Managing Systems and Workgroups: A Guide for HP-UX System Administrators

Configuring a Workgroup
Compatibility Between HP-UX Releases 10.x and 11.x
Chapter 4 451
you are running the 32-bit version of 11.0, you will not encounter any
problems. However, in the case of 64-bit version of HP-UX 11.0, there
may be some compatibility issues for legacy software.
To determine if a specific 32-bit application is binary compatible on a
64-bit operating system, do the following:
• If you have purchased a third-party application, check with the
application vendor to ensure that the application is supported on
HP-UX 11.0. If you will be running the 64-bit version of 11.0, ask the
vendor for a statement regarding 64-bit application interoperability
with 32-bit applications.
• If you have locally-written software, particularly if that software will
be sharing data with 64-bit applications, you may need to make
changes to the source code. The HP-UX Software Transition Kit
(STK) is available on the HP-UX 11.0 Application Release CD-ROM,
or via the World-Wide Web at http://www.software.hp.com/STK to
help you.
Deciding Whether to Port Your Software
The term port describes the process of creating a new HP-UX 11.0
binary.
If you decide that your application must run in 64-bit mode, you will
have to port it.
When Not to Port Your Software to HP-UX 11.0
Running your software without porting involves the least amount of
effort since you do not have to make major source changes or recompile
your software on the 11.0 platform.
You have two options if you do not want to port your software:
• In most cases you can simply run your executable on the destination
platform (which can be running the 32-bit or 64 bit version of HP-UX
11.0) without making any changes to the source code or recompiling.
• You can run your executable on the destination platform (which can
be running either the 32-bit or 64-bit version of HP-UX 11.0) by
making minor source changes and recompiling on the source
platform (running HP-UX 10.x).