Checklist: IBM i software upgrade or replacement readiness
Use this checklist to help consolidate and verify that you have completed all the preparation tasks for a software upgrade.
If you plan to navigate through this checklist online, it might help to right-click this topic in the navigation tree to open a new window. This checklist summarizes the major tasks that you need to do before you begin to upgrade or replace your software.
Before you begin
- Verify that your server model meets the requirements to support
the new release. Use the following Web pages.
- The IBM® Prerequisite Web page (www.ibm.com/eserver/iseries/support/e_dir/eserverprereq.nsf) provides you with operating system compatibility information for hardware features.
- The Upgrade planning Web page (www.ibm.com/systems/support/i/planning/upgrade/osmapping.html) has a table that indicates which releases of the operating system are supported by each of the server models.
- Know your current strategy for connecting a console
to your system or logical partition. Your current connection strategy
influences your planning activities. For more
information about consoles, see Managing IBM i
consoles in the IBM Systems
Hardware Information Center.Attention: An Operations Console directly attached to the system is not supported in IBM i 7.1. If you currently have an Operations Console directly attached to the system, you must change the console before you start to install or upgrade the IBM i software on your system. Failure to do so will cause the installation to fail with unpredictable results. For more information about changing consoles, see Changing consoles in the IBM systems Hardware Information Center.
- Plan for extra time after the upgrade to perform a server IPL. This is one of the tasks described in the Checklist: Completing the IBM i upgrade or replacement.
- Understand system administration tasks (basic system operations). To perform software installation tasks, you need to be able to restart your system, sign on and off, use the command interface, install fixes, change the system operation mode and initial program load (IPL) source on the system unit control panel, and analyze system problems.
- Understand the different Types of software installation devices. The installation tasks are different based on the device type and media type that you use.
Software preupgrade or replacement tasks
From the following checklist, perform the tasks that are appropriate for your system. Required steps are noted.
- Installing PTFs and analyzing your system for object conversions (V5R4 to IBM i 7.1 upgrade). Review this topic early to allow adequate time to analyze your system and plan for IBM i 7.1 object conversions.
- Verifying the contents of your software order
- Preparing the system for IBM i software upgrade or replacement
- Verifying firmware requirements for the new release
- Reviewing software PTF (fix) requirements
- Working with critical system values before you install software
- Verifying the integrity of user-modified system objects
- Ensuring two-phase commit integrity
- Minimizing software installation time
- Gathering performance data for benchmark
- Performing initial upgrade or replacement tasks
- Choosing a software installation method and device
- Preparing for globalization
- Preparing the upgrade device and media
- Preparing to upgrade or replace software using an image catalog
- Preparing to upgrade or replace software with virtual optical storage using the Network File System
- Requirements for virtual optical storage within a Network File System network
- Preparing an optical image catalog to install software
- Setting up the server to share virtual optical image files with the client system for installing IBM i
- Setting up the virtual optical device on the client system for installing IBM i
- Using images on the client system
- Required: Creating a custom list of software to install
- Required: Accepting software agreements
- Ensuring the system meets disk storage requirements for upgrades
- Choosing disk configuration
- Estimating upgrade or replacement time
- Preparing your console for software installation
- Stopping the integrated server and other application servers
- Saving the system
- Optional: Running the IBM Pre-Upgrade Verification tool
After you finish
After the tasks in the preceding checklist and your upgrade have been completed, consider the following tasks.
- Develop a strategy for managing and maintaining your software. For information about software fixes (or program temporary fixes, PTFs), and software licenses and license keys, go to the Maintaining and managing IBM i and related software topic .
- For information about software distribution of supported products, go to the Distributing software topic .