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Working with the Robot/NETWORK pre-checker program

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Robot/NETWORK 10 provides a pre-checker program to make converting to the new release go smoothly.

Planning your conversion
Download and install a fresh copy of the Help/Systems Product Maintenance Wizard from the Help/Systems Web site to your PC. The Wizard was recently updated and you need the latest version to run the Robot/NETWORK pre-checker.

You can download the pre-checker from the Help/Systems Web site. Go to www.helpsystems.com/support. Log in (or register) for downloads, if needed. Select Robot/NETWORK Pre-Checker to download the NETCHECK.HS file.

The pre-checker identifies all possible issues up front to assist your conversion planning. For example, it checks all the Robot products you have installed to make sure they are at an appropriate level. It also checks that Java is installed and usable. As it goes through its checklist, it displays problems on your screen and records them in the RBNINSTP log file.

To use Robot/NETWORK 10, you must have the Java Developer Kit 5.0, option 7 (minimum) installed. Sixty-four bit Java is preferred, but 32-bit is usable.

Running the pre-checker

  1. Download and install the Help/Systems Product Maintenance Wizard from the Help/Systems Web site to your PC.
  2. Download the Robot/NETWORK pre-checker software from the Help/Systems Web site to your PC.
  3. Use the Product Maintenance Wizard to upload the pre-checker software from your PC to your System i. The upload process restores the Robot/NETWORK NETCHECK library on your System i.
  4. Run the Robot/NETWORK pre-checker utility on your System i by entering the following command on a command line and pressing function key 4: NETCHECK/RBNHPRECHK
  5. Specify the following option(s) and press Enter:
    • Enter *NEW if Robot/NETWORK is not currently installed on the System i.
    • Enter *UPGRADE if Robot/NETWORK 9 is currently installed on the System i and you want to convert to Robot/NETWORK 10.
      • Enter *YES if the System i is your Robot/NETWORK Host.
      • Enter *NO if the System i is not your Robot/NETWORK Host.
  6. When the pre-checker utility completes, do the following to determine the results:
    • Review the screen that displays.
    • Examine the job log.
    • Use the WRKSPLF command to view the RBNINSTP spooled file.
  7. You can rerun the pre-checker utility as often as necessary. After you are finished using the utility, enter the following command to delete the software from your System i: DLTLIB NETCHECK

Other planning considerations
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.

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 to be in the local directory and/or the DNS server. Use the format system_name.domain_name. (Tip: Use the command CFGTCP and options 10 and 12 to set up host names.)

The conversion process
The files you need for converting Robot/NETWORK Version 9 to Version 10 are located on blue disk #1. You can work with this disk in either of two ways:

  • Insert the CD in your system’s optical drive and use the LODRUN command from the system console.
  • Upload the conversion programs from your PC to the system via the Product Maintenance Wizard and use the HLPCDMENU command.

Select option 4 from the Maintain Help/Systems Products menu and enter the conversion code specified in the conversion instructions. (Note: The conversion codes and the pre-checker program codes are different.) During the conversion, interactive messages display.

Post conversion tasks
Install the Robot/NETWORK Graphical User Interface (GUI) on your operators’ PCs immediately following the conversion of the Host. These files are on the red disk. This interface is required to enter your license key for Robot/NETWORK 10.

Consider putting the new Map Center or consolidated Status Center on an overhead monitor in your data center. Complete the Add Host connections to get your new GUI Status Center up and running quickly.

Contributed by Sara Williams, Research Technical Consultant