 IBM Workload Scheduler version 9.3 End of Support (EOS) has been announced, effective from 30 April 2021. If your running IWS v9.3, now could be a perfect time to upgrade to the Workload Automation v9.5 portfolio, effectively plan your software investment, and avoid any gaps in support. IWS v9.5 offers new features and enhancements to help you accelerate your business by simplifying and automating workloads, improving SLAs, and saving deployment time. What to expect in this blog This blog provides a step-by-step guide on what needs to be considered before upgrading IWS MDM from v9.3 to v9.5. Learn about the key features provided with the latest version. Who should read this blog?
This blog is for users who have:
What to consider before upgrading? The preparation stage is by far one of the most important phases during an upgrade. When upgrading to a major release such as v9.3 to v9.5, one must take into consideration crucial factors such as features and infrastructural differences. The basic architectural approach of an upgrade has not changed, IWS still requires a parallel upgrade for the MDM and a direct upgrade for the agent. Customers can also decide from a bottom-up or top-down upgrade. You can fully benefit from the IWS v9.5 features such as Workload folders when all the IWS network is at v9.5 FP2 then the bottom-up approach upgrade is recommended. IWS v9.5 installation is simplified and is made faster than ever before, leveraging the Centralized Upgrade feature, the install and setup of IWS v9.5 should be a smooth transition. Learning how to operate IWS v9.5 is one of the key points to be productive on the release soon after upgrading. IWS administrators should be trained on how to operate the new DWC 9.5 flow and usage of IWS v9.5 releases so they are prepared on “how-to-do” things on IWS 9.5. But …Don’t worry, here are IWS users who already did that with Success, read their experience here: “Keys to a Successful IBM Workload Scheduler v9.5 Migration – a User Perspective by Tim Townsend, Boston College – February 19, 2020” https://twsuser.org/links/webinars/ Here are some important steps that should be taken in the preparation phase of an upgrade. 1. Learn the new features of the IWS v9.5 releases: Start by reading the 9.5 Release Notes: IBM Workload Scheduler version 95 Dynamic Workload Console version 95 Check out the following resources:
2. Review the Detailed system requirements for IBM Workload Scheduler and DWC, v9.5, here you can find all the OS products and additional products supported by IWS v9.5: IWS: Detailed System Requirements page. DWC: Detailed System Requirements page Please Note: This review is important as the IWS v9.3 supported OS and product version is no longer supported by IWS 9.5 releases. 3. Review the following document to determine the new setup for IWS machines and their configuration for IWS/DWC 9.5. From Workload Automation Community Resources website, go to the section > WA Documentation > Performance Scenarios, review the IWS 9.5 Performance and Capacity document. 4. Last but not least, leverage the benefits of the HCL Services team that is composed of a Professional IWS team who can provide you with ad-hoc learning on IWS v9.5. The team can also work to assist you with the IWS upgrade, implementation, and design. What to expect from IWS 9.5? IWS v9.5 offers many new features that are useful to administrators, the scheduling operators, developers, analysts, configurator, and application programmers, so let’s take a look at some of them: Command-line based installation Classical GUI installation is no more necessary, now there is the command-line installation, a very simple procedure that supports installing all components (master domain manager, backup domain manager, dynamic domain manager, backup dynamic domain manager, Dynamic Workload Console, and agents) using dedicated commands. For more information, see a Typical installation scenario. The Dynamic Workload Console has evolved The Dynamic Workload Console has evolved with a new graphical layout, features, and improved functionality. Dynamic Workload Console V9.5 has undergone both an architectural and web redesign. The streamlined design of the console accommodates several features that improve the overall user experience to deliver results for your business:
Would you like to know more? HWA Professional Service Team can answer all your questions and give you the support you need. You can contact them at: Workload Automation Professional Services New Reporting System With Dynamic Workload Console V9.5, the look and feel of the reporting system have undertaken a revamp and you can now import the report templates created by using Business Intelligent Report Tool (BIRT). For more information about the new reporting system, see Reporting. Event Rule has never been so easy A brand-new experience that optimizes the creation and editing of event rules. A modernized user experience that makes the definition of event rules easier, intuitive, and well-organized, thanks to a folder-based structure. Automation Hub: the future of automation Automation Hub is the new automation command center that empowers your Workload Automation with new integrations. A showcase where you can browse through the existing integrations, but also discover a bunch of integrations to bring your experience to the next level. Some of the old plug-ins previously provided with the product are now out-of-the-box integrations available on Automation Hub. The integrations are available for distribution and z/OS environments. For further information, see Changed features and feature capabilities. Continuous operation with automatic failover Automatic switchover to a backup engine and event processing server when the active master domain manager becomes unavailable. Ensure continuous operation with the automatic failover and high availability features of IBM® Workload Scheduler. Configure one or more backup engines so that when a backup detects that the active master becomes unavailable, it triggers a long-term switchmgr operation to itself. The backup engines monitor the behavior of the master domain manager to detect anomalous behavior. If one or more of the following behaviors persist for more than 5 minutes, an automatic long-term switchmgr operation is triggered:
Organize scheduling objects in workflow folders Gain greater business agility by organizing your scheduling objects in a hierarchy of folders. Organize them by lines of business, departments, geographies, or any custom category that makes sense for your business operations. Folders also simplify security access. Associate access control lists to individual folders to restrict the rights to which folder any single user or group can access. You can also delegate security management of a specific folder and its sub-folders to other users. For more information see Organizing scheduling objects into folders. If you require any further information, the HWA professional service team is available to give you the highest level of support and assist you during the implementation phase of these features: ASK FOR MORE As you have seen, IWS v9.5.0X comes with a lot of interesting features then don’t waste our time, let’s go to talk about how to upgrade to IWS v9.5.0X so then we can start using them. The following procedure will install a new master domain manager with its own DB and link it to the current network. Then will import objects of the current MDM into the new DB and switch the linked MDM to become the new master domain manager. The procedure can be summed up with the following main steps: IWS v9.5.0X: 1. DWC and MDM Installation with last Fix Pack available with v9.5: the installation can be done downloading the compressed file, containing both the General Availability version 9.5 image and the latest fix pack image. HWA Professional Service Team will give you support in achieving this task 2. DWC – MDM Post-installation configuration: Setup Security and logon configurations information. 3. Network tests: MDM-DWC connection and JS/Jobs summit tests information. 4. Current Plan scratch: Erased current plan IWS v9.3: 5. Link new MDM to current network: A new BMDM WS pointing to the new MDM will be created. 6. Export v9.3 Object data and Import to MDM v9.5.0X: The objects will be exported from the old DB and imported into the new one 7. Configure current IWS network to link to the new MDM: New configuration of the entire network to point at new MDM 8. Switch network to new MDM: Using switchmgr conman command IWS v9.5.0X 9. Update current plan with new network configuration: The current plan will be extended with the new network configuration 10. Install a new BMDM if required: A new BMDM will be added to the current network For more detailed information refer to Upgrade_to_V9.5 document under: WA Documentation and Performance Scenarios If you have any questions regarding the upgrade or require more information about the new features, don’t hesitate to ask our HWA Professional Service Team! Recommendations: It’s highly recommended to start using the new FOLDER feature when all IWS network is at v9.5 FP2 level to leverage the full benefits of that feature. For more information about the Behavior of the Feature “Workload Folder” in a mixed IWS environment, please read the Compatibility scenarios and limitations chapter in the release notes for IWS v9.5. Links: Workload Scheduler version 95 Dynamic Workload Console version 95 Conclusion Upgrade to a streamlined, efficient, and secure version, with just a few simple steps, you can upgrade to IWS 9.5.0X and start using all the available features. Take advantage of container-based deployments, real-time data-driven dashboards, greater business agility, and enforced security. If you need further clarification, the HWA Professional Service Team can answer all your questions, don’t hesitate to get in touch with our Workload Automation Professional Services Team.
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