What you should know before upgrading to i/OS 6.1

Before upgrading your system to i/OS 6.1, you must update Help/Systems products to the i/OS 6.1-compatible release or modification level. Almost all products are now compatible. For the most up-to-date information, look at the Product/OS compatibility chart.

Background about the changes
Unusually extensive changes were required because of the IBM requirements for this OS release. According to IBM's Web site, "With IBM i 6.1 (i5/OS V6R1), IBM requires conversion of all programs created under previous releases that use the IBM i Machine Interface (MI). This conversion upgrades and refreshes programs to take advantage of the latest system enhancements, including enhanced system integrity, improved performance, and a range of new operating system and processor capabilities. In order for a program to be converted, its creation data (sometimes referred to as observability) must be available. Programs created for IBM i V5R1 or later automatically retain creation data sufficient for conversion. Clients and ISVs with programs created for OS/400 V4R5 and earlier need to ensure that creation data is available for the conversion process."

What we did to achieve compatibility
Because some Help/Systems programs had been compiled before OS/400 V5R1, they had to be recompiled to allow them to convert to i/OS 6.1. Others required more extensive changes because of i/OS 6.1 operating system changes. Help/Systems tested all of its products on i/OS 6.1, including testing for backward compatibility with the other supported OS level (V5R4).

What you need to do
Start by looking at the Product/OS compatibility chart on the Help/Systems Web site.

If you are running the currently shipping version of the product, update to the i/OS 6.1-compatible modification level through the standard update process. For example, if you are using Robot/NETWORK 10, you need to update to 10.9 (Host) and 10.8 (Node) or higher.

If you are not on the version that is compatible with i/OS 6.1, you must convert to that version. Visit our software conversions page to learn more.

If you use Robot/AUTOTUNE and Robot/MONITOR, you must get Version 8.0. The only difference between Versions 7 and 8 is i/OS 6.1 compatibility. For these products, the update procedure requires you to delete the old version and install the new version.

If you use Robot/LPAR, delete the installed library and do a fresh install of the i/OS 6.1-compatible modification level.

Only the currently shipping releases of the products are compatible with i/OS 6.1. For example, if you use Robot/SCHEDULE, you must be using Robot/SCHEDULE 10.15 or higher to be compatible with i/OS 6.1.

Download the Help/FACTS, Compatibility Information for Help/Systems products moving to i5/OS V6R1 (IBM i 6.1), for more information.

Note: If your products have a PC component, you also should update your PC software.

Contributed by Chuck Losinski, Product Manager