Interactive COBOL Installation Notes Revision 5.6x       June-2026

Please find the following sections on ICOBOL Installation:

    A) Installing ICOBOL for Linux from a download

    B) Installing ICOBOL for Windows from a download



Section A.  Installing ICOBOL for Linux from a download
-------------------------------------------------------

There are several releases available for Linux for 64-bit
environments.  The full release and then several smaller releases.
The releases are built on and tailored for different major versions
of Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or its free community supported
version, Rocky Linux.

ln8x64.56x.tgz		Full install for 64-bit RHEL 8
ln9x64.56x.tgz		Full install for 64-bit RHEL 9
ln10x64.56x.tgz		Full install for 64-bit RHEL 10

Releases are also available for Ubuntu and Debian:
ub22x64.56x.tgz     Full install for 64-bit Ubuntu 22
ub24x64.56x.tgz     Full install for 64-bit Ubuntu 24
db12x64.56x.tgz     Full install for 64-bit Debian 12
db13x64.56x.tgz     Full install for 64-bit Debian 13

xxxxxx.560info.tgz	Just the icinfo utility and any needed components
xxxxxx.560odbc.tgz	Just the ODBC driver and any needed components
xxxxxx.560tc.tgz	Just the thinclient and any needed components

The full Linux release of the ICOBOL product includes the
Full ICOBOL product.  This includes the ICOBOL runtime with
utilities, ICOBOL development, ICNETD daemon (with the ThinClient
server (ICRUNRS), the I/O server (ICIOS), and the ISQL remote server
(ICSQLS)), and ICPERMIT license server.  All releases are 64-bit
only releases.

A full release requires between 20 - 30MB depending on the installation.

Loading the software creates a directory called "icobol.<xxx>"
where xxx is the current revision.  For 5.60, the directory
is called icobol.560.

The appropriate release can be downloaded from the web site
(www.icobol.com).

The download is a .tgz file.

Change directory to where to load the Interactive COBOL release
on the machine.  (The install assumes /opt).
As superuser issue the following:

    tar -xvzf <os>.560.tgz          (The v is optional)

Add any appropriate directory specifier for the download location.

The tar will load the "icobol.560" directory into the current directory.
The /opt directory is a good default location for the extract.

(Being superuser allows date/time stamps to be set correctly.)


After Loading the Software - INSTALL
------------------------------------

The script install/installic provides the basic method of installing
ICOBOL and setting up the needed directory structure and services
startup.

As superuser (root) run the install/installic script.

After that is completed please edit the icobolrc and *.conf
files in the /etc/opt/icobol directory to setup the needed environment.

The basic install assumes that the system.lic and system.cfi
file are located in the ICCONFIGDIR (/etc/opt/icobol ) directory.

On RHEL 7 and up the management of services changed from the service
and chkconfig utilities to the systemctl utility; and, it changed
from running services under the init process using scripts in
/etc/init.d to using service configuration files and running the
services under systemd. Since each of the 3 services are separate
services in the systemd model, we have provided 3 scripts, icstart,
icstop, and icstatus to manage the services as a group. Assuming
the ICROOT directory is in the PATH, simply run
	# icstart
	# icstop
    # icstatus

Individual services can be managed with systemctl:
    # systemctl start icexec    OR systemctl start icexec.service
    # systemctl start icpermit  OR systemctl start icpermit.service
    # systemctl start icnetd    OR systemctl start icnetd.service
    # systemctl stop  icexec    OR systemctl stop  icexec.service
    # systemctl status icexec   OR systemctl status icexec.service
    etc.

ICEXEC is the main service that allows COBOL runtime processes
to execute and communicate with each other.

ICPERMIT is the license service that provides licensing to local
processes and to remote processes.

ICNETD is the client/server service that provides the ability to
connect from remote clients to offer optional services.

On RHEL the services are configured via services.conf, icexec.conf,
icpermit.conf and icnetd.conf.

When icobol is first installed the icobolrc and *.conf
file should be edited to provide the proper install information.

A default install expects the system.lic and system.cfi files
to be located in the /etc/opt/icobol configuraton directory.


Shared objects are used to access common code.

These shared objects are icrun64.so.<rev> and icsys64.so.<rev>.
When used, these objects rev check themselves for integrity.

These shared objects must be made available to the needed executables
at program load time.  The basic installic script will set these up.

    METHOD TWO (Only recommended for testing and debugging)
    ----------

    Set the system environment variable that is used to find shared
    objects to include the new ICROOT directory where the shared
    objects are to be found.  In most cases this is the
    LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment variable.  Thus, to add the new
    ICROOT to the LD_LIBRARY_PATH you would do:

        if [ "$LD_LIBRARY_PATH" = "" ]; then
            LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ICROOT
            export LD_LIBRARY_PATH
        else
            LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$ICROOT:$LD_LIBRARY_PATH
        fi

    This could be done in the script that sets up the PATH and
    ICROOT for your ICOBOL executables.  If this was a separate
    script before then just add the above lines.  If this was
    part of the users' startup in .profile then just add it there.

    This method should be used when you do not want to change the
    /usr/lib directory and/or you will be running several versions
    of ICOBOL for development and/or testing purposes.


    ERRORS:
    ------

    If you get an error like:

        error while loading shared libraries: icsys64.so.560: cannot
                                    open shared object
    or
        dynamic linker: icstat: icsys64.so.560 is NEEDED but object
                                    does not exist.

    when running an ICOBOL executable, then the system cannot find
    the indicated shared object.  Either METHOD ONE or TWO must be
    done to allow the file to be found.

The install macros are:
        checkso -     check for the existence of the so files
        installso -   install just the so files
        removeso -    removes the so files
        checkic -     check a standard icobol installation (directories,
						files, .so's - superset of checkso)
        installic -   installs a standard-layout icobol installation
        uninstallic - uninstalls a standard-layout icobol installation
        icobol -      icobol services script - works with chkconfig and
						service commands
        icobolrc    - basic shell init script to set up basic environment for
						the services - included in icobol.conf

        *.conf - configuration files for the icobol services

The scripts are documented internally in addition to comments here.

The scripts aren't foolproof, but they have a number of checks to try
to keep you from screwing up your system.


Standard directories/files:

/opt/icobol.nnn                  unpacked .tgz file - note the name change -
									cobol->icobol and add the dot before the rev number
/opt/icobol                      symbolic link to the current installation -
									ICROOT is set to /opt/icobol
/etc/init.d/icobol               (RHEL 6) services script for chkconfig and service to use

/etc/opt/icobol                  configuration directory - ICCONFIGDIR is set
									to /etc/opt/icobol
/etc/opt/icobol/icobolrc         base shell init - preserved by installic on
									revision updates
/etc/opt/icobol/icobol.conf      (RHEL 6) base services configuration - preserved by
									installic on revision updates
/etc/opt/icobol/icexec.conf      (RHEL 7&8) icexec service configuration - preserved by
									installic on revision updates
/etc/opt/icobol/icnetd.conf      (RHEL 7&8) icnetd service configuration - preserved by
									installic on revision updates
/etc/opt/icobol/icpermit.conf    (RHEL 7&8) icpermit service configuration - preserved by
									installic on revision updates
/etc/opt/icobol/services.conf    (RHEL 7&8) configures which service to start/stop - preserved by
									installic on revision updates
/etc/opt/icobol/system.cfi       preserved by installic on revision updates -
									primed with the basic 8-user default config
/etc/opt/icobol/system.lic       preserved by installic on revision updates,
									user must copy their license here or
									change icobol.conf

/var/opt/icobol                  variable data directory
/var/opt/icobol/system.pq        default location for pq file
/var/opt/icobol/logs             default logfile location - ICLOGDIR is set to
									here, the services put their logs here
/var/opt/icobol/failsafe         default failsafe directory
/var/opt/icobol/tmp              default tmp directory - ICTMPDIR is set to here


Section B.  Installing ICOBOL for Windows from a download
---------------------------------------------------------

**************************************************************
**    If an ICOBOL for Windows (2.3x or 2.4x) release is
**    installed on the machine it should be uninstalled before
**    installing a newer ICOBOL revision.
**************************************************************

**************************************************************
**    If an IC ODBC Driver (pre-1.40) release is installed on
**    the machine it should be uninstalled before installing
**    a newer revision of ICOBOL.  The IC ODBC Driver is
**    installed with the ICOBOL installation.
**************************************************************

**************************************************************
**    If an ICOBOL for Windows (3.xx or 4.xx) release is
**    installed on the machine the ICOBOL 5 installer will
**    make a backup of that install and then uninstall that
**    release BEFORE continuing with the ICOBOL 5 install
**************************************************************

The ICOBOL product is available in a download format.
The download format comes in several pieces.

    win560.exe   A full release that includes everything.

    Limited installers (No development components)
    ------------------
    win560r.exe  Only the runtime, licensing server, and
                    ThinClient release
    win560tc.exe Only the ThinClient release


After downloading the selected installer:

    A. Choose Run from the Start Menu.  In the Open field of the Run
    dialog, type the complete path to installer that you downloaded.

    B. Follow the on screen installation instructions.

After the initial install, the installation program
can be re-run to add additional components or to change the
values for certain selections such as license file,
configuration file, printer control file, etc.

By default, installation creates a directory called "icobol"
in the "Program Files" directory.  When using 64-bit Windows,
there will also be an x86 subdirectory that will include the
32-bit versions of the software.

*******************************
*
*  Note that the "Program Files" directory is a protected
*  subsystem and should NOT be used to store data.  Later
*  versions of Windows continue to enhance their protection
*  of this subsystem.
*
*  Neither the working directory nor the location of the
*  .pq file should point to protected directories or
*  their sub-directories.
*
*  In addition the root drive, i.e. "C:\" should not be used
*  as a working directory or the location of the .pq file as
*  it tends to be a protected directory in later versions
*  of Windows.  Use a subdirectory.
*
*******************************

A full server release with the ICIDE requires about 65MB.

A full local ICOBOL release requires about 50MB while a
runtime-only release is about 15MB.

NOTE:  The installation will use the directory pointed to by the
       environment variable TEMP.  If this temporary directory
       cannot be accessed, an appropriate message will be issued.

The syntax for the Installation program when using the single
self-extracting .exe is shown below:

    win560.exe

Where
	/r	Record mode.	Writes a script file (.ini) to be used later
						for an install with no prompting (scripted).
						The filename will be prompted for at the end.
						Default is MasterSettings.ini in the current
						user’s Documents folder.
	/S:<pathname>		Silent(scripted) mode.  Reads a script file
						previously produced by a Record mode.  Allows
						for unattended or batch type installs.  During
						a silent install, no user requested prompts are
						made.
	/u	Update mode.	If a valid ICOBOL 5 revision is already
						installed, Update will perform a silent/batch
						update using the exact same information that is
						currently installed.  When updating a
						revision, all services will be stopped, the
						updated performed, and then the services will
						be re-started.

    Switches must be separated by spaces.

    To build a sample script, execute the install with the record
    option and take the appropriate selections.  After the
    install is completed, you will be prompted for the name of the
	file to save.

       win560.exe /r

    To re-do an install with the exact same responses, a silent
    install can be done by entering "/S <path-name>" after
    the win560.exe on the command line.  The spaces are required
    and pathname should be the path to the recorded file.

       win560.exe /S c:\test\setupxx

A runtime only version of the installation program is provided as
win560r.exe.  It only supports a runtime and/or ThinClient client
installs (either local or client).  The runtime installer cannot be
used to update an install that has more than runtime or ThinClient
client selections.

When installing with Terminal Services installed, make sure that the
install is done in Install mode.  See the Windows Change command for
more information.

Log files for both the install and uninstall are written to the
Administrator’s Temp directory
(usually C:\users\administor\AppData\Local\Temp).  (Note that
AppData is usually a hidden directory.)   Their default names
are: "ICOBOL 5 Setup Log.txt" and "ICOBOL 5 Uninstall Log.txt".

The LOG file provides line item details.  Each line starts with a
date/time stamp, then a status (Success, Error, Notice, Debug,
Error, Skipped, Info,...) and then the operation.

The last line should provide the exit code.


End of Readinst
