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New Version of Micro Focus co-existing on same server with older version

  • February 20, 2018
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  • Anonymous

We are currently a Micro Focus 6.0 Sp2 SEE user.  We use it for development and prod.  We have a new Cobol application that the vendor requires Visual Cobol 2.3 Update 1.  We are being asked to put it on the same server as the current development and production versions.  How can this be accomplished?  What are the ramifications of different levels of support being required by the OS other  products and the possibility that there may be issues with backward compatibility with our current release.

    5 replies

    Chris Glazier
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    • Chris GlazierModerator
    • Moderator
    • 3697 replies
    • February 20, 2018

    We are currently a Micro Focus 6.0 Sp2 SEE user.  We use it for development and prod.  We have a new Cobol application that the vendor requires Visual Cobol 2.3 Update 1.  We are being asked to put it on the same server as the current development and production versions.  How can this be accomplished?  What are the ramifications of different levels of support being required by the OS other  products and the possibility that there may be issues with backward compatibility with our current release.

    What is the OS that you are currently using, Windows or Linux/Unix?

    The Product Availability Matrix can be found here.

    For the most part the Visual COBOL/COBOL Server products can be installed side-by-side with earlier MF COBOL products residing on the same machine. You just need to be careful about setting environment variables like PATH and COBDIR so they point to the right product.

    The SEE 6.0 product supports mainframe technologies such as CICS and the Visual COBOL product does not. If you are looking for mainframe compatibility then you should be looking at Enterprise Developer instead of Visual COBOL.

    BTW, VC 2.3 Update 1 is a couple of releases old. The latest product offering is VC 3.0.

    Thanks.

    A
    • Anonymous
    • 0 replies
    • February 20, 2018

    We are currently a Micro Focus 6.0 Sp2 SEE user.  We use it for development and prod.  We have a new Cobol application that the vendor requires Visual Cobol 2.3 Update 1.  We are being asked to put it on the same server as the current development and production versions.  How can this be accomplished?  What are the ramifications of different levels of support being required by the OS other  products and the possibility that there may be issues with backward compatibility with our current release.

    We are RH Enterprise Linux 6.9. We actually only use the Mainframe part of the technology for a single application no associated with this server. We just need VC 2.3 U1. The Vendor insists on that release as that is the one they have vetted for their application code. My follow-up question is are there details available in the documentation on co-existing release on the same server or is this an intuitive process based on experience. Thanks for your prompt reply.
    Blair McDonald
    • Blair McDonaldModerator
    • Moderator
    • 292 replies
    • February 20, 2018

    We are currently a Micro Focus 6.0 Sp2 SEE user.  We use it for development and prod.  We have a new Cobol application that the vendor requires Visual Cobol 2.3 Update 1.  We are being asked to put it on the same server as the current development and production versions.  How can this be accomplished?  What are the ramifications of different levels of support being required by the OS other  products and the possibility that there may be issues with backward compatibility with our current release.

    The product Release Notes document provides information on installing into a separate directory. As an example, I've attached a copy of the Release Notes document for Visual COBOL Development Hub 2.3 Update 1. Please see the section titled "Micro Focus Visual COBOL Development Hub Installation Options". You will need to set the environment variables COBDIR, PATH, and LD_LIBRARY_PATH differently to point to the product you currently wish to use.

     

    mfvisualcobol_2D00_developmenthub_2D00_23u1_2D00_release_2D00_notes.pdf

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    • Anonymous
    • 0 replies
    • February 20, 2018

    We are currently a Micro Focus 6.0 Sp2 SEE user.  We use it for development and prod.  We have a new Cobol application that the vendor requires Visual Cobol 2.3 Update 1.  We are being asked to put it on the same server as the current development and production versions.  How can this be accomplished?  What are the ramifications of different levels of support being required by the OS other  products and the possibility that there may be issues with backward compatibility with our current release.

    Thank you Blair for your quick and knowledgeable response. We will take it from there and see if we can give it go. I still worry about updates to other products on the same server needing resolution for backward compatibility with 6.0 SEE
    A
    • Anonymous
    • 0 replies
    • February 22, 2018

    We are currently a Micro Focus 6.0 Sp2 SEE user.  We use it for development and prod.  We have a new Cobol application that the vendor requires Visual Cobol 2.3 Update 1.  We are being asked to put it on the same server as the current development and production versions.  How can this be accomplished?  What are the ramifications of different levels of support being required by the OS other  products and the possibility that there may be issues with backward compatibility with our current release.

    One more question. Thanks for the great responses. We have a large commitment to "mfsort" the freebie that comes with each version of Server Express we have used. Is that still there in Visual Cobol?


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