News
Abstract
Introducing Merlin - IBM i Modernization Engine for Lifecycle Integration.
Content
- See the product documentation site for more information.
- See Tutorials for hands-on documentation
- Submit product requests using the IBM Power Systems Ideas Portal.
- Discuss the product with other users on the IBM Community.
- For support, open a case on the Support portal. Also, subscribe to product notifications.
- See the announcement for ordering details.
- See the product page for more information.
- See Frequently Asked Questions.
- Visit YouTube for a play list of videos to learn more about Merlin including the integration with ARCAD tools.
- Listen to a podcast introducing Merlin.
- Watch a COMMON webcast for a Merlin overview.
- Read a blog post on a “Wizard” for Application Development and Modernization on IBM i.
- Tool Lifecycle Management - Deploys, upgrades and deletes Merlin Tools.
- Authentication - Single signed on capability for Merlin users.
- Certification Management - Creates and manages certifications for TLS-based connections among containers and other systems.
- User Management - Creates, modifies, and deletes Merlin users and their authorities.
- Monitoring - Monitors resources of Merlin.
- Inventory Management - Stores and manages the information of systems that Merlin interacts and connects.
- Credential Management - Securely stores and manages the credentials of systems that Merlin interacts and connects.
- IBM i VM Management - Provisions, manages, and deletes IBM i virtual machines through PowerVC or IBM Cloud.
- IBM i Software Installer - Installs necessary software packages onto IBM i systems to enable Merlin.
- Rest API management - Creates and manages RESTful APIs against IBM i programs and data stored in Db2 for i.
- Developer environment for teams
- One-click workspaces for IBM i platform
- Enterprise readiness and built-in security
- Modern editing experience for IBM i languages (RPG, SQL, and more)
- Tokenization
- Formatting
- Content Assist
- Code Folding
- Hover information
- Outline view
- Refactoring
- Error reporting
- And more...
- Interaction with IBM i objects and IFS files
- Support for project-based developer builds
- Modern source control with Git integration
- Integration with Arcad tools
- Out-of-box Jenkins with ARCAD integration. Users can create their own Jenkins environment with capability to build and deploy IBM i programs.
- Graphic interface to simplify key operations of Jenkins. This GUI creates Jenkins pipelines specifically for IBM i programs development.
Q: Is this a new Licensed Program Product (LPP)?
A: It is a new member of the IBM i Portfolio of products, but it is not a traditional LPP. Merlin is acquired through IBM Passport Advantage and the IBM Entitled Registry as a Certified Container.
Q. What is Merlin?
A. Merlin is a new modern IBM i development and modernization environment. It integrates the latest development and DevOps processes into a single product for an IBM i developer. Merlin aligns IBM i application development with the evolving standards around Jenkins, Git, and browser-based Theia IDE (Visual Studio Code compatible). Additionally, it integrates key modernization features such as converting fixed format RPG code into free format RPG code and application impact analyses.
Q. How is Merlin priced?
A: Merlin is priced per “developer”. Because Merlin runs inside the Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (OCP), Merlin uses the built-in license monitoring tool, based on VPC (Virtual Processor Core). Customers wanting to acquire entitlement to Merlin will order 1 VPC unit per developer, generating 1 CodeReady Workspace for each developer. The price is $4500.00 per VPC.
Q: Do I need to have OpenShift?
A: Yes, Merlin, the IBM Certified Container, runs in an Red Hat OpenShift environment.
The Red Hat OpenShift environment can be on a Power server. Red Hat OpenShift could also reside in a Cloud instance, for example in IBM Cloud (IBM Power Virtual Servers) or in any cloud that supports OpenShift environments. For those clients with workload running in the Cloud already, it is a natural extension to add Merlin into an OpenShift environment also in the cloud.
Q: Are there prerequisites needed for the IBM i environment?
A: IBM i needs to be at IBM I 7.3 or more current with the latest HTTP PTF Group applied. Additionally, Rational Development Studio (5770-WDS) is required for the compilers so that source code can be compiled into object code.
Q: What's the Merlin IDE based on?
Q: What kind of containers are supported? multi-architecture?
A: Merlin is targeted for Red Hat OpenShift containers running on power or x86.
Q: What about debugging capabilities?
A:The debugger is a key part of a development environment and was added to Merlin in version 1.4.0.
Q: Does this product allow IBM i applications to run inside a container?
A: No. IBM i Merlin is a set of tools that run in OpenShift containers. The tools guide and assist software developers in the modernization of IBM i applications and development processes, allowing them to realize the value of a hybrid cloud and multi-platform DevOps implementation.
Q: Does this replace RDi?
A: No, this is an alternative to using RDi for code development and modernization. Developers now have a choice of workstation-based development activities, RDi, or to use a browser, container-based option, Merlin. Both are equally important to the IBM i development community and will continue to be enhanced and supported.
However, Merlin also includes many application modernization tools as well as CI/CD products.
Q: What is the difference between Merlin and RDi?
A: Rational Developer for i (RDi) is an IDE for creating new application or updating existing native ILE applications on IBM i. Users can add plug-ins and additional tools to RDi to move toward a modern development ecosystem.
Merlin is a fully integrated and supported set of tools from IBM that include an IDE, and the additional plug-ins and tools to enable the IBM i developer to work in a modern manner. This includes Integration into a CI/CD pipeline, and code modernization features like fixed to free conversion, native integration for Git based source control and application impact analysis at the fingertips of every developer.
Q: Can code being updated by Merlin still be updated by RDi or SEU?
A: Yes, Code updated/modified/created using Merlin's capabilities can be modified by RDi. While it is possible to also use SEU to further modify the code, as Merlin supports the latest versions of RPG and SEU does not, it is the hope that developers have moved to a more modern coding paradigm.
Q: Do customers pay extra to acquire the ARCAD functions?
No, those functions are integrated into the Merlin product.
Q: Why did IBM partner with Arcad Software?
A: IBM and Arcad Software have had a long-standing partnership. Arcad had previously created plug-ins to the architecture being designed. To deliver the best value to the market as fast as possible, IBM chose to work with Arcad to deliver a product with an integrated RPG modernization and impact analysis.
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Document Information
Modified date:
07 May 2024
UID
ibm16574839