Thanks for all the replies.
I have found my upgrade checklist manual (the actual title escapes me).
Apparently it did not come in a binder because it was in an old VAX/VMS
binder....
Thanks to Glenn Cole for some other pointers. As I mentioned to him, the
POSIX shell at least makes me feel less like Captain Kirk at the helm
of the Klingon Bird-of-prey.
I did not notice having a SUBSYS tape. I will contact HP as it sounds
relevant and important.
Thanks to everyone for the great suggestions, I will include them in
my plan.
Paul
In article <[log in to unmask]>,
Richard Gambrell <[log in to unmask]> writes:
> Assuming Paul is Unix literate, I'll try a rough translation...
>
> Michael D. Hensley wrote:
>>
>> Ooooo, you found some of MPE's "warts"! :)
>>
>> Version names/numbers have been a thorn in MPE's side for a long time, thanks
>> mostly to HP Marketing.
>
> Like HPUX 10.0 and 10.01, or the 10.30 that doesn't exist but sometimes
> you need it.
>
>>
>> Here are the details:
>>
>> A "PowerPatch" tape is a cumulative set of all recommended patches for a
>> particular release. PowerPatch 7 for MPE/iX 5.5 contains all of the patches
>> that were on PowerPatch 6, plus newer patches.
>
> A Powerpatch is a bundle of patches that have been qualified and tested
> together. Like the HPUX CD patche sets, but better - with MPE, they
> almost always work.
>
>>
>> An "Express" release is a minor release update, and should normally be just a
>> "Product/Subsys" tape. It is usually a vehicle for providing new products.
>
> And an Express may have enhancements to products. A subsys tape provides
> products. These are like the HPUX application CD, except they are custom
> created for your particular site with only the products you own. (And
> sometimes they make mistakes in creating the tape.)
>
>
>>
>> For reasons known only to the insane, someone at HP labelled PowerPatch 7 as
>> "Express PowerPatch 7".
>>
>> Now, why do you need Express 3? Well, any patches on PowerPatch 7 for things
>> that are distributed via the "Product/Subsys" tape are for the latest
>> Product/Subsys versions, which were on Express 3 (the latest Express
>> release). Patches for FOS ("Fundamental Operating System") things will all
>> work whether you have Express 3 or not.
>
> FOS is like all the filesets that come with the HP-UX o.s. CD together
> with the "free" filesets on the applications CD, except MPE usually treats
> them like they are all together (you can't pick and choose - except
> sometimes). MPE version 6 has Java and Samba in FOS. MPE FOS has
> (almost) always included a database (Image/sql).
>
>>
>> Some installation notes:
>>
>> 1) Make a new CSLT and a full backup before you start, and VERIFY THE BACKUP
>> (preferably on a tape drive other than the one on which you make the backup).
>> CHECK THE STORE LISTING -- no amount of verifying the tapes will tell you
>> what files were skipped, and even Allegro can't help you recover files that
>> aren't on the tapes. (Well, we *have* pulled files off of bad disc drives,
>> but don't count on it).
>
> A CSLT (custom system load tape) is like a HPUX Ignite tape where vg00
> only has operating system stuff, but MPE has had it (or equivalent) since
> the beginning. One can put backup files on the CSLT, somewhat like
> Ignite. A SLT is a HP factory made tape that had generic MPE
> configuration - like the HPUX support CD it is bootable, except on MPE you
> install from it too. The CSLT is a customized tape made on your machine
> with your configuration information.
>
>>
>> 1) Check the contents of the SUBSYS tape before you begin. All FOS tapes are
>> the same, all SLT tapes are the same, and all PowerPatch tapes are the same,
>> but the SUBSYS tape has to be customized for your site, thus creating many
>> opportunities for the things to go wrong.
>
> This is like being sure you have codewords and licensing codes, and you
> can mount and read the CD.
>
>>
>> 2) Do NOT apply the Express 3 and PowerPatch 7 tapes at the same time (even
>> though the installation manual encourages you to). I've seen too many
>> problems doing this, and have spent too much time help customers who had
>> problems doing this. Yes, it will take a few extra hours to install the
>> Express 3 tape first, and then install the PowerPatch 7 tape, but it's not
>> worth saving a few hours now that may cost you many more hours later.
>>
>> 3) Use PATCH/iX rather than AUTOPAT; you'll be glad you did.
>
> Be sure to initialize stage/ix, if it hasn't been done. You'll need extra
> disk space to hold the backup version of the O.S. There is nothing like
> this on HPUX, except the maybe a concept of Ignite, but on disk.
>
>>
>> 4) After you are all done, make a new CSLT tape. The instructions don't tell
>> you to do this, and many people just keep the CSLT created by the update
>> process. And then later, they pay us money to help get their system running
>> again after a disk failure because they don't have a valid CSLT. To create a
>> CSLT
>>
>> :SYSGEN
>> >TAPE
>
> Very good advice: Just like make a new Ignite tape after installing
> patches.
>
>>
>> 5) Follow the checklist printed in the manual. Check each step off as you
>> go, or note the steps you skipped. Better, note what time you start each
>> step. The HPRC (or anyone else) will be much able to help solve problems if
>> you do this.
>>
>> Good luck, have fun, and if you have any other questions, please feel free to
>> email me or the list. I've done a *lot* of updates over the past 15 years
>> (MPE, HP-UX, Windows, others), and in my opinion, the MPE update process is
>> the easiest, safest and most reliable -- but nothing is (yet) completely
>> foolproof or error-free.
>>
>> Not-a-plug-because-it's-free: Stan has written a new utility, which he plans
>> to make available soon for free, that will tell you exactly what version of
>> MPE you are actually on (base release, express, and PowerPatch). Look
>> forward to it -- it works great!
>>
>> New to MPE? See http://www.allegro.com/papers/learnmpe.html for some
>> suggestions!
>>
>> ---
>> Michael D. Hensley | mailto:[log in to unmask]
>> Allegro Consultants Inc. | Visit scenic http://www.allegro.com
>> 408/252-2330 | "Support Bill of Rights Enforcement"
>
> Good luck and be sure to keep your tape drives clean.
> Richard G.
> --
> Richard Gambrell
> Database Administrator and Consultant to Computing Services at
> ** UTC business:
> University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
> 113 Hunter Hall, Dept. 4454
> 615 McCallie Ave., Chattanooga, TN 37403-2598
> fax: 423-755-4025
> phone: 423-755-4551 email: [log in to unmask]
> ** other business or private:
> voice mail/phone: 423-874-0261 email: [log in to unmask]
>
--
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