Using the RPM Installer

Before starting a standard RPM installation, ensure that all of the prerequisite software is installed on your machine. See Software Requirements for details.

This is not necessary if you are using an RPM administration utility as it installs any missing prerequisite packages at the same time as installing the package from Micro Focus.

Downloading the installer

The RPM installer for COBOL Server is distributed as a .bin file and is available from your Electronic Delivery Receipt email.

To download and extract the file:

  1. Use the links in your Electronic Delivery Receipt email to download the filename.bin file that includes the RPM installer.
  2. Execute the .bin file from a terminal.
  3. Accept the terms of the End User License Agreement to extract the filename.rpm file on your machine.

Standard RPM installation

To install COBOL Server:

  1. Open a terminal and navigate to the location of the .rpm file.
  2. Execute the following command with superuser permissions: 
    rpm -i filename.rpfilenamem

    This installs the product to the following default location - /opt/microfocus/VisualCOBOL.

Alternatively, you can start the .rpm file from the file manager program available on your operating system:

  1. Open the file manager program and navigate to the location of the filename.rpm file.
  2. Start the file.

    This installs the product and any missing prerequisites.

Note: Once the installation has completed you must run casperm.sh to correctly configure the Directory Server. See To Run casperm for more information.

COBOL Server installation

To install COBOL Server with the correct Enterprise Server and security configuration settings:

  1. Open a terminal and navigate to the location of the .rpm file.
  2. Execute the following command with superuser permissions: 
    MFCMD="-ESadminID=[UserID] " sudo rpm -i filename.rpm

    This installs the product to the following default location, /opt/microfocus/EnterpriseDeveloper, and passes in the ESadminID setting used to configure enterprise server regions, and the Enterprise Server security settings.

Optionally, you can also pass in "-mfconfiglocation=$PWD/config" and/or "-CASrtDir=$PWD/es" to configure where the product preserves any configuration settings, and where it saves the enterprise server regions.

Installing using the yum utility

The yum repository must be configured before you start a yum installation. See your yum documentation for instructions. This is not necessary if you have a subscription to an RPM Web site.

To install from a CD or using an ISO image:

  1. Mount the CD or mount the ISO on a virtual machine CD drive using a DevLab machine administration Web page.
  2. Execute the following command to create a repository configuration file: 
    vi /etc/yum.repos.d/rhel-dvd.repo
  3. Add the following code to the repository configuration file: 
    [dvd]
name=Red Hat Enterprise Linux Installation DVD
baseurl=file:///media/RHEL_6.1_DVD
enabled=1
gpgcheck=0
  4. Execute the following command to start the installation: 
    yum install [filename.rpm]
  5. Follow the instructions on the screen to install the package and any missing software prerequisites from the ISO image.

Installing using the YaST2 utility

To install using YaST2:

  1. Open a terminal and navigate to the location of the .rpm file.
  2. Execute the following command: 
    yast2 -i filename.rpm
  3. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

    If there is any missing prerequisite software, YaST prompts for the CD Media that includes the installation files.

Installing using the zypper utility

To installing using zypper:

  1. Ensure the SUSE OS CD Media is mounted on your machine.
  2. Execute the following from a terminal to see the repositories that are available on your machine: 
    zypper repos

    The output is similar to the following: 

    # | Alias        | Name         | Enabled | Refresh
--+--------------+--------------+---------+--------
1 |  SLES12-12-0 |  SLES12-12-0 | Yes     | No

    Where the number 1 repository is the SUSE OS CD Media.

  3. Execute the following command to select the OS CD Media as the repository to run: 
    zypper repos 1
  4. Execute the following command to install the product and its dependencies: 
    zypper install [filename.rpm]
  5. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the installation.

Installing a Micro Focus product as an upgrade

When installing an upgrade or a HotFix release of a Micro Focus product, you must not use the RPM -U upgrade option, as the RPM upgrade process overwrites any existing product configuration.

In order to preserve the existing product configuration, execute the following command with superuser permissions to upgrade the existing installation: 

rpm -qa | grep Micro_Focus
rpm -e [ PackageName ]
rpm -i filename.rpm

This upgrades the existing installation of your product in /opt/microfocus/VisualCOBOL. The built-in product preserve configuration code will restore any product and enterprise server region configuration once the RPM installation is complete.

Installing the product into a non-default location

To install the product into a non-default location, execute the following command with superuser permissions: 

rpm -i --prefix=[FullPath] filename.rpm

Where FullPath is the directory on your machine where you want to install the product.

Viewing the log files

During the installation, the RPM installer creates a log file in /opt/microfocus/logs. The log file contains all of the information that was displayed on the terminal screen during the installation as well as some additional information about the product configuration.

Parent topic: RPM Installer