The Latest i5/OS V5R4 PTFs: What Is Going On?

Published: November 5, 2007

by Timothy Prickett Morgan

Our faithful i5/OS and OS/400 PTF guru, Doug Bidwell of DLB Associates, has been putting together his PTF Guide for a decade now. (Hard to believe, isn't it Doug?) His PTF Guide has been associated with my AS/400-based newsletters across many different companies through all that time, and I would like to thank him for the service that he performs each week to consolidate the information concerning the PTFs down into something that can help a system administrator figure out what to do.

Two weekends ago, as Bidwell was putting together the System i PTF Guide Volume 9 Number 43, dated October 27, he noticed something funny. The latest cumulative PTF release for i5/OS V5R4M0 (C7282540) is weighing in at 10--count them, 10--CDs. The last two CDs in the set are HIPER PTFs and database patches, and they are automatically included. "This is the largest Cume I've ever seen," says Bidwell. "These couldn't be all fixes, there hasn't been that many things wrong with V5R4 to my knowledge. They must be retrofitting something. Anyway, it's a long download, and, a very long apply."

If you have any idea what IBM is up to, we sure are curious.

RELATED RESOURCES

System i PTF Guide, October 27, 2007: Volume 9, Number 43

System i PTF Guide, October 20, 2007: Volume 9, Number 42

System i PTF Guide, October 13, 2007: Volume 9, Number 41

System i PTF Guide, October 6, 2007: Volume 9, Number 40

System i PTF Guide, September 29, 2007: Volume 9, Number 39

System i PTF Guide, September 22, 2007: Volume 9, Number 38