Important Information

This document covers the following topics:


Administrator Status

During the installation, the Sudo panel may appear. When you enter the sudo password in this panel, the installer will execute the scripts which require sudoers privileges. If sudoers privileges are not available you may run the script manually after installation as explained later in this documentation.

For you to use sudo in the installer, the user that you are using to install must be in the sudoers configuration. If you are creating or installing from an installation script, the installer cannot execute the script because it does not store the sudo password for security reasons. You must therefore execute the script manually after the installation.

User ID for Installation

When installing Natural, the user ID under which you run the Software AG Installer must not be longer than eight characters. If you use a longer user ID, an error message is shown. You can then exit the installer and use a different user ID or - in case you also want to install other products - return to the product selection tree and deselect Natural.

Installation Directory

During the installation, you are asked to specify an installation directory. Specify the installation directory in which to install your Software AG products. The user that you are using to install must have full read and write permissions to this directory.

We recommend that you use the /opt/softwareag directory as the location for Natural and its add-on products. But any other directory is also possible.

Important:
It is recommended that you do not install into a directory which is a subdirectory of a previous installation. Such a previous installation may have been created either with the Software AG Installer or by an installation tool that was used in the past.

Extended Natural functionality needs a shared library for operation, from where external executables are loaded dynamically at runtime. The external executables are delivered with Natural in the <install-dir>/Natural/lib directory. They will be copied to the /opt/softwareag/Natural/v<version>/lib directory if the user executing the Software AG Installer has sufficient permissions. This directory will not be removed by an uninstallation. The Natural executables calling the external executables are configured with the runpath /opt/softwareag/Natural/v<version>/lib during link time. In that way, the external executables may be found. Furthermore, the natenv environment script delivered in the <install-dir>/Natural/INSTALL directory places the directory /opt/softwareag/Natural/lib at the very beginning of the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH to point to the location of the external executables. If the external executables cannot be copied to the runpath location, they may be found via the environment variable LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

The runpath /opt/softwareag/common/lib is supported for the shared library load of the adalnk shared library in Adabas 6.3 (or lower) environments. For Adabas Client 6.5 and Adabas 6.4 or higher (installed with the Software AG Installer), the runpath /opt/softwareag/AdabasClient/lib is supported for the shared library load of the adalnk shared library in Adabas environments.

For accessing Adabas 6.4 or higher from Natural, the adalnk shared library may be found in <install-dir>/AdabasClient/lib, using the $LD_LIBRARY_PATH setting. Alternatively the adalnk shared library may be found in one of the following ways:

  • by installing the Adabas Client and Natural in the installation directory /opt/softwareag, or

  • by copying the library <install-dir>/AdabasClient/lib to the library /opt/softwareag/AdabasClient/lib, or

  • by creating a link from the library /opt/softwareag/AdabasClient/lib to <install-dir>/AdabasClient/lib.

File Permissions

The user who starts the installation owns all files that are installed.

The user file-creation mode mask (umask command) determines the file permissions for newly created files. Make sure that the umask command you are using for the installation will not prevent users from accessing and executing the installed files. On UNIX systems, for example, the command umask 022 allows full access rights for the file owner and read-only access rights for group members and others.

The Natural installation sets read and write permissions (chmod ug+w) for the files NATCONF.CFG, NATCONV.INI, NATURAL.INI and SAGtermcap located in the <install-dir>/Natural/etc directory and for the <install-dir>/Natural/tmp directory.

The Natural installation sets execute permissions (chmod ug+x) for the scripts located in the <install-dir>/Natural/INSTALL directory and for the script natstart.bsh located in the <install-dir>/Natural/bin directory.

Side-by-Side Installations

You can install the same Natural version more than once on the same machine. And you can also install several different versions of Natural on the same machine. This may be necessary to test a new Natural version before it is taken over into a production environment. Each version, however, must be installed in a separate directory. That is, when Natural is already installed, for example, in the directory /opt/softwareag, you can install a second instance of Natural, for example, in a directory named /opt/softwareag2.

If you install Natural with the same version more than once in different directories, these Natural installations may share the directory /opt/softwareag/Natural/v<version>/lib for dynamically loaded executables.

Since Empower only offers the latest version of Natural and other products, it is recommended that you create and keep an image of installed Natural versions for possible later use. Installing from an image rather than downloading it from Empower will usually be faster, too. For further information, see Using the Software AG Installer.

Upgrading Your Natural Environment

When one of the first two digits of the version number changes, we consider an installation as an upgrade installation.

It is not possible to upgrade an existing Natural Version 6.3 with a Natural Version 8.3 installation.

Updating Your Natural Environment

When the first two digits of the version number remain the same and the third or fourth digit changes, we consider an installation as an update installation.

An update installation does not prompt again for license files, configuration data, and port numbers. The existing license files, configuration data, and port numbers will be used.

During an update, the installation does not stop any running Natural services (buffer pool, Natural Development Server, Natural Web I/O Interface server), nor does the installation ask to stop running Natural sessions. The executables will be replaced while in use. The new version of a replaced executable will become active after a restart of the executable. Administrators and users can restart any executables manually according to their own needs.

Note:
With a first-time installation of Natural Version 8.3.1, this update mechanism has not yet been supported. The script <install-dir>/bin/beforeInstallAsRoot.sh will stop the Natural services and the update installation will start them again.

The Natural installation delivers two standard Natural nuclei in the <install-dir>/Natural/bin directory. One nucleus is linked with a classic Adabas control block (ACB), but without Natural Security. This nucleus is called "natural". The other nucleus is also linked with a classic Adabas control block (ACB) and with Natural Security. This nucleus is called "natsec". These two nuclei will be replaced during an update installation. If you want to keep "natural" or "natsec", you have to create a backup copy before you start the update installation. If you have linked "natural" or "natsec" with additional drivers, you need to re-link the nuclei manually after the update installation as described in the section Re-Linking a Natural Nucleus.

The contents of the buffer pool will be deleted during an update installation.

Scripts located in the <install-dir>/Natural/INSTALL or <install-dir>/Natural/bin directory will not be replaced. Thus, user changes in scripts will be kept. If a script changes with a Natural update, you can find the updated scripts in the <install-dir>/Natural/INSTALL/tpl directory. The name of an updated script consists of the original name followed by .tpl. For example, natenv is then named natenv.tpl. Administrators and users can adapt any scripts manually according to their own needs.

The files NATCONF.CFG, NATCONV.INI, NATURAL.INI and SAGtermcap in the <install-dir>/Natural/etc directory will not be updated.

For ApplinX and the Natural Web I/O Interface, the directory which has the same name as the machine/host will not be updated. Modules from these directories which have changed with a Natural update can be found in the node-name directories of the <install-dir>/Natural/apx and <install-dir>/Natural/nwo directories.

Natural Web I/O Interface

The activities listed below are necessary before installing the Natural Web I/O Interface daemon.

The Natural Web I/O Interface daemon <install-dir>/Natural/nwo/bin/nwosrvd

  • needs a Tcl shared library which is delivered in the directory <install-dir>/Natural/lib,

  • is linked with the runpath /opt/softwareag/Natural/v<version>/lib,

  • will be installed with permissions 6755 (s-bit).

Since the s-bit is used, $LD_LIBRARY_PATH will not be searched. Therefore, ensure that the Natural Web I/O Interface daemon will find the Tcl shared library by

  • allowing the Natural installation to copy the directory <install-dir>/Natural/lib to /opt/softwareag/Natural/v<version>/lib by giving the installation user sufficient permissions or install with sudoers permissions,

  • making the Tcl shared library available from a system directory.

FNAT Usage

By default, a new FNAT is created in the installation directory during the installation of Natural (<install-dir>/Natural/fnat). This FNAT must always exist, and the global configuration file must have an entry which defines this FNAT. The FNAT path below the <install-dir> must not contain a symbolic link.

The Natural add-ons (such as Predict or Natural Business Services) can only be installed into this FNAT.

Note:
If you want to check or edit the settings in the global configuration file, use the Configuration Utility.

The Software AG Installer maintains an internal list of installed products, which must coincide with the add-ons that are currently installed in the FNAT. This is important for updates and uninstallations to work correctly.

For this reason:

  • Do not install products into the FNAT without the use of the Software AG Installer.

  • Do not replace the default FNAT (<install-dir>/Natural/fnat) with another FNAT.

  • Make sure to complete the installation of an add-on by using the SYSPCI utility.

If an error occurs due to the above-mentioned scenarios, the only way to solve the problem is a new installation. In some situations, one of the following workarounds may help:

  • Workaround 1: Complete the previous installation by using the SYSPCI utility.

  • Workaround 2: Uninstall the product and then start the installation once more.

FUSER Usage

By default, a new FUSER is created in the installation directory during the installation. If you want to use an existing FUSER of Natural Version 6.3, you have to adjust the system file settings in the global configuration file after the installation. See also Overview of Configuration File Parameters in the Configuration Utility documentation.

Natural Development Server

You can install both the Natural development environment and Natural Development Server at the same time, or you can install Natural Development Server after having installed the Natural development environment.

To become operable, Natural Development Server requires a post-installation configuration and initialization step. This includes:

  • setting or loading the Natural Development Server file FDIC,

  • adjusting the Natural parameter files,

  • adjusting the global configuration file,

  • starting the Natural Development Server (first-time installation).

See also Setting Up Your Products Using the SYSPCI Utility in the section Completing the Installation. This step is not necessary after an update installation.

Natural Security

You can install both Natural and Natural Security at the same time, or you can install Natural Security after having installed Natural.

To become operable, Natural Security requires a post-installation configuration and initialization step. This includes:

  • setting or loading the Natural Security log file,

  • setting or loading the Natural Security file FSEC,

  • adjusting the Natural parameter files,

  • adjusting the global configuration file.

See also Setting Up Your Products Using the SYSPCI Utility in the section Completing the Installation. This step is not necessary after an update installation.

Important:
Once you have installed and configured Natural Security, Natural on the assigned system file (FNAT) can only be accessed under the control of Natural Security. Natural Security cannot be removed once it has been installed. It can only be removed if you uninstall the whole Natural environment in which Natural Security has been installed.