Month: January 2023

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001 IBM i-modernization: One Byte at a Time with Simon Hutchinson

001 Welcome to season 5 on The incredible i Show! On this episode, I welcome back to the mic Simon Hutchinson, author of RPGPGM.com. Simon stops by to dive deep into the topic of modernization.

Simon says that the modernization of the IBM i is crucial because it allows companies to stay competitive in today’s demanding business environment! Give it a try by refactoring RPG code to take advantage of newer languages and technologies, integrating IBM i with other systems, and incorporating modern user interfaces. Keep it simple!

Simon Hutchinson is the owner and author of RPGPGM.com, speaker, SEM on all things RPG, SQL, Db2 of i, an IBM i community advocate, and a three-time IBM Champion.

Contact information and social:
Email: [email protected]
RPGPGM.COM
LinkedIn
Twitter
Central Texas IBM i User Group
Looking for a user group near you?

One incredible Th(i)ng!  Products, gadgets, recipes, music, or things we are loving right now.

Simon’s pick for the week:
Ember  The World’s First Temperature Controlled Mugs

Peg’s pick for the week:
 LiveFine Towel Warmer – available in 2 sizes.

Upcoming EVENTS:

IT Leadership Summit on Security, Dallas, TX February 16, 2023
WMCPA, Lake Lawn Resort, Delavan, WI March 14-16, 2023
System i Developer, Lunch-n-Learns starting March 14, 2023
POWERUp2023, Denver, CO April 24-27, 2023

SHOW SPONSORS:

COMMON

Midrange Dynamics Change Management Software – Built for IBM i modernization!

Be sure to check out our website, LinkedIn page and like and subscribe – all those things!
 
Interested in sharing your IBM i story?  Want to sponsor the podcast?  We want to hear from you!  Reach out to Peg. 

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IBM i Merlin (Modernation Engine for Lifecycle Integration) MustGather

Problem

This document provides information on what data to gather when experiencing issues installing or using the IBM i Merlin (Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration) application running on Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform.

Symptom

One or more errors occur when installing the IBM i Merlin application into Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform.

One or more errors occur when using the IBM i Merlin GUI, IBM i Developer application, or IBM i CI/CD application.

Environment

IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration (Merlin) v1.0 and later

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform v4.8 and later

Resolving The Problem

Gather the following data when experiencing issues installing the IBM i Merlin application into Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform or using the IBM i Merlin GUI, IBM i Developer application, or IBM i CI/CD application.

What is the version of IBM i Merlin being installed or used?

The version of IBM i Merlin can be found either in the IBM i Merlin GUI or when installing the IBM i Merlin Operator from the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform OperatorHub.
IBM i Merlin GUI
Open the IBM i Merlin GUI web application.
After signing in, click the question mark with a circle around it next to your username and click About.

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform OperatorHub
Open the OperatorHub view (Operators -> OperatorHub). This is where operators (Red Hat OpenShift installers/applications) can be installed into projects.
When the OperatorHub page loads, make sure the IBM i Merlin project that was created above is selected.
Next, search for ‘merlin’ in the filter input box. This should show the IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration (Merlin) product.

Clicking on Merlin shows a new window with information about the product. This window also shows what version is available to install.

For IBM i Merlin installation issues…

 Ensure the client is using the latest version of IBM i Merlin for their installation.
Can find the latest version available here: https://www.ibm.com/docs/en/merlin/1.0?topic=overview-whats-new

If the installation is still failing, gather and upload the output data from these commands.
Prerequisites
You have access to the cluster as a user with the cluster-admin role.
You have installed the Red Hat OpenShift CLI (oc).

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Operator logs for your IBM i merlin project and operator
Commands to execute
oc get catalogsources -n <MerlinProjectName>
oc get pods -n <MerlinProjectName>
oc logs pod/<pod_name> -n <MerlinProjectName>
oc get clusteroperators
oc get pod -n <MerlinProjectName>
oc describe pod <operator_pod_name> -n <MerlinProjectName>

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform Project CSV and InstallPlan Information
Commands to execute
oc project ibm-common-services
oc get csv
oc get installplan
oc project <MerlinProjectName>
oc get csv
oc get installplan

For IBM i Merlin GUI issues…

Configure the GUI and Engine Log level to ALL in the IBM i Merlin GUI.
Open the IBM i Merlin GUI web application.
Go to Serviceability -> Configure Logs
Change the GUI Log Level to “ALL” and Engine Log Level to “ALL”.
Click the Save button.

Re-create the IBM i Merlin GUI issue.
Gather the IBM i Merlin Logs from the Merlin GUI.
Go to Serviceability -> View Logs
Click the Engine component under GUI.  Click the Download button to download the log to your PC.  Repeat the process for all other components (merlin-operator, GUI, ibm-common-service-operator, etc.) and upload the log files.

For IBM i Developer application/workspace issues…

Open the IBM i Developer workspace in verbose mode.

Click the Logs tab if it is not currently displayed.
Re-create the issue with the IBM i Developer workspace startup. 
Click the Download link to download the log.txt file.  Upload the log.txt file for IBM to review.

Edit the workspace and provide the Overview and Devfile for the workspace.
Click the three dots to the right of the workspace name under “Recent Workspaces” and then click Edit Workspace.

Click the Overview tab and provide a screen capture.
Click the Devfile tab and click the Download link to download the devfile.yaml file.  Upload the devfile.yaml file for IBM to review.

Copy of the CustomResourceDefinition (CRD) YAML file of checlusters.org.eclipse.che.  (click the Download button in Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform under CustomResourcesDefinitions -> CustomResourceDefinition details)

Execute the following commands and upload the output data.
oc get events -n <MerlinProjectName>
oc get pods -n <MerlinProjectName>
If there are any pods are not ‘Running’, run ‘oc logs <pod-name> -n <MerlinProjectName>’

oc get csv -n <MerlinProjectName>
oc get checluster ibmi-developer-workspaces -n <MerlinProjectName>

For IBM i CI/CD application issues…

Open the IBM i CI/CD application.
Expand Jenkins Configuration and click Jenkins Server.  Provide a screen capture of the page.
Configure the CI/CD GUI Log level to ALL in the IBM i Merlin GUI.
Go to Serviceability -> Configure Logs
Change the GUI Log Level to “ALL”.
Click the Save button.

Re-create the CI/CD GUI issue.
Go to Serviceability -> View GUI Logs
Select the /logs/messages.log file (highlighted in blue when selected) and click the Download button.

Upload Data to IBM Support

[{“Type”:”MASTER”,”Line of Business”:{“code”:”LOB57″,”label”:”Power”},”Business Unit”:{“code”:”BU058″,”label”:”IBM Infrastructure w/TPS”},”Product”:{“code”:”SWG60″,”label”:”IBM i – SWG60″},”ARM Category”:[{“code”:”a8m3p0000000rcWAAQ”,”label”:”IBM i Merlin”}],”ARM Case Number”:””,”Platform”:[{“code”:”PF012″,”label”:”IBM i”}],”Version”:”7.3.0;7.4.0;7.5.0″}]

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001 IBM i-modernization: One Byte at a Time with Simon Hutchinson

001 Welcome to season 5 on The incredible i Show! On this episode, I welcome back to the mic Simon Hutchinson, author of RPGPGM.com. Simon stops by to dive deep into the topic of modernization.Simon says that the modernization of the IBM i is crucial because it allows companies to stay competitive in today’s demanding business environment! Give it a try by refactoring RPG code to take advantage of newer languages and technologies, integrating IBM i with other systems, and incorporating modern user interfaces. Keep it simple!Simon Hutchinson is the owner and author of RPGPGM.com, speaker, SEM on all things RPG, SQL, Db2 of i, an IBM i community advocate, and a three-time IBM Champion.Contact information and social:Email: [email protected] Texas IBM i User GroupLooking for a user group near you? One incredible Th(i)ng!  Products, gadgets, recipes, music, or things we are loving right now.Simon’s pick for the week:Ember  The World’s First Temperature Controlled Mugs Peg’s pick for the week: LiveFine Towel Warmer – available in 2 sizes.Upcoming EVENTS:IT Leadership Summit on Security, Dallas, TX February 16, 2023 WMCPA, Lake Lawn Resort, Delavan, WI March 14-16, 2023System i Developer, Lunch-n-Learns starting March 14, 2023POWERUp2023, Denver, CO April 24-27, 2023SHOW SPONSORS:COMMONMidrange Dynamics Change Management Software – Built for IBM i modernization!Be sure to check out our website, LinkedIn page and like and subscribe – all those things! Interested in sharing your IBM i story?  Want to sponsor the podcast?  We want to hear from you!  Reach out to Peg. 

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