RE: OS and hardware upgrade.

We migrated to our current hardware in several phases.

We had 2 machines at v5r4. Because some of our software vendors would not certify their products for v6r1, the hardware had to go first.

1) upgrade test machine to new hardware. This is usually done over a 2-day weekend.
The hardware upgrade involved migrating all of our data on the old systems to the external drives. For the actual upgrade we did an option 21 save (Just In Case), then attached the old drives to the new hardware, played games with the load source drive, and fired up the new hardware. It worked, and we did not have to reload our data. Then we told the machine to move all the data to the new drives, removed the old disk rack, and we were done.

2) Upgrade production machine to new hardware. This was done over the 4-day Thanksgiving weekend. Just in case. Same routine as for the test system.

3) Upgrade OS to v6r1 on test machine. This was a 2-day weekend. Biggest headache was tracking down all of the software that was not convertible and getting updated versions.

4) Update OS to v6r1 on Production machine. This was again on Thanksgiving weekend. The -next- Thanksgiving weekend.

We're 'eagerly' looking forward to starting the whole process again this year.

However. We've already done the hard job of converting all of the software to run on v6r1; v7r1 does not have that extra step. We still have to get updated software from companies that check for the OS version.

Our tentative plan for this year is:

A) Upgrade to v7r1 on our test machine. A weekend process.

B) Upgrade hardware on test machine. We're looking at a single large machine with multiple LPARs, so the hardware will be there for our production machine as well.

C) Test the dickens out of the new hardware running our test machine. We could also perform a 'hot-site-type' restore of the production environment into its new LPAR.

D1) Original plan for Thanksgiving Weekend:
i) Option 21 save of old production box
ii) Update v6r1 to v7r1 on old hardware
iii) Option 21 save
iv) Clear the LPAR on the new hardware and restore production to the LPAR

D2) Possible plan for Thanksgiving Weekend:
1) Option 21 save of old production box
2) Clear the LPAR on the new hardware and restore production to the LPAR
3) Update v6r1 to v7r1 on new hardware... this will be faster than on old hardware, says the theory
Although my partner in crime here mentioned that we might need to upgrade to
v6r1m1 to handle the new hardware... there goes any advantage!
4) Option 21 save (for luck)

"D2" has the advantage of not touching the old production box in case of problems... I'm assuming there should be no issues loading v6r1 on the new hardware (still to be determined).

If we were NOT upgrading to a multiple LPAR machine, the plan for Thanksgiving weekend would be:
a)Option 21 of production system
b)upgrade v6r1 to v7r1
c)Test like the dickens for an hour or so
d)Option 21 of production system
e)Play games with hardware
f)Load 21 backup on new hardware (although more games with disk drives would be a LOT nicer!)
g)optional save 21 of new production system.

The main issue with an option 21 save is that it takes 10 hours or so for us....


It sounds like you're moving to a smaller system. It would seem to make more sense to upgrade the OS on the old hardware (assuming it's faster) first, then save and restore on the new system.


Paul E Musselman
PaulMmn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

-----Original Message-----
From: midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:midrange-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Billy Waters
Sent: Monday, May 14, 2012 12:28 PM
To: MIDRANGE-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: OS and hardware upgrade.

Has anyone upgrade to a new OS (V6 or V7) and a new box in a single project? If so, would you be willing to discuss the experience? We are currently on V5R4 and 8203-E4A.
We have not determined the OS we will be installing; moving to 8202 box.

Thanks..