IBM’s Ivahn Dockter describes what’s in the documentation package of Version 4 Release 3 and how to take advantage of the new documentation features that help you learn the hot new stuff fast.
Here comes another AS/400 release! What will I get with my order? Will I get the necessary documentation to set up, install, and start using my system? Do I need to order documentation when I order my software? Where can I find additional documentation?
I’ve heard these questions over and over again as I talk with customers. This article will help you answer these and other questions you may have.
Key Changes in Documentation for V4R3!
With V4R3, you will see IBM’s continued efforts to simplify and reduce hardcopy documentation. This is particularly true in the area of initial hardware setup for new systems. Two new features include EZ-Setup and Welcome Center CD-ROM. (See “Simplifying New System Setup—EZ-Setup Wizard and Welcome Center” elsewhere in this issue.)
If you are tired of reading books online and are struggling with retrieving information, then the Information Center is for you. This new, exciting way to access AS/400 information (which was prompted by our users who did not like the BookManager format) takes advantage of browser-based technology. It is available both on CD-ROM and on the Internet at http://publib.boulder.ibm.com/html/as400/infocenter.htm. (Note: this URL will be live when V4R3 is generally available, not before). Information Center is the first step in our move away from the Softcopy Library CD-ROM, where information is presented in the BookManager format.
Another good documentation tool is the newly designed AS/400 Library Poster. In the past, users complained that the AS/400 Library Poster was too busy and confusing, so we removed some of the background noise and simplified the layout. Take a look at the new poster and hang it in your office! In our continued focus on seamless access to information, you will find more links to the information you need without having to search for it yourself.
Placing Your Order
We’ve made things simple for you! If you order an upgrade or place a new order, we have predetermined which documentation you will need, and we include it with your order at no fee to you. We call this set of documentation the AS/400 Base Set (see Figure
1). Of course, should you decide that you want additional books, you can just call 800-879- 2755 and have them delivered right to your office in a few days. Or, if you have Internet access, you can access all of our AS/400 Library books at http://as400bks.rochester.ibm.com.
And, as always, we provide the AS/400e series Softcopy Library (CD-ROM), which contains softcopy versions of all the V4R3 AS/400 library books.
Documentation Order Change for V4R3— Things to Be Aware Of!
IBM has packaged three books in what we call the Chargeable Feature Groups. When you place your V4R3 order, these books are not automatically placed on your order. If you want these books included with your order, you need to select them at order time. IBM feels these books are very important to most users, but, because we have had customer feedback requesting a choice during the order process, we have structured our order process accordingly. The books are as follows:
• Backup and Recovery (SC41-5304) describes how to plan a save strategy for your system, save and restore your system, and select which availability options are appropriate for your system.
• Tips and Tools for Securing Your AS/400 (SC41-5300) describes how to use AS/400 functions and the new security tools commands to protect your system. It includes tips for preventing unwanted users from entering the system, for preventing authorized users from exploring too freely, and for frustrating sophisticated users who want to circumvent security.
• Are You Saving the Right Stuff? (G325-6328) gives an overview of basic backup and recovery methods, sequences, and timings. It provides high-level information about backup and recovery features, related products, and related tools.
Again, if you don’t order these books but decide later that you want them, just call 800-879-2755 to have them delivered to you or access them at http://as400bks.rochester. ibm.com. And, of course, we provide the AS/400e series Softcopy Library (CD-ROM).
Information to Help Set Up and Install Your Hardware Your AS/400 order may consist of multiple boxes, depending on what you order. If you order a new AS/400, your box will contain an envelope labeled Installation Instructions Enclosed. Inside this envelope, you will find two components. The first component is the EZ-Setup and Welcome Center CD (SK3T-3025), which is recommended for users who use a PC as a system console. However, even if you don’t use a PC as your system console, the Welcome Center still contains valuable setup and installation information. The second component is a hardcopy of the installation
instructions for those users who don’t use a PC as a system console. Either way, we suggest you pop the CD into your PC and take a look around.
If you receive multiple boxes, they will be labeled 1 of x, 2 of x, and so forth. Inside one of these boxes (the one that doesn’t have the AS/400 system unit), you will find a box with a red label that reads Software Installation Instructions. This is what we call our OS/400 Base Set (see Figure 1). This label change was driven by customer input during testing of unpacking and installation; most users told us that they would be looking for something labeled Installation Instructions.
Information to Help You Understand New Functions and Changes
One additional item that contains important reading information is a gray envelope labeled Informal Documentation. The contents of this envelope are things like these:
• Read This First (GI100840-00). This document contains important information about your order. It also contains additional sources of information that will assist you in successfully installing V4R3.
• Memo to Users (GI100839-00). This document describes changes in V4R3 that could impact your programs or systems operations. The information in this memo should be used to prepare for changes on your current release and to use the new release. There are three chapters in this document: System Management Considerations, Operational Considerations, and Programming Considerations.
• System Management Considerations contains new release changes to systems management functions. This chapter is intended for the person responsible for systems management functions such as configuration and tailoring the system.
• Operational Considerations contains new release changes that may affect the way things operate or appear on the new release. This chapter is intended for all AS/400 users.
• Programming Considerations contains new release changes that may affect existing applications. These changes may also affect applications saved on a V4R3 system to be restored on a previous release system. This chapter is intended for application programmers and system programmers who use the AS/400 and its licensed programs, as well as for businesses with complex networks or application development businesses that have systems at different releases.
Information to Help You Get Started Using Your System (OS/400 Base Set)
As Figure 1 shows, the OS/400 Base Set contains 10 components. Each serves a specific purpose and helps make your experience with your AS/400 easier. What follows is a brief explanation of those components and how to use them.
• The Library Poster is provided to help you understand the organization of the OS/400 library and to help you retrieve information faster. The AS/400 is a functionally rich system, and the wide array of manuals tells users how to use that functionality. With this colorful poster, users can quickly locate the right manual by following a graphical path that goes from a primary category to a specific manual (with title and form number). This poster can also be used with our Internet book server, which is located at http://as400bks.rochester.ibm.com; the interface on this Web page is the same as on the poster.
• Software Installation provides detailed, step-by-step information on topics like planning for your installation, replacing the installed release with a new release, adding additional licensed programs, and adding a second language.
• AS/400e Series Information Center (CD-ROM), which is new for V4R3, provides the information that you’re most likely to need, online locally at your workstation or on the Web at http://publib. boulder.ibm.com/html/as400/infocenter.htm. The Information Center focus topics are database, Domino for AS/400 Server, firewall, Internet, Java, system administration and maintenance, networking, programming, TCP/IP, and troubleshooting. The goal of the Information Center, over time, is to make the majority of heavily used AS/400 information available online. Each new release of OS/400 will offer an updated version of the Information Center with enhancements and new information.
• AS/400e Series Softcopy Library (CD-ROM) contains softcopy versions of all the V4R3 AS/400 library books. Using one of the IBM Library Reader programs (Windows, DOS, or OS/2), which are all included on the CD, you can read and print books, chapters, and pages filled with AS/400 information.
• Getting Your AS/400 Working for You focuses on basic tasks that AS/400 system operators and administrators need to do after their AS/400s have been set up and the first initial program load (IPL) has completed. In our continued focus on reducing hardcopy, the information from this book is being migrated to the Welcome Center and Information Center. This hardcopy book will not be available in the future.
• Basic System Operation, Administration, and Problem Handling gives system operators a fast path for system operator tasks on the AS/400. It covers the basics of system start-up and provides information about using the system control panel, starting and stopping the system, using media, working with PTFs, and handling problems. We are migrating the information from this book to the Welcome Center and Information Center. This hardcopy book may not be available in the future.
• AS/400: Getting to Know Your AS/400 (CD-ROM) contains 23 self-paced, computer-based training modules that help you learn basic operations and important concepts of the AS/400. A comprehension test is included in each module. This program can be run on a standalone PC or loaded on your AS/400 and accessed from multiple network-connected PCs. A few of the topics covered in this course are hardware, software, work management, system security, menu use, client access, display and printer attachment, and message handling.
• Client Access for Windows 95/NT—Setup provides information about how to install and configure Client Access for Windows 95/NT on both the AS/400 and the PC. It also introduces the product to the user and contains information about the PC5250 Console. This book is a supplement to the AS/400 software installation and communications books.
• AS/400 Toolbox for Java Setup Guide describes how to install and configure the AS/400 Toolbox for Java on your AS/400 and workstation.
• Introducing Performance Management/400 explains this service offering and the product deliverables.
Documentation Usage Scenarios and Recommendations from IBM
Scenario one: You will be using a PC as your system console and have ordered your first AS/400. Open the envelope that is labeled Installation Instructions Enclosed. Pop the EZ-Setup and Welcome Center CD into your CD drive on your PC, and you’re off and
running. For more information on EZ-Setup and Welcome Center, see “Simplifying New System Setup—EZ-Setup Wizard and Welcome Center” elsewhere in this issue.
Once you have finished with EZ-Setup, we recommend you go right into the Welcome Center. After you have browsed this information and determined which tasks you want to perform, you should browse through the Base Set of information in the order listed in Figure 1. We realize each AS/400 environment is unique; however, the information in the Base Set is the best place to start for general information.
Scenario two: You will be using twinax for your system console and have ordered your first AS/400. Open the envelope that is labeled Installation Instructions Enclosed. Follow the enclosed hardcopy instructions, and you will be up and running shortly. After you have finished with the hardware installation and have IPLed your AS/400, we recommend you use the EZ-Setup and Welcome Center CD (use the Welcome Center section) to browse more topics on tasks you may want to complete.
Simple, Easy, Faster!
Simplification of information, easier access, and seamless use of information are the primary focus areas for IBM. Our future direction is to improve and add function to EZ-Setup and Welcome Center, to populate the Information Center with additional topics, and to reduce hardcopy documentation where it makes sense from a customer perspective.
Through continued communication with its customers, IBM will make AS/400 information better than it’s ever been before!
References
Are You Saving the Right Stuff? (G325-6328) AS/400 Toolbox for Java Setup Guide (SC41-5438) AS/400: Getting to Know Your AS/400 CD-ROM (SK2T-9622) AS/400e Series Information Center CD-ROM (SK3T-2027) AS/400e Series Softcopy Library CD-ROM (SK3T-0118) Backup and Recovery (SC41-5304) Basic System Operation, Administration, and Problem Handling (SC41-5206) Client Access for Windows 95/NT - Setup (SC41-3512) EZ-Setup and Welcome Center CD-ROM (SK3T-3025) Getting Your AS/400 Working for You (SC41-5161) Introducing Performance Management/400 (G325-6343) Library Poster (G325-6334)
Memo To Users (GI100839) Read This First (GI100840) Software Installation (SC41-5120) Tips and Tools for Securing Your AS/400 (SC41-5300)
Library Poster (redesigned) (G325-6334) Software Installation (SC41-5120) AS/400e Series Information Center CD-ROM (New!) (SK3T-2027) AS/400e Series Softcopy Library CD-ROM (SK3T-0118) Getting Your AS/400 Working for You (SC41-5161) Basic System Operation, Administration, and Problem Handling (SC41-5206) AS/400: Getting to Know Your AS/400 CD-ROM (SK2T-9622) Client Access for Windows 95/NT - Setup (SC41-3512) AS/400 Toolbox for Java Setup Guide (SC41-5438) Introducing Performance Management/400 (G325-6343)
Figure 1: Free OS/400 Base Set
 |
Simplifying New System SetupEZ-Setup Wizard and Welcome Center
So, you thought it was already simple to set up a new AS/400— now it’s even easier.
by MARJE NITZ
Copyright 1998, Midrange Computing
The new EZ-Setup wizard makes AS/400 installations a snap. Shipped on CD with every new system, EZ-Setup and the new Welcome Center software streamline the installation process and get you to the information that you require.
The AS/400 has always been touted as an easy system to use, but setting one up can be intimidating if your background is in PCs and GUI environments. That’s starting to change with the release of V4R3 and the introduction of EZ-Setup and an enhanced Welcome Center for AS/400. What? You’ve never heard of these products? That’s OK. Keep reading, and you’ll learn all you need to know. This article introduces you to each of these products, explains what you need to use them, and describes how to use them effectively. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how simple setting up a new AS/400 has become.
What Is EZ-Setup?
EZ-Setup is a program that simplifies basic setup tasks on a new AS/400 system. It’s a Windows-based application that uses a graphical interface to get information about your system from you. It establishes a connection with your AS/400 and sets the values that you specify. EZ-Setup reduces the decisions you need to make and the information you need to supply during setup. You won’t see a single green-screen while you use EZ- Setup, so this approach is ideal for someone more familiar with a PC than an AS/400. EZ- Setup ships on a CD with new system hardware (see “V4R3 Documentation: What Do I
Get and How Do I Use It?” elsewhere in this issue). The program runs on a PC with Windows 95, 98, or NT and requires the Operations Console Cable.
What Is Welcome Center?
Welcome Center is browser-based information that guides you through the installation and configuration of a new AS/400. It tells you what to do on your AS/400 to achieve the desired effects. As a result, the Welcome Center gives you a little more control over your system configuration and can be used in more environments than EZ-Setup.
Welcome Center is tailored to customers who are familiar with PCs and Web browsers. It provides a quick and simple path from out-of-box to a basic operating state. Information is layered, so you can get as much or as little information as you want.
In V4R3, Welcome Center acts as a companion product to EZ-Setup and is packaged on the same CD (SK3T-3025). The first section of Welcome Center, Guided Setup, provides the steps needed to manually perform the same tasks that EZ-Setup simplifies. The second section, Customize for Your Business, lets you choose additional setup tasks appropriate for your environment. If you use EZ-Setup, you are taken to this section when you choose to launch Welcome Center. The third section, What’s Next, provides direction on other areas you may want to explore, such as helpful Web sites like the Technical Studio and the AS/400 Services and Support pages. Welcome Center’s EZ- Setup Wizard section contains additional details on using EZ-Setup and recovery scenarios in case EZ-Setup doesn’t work for you.
Hardware and Software Requirements
As with any program, there are some things you will need in order to use EZ- Setup or Welcome Center. Here’s a shopping list that applies to both:
• New AS/400 system
• V4R3 of OS/400
• PC (a Pentium with 8 MB or more is recommended for most paths)
• CD-ROM drive, mouse, and keyboard These apply to EZ-Setup:
• Operations console cable
• Windows 95 with Dial-Up Networking 1.2, or
• Windows NT with RAS, Service Pack 3, and Dial-Up Networking, or
• Windows 98 This applies to Welcome Center:
• A system console (It can be a console established on your PC using Client Access for Windows 95/NT, or it can be a twinax console if your PC is close enough to your terminal. The Welcome Center has instructions for setting up a Client Access or Operations Console, but you will need to use the Setting Up Your Model XXX book for twinax console instructions.)
The specific requirements are listed on the CD packaging. For best results, make sure you meet the requirements before you begin.
OK, you should have some combination of those things, and I am going to assume you are itching to get started with your system setup. Who wouldn’t be with such neat hardware in front of them? Now would be a great time to find the CD (see Figure 1).
Pop that CD into the drive on your PC, and you are ready to go. “Wait! Wait! Nothing is cabled yet!” That’s OK. Both EZ-Setup and Welcome Center have instructions for cabling your system if you need it, but I’ll get to that later. After you’ve inserted the CD into the drive (and assuming that the PC is powered on), you’ll have the option of using EZ-Setup or going into Welcome Center. Since this portion of the article discusses EZ-Setup, go ahead and choose that option.
Setting Up Your System with EZ-Setup
EZ-Setup has six main steps: Introduction, Console Setup, Basic Setup, Network Setup, Internet Shortcuts, and Finished. I’ll discuss each briefly.
Introduction, the first section, is shown in Figure 2. This section covers system requirements, information you’ll need during setup, and system name choice. After you’ve selected a name, EZ-Setup starts a log file to record the changes made to your system. You can later use the log file to check the values that you set. The only values not recorded are the user profile passwords.
Console Setup, shown in Figure 3, covers the steps required to connect your PC to your AS/400 and to install any necessary software, such as Client Access, on your PC.
If you choose to view the cabling instructions, they will come up in a browser. When you are done with the cabling, close the browser to return to EZ-Setup. EZ-Setup will check your PC for the required programs and prompt you to install them if they aren’t found. Once you complete this section, you will have a connection between your PC and your AS/400. You will use this connection to complete the remaining steps in EZ-Setup.
Basic Setup sets basic security values and the system date and time. It also lets you create users on your AS/400. Certain security values are set for you. Don’t forget, these values are stored in the log file, so you can go back and look at them if you need to. The value for system date and time is taken from your PC, so you don’t have to type it in if you don’t want to.
You’ll see the security officer profile screen shown in Figure 4 when you are ready to create a security officer profile. The default name is EZSECOFR, so you’ll know that it was created with EZ-Setup. You can change this value by deleting EZSECOFR and entering your own profile name. As previously mentioned, the password created here is not saved to the log file, so you probably want to write it somewhere and keep it in a secure spot. The same is true for the EZSYSOPR profile, which you are also prompted to create.
Now we get to one of the best parts of EZ-Setup, Network Setup. If you choose to connect to a LAN, EZ-Setup will gather the necessary information from you and establish the connection. This is the point when you will need to know the information about your network. Answer a few simple questions: Is it Token-Ring or Ethernet? How fast is it— 4 Mb or 16 Mb? What about data transmission— full or half duplex? EZ-Setup will create a description for you.
When the description is in place, you can move on to creating a network interface. You must know the network IP address for your new AS/400 to continue. It’s OK to stop and look it up if necessary. Once that’s entered, you can specify your network configuration (see Figure 5).
Want TCP/IP to start after every IPL? Want to use Telnet? Just make your choices and click Next. It’s that simple. You have the option to configure a network gateway so that your AS/400 can communicate with remote networks. You can choose up to three; all you need to know are the correct gateway addresses. After that, it’s on to Domain Name System (DNS) configuration to map names to IP addresses. Again, you can enter up to three servers. The last step in the network interface is choosing which TCP/IP host servers you want to autostart whenever TCP/IP starts. DHCP? DNS? FTP? Choose those that apply to your environment and your new machine. Click Next, and it will happen.
The last step in Network setup is choosing the default user for the Client Access connection to your AS/400. It defaults to EZSYSOPR or the name you chose for the system operator profile, but you could choose another user with system operator authority.
You are almost at the end of EZ-Setup. The only things left are to choose which Internet shortcuts you want on your desktop and to launch Welcome Center. Your options for Internet shortcuts are the Technical Studio, the AS/400 Home Page, AS/400 Technical Support, and the AS/400 Online Library, all of which are useful sources of information about your new AS/400. I recommend adding all of them and then launching Welcome Center from the Congratulations screen.
Note: After completing EZ-Setup, you will need to choose how you want to communicate with your AS/400. When Welcome Center starts after EZ-Setup completes, you’ll get information to let you do just that through Operations Navigator or Operations Console.
Setting Up Your System Using Welcome Center
Now, I’ll need you to imagine that you chose to use Welcome Center instead of EZ-Setup, way back in the beginning. You may have decided to use Welcome Center because you want to use a laptop and a twinax console. Or maybe you prefer the command- and menu-based interface. I’ll give you a very short overview of what Welcome Center covers, mainly because you can explore it on your own before you set up your system.
Figure 6 shows what you see when you start with Welcome Center. Guided Setup covers the same tasks completed by EZ-Setup, so I won’t go into detail. You begin by following the Guided Setup link and choosing your AS/400 model from the interactive image (see Figure 7).
Once that’s done, simply complete each of the seven tasks listed: Unpack and Power On, Sign On and Set System Values, Set Up Basic Security, Set Up User Profiles, Connect to a TCP/IP LAN, Enable PC Clients, and Perform System IPL. Each of those tasks contains the commands you need to type to complete the task. Guided Setup is arranged sequentially, and the steps are numbered accordingly.
Customize for Your Business is the second section of Welcome Center. It is also where the Guided Setup path and the EZ-Setup path converge. Customize for Your Business is not arranged sequentially, meaning you can complete these steps in any order when you have time. They are not required to get your system up and running, but they will aid you in using it effectively.
The Customize section (see Figure 8) outlines the following tasks: Explore Operations Navigator, Set Up Printing, Create User Profiles, Add Electronic Support, Install Additional Software, Define System Cleanup Options, Create a System Backup, Operations Console: Remote Controlling System, and E-Business: Create an Intranet. As you can see, these topics are useful for any environment. Having them all in one place saves you time in locating the necessary information. Picking only the topics you need helps you to customize your AS/400 even more quickly than before.
What’s Next acts much like the shortcuts provided by EZ-Setup. This section is a page full of helpful pointers to useful information, not a sequence of steps to complete. You get links to the AS/400 On-line Library, the AS/400 Information Center, Service and Support, and of course, the Technical Studio. There’s also a link to provide feedback to the creators of the product, but it will work only if you have a mail program configured to work with your Web browser.
So now what?
You should have a pretty good idea of what EZ-Setup and Welcome Center are and can do. They simplify new system setup. You should also be thinking, “That looks like it could save me some time.” You may even go home early! So now, you should go look in your shipment for a CD that says “EZ-Setup, Including Welcome Center.”
Figure 1: EZ-Setup CD cover
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
More than ever, there is a demand for IT to deliver innovation. Your IBM i has been an essential part of your business operations for years. However, your organization may struggle to maintain the current system and implement new projects. The thousands of customers we've worked with and surveyed state that expectations regarding the digital footprint and vision of the company are not aligned with the current IT environment.
TRY the one package that solves all your document design and printing challenges on all your platforms. Produce bar code labels, electronic forms, ad hoc reports, and RFID tags – without programming! MarkMagic is the only document design and print solution that combines report writing, WYSIWYG label and forms design, and conditional printing in one integrated product. Make sure your data survives when catastrophe hits. Request your trial now! Request Now.
Forms of ransomware has been around for over 30 years, and with more and more organizations suffering attacks each year, it continues to endure. What has made ransomware such a durable threat and what is the best way to combat it? In order to prevent ransomware, organizations must first understand how it works.
Disaster protection is vital to every business. Yet, it often consists of patched together procedures that are prone to error. From automatic backups to data encryption to media management, Robot automates the routine (yet often complex) tasks of iSeries backup and recovery, saving you time and money and making the process safer and more reliable. Automate your backups with the Robot Backup and Recovery Solution. Key features include:
Business users want new applications now. Market and regulatory pressures require faster application updates and delivery into production. Your IBM i developers may be approaching retirement, and you see no sure way to fill their positions with experienced developers. In addition, you may be caught between maintaining your existing applications and the uncertainty of moving to something new.
IT managers hoping to find new IBM i talent are discovering that the pool of experienced RPG programmers and operators or administrators with intimate knowledge of the operating system and the applications that run on it is small. This begs the question: How will you manage the platform that supports such a big part of your business? This guide offers strategies and software suggestions to help you plan IT staffing and resources and smooth the transition after your AS/400 talent retires. Read on to learn:
LATEST COMMENTS
MC Press Online