General questions on DISK upgrade from 12.5 to 14.0

Products

• DISK BACKUP AND RESTORE
• Disk Backup and Restore - MVS

Issue/Introduction

Some general questions on DISK upgrade from release 12.5 to 14.0: 

•  In an Environment where DISK 12.5 SVC is active, is it mandatory to do an IPL to install the DISK 14.0 SVC before testing the new version of the product, or is it already possible to test the DISK 14.0 batch jobs with the 12.5 SVC  and activate the DISK 14.0 SVC at a later time?
•  In the same scenario, is it mandatory to remove and reinstall  DMSAR ?
•  In a Sysplex environment is it possible to have some Lpars using DISK 14.0 and some others still using DISK 12.5, sharing the same DMSFILES or Datacom FDB?  
• How to manage the existing FDB for the new Disk Unix Feature?

Environment

Release : 14.0

Component : Disk Backup and Restore

Resolution

Answers: 

•  The Disk SVC is compatible with both 12.5 & 14.  It doesn’t need to be updated until ready for the real upgrade, after the test period. 
•  About the DMSAR Hooks, both versions can be used but the corresponding SVC should be also used. So, while the DISK SVC and DMSAR hooks should be updated to match the release so the testing can be complete, it’s not required.
•  If the LPARs are only sharing the same FDS/FDB, then it is possible to update the CA-Disk libraries on all Sysplex partitions (including LLA) or selectively. Then, during the IPL scheduled on the various LPARs (on different days), activate the new SVC and the new CA-Disk hooks. Just to avoid any compatibility problem it is required to have the DISK 12.5 PTF LU02669 applied before any test.
• In order to test the UNIX functions, as best practice a new test FDB should be created.  Once the testing is completed, then a final PURGE can be run to return the tapes to scratch and the FDB deleted.  

In addition it is important to review :

•  The PROC changes for 14 since they have changed considerably with the new INCLUDE statements and members. This is reported in the documentation at the following section: Upgrading from 12.5 to 14.0
• The Announcement Section related to DISK Unix : UNIX File Level Support