Understanding AIX software requirements

To ensure correct operation, InfoPrint Manager requires that certain components of the AIX operating system be installed on your pSeries system. It is up to you to install the base level of these components from your AIX product media before starting the installation process (see RICOH InfoPrint Manager for AIX: Getting Started for more information about using the InfoPrint Installer).

To install the InfoPrint Manager base, we recommend that you simply run the InfoPrint Installer. If you are missing any required base AIX filesets, the installer lists them and directs you to install them from your AIX product media.

To make the installation as easy as possible, the InfoPrint installer will automatically apply service to your AIX software to meet InfoPrint Manager prerequisites. This service is needed to make sure that InfoPrint Manager will function properly. Be advised, however, that the installer will not automatically apply service that is hardware-specific.

InfoPrint Manager for AIX is a 64-bit application that an authorized user can run only on 64-bit (ppc64) operating systems.

InfoPrint Manager for AIX needs to be installed using the root user, but during the installation process you have the possibility to configure the product to run as a non-root authorized user. You can still use root if you want to. If you are running InfoPrint Manager with a user other than root, make sure that all custom paths needed by the product have read and write permissions for that specific user. Also, the user you are running InfoPrint Manager with, might need specific access to resources. For more information, see the “Determining ulimit segment settings” section within the RICOH InfoPrint Manager for AIX and Linux: Configuration and Tuning Guide publication.

The default user is ipm1, which is created by the installer automatically. Custom users can be used when the primary group for that user is sys group. The shell for the custom user must be ksh (/usr/bin/ksh).

If you plan to setup AIX DSS actual destinations to print using the InfoPrint-supplied pioipps backend, which provides printing over secure communication (SSL/TLS), you need to install the Common Unix Printing System (CUPS) ipp backend. For more information, see Verifying RPM files .

1. If the user validation fails, user does not exist or primary group is not sys, the installation does not continue. The user can be either a local or a remote user. For remote user, the system administration must assure that the user has sys group as primary group. If you are running InfoPrint Manager as a non-root user, such as ipm1, you must set the maximum number of processes to at least 4096.
2. AIX versions 7.1 and 7.2 offer different print spoolers: the legacy AIX PowerPC print subsystem and the System V print subsystem. InfoPrint Manager for AIX requires the use of the legacy AIX PowerPC print subsystem. InfoPrint Manager does not support the System V print subsystem.
3. The default kornshell for 6.x and 7.x is Kornshell 88. Do not use Kornshell 93 with InfoPrint Manager for AIX.
4. If you installed CUPS and you are running InfoPrint Manager with a user other than root, specify the following at the AIX command line to set the necessary permissions on the CUPS IPP file:

   chmod 755 /opt/freeware/lib/cups/backend/ipp

5. When you install InfoPrint Manager, set the Stack Execution Disable (SED) mechanism to the select mode. For more information, go to https://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/ssw_aix_72/s_commands/sedmgr.html.
6. Some commercial implementations of Java use relicensed Lucida fonts (https://adoptopenjdk.net/migration.html#relicensed-lucida-fonts). OpenJDK, used by InfoPrint Manager for AIX, as a fully open Java implementation does not use the relicensed Lucida fonts. For this reason, you may find some visible font differences between OpenJDK and other providers.

   If the fonts displayed in Java applications do not look readable, you may consider changing the default Java look and feel. To do this, set the environment variable JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS to the desired Java look and feel and start the Java application again.

   Example: JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS='-Dswing.defaultlaf=javax.swing.plaf.nimbus.NimbusLookAndFeel'

   This setting changes the default Java look and feel from Metal (javax.swing.plaf.metal) to Nimbus (javax.swing.plaf.nimbus.NimbusLookAndFeel). The fonts displayed in Java applications may or may not be more readable on your computer.

   Note: Changing the Java look and feel using the JAVA_TOOL_OPTIONS environment variable might result in unexpected behavior of the Java applications.