In the years that my team and I have been involved in iSeries Navigator, we've been marching toward a goal of having a fast, intuitive, and functionally rich product that you can use from a web browser when managing your System i and i5/OS environments. Though I can't tell you everything we're planning for i5/OS V6R1, I can give you a peak into the new experience you have in store.

Getting Started

In V6R1, each i5/OS instance comes preloaded with the new Navigator for i5/OS, which runs in the default instance of the web server. So basically, there is nothing to do to get started; you are ready to manage your i5/OS operating system immediately. Simply enter https://yoursystemname:2001 on your browser, use your i5/OS user ID to sign in, and you're ready to go.

The "2001 port" may look familiar to you; it is where, for the past few releases, other web-based functions have been added. But now with V6R1, you can use the much-improved web-based functionality to manage all the tasks. (From here on, I'll use "iSeries Navigator" to refer to the Windows-installed client and "Navigator for i5/OS" to denote the new web-based product).

First Look

Logging on to your new V6R1 system gets you to the Welcome page (Figure 1). Even at first glance, you'll see some similar items: The folders in the left task navigation area are the same as those in the iSeries Navigator interface. You'll also notice that you can use the same i5/OS user profile — no alternate user ID is needed for this web UI (while this seems obvious, past products required a unique user ID in addition to the i5/OS user profile). Navigator for i5/OS is also role based, so depending on the type of access you want to grant a user, you can remove tasks from the navigation area.

In Navigator for i5/OS, the list of tasks is clearly displayed in the task summary pages (Figure 2). Notice how simple it is to find the task you want to perform. In this example, if you want to change system values or manage disk units, just select the link to see the objects and contextual tasks.

Another new feature is the Show All button, which is present on every summary page in the new web UI. By clicking this button (at the bottom of Figure 2), you can view a table of every task in a selected category for your viewing and scanning pleasure (Figure 3). Not only do you see the task name but, if you select it, you can perform that task right away. If the task needs context, you'll be prompted for the object you want to work on.

By now you might have noticed that each task is in a tab in the web UI. This feature lets you easily open views of interest and then toggle between them to make faster troubleshooting decisions.

Startup Pages support is also new. With this function, you can select one or more tabs to open immediately after you log on. For example, let's say I really like the System Status view that shows me realtime information about my i5/OS system. But I also manage users often, so I'd like the list of users on my system to appear right away. Well, I simply open those tasks and select Set as Starting Page from the upper-right drop-down list to manage my startup pages (Figure 4).

Doing so lets me choose which task to display by default and whether to delete other ones. This feature provides critical data immediately without any delay of finding the task and opening the window. It drastically shortens the human-perceived time for showing lists of items. This is because, while I'm viewing my favorite page of System Status, the other tasks are gathering all the users and server jobs and messages that interest me.

New Web-based Tasks

Navigator for i5/OS not only provides a handy web-based interface for managing i5/OS, but it also includes a lot of additional function (see the left nav pane in Figure 4). Let's look at two common tasks you'll likely work with a lot: File Systems, and Users and Groups. (I'll cover more functions in a future article.)

File Systems

You can now manage file systems from the web UI. Figure 5 shows the File Systems summary page. Once you've selected Integrated File System, you'll see the same tree you are used to in iSeries Navigator. Figure 6 shows the root file system with the tasks in the context menu for the file that I selected.

Just like iSeries Navigator, Navigator for i5/OS supports enhanced include and sorting features. The include dialogs let you filter the lists to show only what you want (Figure 7). Navigator for i5/OS remembers the include criteria, so performance is even faster. This is perfect for file systems that can have thousands of entries; what's more, include support is available on nearly every list in Navigator for i5/OS. The include criteria is even in the URL. This means that you can create a bookmark, directly from a web browser URL, to view only the active jobs that interest you — or you can embed the results into your own personal portal view or web-based application.

Users and Groups

Navigator for i5/OS uses iSeries Navigator's simpler approach to managing users. For example, Figure 8 shows the web-based New User. If you're familiar with the iSeries Navigator interface, you'll feel comfortable here, with the benefit of being able to bookmark and access this task quickly when you need it.

Other V6R1 Goodness

When moving tasks to the web, we wanted to provide these basic abilities: bookmark any task, embed these IBM-supplied tasks into your own web-based applications, and customize tasks based on user role. All of the i5/OS tasks in V6R1 provide these abilities.

For example, since i5/OS already has a UI for creating users; displaying messages, files, and printer output; and even converting output to PDF, you shouldn't make your own version of a task if your application needs it. The URL Advisor, located in the Internet category, lets you compose the URL for the task you want to embed.

While you're in the URL Advisor, you'll see a View All Tasks button. Clicking that button displays a table view of all Navigator for i5/OS tasks that you can run. Once you've selected a category, the table expands and shows the tasks that display a list of objects and the tasks that perform actions. For example, in the Work Management category, you'll see list tasks such as Active Jobs and Server Jobs as well as action tasks like Hold Job and Display Job Log. You can then simply select a task to add it to your bookmarks.

As you can see, Navigator for i5/OS in V6R1 has a lot of enhancements that make managing your i5/OS system even easier. Once you give it a try, let us know what you think.

Greg Hintermeister works at IBM as a user interaction designer and is an IBM master inventor. He has extensive experience designing user interaction for IBM’s systems management and virtualization products, wireless applications, and numerous web applications. Greg is a regular speaker at user groups and technical conferences. You can e-mail him at gregh@us.ibm.com.