HP has announced that after the end of 2006, they will no longer
support the HP 3000, but Robelle confirms continued support for MPE.
Of course, we are ready to help you
plan for the future, and our products
also support HP-UX.
It is quite feasible to keep some or all of your applications on the 3000
even as HP departs and keep the applications fine-tuned for an indefinite future.
Click the link above to find out about independent software and hardware support,
sources of hardware, and much more.
Here is a Robelle Press Release: Migrating an application can be
complex, expensive and risky. There is no rush to move before you are ready.
Robelle will help you extend the life of your 3000s and make
your eventual migration easier as well.
Migrating off the 3000: The Robelle Information Site
We have gathered into one page the links to
publicly available information on migrating off MPE/iX, especially to HP-UX.
As Hewlett-Packard loses interest in the HP 3000, it is important that end users start
taking responsibility for their own systems. Toward that end I have compiled a list
of useful reference web sites on the HP 3000 (excluding the topic of
migration).
Robelle has built a list of consulting resources for our customers -
people who know the HP 3000, Suprtool and Suprtool-based applications.
These can be a big help to anyone who is homesteading, since
3000 expertise within the company will thin out over the years.
At HPWorld in September 2002, Hewlett-Packard agreed to make the 3000 hardware and software manuals available to independent web sites such as OpenMPE when they remove the manuals from the HP web site. I hope that someone at OpenMPE has already downloaded copies of the files, just in case.
Some other vendor's 3000-related manuals are on the web as well:
However, many vendor web sites have no obvious sign of user documentation for their HP 3000 software products. For example, Cognos and DISC. So for these products, you should ensure that you carefully file copies of the documentation.
Resource3000
Resource3000 is a consortium of companies that offers hardware and
software support for the 3000, plus also sells software products and
used hardware. Web site.
The 3000 Newswire
Another great source of information is "The 3000 Newswire" magazine. As a
subscriber to the magazine, you receive well thought out articles
every month. They now also have a very interesting daily blog
(highly recommended).
OpenMPE
One site that has as its explicit goal to archive the useful information required to maintain and operate an HP 3000 is the "OpenMPE" site:
OpenMPE is gathering 3000 information that will be needed after HP exits the business.
For example, they already have list of companies that use the 3000, relative
power ratings of the 3000 servers, 3000 software tier structure from HP, lists
of thrid-party hardware and software support organizations, freeware downloads, and links
to MPE-related manuals.
Interex
Interex, the final incarnation of the HP 3000 Users Group, is gone.
There web site and services are also gone, but they were not of much
use to HP 3000 users for quite a while.
Books
Beyond RISC. This book is a guide to the PA-RISC version of the HP 3000 and the software of the MPE operating system. It is slightly dated, since MPE has had many releases since the conversion to RISC architecture, but it is still very useful. The book is out of print, but a few copies are still available at Allegro. Email to cindy@allegro.com if you would like to buy one.
MPE/iX System Administration Handbook by Jon Diercks. This book was published
in 2002 by Prentice Hall. It "covers the essential tools and skills required for
successful MPE/iX system management. Diercks presents hands-on examples, solutions
to common problems, and dozens of tips for streamlining operations and making the
most of your HP e3000 system." Very useful.
http://diercks.net/mpe/
TurboIMAGE
TurboIMAGE (or IMAGE for short) is the database included with MPE. The user manuals are on-line at
docs.hp.com and here are some other useful links:
The IMAGE FAQ answers the most common questions about this database and points to useful vendors, tools, etc.:
http://beechglen.com/pub/imagefaq.txt
The 3000-L mailing list is a place where users can post and answer questions.
It will probably continue to be a place where the confused system manager can
go for help with his HP 3000.
Robelle's Encyclopedia of HP 3000 and related topics is not an FAQ,
but it is an excellent resource of cross-linked articles:
http://www.robelle.com/library/smugbook/
Jazz is a web site at HP which developed as a resource for porting
Internet and Posix utilities to MPE. It has a great deal of software
for download, as well as numerous papers and reference documents. It
is not known how long this server will stay in operation or where the
content will eventually go:
http://jazz.external.hp.com/
[Note: The columns at John Burke's site are the author's editions, unedited and uncut, with some material that has never been published in the NewsWire. On the other hand, about a year's worth of these two NewsWire columns, from 1998-1999, can only be found in the archives of the 3000 NewsWire site. More than six years of MPE technical papers, indexed through a search engine, are available at
http://www.3000newswire.com/subscribers/TechHeads.html ]
Robelle has 14 papers and 14 tutorials on-line at
http://www.robelle.com/library/
covering topics from the System Debugger to programming the CI.
Allegro has 13 papers on-line at
http://allegro.com/papers/
covering topics from "what to do when your system is hung" to "setting up a network printer".
Beechglen has a very useful archive of technical tips that you should bookmark for future reference.
Dozens of topics, including Traceroute from MPE, Speeding Up Backups,
using CI variables with FTP, and much more.
http://www.beechglen.com/mpe/techart.html
invent3k - public development
machine provided by HP, see below.
invent3k Has Qedit and Suprtool
CSY has created invent3k,
a Public Access Development System. This system consists of a fully-loaded
HP e3000 running MPE/iX, and includes the full subsys collection
of HP products as well as essential open-source tools from the Internet.
And you have access to Suprtool and
Host-based Qedit while you
are on invent3k, courtesy of Robelle.
You may use your invent3k account to:
Port new Internet open-source software to the e3000.
Develop new open-source MPE software and share it with the world.
Develop new closed-source MPE software and keep it for yourself.
Test your existing MPE software on the newer releases of MPE.
SPL Manual Is Online.
SPL stands for "Systems Programming Language" and is the proprietary high-level
language that the original HP 3000 was programmed in. There are still thousands of
lines of SPL utility software around the world - you may even have some in your shop!
Now HP's Jazz web site has a copy of the documentation.
HP Encyclopedia: Line Drawing Characters.
You may have to delve into some old code that uses HP Line Drawing characters.
Here is an article from our Encyclopedia that compares them with other
line drawing characters.
HP e3000 UDCs
and Command Files:
Here is a web site with (almost) everything you ever
wanted to know about User-Defined Commands
and Command Files on the HP e3000, with a database of
sample commands and links to much more relevant information
on the web, including the Command File page
of Robelle's Ken Robertson. The site was created
by Tim
Ericson.
SIU: Software Inventory
Utility: CSY has written a utility to check what scans your directories and produces an inventory report of what it finds. This should be useful for those system managers who are migrating, as well as those who are staying on MPE.
Learn about
LDAP: excellent introduction to Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).
Curtis Larsen explains that
LDAP allows you to create directories of information similar
to what you would see in a telephone book. Any information you
want to store for later quick retrieval: names, telephone numbers,
conference room capacities, addresses, directions — even picture or
sound files. Using directories such as these is an incredible time-saver
(can’t you think of company applications for one already?), but LDAP can
do so much more. The directories you create are wholly up to you, so the sky’s the limit.
Jazz Script Resources:
numerous command files that make operation of an HP 3000 easier. For example, WHERE to tell you all uses of a name as a command file or UDC name; REM to execute commands remotely and easily check their status on the local system; MPE2PX to convert an MPE syntax filename to an absolute POSIX pathname.; and much more.
