Doug Bidwell
-
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 15
April 18, 2018 Doug Bidwell
Hello fellow residents of IBM i Land. (You know that know man is an iLand, right? Anyway . . . .) In this week’s edition of the IBM i PTF Guide, the Java group was updated on all releases. Now that HTTP Admin is converting to JDK 8, if you are running Java applications – and who isn’t running Java applications these days at least some of the time – this is worth checking out.
See the following in the IBM i PTF Guide:
- V7R3 SF99725
- V7R2 SF99716
- V7R1 SF99572
Another warning: IBM i Access for Web, product …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 14
April 11, 2018 Doug Bidwell
There are a bunch of nips and tucks for the IBM i operating system in this week’s edition of the IBM i PTF Guide, but nothing that will keep you awake at night as sometimes happen on all platforms in the enterprise.
If you are running encryption on your backups, you may want to take a look at this link. The issue is that tape processing fails if the QTADECRYPT data area is found in QUSRSYS and if the keystore file listed in the QTADECRYPT data area is missing from the system. All current releases – IBM i …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 13
April 4, 2018 Doug Bidwell
There is not much to write about this week, with lots of people on various holidays and breaks around the world. There is a new MQ Series group (SF99859), plus new HIPER, Security, BRMS, and Hardware groups this week. After the last couple months of announcements and the Spectre/Meltdown speculative execution security vulnerabilities, IBM is catching up on fixes. Good stuff!
As for the Spectre/Meltdown update, there is nothing new to report, I just didn’t want to write it out too quick – things like this come back to haunt you if you are not careful. . . .
I …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 12
March 28, 2018 Doug Bidwell
After the last couple months of announcements and Spectre/Meltdown (SM) mayhem, IBM is catching up on fixes. This week we have new HIPERs, Security, BRMS, and Hardware groups this week.
Speaking of Spectre and Meltdown, there is no new news or updates, but IBM has finally merged the SM PTFs into the normal “Group” methodology we work with every week. So, to get current on SM for your appropriate release apply the below levels (or higher):
Read more7.1 Groups 7.2 Groups 7.3 Groups Tech Refresh N/A SF99717-008 SF99727-004 Security SF99708-079 SF99718-059 SF99728-024 HIPER SF99709-217 SF99719-116 SF99729-053 -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 11
March 21, 2018 Doug Bidwell
New cumes!! V7R3 and V7R2 both have new cumulative PTF groups this week. This effectively correlates the roll-up of the Spectre and Meltdown patches into a traditional apply methodology. Check our PTF Guide for the latest activity on both Spectre and Meltdown and your applicable release. In a nutshell, loading the latest cume and groups gets you protected at the LIC and OS levels. For firmware, you still need to determine and address separately.
Also, read the cover letter for the cume carefully — if you are running PowerHa or Content Manager, there are “things” you need to be aware …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 10
March 14, 2018 Doug Bidwell
The good times keep on rolling with the Spectre Meltdown (SM) updates. There are new HIPER and Security Groups this week, and most of the required PTFs are on one group or the other, except for one in each release. If you need to tackle it this week, the recommendation is to apply both the HIPER and Security groups, plus the one additional fix, for each release.
Depending on your system and its proc/mem configuration, it will take from 15 minutes to 30 minutes longer to apply the Tech Refresh.
MQ for IBM i also has a new Group level …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 9
March 7, 2018 Doug Bidwell
More Breaking News! Yes, it is Spectre and Meltdown update time once again. The firmware issued for certain systems causes V6R1M1 to have an IPL failure. Check the worksheet in the IBM i PTF Guide and see this link.
The V7R2 recommended fixes for Temporary Disk Space have something worth looking at, which is MF64483 and which was released on March 1. Apparently, this has to do with tracking and curbing temporary disk space growth.
One last thing. the Spectre and Meltdown speculative execution security vulnerabilities have been classified by IBM’s Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) as having …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 8
February 28, 2018 Doug Bidwell
Breaking News! (This is beginning to feel a little bit like the CNN news scroll.) There are more PTFs for the Spectre and Meltdown (SM) speculative execution security vulnerabilities. As you well know by now, the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities have been classified by IBM’s Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) as having a “High Severity” level.
The news this week is that there is a new security bulletin for all to read. Here is the link, and we have tried to convey the details in the worksheet in the IBM i PTF Guide.
The gist of it …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 7
February 21, 2018 Doug Bidwell
This is our latest Spectre and Meltdown (SM) speculative execution security vulnerabilities update. We finally got the straight answer on firmware to models from IBM. We have updated the SM worksheet in the IBM i PTF Guide to reflect what we have learned. Just a reminder, the Spectre and Meltdown speculative execution security vulnerabilities have been classified by IBM’s Product Security Incident Response Team (PSIRT) as having a “High Severity” level.
There are no changes to the PTF Groups this week. I suspect the Power9 announcement and Tech Refreshes have kept everyone busy.
Here is a rundown on the IBM …
Read more -
IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 20, Number 6
February 14, 2018 Doug Bidwell
Welcome to the latest edition of the IBM i PTF Guide. This week, here is our update on the Spectre/Meltdown (SM) speculative execution security vulnerabilities. First, we have moved our table of fixes to the master spreadsheet for the IBM i PTF Guide because it is just easier to manage. There are now 16 fixes for V7R1, and 9 for each of the other two releases, in addition to the firmware fixes. They are all MFs, which in all likelihood means an IPL is required to apply them. The good news is that nothing has changed in about eight …
Read more