RE: OS/400 Upgrade V4R2 to V5R2 -- BPCS-L

True prior to BPCS V6 there is no SQL from SSA, but the IBM data base performance PTF does apply to any version of BPCS since BPCS intensively uses DB/2. Our V405 does not have any SQL from BPCS but our mods include SQL. Our mods use DB/2 more intensively than native BPCS. We do have a very few modifications with vintage going back to BPCS/36 that use internal rather than external file definitions.

We had to get the PTFs specifically mentioned in the APAR that were for versions of BPCS below V6, then because of the increased CPW hits (an IBM issue more than a BPCS one), I been further modifying our mods to encourage as much as possible via JO9Q with less stuff actually done on-line.

We used to have M/36, whose support went away some time before V5. Better to figure out where that is, and kill your M36 stuff before upgrade to where it no longer exists because the commands to manage M36 also go away, and IBM ability to correctly count resources not work perfectly (according to OS/400 we were using 120% of our disk space, and some other really weird stuff was happening). Avoid this by taking M36 off while you still on a version of OS/400 that supports messing with it.

Another thing ... so long as you do not have an iSeries, the VR # system only goes so high on AS/400. This impacts your subscription support pricing with IBM. When there was the expectation that every 6 months or so you might want to upgrade OS/400, it was most economical to subscribe to support that sends out upgrades as needed, but if you have no intention of upgrading to iSeries for several years, it is more economical to not be subscribing to IBM OS/400 upgrades.

Turned out, we could stop at V5R1 because what was offered by V5R2 included nothing we needed, so long as we still on AS/400 and not on iSeries.

Al, thanks.  I did check out the archives and like you didn't find much but
a couple of things to check out.
The mods aren't very exotic.  I will be sure to get the right PTFs from the
APAR-one simplifying factor about
V3 is no SQL.

-----Original Message-----
From: Al Mac

You might check MIDRANGE-L archives because the challenges and PTFs are
primarily 400 rather than BPCS_specific challenges, although the nature of
your modifications could factor in.

For example, some IBM 400 artifacts change in how they work, such as
library list, and passwords, but if you not done any modifications with
what change, then no sweat.

MIDRANGE_L had a TON of war stories, in which they pretty explicit what the
problem was, I checked out BPCS and pretty much it was a parade of ... this
does not apply to us.

You need to get the PTFs suggested by the BPCS APAR on IBM, especially the
data base PTFs from IBM.  You cannot go directly from V4R2 to V5R2.  If you
have a lot of spool entries, you may wish to get rid of what you can,
because their conversion adds to the overall time.

The demands on CPW go up, so if you close to the limit, you need to monitor
that carefully.
We used to have CPW hits perhaps once a year on V4, but on V5 we have them
twice a week, with less BPCS users (hitting ceiling on Interactive
Capacity).

PM400 working differently in V5 but I not yet taken the time to figure out
what I have to do to change the rules so it will do same as what we got in
V4.

Our BPCS version is V405 and we are on a model 170 AS/400.

>We're looking at upgrading our AS/400 9406-600 from V4R2 to V5R2.
>
>Our BPCS version is V3, somewhat modified and with a home grown Y2K
>implementation.
>
>Has anyone done anything similar recently and have any war stories to
>share?

-
Al Macintyre

- Al Macintyre BPCS/400 Computer Janitor at http://www.globalwiretechnologies.com/ See Al at http://www.ryze.com/go/Al9Mac Emergency notification (homeland, weather, etc.) http://www.emergencyemail.org/ Find BPCS Documentation Suppliers http://radio.weblogs.com/0107846/stories/2002/11/08/bpcsDocSources.html