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Porting
General References
Where is the application running today? That is, what is the application source?
UNIX solutions
There are several methods of porting a UNIX solution to an iSeries server, depending on what system facilities
the solution uses and what kinds of function the solution provides to customers. This
section's discussion focuses on C and C++, though some considerations apply to other development
environments found on UNIX. The IBM Solutions Enablement
porting team has facilities and consulting skills to help you assess
the best environment "fit" for your application so that you will provide the strongest solution for
your iSeries customers while delivering that solution in a timely, cost-effective manner. Because
there are different application models and different integration needs of applications, "one size"
does not "fit all."
[ NOTE: If you are using Java, see the Java section below.]
The technology that was announced in early 2000 as Option 33 of OS/400 is
the Portable Application Solutions Environment (OS/400 PASE).
OS/400 PASE is an integrated runtime that uses the AIX-style addressing on the PowerPC chip to
run AIX instruction streams within OS/400 jobs. Because iSeries servers and pSeries servers share a chip set,
OS/400 PASE does not use emulation -- it uses the hardware directly. Because it is a
runtime, OS/400 operations look and feel are not changed by use of OS/400 PASE. The intent of OS/400 PASE
is to provide as much of the AIX Application Binary Interface (ABI) as possible within the iSeries
context; focusing on minimizing the "porting work." If you use OS/400 PASE to deploy your solution
on an iSeries server, you might also want to use other OS/400 deployment alternatives and systems services including
ILE C (discussed below) or OS/400 Control Language (CL).
The deployment alternative for C and C++ languages
that has been available on iSeries servers for the longest is
the Integrated Language Environment (ILE). ILE provides
the most direct use of the traditional OS/400 system facilities and provides the high level
of integrity and security for which iSeries servers are known. More than 1000 "typical" system APIs
you would expect in a UNIX environment are provided including file system, process
management, memory management, threads, etc. The same System Licensed Internal Code (SLIC)
kernel supports both OS/400 PASE and ILE, affording you access to the same system services,
e.g. TCP/IP, sockets, security and file system.
For a comparison of porting considerations for ILE and OS/400 PASE, see this
table.
Use it to determine which deployment alternative (or combination) is best for your UNIX application.
For more information on ILE and OS/400 PASE see:
- UNIX Porting FAQ
- Porting tips including example code and development tools.
Linux solutions
Linux enables a new stream of e-business applications for iSeries. Applications may be
sourced from many areas:
- PowerPC Linux applications will run out of the box on an iSeries server. Applications compiled for
PowerPC Linux will run on iSeries servers, pSeries servers, Apple PowerBook, and other PowerPC platforms.
- Intel Linux applications need to be re-compiled for PowerPC. Cross compilers are available that
support writing applications on Intel systems and compiling them to run on PowerPC platforms.
- Open Source applications available on the Internet can be download and compiled for PowerPC
- New applications can be developed for PowerPC. Compilers are available with Linux for iSeries
distributions. Applications can also be developed on a PowerPC workstation or server and simply moved to
and run on an iSeries server.
- For iSeries Linux porting information, check the iSeries Linux section of this site.
For more general Linux on iSeries information, see the Linux for iSeries
Web site.
Windows solutions
iSeries offers two solutions that provide a powerful, flexible and highly
cost-effective alternative to Intel-based server farms: the IBM Integrated xSeries Server
and the Integrated xSeries Adapter. Both products leverage iSeries storage and systems
management resources and
integrate iSeries and xSeries operations to help reduce cost and complexity.
The Integrated xSeries Server is a Microsoft Windows Server on a card that runs inside an iSeries server.
The Integrated xSeries Adapter enables direct connection of n-way xSeries servers for greater power and flexibility.
Both products deliver tightly integrated, easily managed Windows 2000 Server
deployment solutions that help provide a cost effective and efficient alternative to running
Windows on multiple standalone Intel servers. The difference between the two solutions is how the iSeries and xSeries hardware
integration is accomplished. Each solution is designed to meet different requirements. For details, see
the Windows
Integration Web site.
Under some circumstances, you may want to
consider deploying the Windows solution natively
on an iSeries server,
rather than the Windows integration alternatives presented above. Depending on the source language(s), the
editors, compilers, debuggers, and other development environment tooling to facilitate UNIX-sourced applications
may be used to deploy the Windows solutions.
Java and WebSphere solutions
Java solutions promise cross platform portability. There has been a Java Virtual Machine built into
the base system of iSeries servers for the past several years. Java is especially dominant when deploying e-business and
WebSphere applications.
Lotus Domino solutions
Domino focuses on groupware application portability and offers a full range of core business
application integration options, such as Domino Enterprise Connection Services (DECS) for real-time
database access and Lotus Enterprise Integrator for larger database transfers.
Database Solutions
Many of IBM's database customers and solution developers have expressed interest in writing
portable applications across multiple platforms. Others prefer to develop using, say DB2 UDB for Windows
2000, and then deploy the application on DB2 UDB for iSeries. Scenarios such as these have motivated
IBM to deliver DB2 UDB features on all platforms in a way that is common and portable, including support for
the ANSI/ISO SQL standards. For details, see
Porting to DB2 UDB for iSeries.
Other solutions
In addition to the deployment alternatives discussed above, an iSeries server affords opportunities
to host other types of applications:
- Additional procedural languages
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A number of fourth generation languages (4GLs), tools and middleware are
supported on iSeries servers. To determine if your specific requirements are met, see the
IBM eServer Tools Network for iSeries.
- Middleware including:
Still have have questions? Contact us
Debugging and Performance Tuning
Here is a list of resources for debugging and tuning iSeries applications:
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