XA R7.8 Link Manager

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XA R7.8Link Manager

• Belinda Daub
• Sr. Technical Consultant

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Agenda

• What is Link Manager?
• Common terminology
• New Features
• Administration and Configuration
• Monitor User Activity
• Auxiliary Machines
• Updates and Fix Servers
• Diagnostics
• 7.8 Link Manager Upgrade

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What is Link Manager?

• Environment management tool for
• Configuration and optimization of environment
  services
• Starting and stopping environments
• Upgrading environment release level
• Monitoring environment status and troubleshooting
• Monitoring and communicating with end users

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Common Terminology
Global environment Processes that manage and
facilitate MPX jobs the global
environment processes Can now start from
Link Manager U-Job Unattached job used to
start/stop environments from System i
Required for Power-Link Auxiliary
machine Computer other than the System i
that can host environment services Environment
service Process that provides some
environment functionality such as web
access
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New Features

• New Look

• New Desktop icon

• New Login Screen
• Direct access to environments on multiple systems
• Freedom from Java Webstart

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New Features

• New Feel
• Console has full IDF customization and navigation
  and Usability features
• Views, Subsets
• Broadcast/receive
• Mutli-select
• Workbenches
• Preferences
• Etc

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New Features

• By restructuring the IFS
• Business environments can now be independently
  upgraded and managed
• The Global environment can now be
• Upgraded independently from business environments
• Restarted with minimal interruption to the
  business environments
• Managed from within Link Manager

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Environment Management

• Administration
• Administer Environments and Machines
• Communicate with users
• Apply PTFs
• Configuration
• Manage environment fix levels
• View tasks for all environments/machines
• Work with users
• Troubleshooting and Diagnostics

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Environment Administration

• Status
• Environments
• Machines
• Tasks

• View details
• Change
• Copy Process
• Start
• Stop
• Move Process
• Apply Update

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Environment Administration

• Example Start Messaging Service
• Start NMS

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Environment Administration

• View Details

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Environment Administration

• set up to autostart with environment
• (also available in Environment Configuration)

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Environment Administration

• Communicate with Users
• Client messages can be sent to Power-Link and
  Net-Link users
• Single user or all users of an environment
• Review who has read the message
• Copy previous messages

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Environment Administration

• Example Send a message to users logging into the
  environment to warn them about a scheduled system
  outage.

• Create a client message object for the
  environment. You can specify a particular user
  or all users. Also, you can specify whether the
  users
• see the message
• once or at every
• login.

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Environment Administration

• Results
• Users receive a pop up message when they log into
  Power-Link and Net-Link.
• The status of the message can be viewed to see
  who has received it.

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Environment Configuration

• Built-in Views and subsets
• Fix Level and User login information
• Status of Updates

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Environment Configuration

• Environment Processes

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Environment Configuration

• Environment Tasks

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Environment Configuration

• Machines
• Host and Auxiliary servers

Questions?
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Monitor User Activity

• User Profiles
• Basic information
• Start and stop logging
• Login history

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Monitor User Activity

• User logins
• Subset by user, environment, workstation or
  active sessions

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Auxiliary Machines

• Add capacity and support remote sites
• Servers can be
• MS Windows
• Mac OSX
• Linux
• Host a variety of environment services
• Dedicated or automatically load balanced
• Installed standalone or as Windows service
• Managed from Link Manager console

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Auxiliary Machines

• Example 1 Add auxiliary server to take some load
  off of the System i.

• Install auxiliary software on the machines
• Start auxiliary software on the machines
• Restart running processes

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Auxiliary Machines

• Results
• Machines automatically show up in Link Manager
  console
• Automatically available for load balancing
• Managed from Link Manager console

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Auxiliary Machines

• Example 2 Add dedicated auxiliary machines for
  Net-Link and for System-Link users.

• Install auxiliary software on the machines
• Set the auto offload flag to off (uncheck the
  box)

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Auxiliary Machines

• Create a new Process in Environment to add a new
  System-Link or Net-Link server

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Auxiliary Machines

• Use the move process action to assign processes
  to their machines (can select multiple entries)
• Restart the processes

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Auxiliary Machines

• Results
• Two auxiliary machines dedicated to assigned
  processes.
• Two Net-Link servers and two System-Link servers
  to handle user load.

Questions?
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Manage Updates

• Impact of updates reduced by environment
  independence
• Environments can restart automatically after
  updates
• Auxiliary machines updated and restarted when
  necessary
• Do not have to exit Link Manager for global
  restart
• Staged updates offer transparency to the user

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Manage Updates

• Apply from Fix Levels
• or Environments

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Manage Updates

• Better visibility of fix levels
• Installed and downloaded fix levels
• Environments where the fix levels are applied
• Fix details

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Stage Updates

• Example Apply update to an environment without
  increasing the login time for end users

• Use the apply update action on the environment
• Select the staged apply option

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Stage Updates

• Monitor the fix level download status on the
  environment
• Use the Apply Update action to release the update
• Use the Cancel Staged Apply action if you do not
  want to update the environment

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Stage Updates

• Results
• End users download the fix code silently in
  background while using Power-Link
• Administrators can monitor the status of the
  downloads from Link Manager
• Users are not inconvenienced by downloads when
  starting Power-Link.
• Users who login after the update is applied will
  be updated before they can use Power-Link

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Fix Servers

• Deploy client fixes to remote users
• Minimize downloads across WAN and reduce user
  login time
• Code is downloaded once to each remote site
• End users download from the LAN
• Can be used with staged updates

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Fix Servers

• Example System i located in Atlanta with remote
  XA users in Chicago, Seattle and Minneapolis.

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Fix Servers

• Install auxiliary software on a machine at each
  remote site
• Set the auto offload flag to off on each machine
• Create a fix server process on the global
  environment for each remote site
• Assign the fix server processes to the
  appropriate auxiliary machines
• Manage the environment as usual

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Fix Servers

• Results
• WAN users get LAN performance for fixes
• Remote auxiliary machines are synchronized before
  environment update is released

Questions?
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Diagnostics

• Common issues
• Missing files, PTF issues, object authority and
  permissions

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Diagnostics

• Logs archived for environment processes
• Client logging can be activated from Link Manager
• By user or workstation
• Client logs visible from Link Manager
• Save to disk and send to support

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Diagnostics

• Example User experiences intermittent issue that
  seems to appear once a week. After setting up
  some tracing options Infor support is requesting
  logs that show the issue. In addition to the
  logs, Infor support is also requesting some
  system files.

• Set the days to retain logs to 14 on the affected
  environment

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Diagnostics

• Activate logging on the affected users profile
  or the workstation. Use the workstation if it
  hosts multiple users

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Diagnostics

• Review users client logs from Link Manager to
  check for the issue (view Login Details from User
  Profile or User Logins)

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Diagnostics

• Use the package model action on the environment
  to save the data after the issue occurs

• Send the saved file to support

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Diagnostics

• Results
• Logs are archived for the users client sessions
  and environment server sessions for two weeks.
• Support can receive the information they need to
  analyze the issue.
• Issues can be easier to diagnose and quicker to
  resolve.

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7.8 Link Manager Upgrade

• New client SH numbers
• SH15476 Initial install CD (.iso image) on
  Software Download site
• SH15477 Client fixes (for R7.8 environments)
• SH14855 still valid for R7.7 environments
• Installation process
• Reorganizes IFS directory structure
• Only upgrades global environment
• Minimum client fix level 40.72
• Power-Link still runs with Java Web Start at 40.
  levels
• Several mandatory prerequisite PTFs needed for
  R7.7 environments installed on same machine
• Watch for 7.8 Upgrade session this summer

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Thank You

• Questions?

Technical Information Belinda Daub 704.814.0004
belinda.daub_at_cistech.net
Sales Information Ben McCormick 704.814.0016 be
n.mccormick_at_cistech.net