System Migration Tour :: Data General

DG/UX Migration Services

With a steadily dwindling customer base and virtually no major vendor support for their DG/UX systems, an increasing number of businesses are moving to a more widely-supported Open System. Unfortunately, migrating from DG/UX to another “Open” platform such as HP-UX, Solaris, AIX, or Linux can involve many of the same issues that occur when migrating from proprietary platforms:

  • the code generated by a compiler can vary based on the platform on which it’s run
  • there may be endian issues between the platforms
  • some of the system calls utilized in the programs may not be available on the new system
  • built-in functionality on the source platform may not exist on the target platform (e.g., VTC/PTC configuration via vtc.addrs)
  • there may be differences in the arguments for shell commands
  • some of the required shell commands may not be available
  • the system configuration will, most certainly, be different

Additionally, some of these differences may show up only at runtime, which can have serious implications if the application is not tested adequately.

Such issues can become a serious drain on your existing IT resources. They must learn the differences between DG/UX and another Open System, identify the changes required for the application to be moved, and implement the necessary modifications, while, at the same time, maintaining the existing DG/UX environment.

Datatek has over 30 years of experience in operating system migrations. Experts on the DG/UX system and all major commercial versions of UNIX, Datatek’s staff has the knowledge and tools to quickly and cost-effectively migrate your applications to a new Open System. Rather than jeopardizing your current IT operations, rely on the migration specialists at Datatek to provide a smooth and seamless transition to your new operating system.

Examples

System Calls

If your application uses the DG/UX system call dg_process_info to obtain information about the system’s current processes, you will need to figure out how to get the information on the new platform. HP-UX has a similar system call, pstat_getproc, but neither AIX, Solaris nor Linux have a system call available to obtain this type of information. If you are switching to these systems you must make a variety of calls to get the information and then put it in a format your application understands.

Datatek’s system call library will take care of determining the correct action based on the host operating system and will return the information in the format your application currently requires.

System Configuration

Users of DG/UX have the reliable, user-friendly sysadm utility to configure their system and its devices. Though other platforms offer a system configuration method via a utility (such as AIX’s smit and HP-UX’s SAM) or a set of tools, significant differences in interface and functionality usually exist. For instance, every distribution of Linux provides its own customized system administration utility, as well as a set of generic system administration tools.

Some Additional Issues

  • Device handling and addressing
  • Printer handling differences
  • Different system program locations
  • Environmental differences
  • Program execution differences

More About Data General Migrations

Data General is now a division of EMC Corporation.