What You Will Find In IBM i 7.6 TR1 and IBM i 7.5 TR7
October 13, 2025 Alex Woodie
It’s early October, which means leaves are changing colors, nights are getting colder, and IBM developers in southern Minnesota and elsewhere are gearing up the autumnal Technology Refreshes for the IBM i operating system.
With last week’s announcements of TR1 for IBM i 7.6 and TR7 for IBM i 7.5, which ship November 21, IBM has committed to delivering a slew of updates and new functionality across the range of IBM i system software, from application development to administration.
Before we get into the specific areas of IBM i, let’s cover the general enhancements it made with I/O handling. For starters, IBM changed the behavior of the Fibre Channel multipath settings.
In previous releases, IBM i would continually try to fix a broken or damaged Fiber Channel link. However, the system would sometimes become unusable if the system got stuck in a loop trying to restart a broken path. With the new feature, dubbed Fibre Channel Multipath Automatic Path Disable, a user can set a maximum number of times for the system to try to fix a broken link before it just shuts down the broken link, thereby avoiding system instability.
IBM also provided an update to how VIOS-hosted virtual SCSI (vSCSI) disks to handle I/O within the IBM i server. Due to “unique IBM i storage requirements” (i.e. the extra 8 bytes IBM i adds to the normal 512-byte disk sector), there is extra CPU processing time required for disk read responses when using vSCSI disks of type 6B22-050 or 6B23-050. This led to very long response times on large read workloads. To fix it, IBM is making the disk response multi-threaded, thereby allowing multiple disk response to be processed in parallel.
Now let’s get into the specific areas of IBM i and the related software stack, starting with everyone’s favorite: Db2 for i.
Db2 for i Enhancements
The IBM i server is a database machine, and there are a handful of database updates to be had with IBM i 7.6 and TR7 for IBM i 7.5.
In terms of updates to the database itself, IBM has made a few interesting changes. For instance, it is now supporting named columns on INSERT with VALUES. It also extended the size of the URL-ENCODE and URL-DECODE scalar functions from 1MB to 2 GB, which will allow it to support much bigger documents (this could be for some future generative AI capability; stay tuned). The Visual Explain function will also now use regular decimal formatting instead of scientific notation, which should make it easier to understand for regular old data engineers who lack advanced scientific degrees.
IBM is also updating its Db2 for i Services. The SQL Error Logging Facility (SELF) and Db2 for i Index Advisor have been enhanced to give users more control over how data is retained. The ANALYZE_CATALOG (SQL) table function has also been enhanced to provide a method to ascertain whether an IBM i is ready and available to have IBM i (SQL) services executed. IBM says this can help avoid a situation where SQL services are called too early after IPL.
A TR wouldn’t be a TR without new and enhanced IBM i Services, which are SQL functions that allow the database to automate general purpose administrative tasks. There are new fewer than ten new IBM i Services with these TRs.
For starters, the new CERTIFICATE_USAGE_INFO view returns information about registered applications that use certificates and the associated certificate information, while the JOURNAL_CODE_INFO view returns text descriptions for each journal code and each journal entry type. We’ll cover the rest of the new (and improved) IBM i Services in a future IT Jungle article.
IBM has also updated SYSTOOLS, the schema that provides a collection of Db2 for i examples and tools. IBM has delivered several new capabilities in SYSTOOLS, including a new spreadsheet generation function, new functions that determine whether arguments are divisible by two, and Audit Journal functions that help with archiving security enforcement actions taken using SQL or Navigator.
Application Development
IBM has delivered several compelling application development updates across the TRs. Code for i, the VS Code plug-in that allows RPG and COBOL developers to program in the popular Web-based IDE, has been updated with a bunch of new functions.
For starters, the “fantastic” testing extension that Liam Allan told us about in June is now ready for prime time. The Code for i extension makes it much easier for developers to run tests from local files or source members; generate test stubs for individual tests cases or suites of tests; configure the test parameters; and then view the test results in-line on the IDE. The tool supports IBM’s code coverage facility, providing insight into how much of the code is being tested. It also brings automation that allows developers to integrate tests into CI/CD pipelines.
The Db2 for i extensions in Code for i has also been bolstered, with various new SQL capabilities, such as support for parameter binding in SQL statements and the capability to generate RPGLE data structures directly from SQL statements. RPGLE support has been improved, including with support for procedures, prototypes, and built-in functions (BIFs). Content assist has been improved for RPG BIFs, and users can view usable BIFs from a given field based on its data type.
IBM also is shipping a new release of Rational Developer for i (RDi), its flagship, Java-based IDE for ILE language development. RDi 9.9 is based on Eclipse 4.31, which was based on Java SE 17 and shipped in early 2024. IBM says it has “expanded support for IFS-enabled RPG projects to better align with Git workflows” in RDi 9.9. It also integrates with Access Client Solutions’ Host Emulator settings.
Rational Development Studio for i, the IBM i-based development tool that includes the RPGLE compiler, has also been enhanced. IBM says developers can code a data type for an enumeration and define fields like the enumeration. It also now provides implicit CCSID conversions for several BIFs, and allows new data formats to be used with certain BIFs and older operation codes.
Java developers will have something to cheer about as IBM is now supporting Java 21 with IBM i 7.5 TR7. IBM delivered support for Java 21, which was first released in 2023 and which is a long-term release, with IBM i 7.6 with the launch of that OS back in April, and now customers running on 7.5 can also use it. IBM is delivering support for Java 21 via Option 21 (naturally).
Navigator And ACS
IBM is delivering several updates that administrators will appreciate. For instance, Navigator for i is getting spiffy new Web interfaces to help manage the HTTP Servers (the ones powered by Apache), the Integrated Web Service (IWS) server, and the Integrated Application Server (IAS). Another new feature in Navigator will tell the admin whether the Time-based One-Time Password (TOTP) that’s used in the new multi-function authentication (MFA) capability in IBM i 7.6 was sent to the new end point during the copy operation.
Admins will also appreciate the capability to manage all aspects of authorization lists within Navigator, including creating, updating, and deleting permissions and properties. Navigator also now lets admins import and expert LDAP Interchange Format (LDIF) files. Finally, there are a couple of newly supported auditing functions (PO and SF journal entries) supported within Navigator, helping to flesh out the security capability.
The Performance Data Investigator (PDI) component of Navigator received one relatively minor change in how it handles files. IBM said that files that were added to Collection Services in previous releases are now handled under the Collection Services Database Files header.
Not to be outdone, Access Client Solutions (ACS) also gets several enhancements, including the capability to invoke multiple ACS command-line plugins simultaneously; better temporary file cleanup; new properties for managing configuration; better visibility of the names of command-line plugins when checking or applying updates; support for passphrase protected SSH keys; and more intuitive default behavior when checking System Configurations. Open Source Package Management now supports a “select all” (Ctrl-A on Windows and Command+A on Mac), which should make it easier to copy configurations.
The Data Transfer component of ACS has been improved, and it now allows execution of UTF-8 encoded files with a single SQL query in the “cldownload” plugin. Users can now see how much storage they have available when copying or pasting IFS files, among other housekeeping items in the display. It should be easier to work with all related journal receivers with a new “action” added in the schema management component. SQL generation will retain previously used directory paths, and the table definition dialog has also seen improvement. The SQL Performance Center now sports a new Index Evaluator that will prompt for a schema and a table before launching “Work with Indexes.”
The uber-popular Run SQL Scripts component of ACS has a number of enhancements, not the least of which is support for IBM i 7.6 SQL syntax (obviously not supported in IBM i 7.5). IBM added sixteen (16) new “insert from examples” into Run SQL Scripts, including a handful of security scripts, such as “Audit Journal CD review” and Db2 for i – Update attack vector.”
BRMS And Db2 Mirror
IBM’s backup facility, Backup, Recovery, and Media Services (BRMS), has been updated with several new functions. For starters, admins and operators can now view control group attributes and backup list details directly on the Web interface. Users can also view backup history information from the Web interface, including details around objects, members, IFS, folders, and spooled files.
BRMS has added support for LTO-10 tape drives and media that use the new *ULTRIUM10 density. IBM has delivered a new SQL service for BRMS that shows the volume expiration status and expiration date. IBM enhanced several other BRMS SQL services that let users view backup history information.
On the Db2 Mirror front, IBM made unspecified updates to the user interface and the performance of the product. There was no mention of any updates to PowerHA.
You can view the IBM announcement for IBM i 7.6 TR1 here and the IBM announcement for IBM i 7.5 TR7 here. If you like, you can drill down for more details on all of the TRs in the IBM i Technology Updates page on the IBM Support website, which you can go to by clicking here.
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