LawsonGuru Blog
Thought-Provoking Commentary for the Lawson Software Community
Riding the Upgrade Crazy Train
You’re probably still dizzy, having just finished your Time Accrual to Absence Management upgrade. And it doesn’t seem that long ago that we went through that frenetic cycle of LSF9 and 9.0 Apps upgrades. Well, get ready folks–there’s more to come, with no foreseeable end in sight.
For example, Lawson’s support for WebSphere 6.0.2 ends October 2010. Support for HP-UX on PA-RISC and Windows 2003 ends September 30, 2012. And in addition to these platform retirements, new versions just keep appearing at a dizzying rate (no, I’m not complaining, just stating the obvious); here are just a few:
About that WebSphere upgrade?
Again, Lawson’s support for WebSphere 6.0.2 ends October 2010. Which means you need to upgrade to 6.1/7.0. In addition, if you migrated to LSF9 9.0.0.x rather than 9.0.1.x and/or want to take advantage of Lawson Smart Office, you’ll need to upgrade to LSF9 9.0.1.x and 9.0.1.x Applications. So consider this perplexing set of requirements:
A Sample HP-UX Upgrade Path
Consider the scenario where a client running HP-UX and was early in the LSF9 migrations, and—as required by Lawson—had to downgrade to HP-UX 11.11 and WebSphere 6.0.2, since Lawson didn’t yet support WebSphere 6.1. WebSphere 6.0 runs on HP-UX 11iv1 (11.11) but not higher, which Websphere 6.1/7.x requires HP-UX 11iv2 (11.23) or 11iv3 (11.31) but doesn’t run on 11iv1 (11.11). Still with me? Their production server support 11iv2 & 11iv3, but their older test server supports 11iv2 BUT NOT 11iv3.
Current Configuration
LSF9 9.0.0.4
WebSphere 6.0.2
Java 1.4
Oracle 10.2.0.3.0
HP-UX 11iv1 (11.11)
Upgrade Option #1
Phase 1
HP-UX 11.23 “11iv2”
WebSphere 6.1
Java 1.5.0.12
Phase 2
LSF9 9.0.1.4
Pros: Allows for two phases (less consecutive downtime); uses existing hardware
Cons: Shorter lifespan; forces additional upgrade to 11.31/WAS 7 in ~2-3 years
Upgrade Option #2
All at Once
HP-UX 11.31 “11iv3”
WebSphere 7.0
Java 1.6
LSF9 9.0.1.4
Pros: Longer lifespan; should be supported for next 5-7 years
Cons: Can’t be phased; “big bang” upgrade (OS, WAS, LSF); requires new hardware or forgo testing server
A Sample Windows Upgrade Path
Similarly, if you’re running Windows, you eventually end up needing to do two sets of upgrades:
1. LSF9 to either 9.0.0.8 or 9.0.1.5 + patches. This will keep you current and supportable as per Lawson support.
2. The bigger animal is WebSphere; you are on 6.0.x, and support for that ends Oct 2010. WebSphere will need to be upgraded to 6.1 or 7.x. And LSF9 9.0.1.x doesn’t run on 6.0, either. The problem with the WebSphere upgrade is that it really requires a re-installation since it’s easier than the upgrade process, and since it also requires changes to some of the underpinnings, like JDK and Bouncy Castle encryption.
So you can choose:
- Separate upgrades: Upgrade LSF9 to 9.0.0.8, then WebSphere to 6.1, then LSF9 to 9.0.1.5, then WebSphere to 7.0, etc.
- Upgrade everything at once.
Are we Virtual Yet?
When you start looking into this, remember that you have to account for downtime and recovery if things don’t go well. You should be considering additional server(s) for staging/replacing hardware, particularly now that Lawson supports virtual environments such as Microsoft Hyper-V and VMware. At least that helps if you’re running Lawson on the Windows platform. Makes me want to crawl back under the covers—how about you?
LawsonGuru Blog 
Thank goodness we had the guru consulting with us last fall to give us a heads up and help us plan our upgrade path. Without your help, we’d be lost…
We are in the same boat. Are you saying that Lawson supports HP-UX 11i v3 on PA-RISC hardware? The support matrix implies that a hardware upgrade from PA-RISC to Integrity is required when upgrading HP-UX from 11i v2 to 11i v3.
To make things worse, we’re an iSeries shop with an opportunity to upgrade our hardware and save significant dollars. The problem is the new hardware is only backwards compatible to V6R1 of the operating system. That has further complications for the Websphere/Lawson releases that work with V6R1. We chose to go to Websphere 7.0 and the current 9.0.1.x releases. Wish me well.
Wondering if anyone has encountered any issues with 9.0.1 on iSeries running V6R1.
Can anyway share HR 8.1 – 9.1 functional differences documentation?
Hi,
In the April 27 entry you wrote:
>>Support for HP-UX and Windows 2003 ends September 30, 2012.
Yikes! Esp. concerned if this is true for HP-UX. Can you provide a Lawson reference/notice? We are just upgrading to HP-UX 11.31 with substantial recent investments in hdwe.
Many thanks. ,,, Joe S.
There is a decommission notice on the Lawson support site for HP-UX 11iv2 on PA-RISC hardware effective September 30, 2012. The upgrade path is to HP-UX 11iv3 on Integrity hardware. Apparently, they never have supported or will support 11iv3 on PA-RISC hardware. Particularly note that if you use Mobile Supply Chain Management, support for HP-UX is being dropped entirely because there are no plans to support MSCM on Integrity at all.
Thanks Chris,
Excellent. I thought so, but seeing the categorical statement from a third party (i.e. Lawson guru) about HP-UX being desupported in a couple of years was creating a bit of agita. No MSCM for us, so we’re good. Thanks again. ,,, Joe S.
HP-UX being desupported
Joe, thanks for pointing out my mistake. To clarify: Lawson’s support for HP-UX on PA-RISC … ends September 30, 2012.
No Problem … I have some mistakes left over if you need some (:0