About This Volume

Article
12/05/2007

Introduction

Volume 1, Plan of the UNIX Custom Application Migration Guide describes the features of the Microsoft® Windows® operating system and the operational differences between the UNIX and Windows environments. It also outlines the activities carried out in the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) Envisioning and Planning Phases for a UNIX to Windows application migration. This volume includes the following topics:

Introduction to UNIX to Windows migration.
Envisioning Phase: Beginning your migration project.
Planning Phase: Planning your migration project.
Planning Phase: Setting up the development and test environments.

Intended Audience

This volume is designed for senior IT decision makers and managers, network managers, project managers, and operating system administrators. The following list describes the specific ways each audience can use the guide.

IT decision makers and managers. High-level IT decision makers and managers can find information on the feasibility of migrating applications from UNIX to Windows. They can also find guidelines on assessing the UNIX application and choosing the appropriate path and strategy for migration.
Network managers. Network managers can find help with assessing the current infrastructure in their UNIX environment and identify the high-level infrastructure requirements for migration.
Project managers. With the help of this volume, project managers can assess the feasibility of migration, identify major areas that will be affected by the migration, and choose the appropriate environment and strategy for conducting the migration. The guidance discusses common issues involved in migrating applications from UNIX to Windows and provides resolutions for them. Project managers can use this volume to plan the development, budget, project plans, and delivery of the migration.
Operations managers. Operations managers can use this guide to obtain information on the interoperability issues that must be addressed when deploying an application to the new environment. The guide also provides information on integration, deployment, support, and maintenance of the application.
Developers. Developers can use this volume to learn about the various UNIX to Windows migration options and choose the best strategy to fit their environment and application types. This volume also helps in identifying and validating the technology and will also help in writing the functional specification documents.
Testers. Testers can use this volume to identify the tools and integrated development environments (IDEs and to configure the test environments.

Knowledge Prerequisites

The readers of this volume should possess the following knowledge prerequisites:

Basic knowledge of UNIX and Windows.
Knowledge of software engineering methodologies and process models.
Knowledge of project management.

Layout of the Guide: Volume 1

The following diagram depicts the layout of the guide and how the volumes of the guide correlate with the components of the MSF Process Model. The shaded portion indicates to the reader the position of the current volume in the layout of the entire guide.

Figure 0.1. UCAMG organization

Organization of Content by Chapter

This volume consists of the following chapters:

About This Volume. This chapter provides an overview of the organization, layout, and content of the volume. It describes the intended audience and the knowledge prerequisites required for this volume and provides resources for using this volume.
Chapter 1: Introduction to UNIX to Windows Migration. This chapter provides the technical background behind the evolution of UNIX and Windows, followed by a brief introduction to Microsoft Windows Server™ 2003. This chapter also lists the business and technical reasons for using each of the migration alternatives in the Windows environment. It also provides examples of application architectures that exist on the UNIX and Windows platforms.
Chapter 2: Envisioning Phase: Beginning Your Migration Project. This chapter provides information on the various activities carried out in the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) Envisioning Phase and its major tasks and deliverables. The primary purpose of this chapter is to assess the applications in the UNIX environment in order to reduce the gap between the UNIX application and proposed Windows application. This chapter also provides information on defining the business goals, setting up the project team, defining high-level requirements, developing the solution concept, defining the solution scope and project scope, and performing the risk assessment.
Chapter 3: Planning Phase: Planning Your Migration Project. This chapter explains the process of defining the solution design and architecture along with developing the functional specifications. It lists the inputs required to validate the technology and create the proof of concept. The chapter also provides guidance on creating the project plan and schedule.
Chapter 4: Planning Phase: Setting Up the Development and Test Environments. This chapter discusses the process of establishing a development environment, which includes setting up the hardware and other infrastructure resources, as well as any project structure or policy elements required to develop the solution. This chapter also describes the process of creating a test environment according to the test plan and choosing an appropriate build process.

Resources

An acronyms list and job aids are additional resources provided with the guide that will be helpful for the planning work covered in this volume.

Acronyms

See the Acronyms list accompanying this guide for a list of the acronyms and their meanings used in the guide.

Job Aids

Job aids are included in a Tools and Templates folder that is available as part of the download version of this guide at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=30864 . The following job aids are relevant to Volume 1:

Project Team Skills Job Aid (Microsoft Word template)
Risk Assessment Tool (Excel tool)
Migration Approach Assessment Tool (Excel tool)
UCAMG Scripts Tool (Excel tool)

Document Conventions

Table 0.1 provides details of the document conventions used in this guide.

Table 0.1. Document Conventions

Text Element	Meaning
Bold text	Used in the context of paragraphs for file names, commands, literal arguments to commands (including paths when they form part of the command), switches, and programming elements such as methods, functions, data types, and data structures. Also used to identify the UI elements.
Italic text	Used in the context of paragraphs for variables to be replaced by the user. Also used to emphasize important information.
Monospace font	Used for excerpts from configuration files, code examples, and terminal sessions.
Monospace bold font	Used to represent commands or other text that the user types.
Monospace italic font	Used to represent variables that the reader supplies in command-line examples and terminal sessions.
Shell prompts and Code Snippets	Used to represent shell scripts and code snippets.
Note	Represents a note.
Code	Represents code.