Determining the tasks you need to perform

You can use the tables provided in the following sections to help you find the information you need as you install and configure the product.

Tasks for basic installation

It is highly recommended that you use the "basic", or default, method of installation, as long as all of the following are true:

If these conditions match your needs, the basic installation is the easiest and fastest method, as it allows you to automatically uninstall any previously installed XL C/C++ for Blue Gene compiler, install the latest version, and configure the compiler, all through the use of a single installation tool.

If you are installing XL C/C++ V8.0 for the first time, perform the steps listed in Table 4. If you are installing an update to XL C/C++ V8.0, perform the steps listed in Table 5.

Table 4. Steps for basic installation: new or upgrade installation
Task For more information, see . . .
Become either the root user or a user with administrator privileges. Documentation supplied with the operating system.
Ensure that all system prerequisites are satisfied. System prerequisites
Use the xlc_install tool to install and configure the compiler, using the default paths. Basic installation
Confirm that the compiler packages were successfully installed, and test the installation. Querying for installed packages, Testing the installation
Enable the compiler man pages. Enabling the XL C/C++ man pages
If your system locale and/or encoding are not en_US, enable the compiler error messages. Otherwise, you can skip this step. Enabling the XL C/C++ error messages
(Optional) If you did not choose to create symbolic links to the compiler invocation commands during the installation process, set up the environment to locate the invocation commands without the full path. Otherwise, you can skip this step. Setting up the environment for the invocation commands
Table 5. Steps for basic installation: update installation
Task For more information, see . . .
Become either the root user or a user with administrator privileges. Documentation supplied with the operating system.
Ensure that all system prerequisites are satisfied. System prerequisites
Use the xlc_install tool to install the update packages. Running the xlc_install utility to update a basic installation
Confirm that the compiler packages were successfully installed, and test the installation. Querying for installed packages, Testing the installation
(Optional) If you did not choose to create symbolic links to the compiler invocation commands during the update process, set up the environment to locate the invocation commands without the full path. Otherwise, you can skip this step. Setting up the environment for the invocation commands

Tasks for advanced installation

You will need to use the "advanced" method of installation in the following cases:

If any of these conditions is true, you need to follow an "advanced" installation method which requires that you separately install and configure the compiler. You may also need to manually uninstall previous versions of the compiler from your system.

If you are installing XL C/C++ V8.0 for the first time, perform the steps listed in Table 6. If you are installing an update to XL C/C++ V8.0, perform the steps listed in Table 7.

Table 6. Steps for advanced installation: new or upgrade installation
Task For more information, see . . .
Become either the root user or a user with administrator privileges. Documentation supplied with the operating system.
If you do not need to maintain multiple versions of the product on your system, remove any existing versions of XL C/C++ for Blue Gene. Uninstalling XL C/C++
Ensure that all system prerequisites are satisfied. System prerequisites
Use one of the advanced installation methods to install the compiler. Advanced installation
Use the new_install or vac_configure tool to configure the compiler. Configuring XL C/C++ (for advanced users)
Confirm that the compiler packages were successfully installed, and test the installation. Querying for installed packages, Testing the installation
Enable the compiler man pages. Enabling the XL C/C++ man pages
If your system locale and/or encoding are not en_US, enable the compiler error messages. Otherwise, you can skip this step. Enabling the XL C/C++ error messages
(Optional) Set up the environment to locate the invocation commands without the full path. Setting up the environment for the invocation commands
Table 7. Steps for advanced installation: update installation
Task For more information, see . . .
Become either the root user or a user with administrator privileges. Documentation supplied with the operating system.
Ensure that all system prerequisites are satisfied. System prerequisites
Install the update packages to the non-default location. Installing XL C/C++ to a non-default location (for advanced users)
Configure the compiler. Configuring XL C/C++ (for advanced users)
Confirm that the compiler packages were successfully installed, and test the installation. Querying for installed packages, Testing the installation
(Optional) Set up the environment to locate the invocation commands without the full path. Setting up the environment for the invocation commands

1.
Note for Blue Gene users: Earlier versions of XL C/C++ Advanced Edition for Linux are not considered to be the same product as XL C/C++ for Blue Gene. Therefore, IBM XL C/C++ Advanced Edition V8.0 for Blue Gene can co-reside with earlier versions of the compiler products for Linux with no additional installation requirements.