Doug Bidwell
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 17
May 3, 2017 Doug Bidwell
Well, it is not an onslaught, but this week we have new PTF groups coming out of IBM for Java, HTTP Server for i, and DB2 Web Query for i V2.2.0. There is also new patches for Content Manager for IBM i 7.1 and new recommended fixes for SAP on all three currently supported releases.
Well, maybe that is a bit of an onslaught. Rumor has it there are additional groups coming next week. It is like IBM i has its own Never Ending Story of preventive maintenance!
The Java Group is interesting, a lot of action here. The group …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 15
April 26, 2017 Doug Bidwell
It has been two weeks since the last batch of HIPER PTFs came out, and while the PTF action is a little on the light side, there are a bunch of important updates that are out for IBM i 7.1, 7.2, and 7.3.
As we have explained before in the IBM i PTF Guide, every two weeks Big Blue updates the High Impact and Pervasive, or HIPER, PTFs that are so critical to the system that in Big Blue’s opinion they should be on every system as quickly as possible. In general, any HIPER PTF that affects any operating …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Numbers 13 And 14
April 19, 2017 Doug Bidwell
IT Jungle took a hiatus with the Wednesday edition of The Four Hundred last week, so this week we are publishing two issues of the IBM i PTF Guide at the same time.
In Volume 19, Number 14, Content Manager was the only new group with fixes during the week, so there was not much happening in the world of PTFs ahead of the Easter holiday. (And probably for that very reason.) When this happens – the “doldrums of fixes” – it generally means that there will be a deluge in the near future. We would like to urge you …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 13
April 5, 2017 Doug Bidwell
It has been a good week for fixes, people of IBM i Land. The DB2 groups were released for V7R2 and V7R3, and the Performance Tools groups are out for all three V7 releases. Another good thing is that the MG tools announced a new version, and Option 24 on its main menu adds some great functionality for assisting in the management of PTFs on your system.
But the big news is that the Java client has a new release, V1.1.7.0, with anxiously awaited new functionality. You can download the latest base package at this link: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/i/access/solutions.html.
As I …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 12
March 29, 2017 Doug Bidwell
It is a bit quiet out there in PTF Land this week. But there has been some activity. There is a new HIPER group for each IBM i release that is currently supported, and there are tweaks to Backup and Recovery Groups for IBM i 7.2 and 7.3. There are also some anomalies on other groups.
For instance, the Must Gather tools usually go along at a pace of updating every two weeks, but now it has been over a month since an update came out. Go figure. . . . The new 5733-OPS Open Source licensed programs have not …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 11
March 22, 2017 Doug Bidwell
The IBM i PTF Guide has a lot of meaty stuff this week. So brace yourselves. First, there are new Cumes (Cumulative updates) for IBM i V7R2 and V7R3; for V7R2 is it is C7068720 and for V7R3 it is C7061730. Also, Tech Refreshes are out for V7R2 and V7R3 – TR6 on V7R2 and TR2 on V7R3 – and these are out a week earlier than expected.
Some words of caution on installing these. As we pointed out last week, if you are two more TR levels behind the level you want to go to – for example, if …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 10
March 15, 2017 Doug Bidwell
Technical Refresh updates have been a boon for the IBM i base. They have allowed IBM to keep adding features and functions to the current IBM i operating system releases without in any way breaking compatibility with the hardware levels and application software that runs on them. But you have to be careful about falling behind with the Technology Refreshes.
To be specific, as we explain in the TR tab in the IBM i PTF Guide, while the Technology Refresh updates do not happen that often, but when they do, this tab has all of the information that system …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 9
March 8, 2017 Doug Bidwell
For the past 19 years now, IBM midrange business partner DLB Systems Associates has been putting together a guide to help OS/400, i5/OS, and IBM i shops figure out what to patch in their operating systems for midrange gear every week. This IBM i PTF Guide is incorporated it into the Wednesday edition of The Four Hundred starting in 2017.
From here on out, to make things predictable, the IBM i PTF Guide will be located in story five of that Wednesday edition of the newsletter, right below Four Hundred Monitor, which we have also preserved and brought inside …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 8
March 1, 2017 Doug Bidwell
It pays to be regular when it comes to systems management, and it is not a good thing to get too far behind. Take Windows Server as an example. With tens of millions of customers and plenty of bugs and security patches for this target-rich environment, Microsoft has to do everything in its power to try to keep the Windows installed base – both servers and PCs – patched and secured.
Windows Update can be used to automatically apply patches as they come out in the wake of Patch Tuesday once a month, or customers can set up a dedicated …
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IBM i PTF Guide, Volume 19, Number 7
February 22, 2017 Doug Bidwell
It has been a fairly quiet week in PTF Land, and that is reasonable considering that IBM has accelerated the ramp of its Technology Refreshes for IBM i 7.2 and 7.3 and is getting them out the door well ahead of the normal April-May spring cleaning for these updates.
As we told you last week, there are several WebSphere Application Server release levels that are covered in various IBM i releases. The idea behind a Program Temporary Fix, which is what PTF stands for, is that when you take the PTF and put it on your system, it fixes the …
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