Upgrade from CoolSpools Version 6 to Version 7

This page provides a guide for sites upgrading from Version 6 to Version 7 of CoolSpools.

If you are an existing CoolSpools Version 6 site but would like to update to Version 7 (e.g. to take advantage of new functionality only available in the latest version) then this page provides supporting information.

Overview of the Upgrade Process

The upgrade process is both simple and low risk. What’s more, if you are up-to-date with Support and Maintenance on your Version 6 installation then there is no charge for upgrading to Version 7.

As CoolSpools Versions 6 and 7 are installed to different libraries on your IBM i server (COOLSPV6R1 and COOLSPV7R1 respectively), you can safely install both versions to your server at the same time and run them in parallel.

The changes in CoolSpools Version 7 are predominantly additions to the functionality that was available in CoolSpools Version 6 (new commands, new optional parameters on existing commands) so the upgrade is unlikely to have any negative impact on your existing use of the product, but as the two versions can be run in parallel this allows you to perform testing of CoolSpools Version 7 while continuing to run your live processes in CoolSpools Version 6.

Once you have successfully concluded testing you can switch between versions by simply swapping the library used for CoolSpools commands from COOLSPV6R1 to COOLSPV7R1.

Detailed Description of the Upgrade Steps

Read the CoolSpools Version 7 Memo to Users

Before you start the upgrade process we strongly recommend that you read the Memo to Users for details of the changes in CoolSpools Version 7. This provides details of both changes to existing commands, including some commands that have been deprecated, and of new commands that have been added to the product.

Install CoolSpools Version 7

The options for downloading and installing CoolSpools Version 7 are described in detail at the CoolSpools Version 7 Installation Guide on the CoolSpools website.

CoolSpools Version 7 will be installed to library COOLSPV7R1.

Request License Keys

Your existing CoolSpools Versions 6 license keys apply to Version 6 only; new license keys will be required for Version 7. Your new Version 7 installation automatically includes temporary licenses for a 30 day trial period, but you can contact our support team with details of your server’s serial number and LPAR partition number to request Version 7 licenses to match your existing Version 6 license term.

Migrate Settings from CoolSpools Version 6 to Version 7

If you have created CoolSpools configuration settings in CoolSpools Version 6 (e.g. style definitions, report definitions, maps, email address lists, spool monitors, rules or scripts), then you will want these settings to also be available in your CoolSpools Version 7 environment. This can be achieved by running the following commands to migrate the settings from Version 6 to Version 7.

• COOLSPV6R1/SAVSTLDFN STYLENAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTSTLDFN STYLENAME(*ALL) Migrate Style Definitions
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVPRMSET PRMSETNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTPRMSET PRMSETNAME(*ALL) Migrate Parameter Sets
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVPDFFRM PDFFRMNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTPDFFRM PDFFRMNAME(*ALL) Migrate PDF Forms
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVRPTDFN REPORTNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTRPTDFN REPORTNAME(*ALL) Migrate Report Definitions
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVRPTXL MAPNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTRPTXL MAPNAME(*ALL) Migrate Report to Excel Maps
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVRPTXML MAPNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTRPTXML MAPNAME(*ALL) Migrate Report to XML Maps
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVRPTDBF MAPNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTRPTDBF MAPNAME(*ALL) Migrate Report to DBF Maps
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVFMTSET FMTSETNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTFMTSET FMTSETNAME(*ALL) Migrate Record Format Sets
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVSBSVAR LETTER(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTSBSVAR LETTER(*ALL) Migrate Substitution Variables
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVDBFXL MAPNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTDBFXL MAPNAME(*ALL) Migrate Database to Excel Maps
• COOLSPV6R1/SAVDBFXML MAPNAME(*ALL) and COOLSPV7R1/RSTDBFXML MAPNAME(*ALL) Migrate Database to XML Maps
• COOLSPV7R1/IMPEMLDTA Migrate Email Module settings (e.g. address lists, directories)
• COOLSPV7R1/IMPADMDTA Migrate Spool Admin Module settings (e.g. options, spool monitors, rules and scripts)

Site-Specific Modifications of CoolSpools Commands

Some sites have cloned CoolSpools commands into a separate library (this is not generally a recommended practice). Be aware that any cloned instances of CoolSpools commands you have created will remain CoolSpools Version 6 commands, and should not be used after you switch to CoolSpools Version 7. Preferably you should run the instance of CoolSpools commands contained within the CoolSpools library, but if you have to use a copy of a CoolSpools command located in a separate library then create a new clone of the command from COOLSPV7R1.

Some sites have modified CoolSpools command default parameter values using the IBM i system command CHGCMDDFT. Be aware that these changes are made at your own risk, and that any changes you have applied to CoolSpools Version 6 commands will not be present in the corresponding CoolSpools Version 7 commands, so would need to be reapplied.

Site-Specific User Exit Programs

Some sites have created their own RPG programs that make use of CoolSpools APIs (e.g. for use as CoolSpools user exit programs, as described in the CoolSpools Programmer’s Guide). These programs may have been compiled with CS_SRVPGM or CP_SRVPGM as a bound service program. The source code of such RPG programs should not need to be modified, but they will need to be recompiled with COOLSPV7R1 in the library list to ensure that the Version 7 instance of the CoolSpools service programs is used. For testing purposes these programs should be compiled to a test library.

Spool Monitor Considerations

If you are using the Spool Admin module of CoolSpools to monitor for the presence of spoolfiles on an output queue, then there are additional considerations for parallel running and go-live. The IBM i system only allows the presence of a single trigger on an output queue, so a spool monitor can be active in either CoolSpools Version 6 or Version 7, but not both simultaneously. This also prevents the arrival of a spoolfile from resulting in duplicated processing across the two CoolSpools versions.

In order to switch one of the spool monitors between CoolSpools V6 and CoolSpools V7, run command WRKSPLMON with the library list of the required CoolSpools version, enter option 2 to modify the spool monitor definition, and then press Enter without making any changes. This dummy update will result in the output queue trigger being updated to use the currently open version of CoolSpools.

Alternatively, for the duration of testing you can modify the CoolSpools Version 7 spool monitors to process spooled files from a test instance of output queues, allowing you to process both Version 6 and Version 7 spooled files at the same time. Any such changes would need to be undone at the point of go-live.

Test CoolSpools Version 7

While we believe that it is unlikely you will encounter issues with CoolSpools Version 7, we do still strongly recommend that testing be conducted prior to switching between versions.

You can test compatibility of your code with CoolSpools Version 7 by amending your library list with command EDTLIBL, CHGLIBL or ADDLIBLE to include COOLSPV7R1 instead of COOLSPV6R1. If the CoolSpools library is in your system library list (system value QSYSLIBL) then you will need to use command CHGSYSLIBL to amend the system portion of the library list within your current job instead.

If you have CL programs that hardcode the CoolSpools library name, then you will need to update the source to use the new library name and compile the programs to a test library that is also added to your library list.

Once your library list is updated you can run your programs as normal to test whether they operate successfully with CoolSpools Version 7.

If you are testing email processing then use commands COOLSPV7R1/STRSMTPSVR and COOLSPV7R1/ENDSMTPSVR to stop and start the CoolSpools Version 7 background jobs for email.

If you are testing spool monitors then please take note of the section above titled Spool Monitor Considerations and use commands COOLSPV7R1/STRMONSPLF and COOLSPV7R1/ENDMONSPLF to stop and start the CoolSpools Version 7 background jobs for spool monitors.

Replication/Mirroring to HA/DR Server

If your production server is mirrored to a backup system via replication software, you will want to ensure that library COOLSPV7R1 is included replication. As CoolSpools is licensed software, we recommend that you install CoolSpools Version 7 to your backup server first, rather than just allowing your replication software to copy the product library across. Please see our HA and Replication Guide for details of objects to exclude from replication.

CoolSpools Version 7 Go Live

Update the library list assigned in any of the following places to use COOLSPV7R1 instead of COOLSPV6R1.

• System library list
• Job descriptions
• Job scheduler entries
• User or application start-up programs

If you have system or application shutdown and startup programs that run commands ENDSMTPSVR, STRSMTPSVR, ENDMONSPLF or STRMONSPLF to stop and start CoolSpools background jobs then make sure these are now calling the COOLSPV7R1 instance of the commands.

If you have hardcoded the CoolSpools library name into CL programs, then these will all need to be updated and recompiled.

If you are using spool monitors then at go live you should run COOLSPV7R1/WRKSPLMON and perform a dummy update on all of the monitors (as detailed under Spool Monitor Considerations above) so that output queue triggers are associated with CoolSpools Version 7 rather than CoolSpools Version 6.

Uninstall CoolSpools Version 6

It is not necessary to uninstall CoolSpools Version 6 in order for CoolSpools Version 7 to operate, but you may wish to remove the old version of the product at some point in the interests of housekeeping. We strongly recommend following the documented uninstall process rather than just deleting the COOLSPV6R1 library.

Please Inform Ariadne Software

Once you have successfully migrated to CoolSpools Version 7, please notify Ariadne Software so that we can update our records and ensure that you are issued with Version 7 license and support keys going forward.