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Planning successful product conversions

Submitted by Editor on Wed, 07/09/2008 - 9:25am
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Going from Robot/SCHEDULE and Robot/NETWORK 9 to 10

A successful product conversion begins with solid planning. This article describes how to plan to convert from Robot/SCHEDULE and Robot/NETWORK Version 9 to Version 10. Begin by downloading the appropriate instructions and conversion files from Help/Systems Web site. 

For Robot/SCHEDULE, download the following Help/FACTS:

For Robot/NETWORK, download the following Help/FACTS:

Take the time to read and study these materials (make sure you meet the System i software prerequisites for Robot/NETWORK). Check the conversion instructions for each product to determine the minimum release and modification requirements for the other Robot products. You may need to update other products before your conversion.

Run the pre-checker programs
Both Robot/SCHEDULE and Robot/NETWORK provide pre-checker programs. You can run the pre-checker programs while the products are active. The pre-checker program "looks" at the state of Robot/SCHEDULE or Robot/NETWORK and reports any errors you would encounter if you ran a conversion.

The pre-checker program creates a spooled file (RBTINSTP) that contains the results of the check. An F (Fail) in the left column of this file indicates that the conversion would fail for the reason listed to the right.

Allow time for product backups
Be sure to back up all your Robot product libraries while the products are inactive before you make changes to your system software or do any software upgrades.

Conversion order
Because Robot/NETWORK 10 and Robot/SCHEDULE 10 depend on each other, it's best to convert Robot/NETWORK first and then convert Robot/SCHEDULE. If you also plan to convert to Robot/SAVE Version 11, do that after you complete the Robot/NETWORK and Robot/SCHEDULE conversions.

Robot/NETWORK considerations For Robot/NETWORK, start by updating all systems running Robot/NETWORK (Hosts, Alternate Hosts, and Nodes) to Version 9.62 or higher. Even if you plan to keep some Nodes at Version 9, you must update them to modification level 62 to continue to send product statuses and for cross-system reactivity to work.

When you convert to Version 10, convert Robot/NETWORK Hosts and Alternate Hosts before converting the Node systems. If you can't convert all of your Robot/NETWORK Nodes on the same day, convert the Nodes you need for cross-system reactivity before the other Nodes. (Note: You can't create any new cross-system jobs between Version 9 and Version 10 systems or partitions. Review the Robot/NETWORK Help/FACTS to learn more about the functions that are supported between Version 10 Hosts and Version 9 Nodes.)

If you use Robot/NETWORK with Robot/CONSOLE for enterprise message management or product status management, plan to install the Robot/NETWORK Graphical User Interface (GUI) on your operators' PCs immediately following the conversion of the Host. Complete the Add Host connections to get the GUI Status Center up and running quickly. (Note: There is no green-screen Status Center in Version 10.)

If you have a firewall between your operators' PCs and the System i, make sure their user profiles and the new Robot/NETWORK user profile RBTNETPT have access. (Note: The conversion process deletes the Version 9 user profiles RBTNETH and RBTNETN, leaving one Robot/NETWORK user profile for all systems—RBTNETPT. If you need to provide documentation about why the RBTNETH and RBTNETN profiles were deleted, save the conversion instructions to show the auditors.)

For successful network communications, Robot/NETWORK 10 requires fully qualified TCP/IP host names in the format of system_name.domain_name to be in the local directory and/or the DNS server. You can use the command CFGTCP and options 10 and 12 to set up host names. If you have a Robot/SAVE data center, plan to end the Robot/SAVE monitors on all systems during the Host and Alternate Host conversion process.

Robot/SCHEDULE considerations
If you use security in Robot/SCHEDULE, run the Robot/SCHEDULE Security Report (RBT400) before and after the conversion. Use the Secured Objects Cross-Reference to see what new GUI features need to be secured. Plan to secure the new GUI items after the conversion.

If you use Robot/SCHEDULE auditing, plan to change any jobs or programs that use the RBTDSPAUDL command as the parameters have changed. If you use Robot/REPORTS to distribute the Audit Log report, plan to modify the report set because the spooled file name has changed from RBT536P to RBT534P.

At conversion time, keep the following items in mind:

  • Make sure there are no locks on any object in ROBOTLIB.
  • Stop mirroring to prevent member locks.
  • If you are mirroring, convert Robot/SCHEDULE on the source and target systems at the same time, or delete and reinstall Robot/SCHEDULE 10 on the target system after the source conversion and then restart mirroring. (Note: You can't mirror version 10 to version 9.)
  • Make sure that no Robot/SCHEDULE jobs are in submitted or running status. User jobs can be running.

Contributed by Yvonne Schumacher, Technical Training Consultant, and Vivian Hall, Technical Consultant