IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 21, Number 29
July 22, 2019 Doug Bidwell
We pay attention to bugs and fixes for the IBM i platform here at the IBM i PTF Guide, and we saw some information in Big Blue’s support databases about APARs – short for Authorized Program Analysis Reports – which is an official response from IBM when customers report a problem with a system or find a suspected defect. Not all APARs get PTFs or permanent fixes in subsequent releases, but many, of course, do.
Here is the interesting set of statistics, which has the number of APARs by operating system release level:
- 19,392 on V7R1
- 11,383 on V7R2
- 7,182 on V7R3
- 1,476 on V7R4
Now, data like that is not all that surprising; the older releases have more complaints, as you expect, right? But what happens if you adjust this data by the time that an operating system has been in the field? We did that math, and here is the result:
Release APARs GA Date Today Days In Field APARs Per Day 7.1 19,392 4/23/10 7/20/19 3,375 5.7 7.2 11,383 5/2/14 7/20/19 1,905 6.0 7.3 7,182 4/15/16 7/20/19 1,191 6.0 7.4 1,476 6/21/19 7/20/19 29 50.9
We were thinking that the APAR numbers were a little high for the new IBM i 7.4 release, but it is brand shiny new. The interesting bit is that when the operating systems settle out over a longer haul, the APAR rate is a lot lower – around six per day or so, not nearly an order of magnitude higher than what is going on with IBM i 7.4 as it is just coming into the market.
Now, back to this week’s IBM i PTF Guide. There are updates to HIPERs for IBM i 7.4, 7.3 and 7.2, and SAP 7.1 Final update. MGTOOLS for 7.4 is now available, too.
A reminder once again: Don’t forget the annual OCEAN technical conference. This is just a reminder that if you are in our neck of the woods in southern California that the OCEAN TechCon19 IBM i Technical Conference – check out CODE LEARN20 – runs from July 25 through 27.
And here is a tip: IPL as often as you can – it keeps the overhead down!
The Guide at a glance: There are no new defectives this week (7/20/19). Here is the defective PTF rundown, which is the last defective for each release:
Defect Defective APAR Fixing Date PTF PTF -------- -------- ------- ------- 7.4 06/28/19 MF65817 MA47823 MF66389 (Available) 7.3 06/28/19 MF65818 MA47823 MF66388 (Available) 7.2 06/28/19 MF66349 MA47823 MF66390 (Available) MF66268 MF65819 7.1 04/26/18 MF64827 MA47056 MF64936 (Nothing changed here)
Be sure to access the link in the Guide for further details.
Below is the usual archive of the IBM i PTF Guide to help you work through the PTFs in chronological order:
July 20, 2019: Volume 21, Number 29
July 13, 2019: Volume 21, Number 28
June 29, 2019: Volume 21, Number 26
June 22, 2019: Volume 21, Number 25
June 15, 2019: Volume 21, Number 24
June 8, 2019: Volume 21, Number 23
June 1, 2019: Volume 21, Number 22
May 25, 2019: Volume 21, Number 21
May 18, 2019: Volume 21, Number 20
May 11, 2019: Volume 21, Number 19
May 4, 2019: Volume 21, Number 18
April 27, 2019: Volume 21, Number 17
April 20, 2019: Volume 21, Number 16
April 13, 2019: Volume 21, Number 15
April 6, 2019: Volume 21, Number 14
March 30, 2019: Volume 21, Number 13
March 23, 2019: Volume 21, Number 12
March 16, 2019: Volume 21, Number 11
March 9, 2019: Volume 21, Number 10
March 2, 2019: Volume 21, Number 9
February 23, 2019: Volume 21, Number 8
February 19, 2019: Volume 21, Number 7
February 11, 2019: Volume 21, Number 6
February 2, 2019: Volume 21, Number 5
January 26, 2019: Volume 21, Number 4
January 19, 2019: Volume 21, Number 3
January 12, 2019: Volume 21, Number 2
January 5, 2019: Volume 21, Number 1
December 22, 2018: Volume 20, Number 51
December 15, 2018: Volume 20, Number 50
December 8, 2018: Volume 20, Number 49
December 1, 2018: Volume 20, Number 48
November 24, 2018: Volume 20, Number 47
November 17, 2018: Volume 20, Number 46
November 10, 2018: Volume 20, Number 45
November 3, 2018: Volume 20, Number 44
October 27, 2018: Volume 20, Number 43
October 20, 2018: Volume 20, Number 42
October 13, 2018: Volume 20, Number 41
October 6, 2018: Volume 20, Number 40
September 29, 2018: Volume 20, Number 39
September 22, 2018: Volume 20, Number 38
September 15, 2018: Volume 20, Number 37
September 8, 2018: Volume 20, Number 36
September 1, 2018: Volume 20, Number 35
August 25, 2018: Volume 20, Number 34
August 18, 2018: Volume 20, Number 33
August 11, 2018: Volume 20, Number 32
August 4, 2018: Volume 20, Number 31
July 28, 2018: Volume 20, Number 30
July 21, 2018: Volume 20, Number 29
July 14, 2018: Volume 20, Number 28
July 7, 2018: Volume 20, Number 27
June 30, 2018: Volume 20, Number 26
June 23, 2018: Volume 20, Number 25
June 16, 2018: Volume 20, Number 24
June 9, 2018: Volume 20, Number 23
June 2, 2018: Volume 20, Number 22
May 19, 2018: Volume 20, Number 20
May 12, 2018: Volume 20, Number 19
May 5, 2018: Volume 20, Number 18
April 28, 2018: Volume 20, Number 17
April 21, 2018: Volume 20, Number 16
April 14, 2018: Volume 20, Number 15
April 7, 2018: Volume 20, Number 14
March 31, 2018: Volume 20, Number 13
March 24, 2018: Volume 20, Number 12
March 18, 2018: Volume 20, Number 11
March 10, 2018: Volume 20, Number 10
March 3, 2018: Volume 20, Number 09
February 24, 2018: Volume 20, Number 08
February 18, 2018: Volume 20, Number 07
February 10, 2018: Volume 20, Number 06
February 3, 2018: Volume 20, Number 05
January 27, 2018: Volume 20, Number 04
January 20, 2018: Volume 20, Number 03
January 13, 2018: Volume 20, Number 02
January 3, 2018: Volume 20, Number 01
December 30, 2017: Volume 19, Number 52
December 23, 2017: Volume 19, Number 51
December 16, 2017: Volume 19, Number 50
December 9, 2017: Volume 19, Number 49
December 2, 2017: Volume 19, Number 48
November 18, 2017: Volume 19, Number 46
November 11, 2017: Volume 19, Number 45
November 4, 2017: Volume 19, Number 44
October 28, 2017: Volume 19, Number 43
October 21, 2017: Volume 19, Number 42
October 14, 2017: Volume 19, Number 41
October 7, 2017: Volume 19, Number 40
September 30, 2017: Volume 19, Number 39
September 23, 2017: Volume 19, Number 38
September 16, 2017: Volume 19, Number 37
September 9, 2017: Volume 19, Number 36
September 2, 2017: Volume 19, Number 35
August 26, 2017: Volume 19, Number 34
August 19, 2017: Volume 19, Number 33
August 12, 2017: Volume 19, Number 32
August 5, 2017: Volume 19, Number 31
July 29, 2017: Volume 19, Number 30
July 22, 2017: Volume 19, Number 29
July 15, 2017: Volume 19, Number 28
July 1, 2017: Volume 19, Number 26
June 24, 2017: Volume 19, Number 25
June 17, 2017: Volume 19, Number 24
