Overview
This Installation Guide describes installation of Reality on a UNIX system.
Before starting the installation or upgrade, ensure that you have the necessary prerequisites and information you must supply.
If upgrading, read Upgrading from an Earlier Release.
Product overview
Reality is a software environment supporting multiple databases on a UNIX or Windows host. For information about the extensive capabilities of the Reality database management system, see
Resilience
Transaction Handling is a feature that maintains the consistency of the database by keeping defined transactions (sets of updates) intact. Rapid Recovery File System, Transaction Logging, Shadow Database, and FailSafe are features offering further levels of resilience. Transaction Logging and Rapid Recovery require a single ‘raw log’, per Reality version being run at the same time, to be configured. Further resilience features require at least one clean log per database to be configured. Minimum configuration is described in this guide, with additional information in the Resilience reference material.
Networking and UNIX-Connect
Comprehensive communications facilities enable communications between a Reality database environment and another Reality database, or a host system environment (UNIX or Windows). UNIX-Connect forms an integral part of the Reality software and must be installed on a UNIX host along with the base Reality software.
User Documentation
Reality is supplied with comprehensive Online Documentation that you can view in an internet browser.
How to use the contents of the ISO Image/DVD for installation
The Reality ISO Image/DVD delivery must always be either burnt to a physical DVD or mounted as a virtual ISO image. The file structures must not be copied and then accessed from a Host Platform file system, as this can lead to issues with the operation of Reality either during or post installation, or when loading future updates.
This delivery contains the PDS History Tool, Reality, the Online Documentation and all the Reality external components. See the Reality Release Information for details.
The PDS History Tool must always be installed first and will be installed automatically if not already present.
For a description of how to install the external components and the Reality remote tape server, please refer to the Reality External Components Installation Guide.