As I was mulling over what topics to write for the next few blogs, I realized I needed to write one blog that is not on the newest features. But the message in this blog is very important; if you have not yet started to use Navigator for i, the Web console, you need to do so. This isn’t an option – if you review many of the 7.2 enhancements, the user interface for configuration and management is in Navigator. If you are not using Navigator, you are going to be missing out on some wonderful things.
Last week, I was at the COMMON Annual Meeting in Orlando. In nearly all my sessions, I asked for a show of hands for who was running 7.1. Yeah!!!! The majority of hands always went up. I also asked for a show of hands for who was using Navigator – the results were disappointing – usually just a couple hands were raised.
I have heard about troubles with the initial experience – but if that initial experience was before the enhancements made last year, you need to try it again. Yes, there were performance and stability issues, but they have been addressed. The 2013 enhancements (for 6.1 and 7.1) were critical in improving the Navigator experience; Navigator for i; Open for Business provides a summary.
With the 7.2 announcement, much of the capability that was missing from Navigator has now been added – in particular Management Central features such as system and message monitors and PTF support are now included with Navigator. About the only reason to use the System i Navigator client is for the database tools that have not yet made it to the Web console.
In the future, all my blogs will only talk about Navigator – I will no longer refer to System i Navigator.
For those of you who have not started to use Navigator, it’s very easy – but you do need to pay attention to a few things:
- You need to be on 6.1 or later. If you’re not on 6.1 yet, you have bigger problems to worry about.
- You need the latest PTF Groups (the HTTP server, Java, DB2 and Performance Tools) installed; the Navigator for i documentation covers the enhancements. Note that while the reference documentation discusses key 7.2 enhancements, many of these usability and performance improvements were also included in the 7.1 and 6.1 updates.
- All the products you need for Navigator are installed by default. Required servers, such as the HTTP Admin server, are also started by default. Simply point your browser to http://mysystem.mydomain:2001 – you’ll get a security exception that you need to confirm followed by a sign-on screen. It’s as easy as starting a 5250 session.
- If for some reason your business does not allow you to run an HTTP server on your production system, you can still use Navigator. Read about how to do this in an older blog.
There is so much function that is ONLY in Navigator. Start using it today.
This blog post was edited to fix broken links on April 11, 2020.
This blog post was originally published on IBMSystemsMag.com and is reproduced here by permission of IBM Systems Media.