Admin Alert: Retrieving System Information to Order Cumulative PTFs

by Joe Hertvik

To order PTFs for your iSeries or AS/400, you'll need to retrieve certain information from your server such as the current cumulative PTF level. And you'll need to know what is the latest cumulative PTF package that IBM is offering for your OS/400 version and whether it is more current than the package on your system. This week's Admin Alert describes how to retrieve this information.

Retrieve the Current OS/400 Cumulative PTF Level

You'll need to know the number of your current cumulative PTF level in order to determine if you have the latest PTF package installed. Start by displaying the active PTFs that have been applied to the 5722SS1 licensed program on your iSeries or AS/400. Do this by running the following Display Program Temporary Fix (DSPPTF) command on a green screen:

DSPPTF LICPGM(5722SS1)

On this screen, you'll see a number of applied PTFs starting with the characters TC, such as TC03175 and TC02134. Look for the number in that list that has the highest TC value (TC03175 is higher than TC02134, for example). The five numbers following the characters TC designate the year and the day of the year of your latest installed cumulative PTF package. To transform that TC number into your latest cumulative PTF package number, do the following:

1. Remove the T from the highest number, so that you get a six-digit value, starting with the character C. So, for example, if the highest PTF number is TC03175, it becomes C03175.
2. The first two digits of the number following the letter C represent the year the cumulative PTF package was released, and the last three digits represent the Julian day it was released in that year. Remove the leading zero from the two-digit year so that you have a four-digit number following the letter C. In our case, that transforms C03175 into C3175.
3. Add the numeric part of your OS/400 version number to the end of PTF package number. If this were an OS/400 V5R1 machine, that would change our cumulative package ID from C3175 to C317551. For OS/400 V5R2, the number would change to C317552.
4. Add a zero (0) to the end of the number. For the OS/400 V5R1 example, the current cumulative PTF package would then be C3175510. For V5R2, the current PTF package would become C3175510. This provides the same cumulative PTF number that IBM uses for its cumulative packages.

Retrieve the Latest Cumulative PTF Package Number that IBM Is Offering for Your OS/400 Version

To look up the most recent cumulative PTF number, go to the OS/400 PTF Guide on Guild Companies' Web site.

You can also go to IBM's Preventative Service Planning Web site and follow these steps:

1. Click All Preventive Service Planning Documents.
2. On the preventive service planning documents page that comes up, click Current Cumulative PTF Package.
3. The cumulative PTF ordering numbers will display for OS/400 V4R5, V5R1, and V5R2. Click the PTF number for your operating system, and the site will display a document containing the current cumulative PTF package number for that system.

The OS/400 PTF Guide on Guild Companies' site is updated weekly, but if a new package is released between updates, IBM's site may have more current information. However, the OS/400 PTF Guide shows not only the latest cumulative PTF package for your release but also the latest group PTFs for the rest of IBM's licensed products that run on an iSeries, as well as the dates those PTFs were released.

Once you know IBM's current cumulative PTF package ID number and your current PTF level, it's a simple matter to compare the two numbers to determine whether your system is current. If you then want to order the latest cumulative PTF package, IBM provides instructions on the IBM eServer iSeries Support Web site. I also did a series of articles on ordering and applying PTFs earlier this year, and you can view those articles by clicking the links in the "related articles" section, below.

Retrieve the OS/400 Serial Number, Model Number, and Processor Feature Code

If you decide to order cumulative or group PTFs, IBM may ask for your machine model number, type (processor code), and serial number. You can retrieve this information through a green screen or the iSeries Operations Navigator. In OpsNav, open the Configuration and System, System Values, and System Control nodes, then click the System tab. You'll find your serial number listed along with the iSeries model (such as 820 or 830) and the processor feature code.

All three of these items can also be found in green-screen system values. The iSeries serial number is found in the System Serial Number system value (QSRLNBR), while the model number is found in the System Model Number value (QMODEL) and the processor feature code can be found in the Processor Feature system value (QPRCFEAT). You can access these system values individually by using the Display System Value (DSPSYSVAL) command as follows:

DSPSYSVAL SYSVAL(QSRLNBR)
DSPSYSVAL SYSVAL(QMODEL)
DSPSYSVAL SYSVAL(QPRCFEAT)

Or you can bring them up in a group of system values by running the Work with System Values (WRKSYSVAL) command, showing only the system control system values, like this:

WRKSYSVAL SYSVAL(*SYSCTL)

Once you have this information, you can add it to your order.

Like most things, retrieving system information for PTFs isn't a difficult process once you know the ropes, and these instructions should provide of the information you need for ordering PTFs.

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