Problem: I am responsible for installing or upgrading Server Express or Server for COBOL on Linux or UNIX. Where can I find general instructions and considerations for this? Solution: Here are general instructions and considerations for installing or upgrading Server Express or Server for COBOL on Linux/UNIX. The product named "Server Express" is the main product. It includes both the compiler and the runtime system. The product named "Server for COBOL" does not include the compiler; it includes only the runtime system. Think of "Server for COBOL" as being a sub-set of "Server Express". In early versions, the product Server for COBOL was named differently; it was named "Application Server for Server Express", or "Micro Focus Server". Server for COBOL is meant to be installed on production machines where COBOL will run, but where COBOL should not be compiled. Administrators may want to prevent people from compiling COBOL code on production machines; they may want COBOL code to be compiled only on development machines. By installing Server for COBOL on a machine, a person can be assured the compiler is not present. Because Server Express includes both the compiler and the runtime system, it can be used for development, production, or both. When Server Express is installed on a machine, it is not necessary to also install Server for COBOL on the same machine. On a machine with Server Express installed, both types of license can be installed: Server Express licenses (a.k.a. development licenses) and Server for COBOL licenses (a.k.a. runtime licenses). In this way a single installation of Server Express can be licensed both for development and production. Log into supportline.microfocus.com with your username and password. Click Product Updates on the left. Click "Search all updates available to you" and click "Find Updates". Put a checkmark in the legal box, so the links will no longer be grayed-out, then navigate to Server Express or Server for COBOL (may not be on the first page). Click the + sign to expand Server Express or Server for COBOL, then see a bunch of + signs for each 5.1 release. Click the + sign next to the latest 5.1 release (WrapPack 14 as of this writing) to expand it. If you do not intend to upgrade to the latest release, then choose the release you like. Then click the + sign to expand the appropriate platform (AIX, Red Hat, etc). There is a green down-arrow link to download the installable product. There is also a blue link named Readme. The Readme is a PDF with the Release Notes and installation instructions. Download both the installable product and the Readme. Server Express version 5.1 WrapPacks are stand-alone full installations (in other words, they don't install "on top of" existing installations). The instructions inside the Readme say: 1. On the target system, log in as root. 2. Create the directory into which you want to install the product. For example: mkdir /opt/microfocus/cobol 3. Decompress and extract the contents of the tar file into that directory. For example: cd /opt/microfocus/cobol tar xvf /tmpdir/ .tar 4. Run the install script in that directory: sh ./install 5. Follow the instructions displayed to complete the installation. When upgrading an older version of Server Express or Server for COBOL on the same machine, there are two approaches: 1) Install the new version in the location where the older version was, by first re-naming the old directory. For example, if you have Server Express 5.1 WP8 installed in /opt/microfocus/cobol, then with root permissions: mv /opt/microfocus/cobol /opt/microfocus/cobol_SX51_WP8 to re-name the existing directory, then follow the steps 1 through 5 above, including "mkdir /opt/microfocus/cobol". This will install the new version where the old one was, while keeping the old one backed-up in an appropriately-named directory. As an alternative: 2) Install the new version into a new and separate directory, then use environment variables to switch between the old and new, as described in this Knowledgebase article: http://community.microfocus.com/microfocus/mainframe_solutions/enterprise_server/w/knowledge_base/18129.using-more-than-one-version-of-server-express-on-the-same-machine.aspx If you already had Server Express or Server for COBOL licenses on the machine, the upgraded version will use the same existing licenses, so you will not need to install new licenses. If you are installing Server Express or Server for COBOL for the first time on a machine, and there are no prior installations and no installed licenses, you will have to order licenses for that machine, or remove licenses from another of your machines and install the licenses on the new machine. If you need a period of time when both the old and new machines must run until a migration is complete, contact your Micro Focus Sales representative and order temporary licenses for the migration. Install the temporary licenses on the new machine. When the migration is complete and the old machine is decommissioned, remove the original licenses from the old machine and install them on the new machine. At that point you need not remove the temporary licenses from the new machine; you can leave them installed and allow them to time-out. The licensing systems are documented within the overall Server Express documentation. Begin at this page: https://supportline.microfocus.com/documentation/books/sx51ws02/sx51indx.htm then look under Bookshelf > Start Here > Development System Licensing Guide and also Bookshelf > Micro Focus Server > Deployment License Management Guide If you encounter a problem with either of these licensing systems, go to the web site: http://community.microfocus.com/microfocus and enter symptoms of the problem in the Search field at upper-right to discover pertinent knowledgebase articles. If knowledgebase articles do not help, log into supportline.microfocus.com with your username and password, and create a new Support Incident describing the licensing problem. WrapPacks are inclusive, that is, each WrapPack includes everything that the prior WrapPacks did, so to upgrade to a particular WrapPack, it is not necessary to install all prior WrapPacks first. The Readme.PDFs that accompany each WrapPack are also inclusive, so it is not necessary to read each of the Readmes in series, but only to read the latest one. When adopting a new version of Micro Focus COBOL, the COBOL source code for the application must be recompiled using the new version. Compiled COBOL programs must be run under the same version of Micro Focus as was used to compile them. For example, to run under WrapPack 14, the COBOL programs must have been compiled under WrapPack 14. Generally speaking, you need not worry that the new version of MF COBOL will introduce new and different behavior, or "break" the application. The COBOL language is governed by standards including the ANSI standard. Each release of MF COBOL, including each WrapPack, successfully passes QA certification tests, such as the US government's COBOL Compiler Validation Suite (CCVS), plus a regression test suite, before being released. Micro Focus hasn't intentionally changed the behavior of the COBOL compiler or runtime, except to fix bugs or add new features. You can expect the application to behave as it did before, after you recompile the COBOL sources under the new version. If any problems occur, log into supportline.microfocus.com and open a support incident, or call 800-632-6265 and have the serial number of your licensed product to hand during the call. During installation, you may see the message: Your Enterprise Server requires configuration. You can either do it now or later. To do it now you need to know the alphanumeric user ID of the Enterprise Server System Administrator. To do it later, enter the following commands whilst logged in as root : /opt/microfocus/cobol/bin/eslminstall /opt/microfocus/cobol/bin/casperm Do you wish to configure Enterprise Server now? (y/n): Enterprise Server is an optional feature allowing COBOL programs to be deployed as Web Services. Relatively few Server Express customers use Enterprise Server. Answer "n" to this question unless you know that your application needs Enterprise Server. As the message says, you can go back and configure it later if necessary. If you answer "y", it will demand that you enter a user-id. Refer to this knowledgebase article: http://community.microfocus.com/microfocus/mainframe_solutions/enterprise_server/w/knowledge_base/6287.what-user-id-to-use-for-enterprise-server-administration.aspx During installation, you may see the following message: A possibly older version of License Manager than this one is currently running on the system. It is installed in [location] It is recommended that you upgrade by installing this version. Existing installed licenses will be retained and not affected. If you want to install this new version of License Manager into [location], then the currently running version must be stopped. Do you want to proceed with installation into [location] (this will STOP the currently running License Manager) ? (y/n) You may not see this message. But if you do, it is important to answer "y" for "yes" so the LMF version will be updated. Existing licenses will not be lost or changed. After the installation, remember to re-start the license manager using the 'mflmman' command. If you answer "n", later you may receive this message: LMF 006 You are not licensed to use this product or version For a remedy to this LMF 006 error, see the following knowledgebase article: http://community.microfocus.com/microfocus/licensing/w/knowledge_base/19282.checklist-for-unix-license-manager-issues.aspx The application developers, for example the COBOL developers within your own company, or COBOL developers at the vendor from whom you purchased an application, are responsible for configuring the COBOL product, and you should follow their advice in configuring the new version. Custom settings for Micro Focus compiler directives in an old version might accidentally be left behind when switching to a new version. Consider this Knowledgebase article: http://community.microfocus.com/microfocus/cobol/net_express__server_express/w/knowledge_base/19285.setting-compiler-directives-for-server-express.aspx Compiler directives are a way to configure the compiler's behavior. There are several different ways to specify compiler directives. If you originally used any of the first three methods in the Knowledgebase article, these might be accidentally left behind when switching to a new version. If a file named 'cobol.dir' exists in the current directory at compile time, compiler directives in that file will be acted upon. Same for a file named 'cobol.dir' in the $COBDIR directory (as opposed to the current directory). If these files exist in an old version of MF COBOL, remember to copy them to the new version. Likewise, customized directives might have been specified in the old version in the file $COBDIR/etc/cobopt. A fresh install of Server Express will contain only default specifications in $COBDIR/etc/cobopt. If you made customized specifications in $COBDIR/etc/cobopt in the old version, remember to copy that file into the new $COBDIR. Also, the environment variable COBOPT can specify directives; if COBOPT is used, make sure both the old and new MF installation have a matching value of the COBOPT environment variable. After installing and licensing Server Express, here is a method you can use to prove that COBOL can be compiled and run successfully: http://community.microfocus.com/microfocus/cobol/net_express__server_express/w/knowledge_base/1589.what-is-a-quick-way-to-test-whether-server-express-can-compile-and-run.aspx