PMC Tool
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Attachments (1) | Linked KBs
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Description:
PMC Tool
To help you manage updates to your Infor Baan ERP or Infor ERP LN system, Infor Global Support Online offers the Product Maintenance and Control (PMC) Tool – an efficient, highly effective tool for managing remedial updates (software patches). This easy-to-use tool allows you to run new software with confidence. Furthermore, using the PMC tool will enhance the quality of the support being provided to you.
Resolution:
Product Maintenance and Control (PMC) Tool
To help you manage updates to your Infor Baan ERP or Infor ERP LN system, Infor Global Support Online offers the Product Maintenance and Control (PMC) Tool – an efficient, highly effective tool for managing remedial updates (software patches). With the PMC module, all patches can be checked against your existing software environment to verify their completeness, check any potential interference with your customization, and detect dependencies. These capabilities ensure the complete and accurate installation of each software patch. Furthermore, using the PMC tool will enhance the quality of the support being provided to you. Refer to Software Updates to get more information about the various update types that Infor Global Support is providing.
The subsequent sections provide more detailed information about various aspects of the PMC Tool.
1. The Benefits
PMC is an easy-to-use tool that allows you to run new software with confidence. It simultaneously addresses a wide range of software update challenges, including:
• automatically checking patches for any previous dependencies, ensuring their existence in the system where the patch is being installed
• analyzing potential conflicts with system customizations at installation time, allowing the user to identify and update any conflicting customizations
• the possibility to keep copies of all previous software components, ensuring that software will not be overwritten. This feature allows the user to easily roll back updates to any point in history.
2. Availability of the Product Maintenance and Control (PMC) Tool
Most product versions have included the PMC Tool in the initial master product; hence all Service Packs are available in PMC format for these versions. Exceptions are the Infor Baan ERP 5.0b and Infor Baan ERP 5.1a versions. For these two versions the PMC Tool became available in a later stage, for both versions the first 5 Service Packs are not in PMC format. The subsequent table provides an overview of the versions in which PMC is available.
Software Version Release Date PMC Introduction Date 1st PMC Service Pack
Infor Baan IV c4 Nov./Dec. 1998 12 February 1999 SP 3 (*)
Infor Baan IV b5 January 1999 20 September 1999 n.a.
Infor Baan ERP5.0b September 1998 28 May 1999 SP 6
Infor Baan ERP5.0c January 2000 May 2000 SP 3 (*)
Infor Baan ERP5.1a July 1999 February 2000 SP 6
Infor Baan ERP5.2a April 2002 April 2002 SP1
Infor ERP LN 6.1 July 2004 July 2004 SP1
(*) Preceding SP’s were merged either in the current SP or in the master product
3. Consequences of using PMC
It is recommended that you review the procedures for updating your system before you start applying the PMC Tool. Reviewing your procedures will help you manage some of the consequences of using PMC. Consequences you should be aware of:
• When a user runs into a problem and a solution is advised for this problem, the user can install that solution. With PMC, when installing a KB, the system may ask for dependent KB’s that have not yet been installed. Depending on the update level of your environment, this chain of dependant solutions can grow significantly.
• With customizations, you will also have to check whether your Customization Provider is also applying PMC. Also check their policy w.r.t. the upgrading of your customizations.
• The translation of updates to other languages is limited. You can install updates provided by Infor Global Support Online. However, changes in language dependant components will become visible in US-English in your environment.
4. Multi-level Download Tool
The Multi Level Download (MLD) Tool is a utility within the PMC Tool that will allow you to download and install individual chains of depending PMC KB’s in an easy way. In the MLD Tool you can specify a KB and start the download. It will then automatically download and scan this KB and all its dependencies. The downloaded individual KB’s are not yet installed, but have the status ‘Available’ in the PMC registry. The KB, plus all dependent KB’s, can now be installed in one go.
For Infor Baan ERP 5.2a and Infor ERP LN 6.1 the MLD Tool is included in the initial master product. For the remaining versions the MLD Tool became available after the initial release of the product. For these versions please refer to KB number 22898850. A Quick Guide (attached), including screen shots for clarity, is also available to help you through this operation.
5. Additional Information
For most product versions, documentation about PMC is available on the Infor Global Support Online website describing how to setup and deploy the PMC Tool. The subsequent table provides an overview:
KB Version Details
22867275
IVb5, IVc4 Quick Guide
22867276
5.0b Quick Guide
22898845
IVc4, 5.0b, 5.0c, 5.2a PMC Enhancements
22898855
n.a. Guide for Customization Partners
22898843
Infor ERP LN 6.1 PMC Recipient Guide and PMC Distributor Guide
942420
IVc4, 50b, B50c, 51a Multi Level Download Tool
6. Frequently Asked Questions
• I cannot access source code after downloading PMC KB’s. What can I do about this?
This is a known problem for Windows NT. When a customer or a partner tries to edit a script in one of the Update VRC’s an error message comes up that the source is not present. This is a result of NT permissions for directories not being open on the customers’ system.
• Can Infor redump a PMC KB?
Infor can dump PMC KB’s only once. When a PMC KB is exported, the KB gets a serial number that can not be changed anymore. This serial number is used for pre-requisite dependencies. Therefore, redumping of KB’s would entail data corruption.
• What is the difference between a Base VRC and Update VRC?
A Base VRC is a PMC concept. This concept was designed to indicate the different product lines maintained by Infor, such as the standard applications, the Italian localization and the Supply Chain Vertical. Base VRC’s are not part of a derivation structure, whereas update VRC’s are. As a consequence, Base VRC’s do not contain software components.
• I get an error while trying to scan a KB. What can I do?
First check whether you made the file transfer in binary mode. If that is the case, check the size (in bytes) of the KB dump on your system, against the size on the Infor Global Support Online FTP site. If you did not transfer in binary mode, or the sizes on your system and the Infor Global Support FTP site do not match exactly, you should download the KB again.
Affected Products & Releases:
Affected Product Affected Release Notes
Baan Tools Unspecified
LN Tools Unspecified
Recommended Articles for Products:
Recommended Articles for Releases:
Keywords:
Type: Knowledge
Last Updated: 04 Jun 2012