IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 26, Number 4

January 29, 2024 Doug Bidwell

OK, here’s a weird one and one that we have helped several customers sort out in the past few days and heard about from other business partners. There is a defective PTF for IBM i 7.4 that when applied with other software patches can cause the QSYS file system at the heart of the IBM i platform to magically disappear.

Ooooof! Kinda hits you right in the solar plexus when you think about it. . . .

This one is number 50 on the defective PTF list for IBM i 7.4, which you can read about at this link and then search for the “SI84712” PTF. There are, as you will see, three defective PTFs for IBM i 7.4 – SI84712, SI84563, and SI83654 – and the fixing PTF for these defective trio is SI85707. Here is what IBM has to say about it:

Reason Defective: Applying the PTF concurrently with SF99704 level 26, may cause the IPL to fail with SRC B9003830.
Recommendation: Apply fixing PTF SI85707. If the IPL failed with SRC B9003830, a slip install of the OS is required to recover. Fixing PTF SI85707 must be installed prior or at the same time as SF99704 level 26 to avoid IPL failure B9003830.

Other than that, there are some HIPERs and a patch for HA for IBM i 7.5 as you will see.

Here is the rundown of PTF Groups by IBM i release level since we last published:

PTF Groups 7.5:

HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)
High Availability for IBM i

PTF Groups 7.4:

HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)

PTF Groups 7.3:

HIPERs (High Impact/Pervasive)

Tip O’ The Week: Carry a mask, we are still dying at the rate of 1,500 per week from COVID-19. (CNN)

New (or Updated) links added to the ‘Links’ tab in the guide this week:

None

New (or Updated) links added to the ‘QMGtools’ tab in the guide this week:

None

New (or Updated) links added to the ‘ACS_NAV’ tab in the guide this week:

None

New (or Updated) links added to the ‘Prtr Links’ tab in the guide this week:

None

New (or Updated) links Redbooks added this week:

None

The Guide at a glance: There are new defectives this week (1/27/24). Here is the defective PTF rundown, which is the last defective for each release:

	Defect		Defective	APAR	Fixing
	Date		PTF			PTF
	--------	--------	-------	------------------------	
7.5	01/10/24	SI85576		SE81023	SI85663 (When available)
7.4	01/24/24	SI84712		SE81069	SI85707 (Read Special Instructions!!)
				SI84563
				SI83654
7.3	01/10/24	SI85576		SE81023	SI85663 (When available)

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:

January 27, 2024: Volume 26, Number 4

January 20, 2024: Volume 26, Number 3

January 13, 2024: Volume 26, Number 2

January 6, 2024: Volume 26, Number 1

December 30, 2023: Volume 25, Number 53

December 23, 2023: Volume 25, Number 52

December 16, 2023: Volume 25, Number 51

December 9, 2023: Volume 25, Number 50

December 2, 2023: Volume 25, Number 49

November 25, 2023: Volume 25, Number 48