HOW TO: iSeries Client Access Emulator install

[n8bounds]

EDIT on 2012-02-21: see http://sourceforge.net/projects/ibm5250onubuntu/



EDIT on 20110510: http://n8.thruhere.net/blog/?p=1122

Updated for Natty. Basic idea is that Natty also needs xfonts-100dpi xfonts-75dpi and a reboot.


UPDATED 20100720

IBM releases RPM binaries for this official PC5250 client intended for use with RHEL, and then only for their 32 bit architecture. The following is how I got it installed and working on Ubuntu 10.04 AMD64.

Download the 32 bit version of System i Access from IBM: http://ibm.com/systems/i/software/ac...downloads.html

Install the following packages:

alien odbcinst1debian1 unixodbc libmotif3 msttcorefonts ttf-mscorefonts-installer ia32-libs

You need the 32 bit lib of libstdc++5 which you can extract from an old DEB, say this one: http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/i38...dc++5/download or by using this direct command (if this hotlink doesn’t die):

wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/poo...untu4_i386.deb

Extract the files from that deb and put it where IBM5250 needs it:

ar vx libstdc++5*.deb; tar xzf data.tar.gz; sudo mkdir /usr/lib32; sudo mv usr/lib/libstdc++.so.* /usr/lib32; ls -la /usr/lib32/ | grep libstdc++.so.5

Now do the same thing for libmotif3 (remember to get the 32bit version) which you can find here:

http://packages.ubuntu.com/hardy/i38...otif3/download

Or use this direct link:

wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/poo...2.3-2_i386.deb

Again, extract the files and such:

ar vx libmotif3*.deb; tar xzf data.tar.gz; sudo mkdir /usr/lib32; sudo mv usr/lib/libXm.so.3* /usr/lib32; ls -la /usr/lib32/ | grep libXm.so.3

Change directories and use alien on the RPM:

sudo alien –scripts -g iSeriesAccess-*.rpm

This will make a dir containing the package contents from the rpm in debianizable form. Change directory into the one that doesn’t have the “.orig” on it (such as ./iSeriesAccess-6.1.0) and run this command (dpkg-buildpackage should already be installed):

sudo dpkg-buildpackage -b -d -ai386

Ensure your locale is generated. I use en_US, so I ran this command:

sudo locale-gen en_US

Change dirs up one then install the resulting deb:

sudo dpkg -i –force-architecture iseriesaccess_*.deb

FINALLY, you’re finished. You can launch the emulator like this:

ibm5250 192.168.156.whatever -title MyFancyTitleBar -DISPLAY_NAME “UBUNTUA UBUNTUB UBUNTUC UBUNTUD” -LANGID en_US

UPDATE: I wrote a script that will do all this for you. All you need is my script and the RPM from IBM (which I also happen to have), get them here:
http://n8.thruhere.net/export/free/ibm5250/
Just put the script and the RPM in the same dir, get a terminal in that dir, chmod +x the script and run the script, passing the filename of the rpm to it as the first argument. The script works both in 32 and 64 bit Ubuntu 10.04.

Careful with quotes and such when using copy/paste. Best to just download the script. Also. 5.4 seems to work better than 6.1 for me

http://n8.thruhere.net/blog/?p=142


Here's the script

#!/bin/bash


function usagedie {
        echo '' 1>&2
        echo "iSeries Client Access RPM Installer for Ubuntu" 1>&2
        echo "Usage: $0 <filename.rpm>" 1>&2
	echo "Example: $0 iSeriesAccess-6.1.0-1.0.i386.rpm" 1>&2
        echo '' 1>&2
	exit
}

function installit64 {
	sudo aptitude install alien odbcinst1debian1 unixodbc libmotif3 msttcorefonts ttf-mscorefonts-installer ia32-libs -y

	if [ -d /usr/lib32 ]; then
		echo ''
	else
		sudo mkdir /usr/lib32
	fi

	wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/gcc-3.3/libstdc++5_3.3.6-15ubuntu4_i386.deb
	wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/multiverse/o/openmotif/libmotif3_2.2.3-2_i386.deb

	ar vx libstdc++5_3.3.6-15ubuntu4_i386.deb; tar xzf data.tar.gz; sudo mv usr/lib/libstdc++.so.* /usr/lib32;
	ar vx libmotif3_2.2.3-2_i386.deb; tar xzf data.tar.gz; sudo mv usr/lib/libXm.so.3* /usr/lib32;

	sudo alien --scripts -g $TARGETRPM
	cd iSeriesAccess-*
	sudo dpkg-buildpackage -b -d -ai386
	sudo locale-gen en_US
	cd ..
	sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture iseriesaccess_*.deb
}

function installit32 {
	sudo aptitude install alien odbcinst1debian1 unixodbc libmotif3 msttcorefonts ttf-mscorefonts-installer -y

	wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/universe/g/gcc-3.3/libstdc++5_3.3.6-15ubuntu4_i386.deb
	wget http://mirrors.kernel.org/ubuntu/pool/multiverse/o/openmotif/libmotif3_2.2.3-2_i386.deb

	ar vx libstdc++5_3.3.6-15ubuntu4_i386.deb; tar xzf data.tar.gz; sudo mv usr/lib/libstdc++.so.* /usr/lib;
	ar vx libmotif3_2.2.3-2_i386.deb; tar xzf data.tar.gz; sudo mv usr/lib/libXm.so.3* /usr/lib;

	sudo alien --scripts -g $TARGETRPM
	cd iSeriesAccess-*
	sudo dpkg-buildpackage -b -d -ai386
	sudo locale-gen en_US
	cd ..
	sudo dpkg -i iseriesaccess_*.deb
}

function cleanup {
	cd ..
	sudo rm -rf tmpiseriesrpm
}

function goodbye {
	echo ''
	echo "Script complete!"
	echo ''
	echo "Launch the program like this:"
	echo "ibm5250 192.168.156.whatever -title MyFancyTitleBar -DISPLAY_NAME \"UBUNTUA UBUNTUB UBUNTUC UBUNTUD\" -LANGID en_US"
	echo ''
	echo "Uninstall the program like this:"
	echo "sudo dpkg --remove iseriesaccess"
	echo ''
}

if [ "$1" == "" ]; then
        usagedie
fi

TARGETRPM=$1

if [ -d tmpiseriesrpm ]; then
        sudo rm -rf tmpiseriesrpm
else
	echo ''
fi

mkdir tmpiseriesrpm
cp $TARGETRPM tmpiseriesrpm
cd tmpiseriesrpm

MYARCH=`uname -m`

if [ "$MYARCH" == "x86_64" ]; then
	installit64
else
	installit32
fi

cleanup
goodbye

[USRPRF]

Hi

Ok that allow you to launch ibm5250 and create a session with a QPADEV DISPLAY_NAME. But what is more useful in iSeriesAccess for linux is setup5250 that allow you to create several (up to 99) sessions, each with a specific device name. Actually i installed iseriesaccess on FC5 and made it works, and i noticed that without setup5250 you are unabel to connect to an iSeries with device restriction (in that case you can't allow anonymous users to connect with QPADEVXXXX). If i try to run setup5250 i get the following errors:

setup5250: [ ERROR ]: Xt Warning: locale not supported by C library, locale unchanged.
setup5250: [ ERROR ]: Xt Warning: Missing charsets in String to FontSet conversion.

Does anyone know how to handle this? I searched on the net but i didnt find anything.

Thanks

[mdfel]

finally made a complete iSeries Access for linux "localized" install.
it all starts with the fact that iSeries Access doesn't support UTF-8 locales, so that's what i did:
consider that I'm connecting to an iseries host with CCSID = 1144 from a ubuntu 6.06 and i'm italian.
Please use at least version 1.14 of iSeries Access for linux, for it adds the -USE-CP directive

Please use your appropriate language identifiers:

cd /opt/ibm/iSeriesAccess/mri
sudo ln -s /opt/ibm/iSeriesAccess/mri/it/ it_IT

then add iso8859-1 support to the appropriate file (in my case it):

sudo gedit /var/lib/locales/supported.d/it

and append the line:

it_IT.ISO-8859-1 ISO-8859-1

then execute the command:

sudo locale-gen

now you have to start any ibm iseries application by redefining the LANG variable, so i created the bash script:

#!/bin/bash
LANG=it_IT.ISO-8859-1
/opt/ibm/iSeriesAccess/bin/setup5250 -USE-CP1144

please note that in order to use setup5250 you probably have first to add /opt/ibm/iSeriesAccess/bin to PATH. I also configured ldconfig for ibm libs

Hope this helps

[rgriffin]

This is the bomb. Thanks for posting the very helpful how-to

[elvisd]

Thank you for completing my thread. I'll link this thread on my blog... elvisd.blogspot.com

[Popcorn12k]

I too am trying to install iseries Access on Dapper. I have followed the instructions provided by both elvisd, sirnigel and n8bound. When I get to this command

sudo ln -s /opt/ibm/iSeriesAccess/lib/libcwbcore.so /usr/lib/ libcwbcore.so

I get this response:
ln: target `libcwbcore.so' is not a directory

If I continue through the configuration I get this response when I try to start the application:

ibm5250: error while loading shared libraries: libcwbcore.so: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I think I have a broken link; however, I don't know why nor how to fix it. Any help would be appreciated.

[n8bounds]

I too am trying to install iseries Access on Dapper. I have followed the instructions provided by both elvisd, sirnigel and n8bound. When I get to this command

sudo ln -s /opt/ibm/iSeriesAccess/lib/libcwbcore.so /usr/lib/ libcwbcore.so

I get this response:
ln: target `libcwbcore.so' is not a directory

If you used the clipboard on that post, you have a SPACE betweeen /usr/lib and libcwbcore.so on the tail of your command there.

[Circus-Killer]

i've followed all the instructions in this thread, but i'm still getting the following error:

5250: [ ERROR ]: NSC0017: Xt Warning: Cannot convert string "-*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-normal-*-19-*-75-75-m-*" to type FontSet.

anyone know a solution?

[n8bounds]

i've followed all the instructions in this thread, but i'm still getting the following error:

5250: [ ERROR ]: NSC0017: Xt Warning: Cannot convert string "-*-lucidatypewriter-medium-r-normal-*-19-*-75-75-m-*" to type FontSet.

anyone know a solution?

Do you have the MS Fonts installed? If you have Universe and Multiverse repositories enabled, I think you can add them via the Add/Remove tool (or synaptics). Alternatively, you could try the Automatix2 scripts. I think I saw something in there about MS Core Fonts.

Cheers

[Circus-Killer]

yes, ms fonts is already installed, that is not the problem.