid123\IBM\PD85x)
    You do not need to create the directory before running the installation.  The installation path must not exceed 40 characters.  The installation path should not contain spaces.  It is helpful to add the full Process Designer version to the installation directory (such as /PD857).
  14. Wait for Installation Manager to complete the installation
  15. Navigate to your installation directory (eg – C:\Users\myid123\IBM\PD856) and open the “eclipse.ini” file in a text editor
  16. Edit the line for the Process Center URL to correspond to your appropriate Process Center:
    -Dcom.ibm.bpm.processcenter.url=[INSERT PROCESS CENTER URL]
  17. Save the “eclipse.ini” file

All done.  Now you can open Process Designer

If you ever have the need to run multiple Desktop IBM Process Designer for more than one Process Center, use this:

Running the same version of Process Designer with multiple Process Centers

If you use more than one Process Center and the versions of each instance are the same, you can use one installation of Process Designer to access either Process Center.

  1. Install Process Designer from one of the Process Centers you use for BPM development
  2. Locate your Process Designer installation directory and find the eclipse.ini file
  3. Copy this file and add a suffix to designate the INI is for the other Process Center.  For example: eclipse_SANDBOX.ini
  4. Open the copy/renamed INI in a text editor and edit the line for the Process Center URL to correspond to your appropriate Process Center:
    -Dcom.ibm.bpm.processcenter.url=[INSERT 2ND PROCESS CENTER URL]
  5. Now find a shortcut to Process Designer (you can use the one in the Windows Start Menu)
  6. Rename the shortcut to include the name of the 2nd Process Center.  Like “IBM Process Designer Sandbox”
  7. Right-click on the 2nd shortcut and select Properties
  8. Update the Target field by adding –launcher.ini and the name of your 2nd eclipse.ini file.  For example: \path_to_PD\eclipse.ini –launcher.ini eclipse_SANDBOX.ini