Automatic Installation -- MIDRANGE-L

After seeing the following note on this listserver,
 >
 >I just upgraded our S30 box from V4R3 to V4R5. I started on Sunday at
 >8:00am and finished on Monday at 3:30am! What a wonderful time I had! I
 >recommend that you NOT use the automatic installation. I had to reinstall
 >the LIC twice, the operating system three times and let's not even go into
 >the LPPs. You definitely need the Software Installation manual. You
 >should have received on with the CD. Be aware if you have any vendor
 >products. They can and will cause you grief. If you have TAATOOLS, make
 >sure you upgrade to the newest V4R5 before letting users on the system. I
 >had several interactive sessions lock up with users trying to use OLD
 >tools. The subsystem wouldn't even end. We ended up ipling abnormal
 >because of this and ended up with several damaged data queues. The
support
 >center was very nice when I was able to get someone on the phone. One
 >comment made to me by their tech support was that they are seeing a 25%
 >failure rate with the automatic installation process. I'll be upgrading
my
 >production 730 box this Sunday but I'll using the manual process.

I forwarded this information to Rochester, indicating that if this is true 
that I didn't feel that it was acceptable.

I just received the following response:

***START***
Replacing a release using automatic installation is the easiest, and most
recommended way for our customers to upgrade their operating system, as it
requires the least amount of operator interaction. The Software
Installation manual, document SC41-5120-04 for R450, explains how the
automatic install process differs from the manual install process, as well
as helps the user determine which method is best for them. In most cases,
the automatic installation method is going to be the recommendation.
Chapter 3 of the software installation manual takes the user through the
necessary steps to complete the upgrade, including the following:

Installation Preparation Checklist

Verifying the software order
Setting system values before installing
Ordering and applying any necessary PTFs
Permanently applying all PTFs currently installed on the system
Release - Level interoperability
Choosing manual or automatic install
Prepare for install

Additional considerations

The most common reason for any operating system upgrade to fail is that the
user has not completed the necessary preparation tasks. For example, a
full system save should be done prior to any operating system upgrade, as
recommended by chapter 3 of the software installation guide. By having a
current full system backup (GO SAVE option 21), the user is ensuring that
they can recover from any failure encountered during the upgrade process,
as well as encounter any possible damage on the system. If the system
encounters new damage during the save process, the save will fail, and
recovery procedures to correct the damage should be taken, and a full
system save completed, prior to performing the upgrade. The automatic
installation process is a very sound method to upgrade the OS/400 operating
system and other IBM Licensed Program Products. If a failure does occur
during the automatic installation process, it can almost always be
attributed to one of the pre-installation tasks not being completed
correctly. It is important, however, to remember that the automatic
installation process will not take into consideration any IBM PRPQ
products, or other third party applications, that must be upgraded in order
to be compatible with the newly installed version of OS/400. PRPQ
products, and third party applications, must be installed via the RSTLICPGM
command, GO LICPGM menu, or other instructions provided for that specific
product.
***END***

My own take on this is that automatic installation has it's place, 
particularly is your operations skills are not strong.  When we do 
installs, we always do manual installation, but we have good skills.

I think that statement that 25% of these go south is incorrect.

Al





+--------------------------------------------------+
| Please do not send private mail to this address. |
| Private mail should go to barsa@ibm.net.         |
+--------------------------------------------------+

Al Barsa, Jr. - Account for Midrange-L
Barsa Consulting Group, LLC.    
400 > 390

Phone:          914-251-1234
Fax:            914-251-9406
http://www.barsaconsulting.com
http://www.taatool.com

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