Verification Of Available Communications Port; Planning Considerations For Your Operations Console Installation Or Upgrade - IBM i Series Handbook

"Operations Console hardware requirements" on page 7
You need to meet the PC and System i hardware requirements for an Operations Console
configuration.
"Installing an Operations Console cable" on page 32
You need to install an Operations Console cable when your configurations have a local console that is
directly attached to the system.

Verification of available communications port:

For the configuration wizard to configure Operations Console successfully, you need to verify that you
have an available communications port.
You need a connector for a communications interface such as a serial port. Operations Console supports
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serial COM ports 1 - 9. One COM port is required for system console support.
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Note: Operations Console does not use any embedded serial ports located on the system.
To check that you have an available communication port, check the documentation for your PC or with
the PC manufacturer to verify you have the necessary communications port or ports. When you configure
Operations Console, the wizard will search for a port for the console.
The use of a Universal Serial Bus (USB) to serial port adapter support has been added to Operations
Console. The adapter will be placed at the PC end of the console serial cable and connect to the PC's USB
port. When installing the USB adapter, follow the manufacturer's instructions, the operating system will
assign a serial port to that adapter, COM 4, for example. This adapter will be used exclusively for the
console. As above, Operations Console supports serial COM ports 1 - 9.
Any adapter should work but IBM can not guarantee every adapter to work correctly in every PC
environment. Should a failure occur, you can contact the manufacturer of the adapter, the manufacturer
of the PC, your hardware service provider, or you can try another adapter.
| Also, the use of a serial PCMCIA adapter on a notebook is also supported as long as the communications
port provided is within the range supported by Operations Console. However, IBM does not guarantee
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that all adapters will work in all situations.
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Restrictions on use
The adapter must plug directly into a USB connector on the PC. Neither the use of a USB hub to share
connections nor the use of USB extension cables is supported, however these devices may function
correctly in some situations.

Planning considerations for your Operations Console installation or upgrade

To plan for your Operations Console installation or upgrade, you need to know this information.
If you are upgrading to i5/OS V6R1 and you want to replace an existing console with Operations
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Console, upgrade the system before migrating the console. This will prevent any conflict between the
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| existing console and the Operations Console.
Prerequisite information for Operations Console users upgrading to or installing V6R1
You must comply with the following before upgrading or installing your software (i5/OS Licensed
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Internal Code) to V6R1:
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1. If your system has a 2771 adapter card in the processing unit and you plan to use Operations Console
as either your primary console or as a backup console, it must be installed in the location designated
by model for cable connections based on the following table, prior to the upgrade or installation. Each
model has a different preferred location:
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Operations Console