The GroupWise 6.5 software requirements are different than previous GroupWise software requirements. To review the requirements, see GroupWise System Requirements.
The GroupWise Installation Advisor helps you copy the GroupWise 6.5 software (administration, agents, client, and so forth) to a GroupWise software distribution directory. This can be an existing software distribution directory or a new software distribution directory.
How users run the GroupWise client is the main issue to consider when deciding whether to update an existing software distribution directory or create a new one. The GroupWise 6.5 client cannot run against old (pre-6.5) GroupWise post offices. When you update an existing software distribution directory, users running from the software distribution directory (a workstation installation) are automatically forced to update. If their post office is not yet updated, they are locked out until you update it.
Users running the GroupWise client from their local drives (a standard installation) can continue to run the local GroupWise client until you prompt them to update.
In general, you should update an existing software distribution directory only if 1) all users can run the GroupWise client from their local drives, or 2) you can update all users' post offices within a reasonable time of updating the software distribution directory.
If this approach does not work for you, you should create a new GroupWise 6.5 software distribution directory. You can then use the new software distribution directory to update your domains and post offices to version 6.5 while users continue to run the older GroupWise client from the existing software distribution directory. After the users' post offices have been updated, you can update their existing software distribution directory to version 6.5 to get them up and running on the GroupWise client.
GroupWise 6.5 is administered through ConsoleOne®, version 1.3.4 or higher. ConsoleOne 1.3.4 is included on the GroupWise 6.5 Administrator CD. If necessary, you can install it at the same time as the other GroupWise software.
After you've installed GroupWise 6.5, we strongly recommend that you no longer use NetWare® Administrator to administer your GroupWise system. Doing so can cause problems such as overwriting of the GroupWise 6.5 database dictionary files by older dictionary files. In addition, some GroupWise 6.5 administration functionality, such as post office disk space management, is available only when using ConsoleOne.
You can also use ConsoleOne to administer pre-6.5 GroupWise components in your GroupWise system.
Beginning with GroupWise 5.5, the Administration Agent's functionality was moved into the Message Transfer Agent (MTA) and the Post Office Agent (POA). If you are updating a GroupWise 5, 5.1, or 5.2 system, you need to make sure that you do not run the Administration Agent against the domain after you've started the GroupWise 6.5 MTA. Doing so can result in the loss of GroupWise 6.5 information. The Agent Installation program includes an option to help you remove the ADA.