IBM Portal 8 installation unable to detect the WebSphere Application Server - United States portal reinstall fails; install into existing WAS fails TECHNOTE (TROUBLESHOOTING)

PROBLEM
The IBM Installation Manager is unable to detect that a WebSphere Application Server exists when attempting to install Portal.

SYMPTOM
This issue seems to manifest when an existing Portal has been uninstalled and WebSphere Application Server is not uninstalled. When Portal install is attempted again, but this time to install into the existing WebSphere Application Server then Installation Manager will throw an excecption that notes that it is unable to detect WebSphere Application Server on the system 

We have also seen an issue where the install fails indicating the version of WAS detected is insufficient and we see an exception like this in IIM logs:


49 INFO 00:03.14 This Cumulative Fix requires that IBM
WebSphere Portal Server version 8.0.0.0 be previously installed. You
must first install the base release and then update it with the
Cumulative Fix. You cannot install them at the same time.
50 ERROR 00:03.15 The required version 8.0.0.5 or later of
WebSphere Application Server has not been detected on this system.
Select the WebSphere Application Server Package to install WebSphere
Application Server and WebSphere Portal.
51 INFO 00:03.21 Stopping Installation Manager.
52 INFO 00:03.28 No log properties file found in:
/home/wasadmin/var/ibm/InstallationManager/logs



CAUSE
The issue is caused by Portal files that are not correctly removed from the AppServer folder structure when Portal is uninstalled.


ENVIRONMENT
Portal 8.0.0.x and WAS 8.0.0.x




RESOLVING THE PROBLEM
Navigate to the AppServer folder and remove the following files (they are regenerated with a reinstall of Portal):

lib/ext/commons-codec-1.3.jar
lib/ext/commons-httpclient-3.0.1.jar
lib/ext/openid4java-full-0.9.5.jar
lib/ext/wp.auth.base.sua_RedirectServletFilter.jar
lib/ext/wp.auth.base.sua_loginmodule.jar
lib/ext/wp.auth.tai.jar
lib/wp.user.connections.jar
lib/wp.wire.jar
plugins/com.ibm.patch.was.plugin.jar
plugins/com.ibm.wp.was.plugin.jar
plugins/wp.ext.jar
properties/jndi.properties

Select the Recheck Status button. It should now say "All prerequisites are met."

Question: After uninstalling Portal 8.0 only from my WAS environment my subsequent attempts to install Portal 8.0 into that same existing WAS fails. 

I installed Portal 8.0.0.1 CF12 with an existing WAS 8.0.0.8 application server and everything was successful. I want to script my install so I uninstalled Portal 8.0.0.1 only and was left with an existing WAS 8.0.0.8...as before. However, when I attempt to reinstall Portal 8.0.0.1 into that same existing WAS 8.0.0.8 to test my scripting I get the following error immediately:

ERROR: The required version 8.0.0.5 or later of WebSphere Application Server has not been detected on this system. Select the WebSphere Application Server Package to install WebSphere Application Server and WebSphere Portal.

IIM shows WAS as installed, so I am not sure what is causing this behavior when it installed fine just a few hours ago.


Answer: Navigate to the AppServer folder and remove the following files (they are regenerated with a reinstall of Portal):

lib/ext/commons-codec-1.3.jar
lib/ext/commons-httpclient-3.0.1.jar
lib/ext/openid4java-full-0.9.5.jar
lib/ext/wp.auth.base.sua_RedirectServletFilter.jar
lib/ext/wp.auth.base.sua_loginmodule.jar
lib/ext/wp.auth.tai.jar
lib/wp.user.connections.jar
lib/wp.wire.jar
plugins/com.ibm.patch.was.plugin.jar
plugins/com.ibm.wp.was.plugin.jar
plugins/wp.ext.jar
properties/jndi.properties