Upgrading or Updating Password Self Help

These instructions guide you through the process of upgrading to Password Self Help version 3.003 on your IBM i, or updating from a prior modification level of version 3.

Before You Upgrade or Update

  • Please ensure that the system value QALWOBJRST has a value of *ALL, i.e. CHGSYSVAL SYSVAL(QALWOBJRST) VALUE(‘*ALL’)
  • We recommend that you ensure that the system value QFRCCVNRST is set to 2 i.e. CHGSYSVAL SYSVAL(QFRCCVNRST) VALUE(‘2’). This ensures that any program conversion is performed when the objects are restored. If you do not change this system value, the system will convert these programs as and when they are used. This may lead to users experiencing longer response times.
  • The QSECOFR security profile will be used during the upgrade process so make sure that you have access to the QSECOFR security officer profile. No other profile will allow you to load the software.
  • Please ensure that your current Self Help system is properly backed up. The library to back up is @MSSH. Complete this backup first before proceeding further.
  • The upgrade must be in dedicated mode. To ensure that you are in a dedicated mode, use the command WRKOBJLCK QSYS/@MSSH *LIB. No one should be signed on to this library.
  • The upgrade time may vary between 0.25 hours to 1 hour depending on the size and usage of Self Help.
  • Please clear all reports (if any) in the @MSSH/SHOUTQ output queue. The output queue should be empty. If the queue is not empty, the upgrade installation may terminate abnormally.

System Requirements

Password Self Help requires the following:

  • IBM i (i5/OS, OS/400) version V7R1M0 or higher
  • 30 MB of disk space
  • Current IBM-supported PTF level

Compatibility with HelpSystems Insite

To use HelpSystems Insite to access your products through a web browser, you must meet the following browser and/or operating system requirements.

Hardware Type Minimum Browser and/or OS Requirements
Desktop/Laptop Firefox 11 or higher

Chrome 21 or higher

Internet Explorer 11

Safari 6.1 or higher

Microsoft Edge
Mobile Device iOS: Browsers on iOS 8 or higher

Android: OS 4.4 or higher using Chrome

Windows: OS 10 using Edge
IBM i V7R1 or higher operating system

For more details, see Insite System Requirements.

Compatibility Requirement with DetectIT:

If you are using DetectIT's User Profile Manager module, before you upgrade to version 3.003 of Password Self Help, you will need to be on a compatible version of DetectIT.

  • The minimum is DetectIT version 14.4.2, with the addition of the following PTFs:
    • R881090823 Reduce number of file opens and close for Pre-Filter
    • R881090826 Convert Remote Command Requests
  • If you are on DetectIT 14.4.3, you need the addition of the following PTF:
    • R881090826 Convert Remote Command Requests

DetectIT version 14.4.4 and higher is compatible without special PTFs.

Upgrade/Update Procedure

Ensure the following servers are available and running prior to installation:

  • FTP Server
  • Remote Command Server

If FTP is not available, you must install the product manually. See Manual Installation of Powertech IBM i Products.

Do the following to perform the installation or update:

  1. Download the Password Self Help installer (setupPasswordSelfHelp3.exe) to your PC. To do so, go to the HelpSystems website and click My Account. (The "Trial" download is the full product, which can be unlocked with a valid License Key).

  2. On the Choose Components panel, select which components you want to install. You can choose to install the Manuals and the Software for IBM i. Click Next.

  3. If you're only installing the Manuals, the process completes and the installer closes. The Manuals have been installed. You can skip the rest of these steps.

    Note: The manuals are installed to the following location:
    C:\Program Files\PowerTech\Password Self Help\manuals

  4. On the IBM i Details panel:

    1. Select or enter the IBM i where you want to load Password Self Help.

    2. Enter a user profile and password that's a member of the user class *SECOFR and has at least the following special authorities: *ALLOBJ, *SECADM, *JOBCTL, *IOSYSCFG, and *AUDIT. The user profile should have Limit capabilities set to *NO.

    3. (Optional) In the Advanced Settings section:

      • Enter a port number or use the arrows if you want to change the FTP port number to something other than the default of 21.

      • Select Secure File Transfer if you want to use FTPS (FTP over SSL) during the file transfer. The default FTPS secure port is 990, but it can be changed to the required secure port for your environment.

      • In the Timeout (seconds) field, enter the number of seconds the session should be kept active during an FTP transfer. You can choose anywhere between 25 and 1800 seconds (30 minutes).

        Note: If the transfer takes longer than the amount of time specified, the session will expire.

    4. Click Next.

  5. You have two options on the Product Load Options panel:

    1. Click Immediate Load if you'd like to load the product on the IBM i now.

      Note: If you're doing an update, this ends Password Self Help until the product load completes. After you are done, we'll restart the product.

    2. Click Staged Load if you'd like to transfer the objects now and load them on the IBM i at a later time.

      Note: See "Loading Staged Objects on the IBM i" (below) for instructions on how to load the staged objects on your selected IBM i system.

  6. The Product Load Progress panel for Password Self Help launches.

    If the Product Load Progress panel ends with an overall Failed message, the product upload could not complete properly. To find the reason the upload failed, click View Logs and review your logs. You can also use Download at the top of the logs to save the information for future review.

    When the processing is complete, you have two choices:

    • If this is the only installation or update of Password Self Help that you're doing, click Finish.

    • If you have installs or updates to do on other IBM i systems, click Restart. Then, return to step 4.

Loading Staged Objects on the IBM i

If you chose to stage your objects during step 5b of the installation or update process, do the following to manually load them on the IBM i you identified above.

  1. On the IBM i, execute the following command to display the Work with Loads panel:

    HSLOADMGR/HSWRKLOAD

  2. Enter option 1, Load, next to the Load Name for Password Self Help and press Enter.

    The installation program installs Password Self Help, including the required user profiles and libraries (see table below for details).

The installation process displays the job log name, user, and job log number. Use the WRKSPLF command to display the job log for complete information on the Password Self Help install.

Password Self Help Profiles

Two profiles are installed during the Password Self Help installation procedure:

  • ALERTSH - DetectIT Self Help Administrator
  • SELFHELP - DetectIT Self Help User

Important: New users: The ALTERTSH password is set to Expired. You will be prompted to change it when you first sign on. Upgrading users: Change the ALERTSH password using the CHGPWD (Change Password) command. If you do not change this password your systems will be vulnerable to unauthorized access.

For proper functioning of the system, please do not delete these profiles.

Error Logs

If errors occur which cannot be transmitted to the operator, the system will dump the error to the output queue (QEZDEBUG) on the system on which it has occurred.

Reports

Reports will be sent to the output queue 'SHOUTQ' that can be found in library @MSSH. This is a protected queue. Only authorized personnel can access this queue.