Monday, April 19, 2021

New ACS 1.1.8.7

new acs 1.1.8.7

Update September 20, 2021: New version is currently available for download here


A new version of IBM's Access Client Solutions, ACS, has been made available. It is free so why would you want to use another tool? ACS is so much more than just 5250 emulation.

I can get the new version in two ways

I can go to the IBM website directly : ibm.biz/IBMi_ACS.

Or I can go to my ACS main window, click Help > Check for updates.

Whichever option I used I need a free IBMid to login to get to the download portal. I can then download the install file to my personal computer, and unzip it.

Within the install folder are subfolders for the types of operating systems I can install ACS upon. Find the one for my personal computer and open it. Open the "Quick Start Guide" HTML document and follow the instructions contained within to complete your installation. I know that the this document has the date of the last release of ACS, but the installation instructions remain the same.

When the installation is finished you will have the latest and greatest ACS.

I have managed to find a list of the enhancements:

  1. Enhancements to Run SQL Scripts:
    • All SQL warnings encountered during results retrieval are now posted to the Messages tab
    • A Refresh list... option has been added to Database drop-down on the Connection > Connect to Database... dialog
    • Descriptions for JDBC configurations are displayed as hover text on the Connection > Connect to Database... dialog and Connection > Apply JDBC Configuration menu
    • Data mapping errors in results are now displayed as "++++++++++++" to match STRSQL behavior
    • Additional Insert from Examples
  2. Enhancements to Schemas:
    • A new option on Generate SQL allows constraints to be defined in the CREATE TABLE statement instead of a separate ALTER TABLE statement
  3. Enhancements to Visual Explain:
    • Advised Indexes now combine multiple CREATE INDEX statements into a single Run SQL Scripts window
  4. Enhancements to Printer Output:
    • Actions for Delete, Hold, and Release can be monitored in Active Tasks Pane
  5. Enhancements to 5250 Display:
    • Allow target address in lower right corner to be copied so it can be pasted
  6. Other General Enhancements:
    • Warn user when logging in if caps lock is on

You can learn more about this release by clicking on this link here. If you are a Mac OS user I strongly advise you to visit that link and read the relevant parts applicable to your operating system.

19 comments:

  1. Here is the link with the list of latest updates:
    https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-i-access-acs-updates

    ReplyDelete
  2. Simon,
    What do you know about the Windows English Service Package, also an available download on the same page...? When would someone need to install this...?

    IBM i Access Client Solutions - Windows Application Package

    IBM i Access Client Solutions - Windows Application Package

    5733-XJ1 Version: 1.1.0.24
    ESS ID: LCD8-2011-14

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have no idea exactly that is.

      I do know there is a way you can load the ACS files onto your IBM i partition, and install from that rather than downloading from the website. I don't know if what is you mention is that.

      All I can safely say is check with IBM support and ask them.

      Delete
    2. According to the Getting Started document, the Windows Application Package is an optional install, which includes:
      - connectivity to Db2 for i using ODBC, .Net and OLE DB
      - Programming Toolkit for accessing IBM i system objects
      - support for TLS/SSL connections

      Delete
    3. And the best option to install ACS on your IBM i is doing so with a PTF. Dawn explains what Simon is talking about in this blog:
      https://techchannel.com/SMB/02/2020/acs-shipped-with-ibm-i

      I don't see the PTF# for 1.1.8.7 listed yet though:
      https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-i-access-client-solutions-5733xj1

      One more useful link:
      https://www.ibm.com/support/pages/ibm-i-access-acs-updates

      If only they could stop calling that zip file you end up downloading IBMi_Access_v1r1 because it's been called that for the past 3 or 4 versions of ACS and I now have multiple IBMiAccess_v1_r1 zipfiles and folders on my machine...

      HTH

      Dan

      Delete
    4. Yes they do need to give the install file a unique name!

      I am not sure if installing ACS is through PTF is the "best option". I have assisted Sys Admins to install file from shared Windows drive, copied it to the users' PCs, & installed from that.

      Delete
    5. You don't need the Windows Application Package for SSL/TLS connections, those are by default available in the IBM i ACS package.

      In the past the whole package was a mix of C and Java code, now IBM i ACS is pure Java based and hence doesn't contain the ODBC driver anymore, so for people doing for example .Net development, they need to install the additional Windows Application Package (which is still C code).

      For a typical end user, the Windows Application Package is normally not needed.

      Delete
  3. I'm getting an "install_log is undefined" message whenever I try to install the new version. I can uninstall and reinstall 1.1.8.5 and that works fine. I'm using the IBM JRE in the 1.1.8.5 version. Any suggestions?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds oddly familiar.

      I think I received that message when I went from 1.1.8.3 to 5. I am trying to remember what I did. I think I uninstalled 1.1.8.3 using the uninstall tool that comes in ACS, & then installed the new release.

      If have the install file for 1.1.8.5 in a safe place om your PC you might want to try uninstalling ACS with the uninstall program from 7. Restart your computer. Try the 7 install. If it fails again you can at least reinstall 1.1.8.5, and contact IBM support for assistance.

      Check that you have a compatible version of Java installed on your PC.

      Delete
    2. Will do. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks Simon!

      Delete
    3. Please do play it safe. There is no guarantee what is causing your error is the same as what I remember.

      Delete
    4. Well, it worked! After I rebooted and tried the install the first time, it didn't work, and I decided that I wanted to try it one more time so I could capture the exact text of the error before I went back to the older version. Lo and behold, the second time it worked fine! Thanks for the suggestion!

      Delete
  4. Do you guys having the same problem with ACS Session manager, when i double click to start ACS Session manager it takes 1-2 minutes before i finally see the "configured sessions" screen. I have 32 ibm i servers configured, is it trying to connect or testing the connection to all servers ?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I was playing around with the product update feature. I put the latest archive on a shared IFS folder, added that folder IFS path to the properties file, supplied the server name as defined in the ACS config properties.

    I closed ACS and reopened. Voila! The product was updated, but it took about ten minutes to do so (I blame part of it on my company VPN and most of it on the IBM ACS product).

    Since it was so slow, I decided to try a local copy of the archive. I updated the property to the local folder (in the local folder path pattern). Then I attempted to replace the updated product with the prior version .JAR file. From here I kept getting odd problems and I ended up replacing the entire folder with the prior version archive. Eventually, the oddities went away.

    So the ACS product would not find changes to my local folder. I went back to using my IFS share. However, ACS is no longer finding the newer version and longer. I have revivified my current release and the version in the archive and they are appropriate, I should be getting the pop up about a version change.

    So does anyone know of a location in the ACS install or user portion where ACS might be storing a successful attempt at installing the update information?

    Thanks, Matt

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So for those that fell into the problem mentioned above, if you look in the file prefs.dat in your user config folders ...\iAccessClient\Settings\client.configuration\com.ibm.iaccess.base.x0041csx0047lobalx0043onfig. I have my stuff in my %USERPROFILE%\IBM\iAccessClient\Settings\client.configuration\com.ibm.iaccess.base.x0041csx0047lobalx0043onfig.

      Edit the file with a text editor, look for a string that looks like this "C\:\\IBM\\ACS\\acsbundle.jar". The number after is a unix timestamp for the .jar file on the server. Change just one of digits, save and retry the update check. It should work now.

      Delete
  6. I have this version installed 1.1.8.7. All looks good. Reading the notes above I see this "Warn user when logging in if caps lock is on" Where do I go to turn this on or how do we use it. I have tried to test but do not see anything.
    Kerwin

    ReplyDelete

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