Setting up IBM i with a national language version

The steps to install and configure a national language version on the IBM® i operating system include selecting and installing hardware, installing software, and configuring your environment to run in a globalized setting.

You can use this information as you install your own systems, and you can apply the principles when you develop applications for customers who are installing their own national language version on IBM i.

The feature code identified when you order an IBM i operating system is the language of your textual data and is called the primary language of the system. Any other language versions that you have ordered are called secondary languages. For secondary languages, the national language version consists of only the textual data for all licensed programs ordered. The program code is not contained in the secondary language version.

The primary language is the language in which the system is serviced and from which all language-dependent or cultural-dependent system values are initialized. In addition, other system objects and functions assume attributes based on the primary language. For example, messages appearing in the history log always appear in the primary language.